Spent today at the Institute for Arctic Education at the University of Greenland. A fascinating day meeting with many folks for whom English is a third of fourth language. I wonder how they they manage to switch so freely between languages...makes a mono-lingual person feel pretty inadequate.
It was a series of fascinating conversations trying to get a handle on the kinds of issues facing the educational community in this country. Greenland has Home Rule (since 1979) but it was really only in 2002 with the passing of law that "educational reform" has really taken off. It is also amazing the amount of social, cultural and economic change facing this country with the discovery of huge oil reserves (that are projected to far exceed any oil reserves in Alaska) and the construction of the largest aluminum plant in the world by Alcoa just north of Nuuk. One forgets that this is a country of less than 60,000 people and all change is very personal. More about this in latter posts as I start to fully understand the situation.
On an unrelated note, decided to go for a walk after my meetings today. A pleasant -20 degrees C...but after 10 minutes and frozen whiskers and runny eyes and nose decided to bag it...not my ideas of a good time.
Well, tomorrow is a "cultural day" in Nuuk with free entry to all museums etc. so I should have a lot of photos to post.
Until then, cheers from the great white north :-)
Geoff
Sounds like a wonderful experience. I wonder if they notice an Australian accent or just think all English is the same.
ReplyDeleteFor further reference, the Great White North is a moniker that Canadians proudly use when referring to Canada. We can share though.
Be safe and enjoy the weather.