a la retour..

bing, bop.

Well, we’re back in Longyearbyen.  And I have a sore bum.  Why? Huh, mystery.

It’s beginning to become a bit sad, with all this coming to a close.  I want to stay here, with these people and in this amazing place.  I want to talk to them some more, about climate change, and about what we can do together to fight it.  This trip has been so absorbing; every minute of every day is spent talking, learning, or thinking about climate change.  It is going to be so bizarre to go back to a place where people aren’t always thinking about it.  Where people try their hardest to be oblivious to the problems we are facing because it might make them fell just a little bit guilty about hte way they choose to lead their lives.  They avoid re-evaluation.

And I don’t blame them.  Re-evaluation is hard.  It forces us to let go of our sense of self, of what we hold in high esteem as important in this world, and rethink how we do things.  Why do we drive?  Couldn’t our society just as easily be built around bikes? Just leave a little more time in the morning.  Or is it that time is so hard to find, that we move too fast to see where we’re going.  And here we are heading head-first into an abyss.  We value our relationships with things much more than we value our relationships with people.  We work day and night to afford ‘stuff’.  What we don’t realize is that relationships (with people) have become too expensive for us.  We  can no longer afford them; we prefer the expensive cars and excessive homes.  Take hope, be happy, be content.  Work to build your personal relationships and your assets will grow.  Take faith in the people around you, not in the numbers in your chequebook.  Trust the world, trust the people, instead of imaginary number and paper slips.

And then let go of this holy quest for power above all others.  Find the value in what you have, not in what you don’t have.  And right now, we still have some earth.  Love it.

love, jayme

Whales, keeping their voices down

Hai!

Bonjour, hola, yai! Today’s adventures? Woooo. Today, we explored an awesome whale graveyard. T’was mucho bon exploring. History up the wazoo. But seriously, it was very cool. There were piles and piles of whale bones, and then even the humungous spine of a sperm whale. Being there, I could feel the history. I could see the whalers running around.. chasing after their whales.. making blubber. Uhh.. I don’t really know what whalers do. But I could feel it. Then, this afternoon we went to a different place to go for a hike to, over, on, a glacier. BUT I (and some others) had to stay and do interviews, sooo we didn’t get to hike it. Bah. I could probably tell you what the glacier looks like though. It’s white.

It was fun to use all this inspiration I’ve been building up over the past week or so, and put it to use in an interview. Before this trip, I was passionate about the Earth, and about protecting the Earth, but not necessarily about climate change. In the past week, I have learned so much of the science behind climate change, learned that all that science really doesn’t matter, and then become angry that nobody is doing anything about it. It’s really so simple if everybody just committed themselves to it. But I guess committing yourself to climate change is like telling somebody you love them, when you are unsure of your family’s opinion about that person. World leaders are not only afraid of being wrong about climate change, but also about the reaction of the rest of the world toward them once they do commit. So I guess we could say world leaders are spine-less. They want, above all, to be liked by those they care about (and the Earth can’t tell the politicians how it feels about them). Gaaahh, just care, somebody! Everybody wants the power, the prestige; everybody wants to be remembered. But they refuse to take the risk. Common sense much? I guess the basic problem is that there’s no fire burning in their hearts. They are consumed and old.

Break free, become earth-wise, love me, love you, love we. Take action. You, people, readers, watchers, lovers of the world; light the fire.

Whales are nice.

love jayme

Zip, zap!

Zoink!

Right now, we are trying to get a meeting with the Norwegian Prime Minister, Jens, to talk about climate change. WWF tried to set up a meeting with him, or one of his ministers, but all were either too busy or out of town. Anyways, we have prepared a short film and a letter to send to him.

Look:

Dear Jens Stoltenberg,

We are the students of WWF’s Voyage for the Future, a 10-day boat voyage in Svalbard, Norway. We represent nine countries with vested interests in the Arctic. We have come together because we are concerned about the many issues regarding the Arctic region, including climate change. On our trip, we have come face to face with these problems and discussed many potential solutions that we would like to share with you.

You take a break for summer. Climate change does not. This summer, Arctic sea ice levels are predicted to be the lowest in history by far. Youth in every corner of the world consider climate change to be the defining issue of our time. Thank you so much for your help so far in tackling the climate crisis, particularly your pledge of 15 billion NOK to end deforestation. We propose a meeting with you to discuss your continued role in a sustainable future on Friday, June 20th, before we return home to our respective countries. Would you prefer a meeting for breakfast or lunch? Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,
The WWF Voyage for the Future:

Maria Waag – Norway
Karl Oskar Teien – Norway
Evanne Nowak – Holland
Michiel Jansen – Holland
Greta Hamann – Germany
Johannes Barthelmess – Germany
Emma Bierman – United Kingdom
Casper ter Kuile – United Kingdom
Jeremy Brammer – Canada
Jayme Collins – Canada
Sven Heijbel – Sweden
Nanny-Maja Anderback –Sweden
Ekatarina Levitskaya – Russia
Dmitry Vladimirov – Russia
Yuriko Murakami – Japan
Shunta Takagi – Japan
Ben Wessel – United States
John Monaghan – United States

Keep things real.

love, jayme

Bonjour tout le monde!

