[Greenland] A friendly Danish driver will take you to find a homestay and experience the warmth and hospitality of a small town in the Arctic Circle
1/ Autumn at 69°N (Greenland Chronicles #2)
It is September, autumn in Greenland. The daytime temperature hovers around zero degrees. The summer crowds of tourists have just faded away, and Ilulissat is exceptionally quiet.
This small town, located 200 kilometers north of the Arctic Circle, is warmer than I imagined. It's not about the weather, it's about the human touch here. Ever since I met a friendly Inuit handsome guy on the flight from Kangerlussiyak to Ilulissat on the first day, I have been very happy about the people and things I met here afterwards.
First, let me talk about A who gave me a free ride at the airport.
When I met A, I had just arrived. However, because I was staying in a B&B, I didn’t have the hotel’s special car to pick me up like other tourists, so I was very confused and alone. I saw tourists getting on the bus in groups of three or five and leaving. It seemed as if I was the only one left, standing at the empty airport gate, waiting for a taxi that would never come.
I waited and waited, but the taxi still didn't come.
The north wind was blowing below zero degrees, and I was shivering even in my down jacket. A probably saw my miserable condition from a distance, so he came over and asked me where I was going. After I told her the address, she looked confused and tried to find it using her Google map, but still couldn't find it.
"It's okay!" She suddenly patted my shoulder confidently, noticing that I missed her car, and said, "Let's go find it together."
And so, I got in A's car. That was the first bus I took after arriving in Greenland, and also the first hitchhiking I took in Greenland.
A and I chatted in the car while looking for a homestay. During the conversation, I learned that she was
She is not Inuit, or even Greenlandic. She is Danish, but because she loves Greenland so much, she comes here to work every summer and stays for four months at a time.
A said that she first came to Greenland five years ago and stayed there for a whole summer. When asked what she likes about this place, she said it's not just the scenery, but the simplicity and hospitality of her Inuit neighbors. Ask A if he will leave in the future? She said that if she left, it must be because of "love".
As we chatted, the car unknowingly crossed most of the town and finally arrived at the host's house. A waved goodbye to me and said, "See you again if we're lucky." And this “see you again if we’re lucky” was not just talk, because I basically ran into her in the town every day after that. Ilulissat is so small that the city center is basically just one street. You will run into acquaintances every time you turn a corner.
Because of this, almost every household in Ilulissat, with thousands of residents, knows each other, and it is common to see groups of three or five chatting on the roadside. Most of the townspeople I occasionally met on the road would smile politely, some would walk with me for a few blocks, or wave goodbye to me in a friendly manner.
Life was good during the next few days in Ilulissat. Either I go out to sea to see the icebergs, or I wander around the town. The only drawback is that I was sick, but because I loved this place so much, I felt okay. Anyway, I felt very happy to be surrounded by such beautiful scenery.