Teaching in Greenland

A Pocket Guide to Western Greenland, Version 20.11

2011-03-11T04:33:00.000-08:00

Available on amazon.com and for Kindle
Everything you always wanted to know about living and teaching in Greenland (but were afraid to ask).

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List Price: $5.95/Kindle: $3.95
5" x 8" (12.7 x 20.32 cm)
Black & White on Cream paper
90 pages
ISBN-13: 978-1460924020
ISBN-10: 1460924029
BISAC: Travel / Polar Regions

Everything you always wanted to know about living and teaching in Greenland is a pragmatic, primer guide to living and working in Western Greenland.

Includes the real 411 on *culture * politics *people *language *communications *transportation *cities *weather *food *shopping *money *health *safety *sex *stuff *teaching *jobs. Now with pages of vital links, addresses and numbers to help you find what you want.

Weather

2009-04-02T03:11:00.000-07:00

Is it really that cold? Will I freeze to death? What about the long nights and days?

When I first arrived in Greenland, it was September. The sun was shining, the birds were singing, and I couldn’t understand why everyone kept saying, “Everything in Greenland depends on the weather.” Having lived through one of the worst winters in twenty years, I now completely understand what they were talking about.

First, even though there’s water everywhere, Greenland is a desert...

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More Good, Bad and Miscellaneous Stuff

2009-04-01T09:49:00.000-07:00

Other good, bad and miscellaneous stuff that will be invaluable to you

The Northern Lights - If you’re on your death bed and wandering what you missed in your life, hopefully it won’t be the Northern Lights. This, combined with the scenery and people, is the reason you’ll want to come to Greenland. They’re just magnificent and humbling, and almost mystical when you see them. They’re easy to see, even in...

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Stuff

2009-04-01T09:47:00.000-07:00

What Do I Need to Bring? What Should I Leave Behind? Visas?

Even though it’s the Arctic, you don’t have to go all crazy. Clothes are hyper-expensive in Greenland, so bring what you need. Remember that Air Greenland has a 20-kilo rule, which limits you in scope. Greenlanders don’t stand much on formality, so jeans and khaki’s work great. Space and weight are premiums.

The things you'll need:

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Health and Safety

2009-04-01T09:45:00.000-07:00

Greenlanders complain about the “Danish Model”, meaning they adopted most of their societal systems from Denmark. With any common sense, they won’t abandon the health model that they’ve acquired from Denmark. You should (theoretically) be covered for most health situations. After getting a CPR number, you qualify for most services, including dental and vision. These services are free in Greenland but...

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Money

2009-04-01T09:37:00.000-07:00

How expensive is it? What do they use and how do I get it?

No getting around it, Greenland is on par price-wise with Japan and Norway. Greenland is not the type of place where you come and expect to save money. It’s hyper-expensive.

Greenland has the same monetary system as Denmark and uses the Kroner, which is about...

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Food, shopping and lodging

2009-04-01T09:36:00.000-07:00

You have to remember that every beer, band-aid and banana has been brought from Denmark. There are no real native Greenlandic industries, other than fishing, services, pelts and refilling bottles. There might be oil (someday) and mineral wealth, but...

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Cities

2009-04-01T08:54:00.000-07:00

How do you pronounce Nuuk and what’s there? What else is there? What are “the settlements” and what are they like?

Greenlandic cities are always near the sea. The interior is ice and uninhabitable. The inhabited bits range from miniscule villages to Nuuk, the Danish-like capital.

Nuuk (pronounced nuke) is the center of cultural, political and economic life in Greenland, but at 15,000 people, don’t...

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Transportation

2009-04-01T08:52:00.000-07:00

How do I get around? Will I have a personal dogsled?

In a land so vast, airplanes are the way to go, but boats and cars are nearly as important.

Air - I’m not a big fan of Air Greenland, but there's been an amazing improvement in price and quality since the introduction of real competition from...

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Communications

2009-04-01T08:45:00.000-07:00

How are the Internet, phone and postal services? The Bad, the Reliable and the Expensive

This is the part where it helps to be hopelessly brutal again.

THE INTERNET IN GREENLAND SUCKSSSSSSSSSS! There’s no other way to say it. TeleGreenland is a monopoly (like most companies in Greenland) and they really have no interest in improving service because there’s no competition. However, the Internet is better in...

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Language

2009-04-01T08:42:00.000-07:00

Do I Need to Learn Greenlandic and Danish? A Tale of Two Languages

No, and yes. Greenlandic, or Kalaallisut, is polysyllabic, meaning it takes a root and adds on prefixes and suffixes. Some of the words are so long that when looking at a newspaper, you think you might...

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People

2009-04-01T08:37:00.000-07:00

What are Greenlanders and their kids really like? The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Greenlanders are funny, kind and relatively gentle people. They’re polite and friendly, and they're just as curious about you as you'll be about them. Unfortunately, many drink and there’s a...

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Culture

2009-04-01T08:36:00.001-07:00

What’s life really like in Greenland?

Greenland is the “bipolar polar country.” It’s a topsy-turvy world full of breathtaking, pristine vistas and views that you can’t see anywhere else on the planet, but there's sometimes a near complete disregard for the environment. There’s real kindness and humanity, and then crazy behavior that leaves outsiders mystified and confused. You can get...

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The Classroom

2009-04-01T08:26:00.000-07:00

What's Worked and What Hasn't Worked

Many Greenlandic classrooms lack structure, meaning students have little idea what’s going to happen. Establishing a schedule, or at the minimum writing on the board what your going to do for the day, goes a long way in avoiding chaos. If you don’t...

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Education

2009-04-01T08:25:00.000-07:00

What's the education system in Greenland?

EDUCATION
What’s the education system in Greenland?

The education system in Greenland is a big ol’ mess! When the home-rule government took over education thirty years ago, Danish teachers were slowly pushed out. It was a shock to the system. Standards have fallen, and in some places, you might think there’s sheer chaos.

There’s a great need for...

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Politics

2009-04-01T00:49:00.000-07:00

What's the story with Denmark and Greenland?

Denmark, after a few failed attempts, really started to colonize Greenland about 300 years. Hans Egede built a settlement near what is now Nuuk, and it’s been a love-hate thing ever since. No one really cared about Greenland as the world went on with numerous wars and the rise and fall of various empires and states. However, ethnic Greenlanders have been in Greenland for nearly 4,000 years, so they have a better perspective on longevity than most.

It was around World War II that people...

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