More than an hour early, I’m sitting at gate 1 on Arlanda airport. Gate 1 seems to service Scandinavian Airlines flights to Copenhagen and Oslo. Seems only right, I would say. We might have plenty of rude jokes about each other, but still we’ll always put our Scandinavian siblings first.
I’m on my way to Bodø to have a meeting with some of the researchers that are working on the Arctic Resilience Report. From the SRC, we’re two professors, a Ph.D. student and me, the trainee, going. It’s my first real business trip (because the trips with dad don’t count). I have no idea how this is going to work out. I don’t know what to expect. I’m kind of scared, actually.
Later, evening in Bodø:
I have a cute little corner room with evening sun. It’s already past eleven, and the sun is still shining as if the end of the day was still hours away. Luckily, the curtains are surprisingly thick – or maybe not that surprising, after all. It’s a hotel. They must get many light-sensitive guests here this time of year. There is heating in the floor in the tiny bathroom. Actually, this room is very well adapted to its location.
It hit me on the plane from Oslo: I forgot to bring Mr. P with me. I got really disappointed with myself, poor Mr. P, now he won’t get to see the midnight sun. Well, I guess it’ll be good for me to travel on my own too, try to stand on my own two feet.
Bodø is small. We walked from the airport to the center, where our hotel is. The light is pale, kind of, clear but not very strong. It is quite cold. The pre-set amounts that you can take out from the cash machine start at 600 Norwegian kroner, and end at 3000. Who would ever walk around with 3000 in cash? Norwegians really are disturbingly wealthy.
Katja Malmborg 