Joyful sorrow: Time flies and this adventure is ending

A sunset. Note this picture has been edited (foreground darkened, and house lights brushed out.

I cannot believe that I it is just a few days until I am home. Time has been flying by (in most ways). I am so close to getting to be home, to see Nicole and Jax,  and to see family.

I have been working on a draft of a paper about the work I have been doing here. The deadline is approaching quickly, but I have an extension, I need my co-authors to read over the draft, improve it, etc. Being almost done also means I have been getting ready to leave, packing, laundry, cleaning and moving out of the apartment, submitting forms, and starting to say goodbye to people.

Saying goodbye is bitter sweet, it is sad to leave friends, but I think I will see many of them again, and or work with them in the future. It also means I made friends, something I do not do that often.

Looking back, I feel positive about my fellowship experience. It was not without difficulties and frustrations but that is always the case.  But I really think the people I have met and friendships I have made, not to mention the work I have done and been a part of, have been worth it. I have had the opportunity to join many project meetings and get involved in other NPI work. I have attended some meetings that have given me insight into how large projects are planned and managed. The people at NPI have really welcomed me into their group and community and it has made it much easier.
I had a chance to watch some proper football (i.e. soccer to all my North American friends), join in Friday beers with colleagues, see some movies, an opera and a couple of symphony/orchestra/choir performances.

 I am very thankful for the Research Council of Norway funding that made this experience possible. The Leiv Eirikssen mobility programme has given me this wonderful opportunity to work with world class researchers at the Norwegian Polar Institute,  and on a personal level, allowed me to meet and get to know some people that I hope (and expect) to be lifelong friends and even collaborators. If you are a Canadian or a Norwegian looking to go to Canada or the US on a LEMP, I strongly encourage you to apply and am always willing to answer some questions.

And I really need to thank my wife, Nicole. Of course when you go somewhere people always have questions and are excited for you and when you go somewhere you have this excitement of being somewhere new, doing new things, meeting new people. But it wouldn't be possible without the love and support of my wife who manages everything back home, easily handling everything plus the little bit that I used to do.

Yesterday was a great last day in Tromso, considering I worked. But there was Christmas lunch and then I went out for some drinks with the few friends who were still around (Angelika even came out after just landing from a vacation in Turkey!). Sebastian asked me what was my most unexpected thing, and I gave an answer, but I really still cannot decide, most things I was expecting.

I was expecting it to be expensive here, but really not fully prepared or understanding of how expensive some things are. I was expecting the wonderful access to nature, to enjoying hiking and hoping to do some fishing, but really not appreciating just how great it is, how accessible it is and how beautiful it is here, though I am not a fan of the amount of rain they get here, which now turns the roads and snow into giant skating rinks. I was definitely not expecting it to be so hard to find a place to live, this was probably the most difficult part of the entire trip, and really, it was not that terrible.
I was not expecting to make such good friends with people as I tend not to anymore, maybe that is changing.

Well that is it for this adventure.  I am at the airport in Tromso now (9:45), but I don't leave for a few hours. I guess I could have gone to work but I felt it would be an easier departure just to leave from my apartment. Here I can get some work done and write this blog post. I fly to Oslo around noon and then go to Amsterdam.  I will spend one night in Boskoop visiting family before leaving Amsterdam tomorrow morning.  I then fly to Warsaw, Poland, then to Toronto (on the new 787 Dreamliner), and then finally to Edmonton. I get to Edmonton Friday at 1am edmonton time, so about 48hrs from now.
The short visit with my family will be very nice and also breaks up my trip a little bit.

It is shaping up to be a busy semester.  I have to prepare for fieldwork that will begin in the middle of March, in a part of the Arctic I have not been to before! This will mean a lot of work but I am very excited for it. At least there will be a bit of break with Christmas, depending on how much work I try to do on my paper.