Oslo. We and you often get sad due to a cloudy sky or a rainy day, whereas in Longyearbyen, Norway, about 2,500 people spend their lives in dense darkness for four months continuously i.e. from November to February every year. 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 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 tablets and special light therapy lamps.
Here 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 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 darkness, people here celebrate it like a festival. Every evening a gathering of music, board games or stories is organized at someone’s house.
According to media reports, the best 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 dark months, social life here becomes more active than the rest of the world. People go out on snowmobiles to see the Northern Lights across miles of blue snow. For us it is a wonder, for them it is a night walk. People here organize music festivals like Polar Jazz so that the silence of the city remains filled with music.
The most interesting routine here is safety in the dark. When you leave home in the dark, you not only have to survive the freezing cold, meaning up to minus 30 degrees, but you also have to be careful of polar bears. There are more bears here than people and they become even more dangerous in the dark. That’s why 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.
The most interesting thing is that when the sun’s rays fall for the first time in late February on the steps of an old hospital on the island, the whole town gathers there to celebrate Solfestuka. That scene is emotional. People wait for weeks to see that one ray. This moment reminds them that no matter how long the darkness lasts, light always comes. 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.