I will make this entry short… I am mucho tired. Mostly I just wanted to share with you (and record, so its all official), that we went swimming today! Right by some sea ice…mmm. And some bearded seals… mmm, mmm. It was really wonderful, though; cold, and refreshing. So often we layer ourselves in clothes upon clothes to protect ourselves from the harsh conditions of the Arctic. But in doing so, we separate ourselves from this amazing land. We cut ourselves off from the fate of the land. Swimming, though, was cool because I felt like a part of the world. Not like it was I who conquered the Earth, but that I am a part of the earth.

Also: we had a lecture this morning on marine life in the Arctic and climate change, and I now know more than I could ever have imagined about Kelp. Or macroalgae. Whatev.

Anyways, bed-ward-bound!

love jayme

PS. I even put my head under. All for you, mom.

Rawr!

POLAR BEAR. ‘nuff said.

Come together, right now

Olaaa!

Today, we travelled to the community Ny-Alesund, which is one of the most northern communities in the world. It was a beautiful blue day, and really nice to just walk around the town. We saw some reindeer, and an arctic fox just outside the town. We left there and went to Ny London, where we went hiking and exploring a bit. It was an interesting place, because it had been a marble mine, but was very unsuccessful and abandoned a few years later. All the equipment is still there. We hiked up a hill and got a wonderful view of a glacier. This glacier used to join 2 pieces of land, but receded, so an island now exists.

This evening, we also had our first meeting as a group (participants only). It was really great to finally talk to these amazing people. Over the last few days we have been off so much doing our own things in country groups, that I feel like the group has become very fractured. I think we need a lot more of these conversations in order to achieve the goals we set for ourselves. I think collaboration will be our greatest weapon. I also just love discussing things with all these new people. Because they come from everywhere around the world, they all have different experiences, ideas, and attitudes toward things. When I discuss things with people at home, there is rarely the variety of different ideas that I have experienced here. This is the most valuable thing I have experienced so far; I feel that my understanding of these issues has grown ten-fold, even in the last few days. I am really excited to work with these people, and I think that together we will be able to influence the change we want.

Again and again, I come to the conclusion that the Arctic is beautiful, despite its obvious lack of trees, grass, and most things green. As I mentioned yesterday, the beauty of the arctic is in its fragility. The life; flowers, plants, reindeer, polar bears; that live here depend so wholly and completely on one another that one single, tiny change, would throw the whole ecosystem out of balance. The Arctic is an unforgiving place, filled with harsh weather, days full of light, and days when there is no light. Cold and snow cover the ground for most of the year. It really is amazing that there is life in these conditions at all. The severity of the Arctic conditions leaves little room for error, and we must show this region the utmost respect. There are tiny, bright purple flowers that must always be fighting for their life. These flowers, and other tiny plants covering the ground provide food for the reindeers, who raise their young to continue the cycle. These reindeers then provide food for the larger carnivores, including humans. This cycle leaves little room for flexibility, and if anything were to change I feel that all would change. If the conditions aren’t right for plants to grow, and there are no plants for the reindeer to eat, then the reindeer die, and so on. The whole system is affected. I hope that we realize that climate change is, and will be, the change that upsets this fragile system.

The arctic is beautiful and unique; and it is worth it to protect it.

love jayme

Wish, wash

Bonjour!

It’s about 10:45 pm, and the sun just came out.  I feel like I should be out there getting ready to play, but instead I’m about to close my curtains on the first sunlight of our journey.

This morning we went for an exploration of the area surrounding Longyearbyen. It was really interesting. We saw the old mines and all the houses on stilts. I can’t imagine what it would be like to live there. There are actually quite a few kids around; in the afternoon, they all come out and ride around on their bikes. And they’re always really bundled up.

I just can’t imagine growing up in such a cold place. When I was little, I always hated the cold. What I really noticed on our walk was that everything looks really wind-beaten. There are tiny flowers practically hugging the ground for dear life, and trees that are about a centimetre high. These plants are so unique; not something you see everyday in Vancouver. All the rocks and the grass are beaten up as well. Life here seems to be in such a fine balance – everything is working as it is, but if anything were to change, I feel like it would all fall apart. The beauty of the Arctic is in its fragility.

