Made It

Janet's in Longyearbyen. Only took about 30 hours. Weather is cool, but just above freezing.

She's staying in the Polarrigg again, at least for one night. Tomorrow she moves to an artist residency, a bit up the valley.

Oslo with Katja

After a couple days of travel, I'm finally back in the Arctic! I left NYC on Tuesday, and arrived in Oslo Wednesday morning. My amazing friend and roommate from last years trip, Katja, flew from Stockholm to spend the day with me. We visited gallerys, museums, and the opera house, but most of all we got to catch up. Katja and I became each others assistants and collaborrators last year. It was great to start off this trip with her feedback and perspective on my project for this year.


An artist and friend from NYC, Hanneline (who is Norweigen) is spending half a year in Oslo. She kindly invited Katja and me to join her and her daughter for dinner. She made an amazing risotto with chanterelle mushrooms that she picked herself in the Norweigen forest.

Speaking of food, I got on the plane this morning for my flight north and Anna, our cook on the Noorderlicht from last year, was a couple rows behind me! To say I'm happy that she will be on board again this year would be an understatement. I spent the flight dreaming about her cinnamon buns and rack of lamb.

Oslo

Janet's now in Oslo. She's spending a day there, will fly to Tromso, then on to Longyearbyen tomorrow (Thursday).

Should be an interesting trip. She'll be in Svalbard for about ten days before sailing. She's hoping to get new footage on land - she has a few shots set up. More on this soon.

Katja (her roommate from last year's trip) flew over to Oslo from Stockholm to spend the day with Janet.

Heading Back Soon

Janet will leaving for Svalbard in just a week. Should be an interesting year -- the Noorderlicht was stuck in the ice this week. They're sailing free again, but looks like a bit more bergs this year.

Here's a link to a Google tranlation of the story.