3 weeks down

It's been a while--time for an update. Zuguang's been back for the past week, and my plans are starting to take shape. It turns out I can't really obtain many of the optical parameters from the lidar, such as extinction and backscatter coefficients and depolarization ratio, due to various reasons involving licensing restrictions and intellectual property concerns for the software used to calculate them. So this means I can't really identify the ash plume from the recent Icelandic volcanic eruption, which I was hoping to do. But thankfully, Zuguang's explained a relatively simple way to get some useful information on aerosols and cirrus clouds, which is what I originally came here to study. I should still be able to do useful research while I'm here, and set myself up to continue the work after I leave, possibly as my senior thesis at Yale.

As far as non-work stuff goes, there was a 4-day weekend this weekend (due to Ascension Day, a Christian religious holiday) but the weather was horrible the entire time--cold, rainy, and so windy that the big construction crane outside my window was swinging around. (Of course, the sun came out today during work hours--then it got cloudy again.) With biking my only way to get around, I didn't want to leave the Rocket Range. So I spent the time working, reading the news, and playing video games on my computer. I wish I had more to do that doesn't involve staring at a computer screen--I'll try to buy a book soon, if I can find one that's in English.

Probably the most exciting thing that happened was when I burned the butter in the pan, in an attempt to make scrambled eggs. (I'm severly deficient in cooking skills.) I neglected to use the fan above the stove, or open the windows, until it was too late, and the next thing I knew, four guys in full firefighter gear were at the door. They seemed pretty relieved to learn that the "fire" was just a cooking mishap and not an actual fire, considering that rockets are stored in the building. But it's a pretty stupid system if I can set off the fire alarm and call the fire department, yet not even hear the alarm myself.

Next weekend's another 3-day weekend (due to Pentecost) and this time I'll be taking advantage of it, rain or shine, and finally getting off this sparsely-populated island to see more of Norway. On Saturday morning I'll be taking a bus to Risoyhamn to pick up the Hurtigruten, the same cruise ship that my grandparents took to see Norway last summer, for a 13-hour cruise to Bodo, a relatively large city of about 47,000. The ship is expensive, $137 for a one-way ride with no meals, cabin, or automobile, but I've heard that the cruise is spectacular (and my mom says she'll subsidize the trip because she doesn't want me to spend the entire 8 weeks in one place). I'll then spend the night in Bodo at a hostel, and do some things in the city the following day, like going to the Norwegian Aviation Museum. Then I'll fly back to Andenes on Sunday evening--the flight is about half the price of the boat trip. I'll definitely have plenty to post once that trip is done.