The day began with the American students waking everyone with a rousing (if not pitch perfect) rendition of The Star Spangled Banner to mark the Fourth of July.
After breakfast, there was a two hour session in the classroom in which the student groups worked on their SPRINTT modules. During lunch the U.S. group served peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for everyone to try – a preview of the American themed meal for dinner. At noon, we Skyped with Sebastian Mernild all the way in Chile – he gave a detailed yet fascinating glimpse into his work in modeling glacier mass balance and rising sea levels.
A slide from the Skype lecture by Sebastian Mernild on Glaciers and Sea Level Rise.
The afternoon the students and teachers had free time and many hiked and biked all around Kangerlussuaq. The various groups saw umimmaat (more than one umimmak – musk ox), ukaleq (snow hare), and tuttu (reindeer). The day was the warmest we have had so far – into the 60’s, and the mosquitos were only thing that put a damper on a perfect day.
The two brown spots are the umimmaat.
We are reminded daily of the stark beauty of Greenland.
The Americans prepared a typical 4th of July barbeque: hamburgers and hotdogs, potato salad, baked beans, and lemonade. For dessert: brownies and Funfetti cake (with red and blue sprinkles) as well as s’mores. We were so happy to have the Dartmouth researchers as guests: Ruth, Jess, Zach, and Kristine.
The Fourth of July dinner planned and prepared by the U.S. members of JSEP 2013.
Sam and John Peter with Ronin, the Grill Master!
A guitar was found and we all sang while Fred played some classic American tunes – we especially nailed the CCR hit, Have You Ever Seen the Rain. Sam and Sandra also showed their gifts with the guitar, and we were happy to have one of the Greenlandic students from the other group that shares our building come by to sing and play her guitar as well.
Sing-a-long at the JSEP 2013 Fourth of July party.
After dinner, we introduced our Danish and Greenlandic friends to such traditional games as the two person tug-of-war, the three-legged race, the wheelbarrow race, and the potato-sack race (using the heavy duty trash sacks).
Wheelbarrow Race at the JSEP 2013 4th of July Games
The exciting end of the Potato Sack Race at the JSEP 2013 4th of July Games.
The evening wound down with watching Independence Day! Definitely this was a Fourth of July for the record books for all of us.