The Big Ice: The Project
Kangerlussuaq, Greenland
October 2023
I have been offered yet again, a unique chance to explore a place far up north, a place of wonders and unknown magic - Greenland. I previously visited Greenland in 2019, with another group of young people, learning about climate change and seeing the direct impacts it has on the Arctic. This time around, I was there with a different mindset and a new personal challenge.
This is a three part story. Read the first part, about the locals we encountered, here.
In a nutshell, Erasmus + Youth Exchanges allow groups of young people from different countries to meet, live together and work on shared projects for short periods, ranging from 5 to 21 days. Youth exchanges take place outside the school environment. On a youth exchange, you can expect to participate in activities such as workshops, exercises, debates, role-plays and other project-based activities. The programmes are funded by EU grants to support travel, accommodation and activity-related costs.
At the time of this writing, I have been on 6 Erasmus + projects and met hundreds of people from all corners of life. I had endless conversations on topics related to politics, religion, mental health, human behaviour, climate, cultural differences and social issues. I also took part in and (sometimes) organised workshops, debates, hikes, role plays, yoga classes, outdoor activities and local explorations. I slept in the same rooms with many strangers, sometimes only girls and sometimes a mix of both genres, sometimes it would be 3 of us in a small room, sometimes it would be 17 of us in a big dorm. I visited places I never thought I would ever get to and I found myself in really weird situations, or surreal. I also partied hard, maybe too hard in some cases. I always got a 360 experience. This is life, happening for me.
I know people that have been in more than 6 projects. In fact, in the Erasmus + community, I am a baby. There are people with track records, they stopped counting at some point, for them this just became a way of living. Saying all these, I can speak for myself and for others who admitted the same thing: going to Greenland has been the most impactful of all projects. I shit you not, I genuinely think that place has an out of this world magic to it. An energy that I never felt anywhere else. Maybe it’s the Northern Lights, the cold and remoteness, or the land itself emanating spectacular colours and textures. But I tend to also think it is the quick group cohesion that happens when you put 30+ people in a big room that feels cosy, when everybody knows there is a limited time to exist in a unique place like that and there is no time for bullshit.
Since the first visit to Greenland, in 2019, many of us made changes in our lives, or continued working in the spectrum of climate change, environmental sustainability, and youth wellbeing. When I came back to the UK, I promised myself to never go to a job in advertising again, and seek work that advocates for a clean environment. I later on started a climate podcast called Be Loud: Climate Podcast (you can still find it on podcast platforms) with my best friend. To present time, I talk about climate change and make conscious decisions about my way of living.
Other people continued creating projects and sharing the impacts Greenland had on them, whilst some continued being present in the local community of youth in Kangerlussuaq, looking at ways to improve the wellbeing of the children in school. The Motherflower organisation in Slovakia has been collaborating with Romanian associations to create a project about sustainable travel. The brief was to travel to the destination of the project with means of transport that did not involve flying - aviation is an industry with a very heavy carbon footprint. My friends, Monta and Gerda, kept in touch with the local youth and, building on our activities from 2019, created a full day sports programme with gifts and messages from Aston Villa football players for the 2023 project. We hope that another outcome will be opening up opportunities for the youth to travel outside of Greenland too.
Besides the impact the projects’ theme and local exploration had on each and one of us, I think the most important to note is the influence participants have on one another, through shared experiences and initiatives within the project.
When you meet 32 people, and you’re about to live, collaborate and eat with them for the next two weeks, it’s important to catch their names quickly, and the group cohesion needs to be fast. The beauty in this, is that you keep discovering people, in different circumstances, as long as you are willing to interact and start a conversation. Every activity we were on, it seemed like I was surrounded by someone new, and it felt organic to explore different places with different people, it was by pure chance that we would end up together.
What was also interesting to me at the end of the project, I was looking over pictures and videos that I made at the beginning of our time there, when we still didn’t know each other. Sometimes I see a photo and think “Oh yeah, that was Milo there, didn’t even realise who I was taking a picture of. What a great moment that was!”. And of course, at our reflection session on the last day, it was impressive to hear how people changed their mind sets and perspectives they had when they arrived. I find this to be a magic trick that Greenland plays on people.
As with every project, on the first couple of days we focused on getting to know each other through team building, ice breakers and self-discovery games. Most of the days we were there we focused on outdoor activities, given we had more sunlight than previously in 2019, so we did long hikes and study visits to the ice cap or the ice bergs.
To keep it practical and creative, we were also tasked with making short films about certain topics. Two of our participants from Denmark came up with a brilliant idea. We had to pick from a hat a few pieces of paper, each of them with a word written on it. Using those, we had to come up with a film idea, within our team. This time, we weren’t in our national teams, so we had to learn how to work with people we don’t normally spend time with, in a very short time. We had the afternoon to film, edit and send our video for a showcase before dinner.
Besides other work created during the project, participants have also went on their own creative process to share what they have seen and learned. You can watch a collaboration between Jaime Elena Tristan and Sebastian S. Engen here. Likewise, Gerda Muldaryte’s adaptation of Ice Ice Baby (to Ice Ice Greenland) can be found here. Gabriel also created a vlog for his YouTube channel, and you can watch it here.
I personally was gifted with new friendships, some closer than the others and some came unexpectedly. I found fascinating people, ahead of their time, some were so open and gave me such a warm feeling, with others I could have challenging discussions and with some I was able to enjoy the simple act of being goofy. I remember walking for at least 4 or 5 hours with Chris Colbourn, talking about how the place looked like Skyrim and recording a strange podcast interview about anything that came to mind, whilst harvesting some Greenlandic herbs and watching Jurgita, Jaime and Sebastian tripping behind us, from the top of the hill. We arrived back at the hostel without the big group, maybe 2 hours later than them, in complete darkness.