This afternoon, we loaded onto the boat … after camera shot after camera shot. I feel like a movie star. It’s really cool to be on the boat, though. The quarters are very tight; the smallest washrooms I have ever ever seen. We’ve been in safety and security briefings, telling us about lifeboats, polar bears (guns?), and pirates (uhh … Tristan?). Its beauuutiful out there, though. We’ve been driving past huge snow-covered picturesque pristine mountains all day. They just don’t stop. I remember looking at a topographical map of Svalbard; and it looks exactly like the map described it. Weird …

It’s so exciting to spend all day talking about the environment, about climate change, about politics, and about people with all these amazing people from all over the world. Everybody comes with his or her unique life experiences and opinions, many of which are new to me and provoke me to think more (not surprisingly). It is also inspiring and exciting to be thinking of what should be happening and what we can do about it.  And then to think that I will be doing these things, is the most exciting part.  Too many ideas tend to fall by the wayside because of lack of contacts, or any idea of how to go about doing them.  But all this inspiration has got me thinking to actual action.

We’ll be heading to Ny-Alesund tomorrow, so I’ll talk to you then.

Love, Jayme

I’m lost.

 

Well Hello,

 

Yesterday, I got into Oslo at about 6 pm.  I had a stopover in Frankfurt, when I had an interesting adventure.  I decided to head into the city from the airport.  I got fantastic directions into the city from the nice man at the information desk.  I took the right train and everything.  But then, about 20 minutes later, I realized I was getting progressively farther and farther into the countryside.  I asked the ladies sitting next to me and apparently I took the right train, in the wrong direction.  Uhh.. whoops?  I guess somehow I missed the large sign saying “FRANKFURT”.  Good one, Jayme.  So then I took the train all the way back to the airport and into the city, and had about 45 minutes to wander around.  Turns out I wandered in the wrong direction, to the posh section of town, not to the historical part.  I felt extremely out of place.  But I did get ice cream!  And I eventually made it to the historical part, for about 2 minutes.  Then I ran back to the airport to catch my flight- which I made it to, despite my apparent terrible sense of direction. 

 

And today, we got to Svalbard!  Its about 10 pm here and bright as anything.  It seems like the middle of the day.  Part of me feels like the streets should be starting to get deserted, and the city settling down, and then part of me feels like the day should just be getting started.  I am also still pretty jetlagged, which may contribute to this confusion.  Longyearbyen is an interesting place.  I feel like I’m in the middle of the mountains at a ski-town, or resort.  It is really pretty here, but definitely in a different way than I’m used to.  I’m used to the quiet, deep forests of Canada; and sharp, dramatic mountains.  Here, there are big hills and snow coming right down to the town.  And no trees, which is the weird part.  But it is beautiful in its own way.  It has a very different feel about it- it feels very stoic.

 

After arriving here, we walked to the University of Svalbard, and had a lecture by Olav Mathis Eira, the vice president of the Saami Council.  The Saami are indigenous peoples located in Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Russia.  Traditionally, their way of life centers around Reindeer herding.  Mr. Eira spoke a lot about his traditional way of life and how it is being threatened and changed by Climate Change.  He spoke about changes in precipitation, and how rain during the winter caused a layer of ice to freeze on top of the snow, preventing the Reindeer from digging for food, resulting in many deaths.  He spoke about how the tree line is climbing- around 2 meters a year.  And he spoke about the traditional ways of predicting weather, and how they are not as dependable anymore.  I really liked hearing him talk- he has a really cool connection to the earth and it was interesting to hear him speak about it.  Often, I feel like scientific reports, while giving extremely worthwhile evidence, often miss out on humanity’s connection to the Earth.  The Earth becomes something foreign to us, something unknown, unfamiliar.  Hearing speakers like Mr. Eira makes the Earth much more attainable, understandable.  Something we all can relate to a bit more.  I hope this connection is something we can all explore.

 

Next time, feel the wind in your face!

 

love jayme

Hiya, world

Hey there, everybody.

Well, I am Jayme, and I am one of the Canadian Ambassadors for Voyage for the Future.  I am from Vancouver, British Columbia.  I’m getting really excited for this trip (I leave tomorrow!).  I have basically finished packing, except for a few things here or there.. which I plan on figuring out in the morning.

I hope that, as people, as a society, and as a civilization, we can recognize that we are linked beyond wealth, race, nationality, politics, and beliefs, and come together to fight against this issue.  I also hope that once this begins, we will be able to come together behind every issue, including poverty, AIDS, and human rights… In doing so, I hope that we will be able to discard our restraints as ‘members’ of one group or another, and recognize our membership in one large group: the habitants of a mutual home.  This is what I aim to work for, and I hope you will too.  Read my blog!

love jayme