Hello and welcome to a very drunken edition of dispatches from the high arctic! hope everyone had a good Easter holiday. Apparently Easter is a drinking holiday over here! So, anyway, to leave you no longer in suspense as to why I'm wearing Bunny Ears and a milk carton and sipping from a plastic cup (with my little pinky out, classy eh?) let me tell you all about one of the greatest UNIS traditions: the Kitchen2kitchen party!
the idea is very simple, there are four kitchens in each barrack, and those that choose to participate make a welcome drink, decorate the kitchen and dress up in that theme. as most readily demonstrated by the Zoo in Barrack 4! well done to Margrete, idunn, Andrea, Laura, Jordan and the others!
but its not just us whole semester students that get in on the fun, the short termers, dressed as penguins, just added more kitchens to the crawl!
So, let me take you, as best I can, on a drinking tour of Nybyen. It all kicked of with a rave themed kitchen in barrack 11 at 7 o'clock, although the organisers of this kitchen had been drinking for much longer! then it was off to a kitchen themed 'old peoples home'. then, braving the cold to barrack 4 it was mango flavoured drinks in the playboy mansion and a drink in the Zoo.
then it was off across Nybyen to the short term barracks (beer jackets on to stay warm!) to the south pole kitchen, where they'd cleverly made a tent into an igloo, which got ridiculously crowded, so we unzipped the back, and found ourselves trapped in the corner of the room!
from there it was on to the other short term barrack, where I ended up drinking baileys from the bottle with someone from Bergen! I love international universities! i even managed to find some more Brits, although they were on their way home the next day! 
so on to Barrack 13, Austrian Alex obviously very drunk by now, judging by his dress and dancing! where it was a few more drinks and then time, at 1.30 to call it a night!
Ben finds a guitar to continue partying
recovered yet? not sure I have! Easter, otherwise, was generally quite uneventful. with plenty of work and procrastination to be getting on with! but we had gorgeous weather most of the time (except for quite a big snow storm) and we even spotted a Halo around the sun one day
I should also mention, primarily for Hannah's sake, (I was on the phone to her at the time) that Dayle's Lisa balloon (He jokingly insulted her one time too many and consequently promised to make the next day 'be nice to Lisa day' which included trying to make a hot air balloon!) managed to support its own weight, but just wouldn't take off.
I was sitting on my windowsil watching and taking pictures with my long lens, when I again heard the immortal words: "Dayle, Fire!"
Although this time it wasn't so bad! 
and up the valley towards the glaciers and Nybyen
what better place to sip some beers after a long week of learning than here, overlooking the mountains and the frozen fjord?
I think Ben, Jenn and Elisabeth agree!
then it was off across Nybyen to the short term barracks (beer jackets on to stay warm!) to the south pole kitchen, where they'd cleverly made a tent into an igloo, which got ridiculously crowded, so we unzipped the back, and found ourselves trapped in the corner of the room!
from there it was on to the other short term barrack, where I ended up drinking baileys from the bottle with someone from Bergen! I love international universities! i even managed to find some more Brits, although they were on their way home the next day!by now, the majority of us students were quite tipsy and it was time to move on to the best barrack of all: 9! we had to run past the hotel, doubtlessly waking up all the tourists, who thoughtfully came to the windows to wave at us! the first kitchen in 9 was themed after a popular advert here, for tine brand milk, featuring the song, I think by Herman's Hermits 'No milk today', so we all drank cocktails that were supposed to contain milk (like white russians), but without milk! then it was whiskey and hot chocolate in the outdoor themed kitchen, and cake and vodka jelly in the kids party kitchen. going well, only one more barrack to go, think you'd have made it?
Brendan, Dayle, Sara and Judith. the boys looking a little worse for wear!
Brendan, Dayle, Sara and Judith. the boys looking a little worse for wear!
so on to Barrack 13, Austrian Alex obviously very drunk by now, judging by his dress and dancing! where it was a few more drinks and then time, at 1.30 to call it a night!
Ben finds a guitar to continue partying
recovered yet? not sure I have! Easter, otherwise, was generally quite uneventful. with plenty of work and procrastination to be getting on with! but we had gorgeous weather most of the time (except for quite a big snow storm) and we even spotted a Halo around the sun one day
I should also mention, primarily for Hannah's sake, (I was on the phone to her at the time) that Dayle's Lisa balloon (He jokingly insulted her one time too many and consequently promised to make the next day 'be nice to Lisa day' which included trying to make a hot air balloon!) managed to support its own weight, but just wouldn't take off.
I was sitting on my windowsil watching and taking pictures with my long lens, when I again heard the immortal words: "Dayle, Fire!"
Although this time it wasn't so bad!
other than that Easter was a great oppurtunity for dinner parties (mostly pizza and spag bol!) and watching films, Easter sunday was the best, as we had a giant easter brunch, with cooked breakfast and lots of cake and chocolate!
oh, and I almost forgot, we made a giant tin can phone across from barrack 9 to barrack 4, but I don't have any pictures, so I'll try to get hold of some and post them next time!
With Easter over, its back to UNIS and back to the routine, of friday gathering that is! in fact it was so nice outside this friday that we decided to have the first hour or so on the roof! which offers fantastic views of the residential part of longyearbyen
and up the valley towards the glaciers and Nybyen
what better place to sip some beers after a long week of learning than here, overlooking the mountains and the frozen fjord?
I think Ben, Jenn and Elisabeth agree!
thats it for today, i've got work to be getting on with
bye for now and thanks for reading
Ash
1 comment:
Hi Ash,
Saw that you have written about me in your blog at 2nd of april. Or did you mean the other Vicki that is following your blog? haha. Well, I'm Vicky and a good Dutch friend of Jennifer. So that's how I discovered your blog. :) Nice to read things about Svalbard (in another perception than Jenn), would have go too with Jennifer, but unfortunately it's not yet an option for me.
Well, have fun overthere! Greatings to Jenn. ;)
X Vicky
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