Imagine, you leave for office at 8 in the morning and it is as dark as midnight outside. Even when you come out during your lunch break, the stars are shining in the sky and when you return home in the evening, there is the same silence. We and you often get sad about a cloudy day or a rainy day, but in ‘Longyearbyen’, Norway, about 2,500 people spend 4 continuous months every year, i.e. from November to February, in this dense darkness.
In the language of science it is called ‘Polar Night’. Where the sun remains behind the curtain and the world becomes completely dependent on artificial light. While our daily routine is decided by the first rays of the sun, the clock of the people here is only a game of numbers. In the rest of the world the rising of the sun brings freshness, but here there is no difference between morning and night. People here take the help of ‘Vitamin D’ pills and special ‘light therapy’ lamps so that the body gets the illusion that it is day.
In our place ‘Sunday’ means picnic, but here Sunday means keeping yourself busy inside your house amidst a snow storm. People living in darkness for so long are at increased risk of irritability and depression. To fight this, the people here adopt a special philosophy, which they call ‘Koselig’.
It is like our feeling of ‘peace’. People decorate their homes with countless candles, hot coffee and woolen blankets. Instead of cursing the darkness, people here celebrate it like a ‘festival’. Every evening a gathering of music, board games or stories is organized at someone’s house.
See the Northern Lights by riding a ‘snowmobile’
The biggest way to overcome loneliness here is community dinner. People from about 50 different countries live on this island, who have come mainly for research or mining. Despite so much diversity, the mutual connection here is amazing. During the months of darkness, social life here becomes more active than the rest of the world. People ride on ‘snowmobiles’ and go out to see the ‘Northern Lights’ in the miles of blue snow valleys. What is a wonder for us is a night walk for them. People here organize music festivals like ‘Polar Jazz’ so that the silence of the city remains filled with music.
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The most interesting part of the routine here is ‘Safety in the Dark’. When you leave home in the dark, you not only have to survive the extreme cold, i.e. up to minus 30 degrees, but you also have to be careful of the ‘Polar Bear’. There are more bears here than humans and they become even more dangerous in the dark. Therefore, people here always wear their headlights and reflective jackets. It is common for strangers to say ‘Hello’ to each other on the streets here, because in this dense darkness every person is each other’s support.
Interestingly, when the sun’s rays fall for the first time in late February on the steps of an old hospital on the island, the entire town gathers there to celebrate ‘Solfestuka’. That scene is emotional. People have been waiting for weeks to see that one ray. This moment reminds them that no matter how long the darkness lasts, light always comes back.
This ‘dark night’ of Svalbard teaches us that happiness is not dependent on external circumstances. Where we get bogged down in small problems, these people overcome 4 months of darkness with each other, love and celebration. This island is special not only because of the ‘Doomsday Vault’, but also because of the humans who have made nature’s toughest challenge their lifestyle.
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