Later on, I found myself cooking for 30 people with Alex, our chef cook. I found out he can cook fish, and we were planning to have Fish & Chips for the British Cultural Night, but nobody knew how to prepare this, so I asked him if he could help us. I convinced him, and spent more than 4 hours with him and Milo, in a tiny kitchen, juggling between pots, chopping boards and plating. It was a massive success, everybody came to congratulate us, some English people said it was the best Fish & Chips they ever had. I was really proud. The next day, Alex agreed to help us cook more. Later on, I would find myself preparing fresh bread at 6 AM, half asleep. Days kept on going and it felt exciting to learn, spend time in cooking trance and put creativity into food that made people happy.
Chris Scicluna and I, although self proclaimed fake husband and wife at the beginning of the project, ended up looking forward to a fake divorce. On a short note, we travelled together for four days prior to the project, and could say our chemistry was a little bit off, but still managed to make it a fun time, including being so delirious from lack of sleep that we started talking English with a French accent. Which then continued throughout the project, with people around us getting a bit mind fucked. We eventually learned that we don’t get along on certain aspects, and that was fine too. Never again, Chris! Or maybe another time!
There was a guy there, Bogdan, Patricia’s boyfriend, who could literally make you laugh no matter what. His interpretation of late Vadim Tudor, a nationalist politician hailing from Romania, was the most brilliant I have ever seen and I couldn’t believe it was real. Patricia is also one of the most talented musicians I have ever heard, her voice came in like honey during the Romanian Cultural Night, when she picked a guitar and covered a folk song that always gets me - Canta Cucu-n Bucovina by Grigore Lese. Both would normally chill in the kitchen when we were cooking, which was sometimes inconvenient, because the kitchen was small and they were in the way, but their company was so good, it was hard to ask them to go out. On the last evening though, they weren’t there, and I felt it. I said out loud “something is missing, Bogdan and Patricia are not here!”. They eventually arrived!
I was also blown away by the kindness and openness of the Romanians. I had my first cognac in Greenland, and it was home made in Moldova. Served by Oleg on the first night, I got trapped in drinking this special liquid. Including on one of the days I woke up from a nap. In the big dorm, as I was coming out of my sleep, I heard the sound of glass chin chining. It was 2 PM and when the Romanians realised I was there, they put a glass in my hand and that was my wake up call. I was also blown by the kindness of Oleg and how wholesome it is to feel appreciated for the work done for a bigger group. He would come to us and say a sincere thank you and words of gratitude. When we left Greenland, my luggage was 6kg over my checked-in allowance. Without thinking too much, Oleg and his wife Masa, offered to grab some of my stuff and carry them out to Copenhagen, for which I was so grateful.
Jurgita and Jaime were the real hippie deal, though. And my new family in Denmark. You know when you have a conversation with someone and open up without realising, because it comes so easily? I’m thankful for finding these two strong eggs, that are willing to explore and put so much trust in me on different occasions, that I couldn’t even believe it.
Likewise, I felt honoured to meet other explorers like Andrei, with whom talk was always insightful and I could openly receive feedback from. I’m also massively impressed by others who came to me and started personal discussions, very surprised and honestly thankful for putting trust in me. I hug you!
Everyone on this project seemed to come together like a puzzle, from what I experienced. And this puzzle wouldn’t have felt exciting in the way it did if it wasn’t for Adi, who wrote this project 3 years ago, and it took a long time to finally implement it because of COVID. Adi, who lost hope, but then it happened. Adi who takes people places, and with whom you know you can count on for a bender. Adi who facilitates some fun activities and runs fluid through the day.
But Adi also had two fairies, Monta and Gerda, who were our bridge between the local school community and us. It surprises me how much they were able to be patient amongst all the kids and see the work they’ve been doing in between 2019 and now, come to fruition. Some children asked to be adopted by them - no surprise here! You can see more of their work here.
My time in Greenland couldn’t have ended better than with my first tarot reading from Sebastian, who is someone from the future - if you meet him, you come across luck. He walks around always smiling, his eyes are wide open and he holds magical secrets from the depths of a mind I still don’t understand. Strangely, there were 3 days we matched clothes, without even realising. And I’m talking about red socks, green trousers and top sort of thing. That was weird fun! But I got my tarot reading, and he had a whole shebang prepared, with small candles, herbs and wine.
Tarot seems like a magical way to get into self reflection and mindful thinking, and we kept missing the right time to do it during the project. I am a firm believer that some things come at a perfect time organically, and I realise how important it was to have this reading at the very end of our time there, from Sebastian. A journey!
These are only a few examples of the people I met and was fascinated by on this particular occasion. And sometimes, it can be very overwhelming to try and make friends with all of the participants on projects, but I always try to remember as many as possible. I basically have micro memories with everyone - either a short interaction or an intense talk that happened once. The point is, this is the subtle magic of Erasmus+ Youth Exchanges … subconsciously, you made a connection. It can be you saw someone smile, or passed by them while they said something funny, or you definitely heard them out in one of the group conversations part of the activities, and that sticks in a way that you might not understand now, but it can come later.
A highlight of these projects is cultural awareness, and connecting with people away from our normal communities, in order to learn from each other. I feel like I didn’t only learn from the participants, but also about them, especially in unique circumstances. This is the beauty I see in my experiences, and the reason I go into the world with an open heart and open mind. This is my learning process. Until my social battery dies, and it sometimes does!
