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Information for foreign citizens in Longyearbyen [pdf]

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Re: Information for foreign citizens in Longyearbyen [pdf]

#81

Post by Nullabillity »

Schiphol wrote: post #55
Nullabillity wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I lived in Norrbotten for 10 years. Blackout curtains help, but it's not the same thing.

In Spain every house comes with 'Persian blinds' ( https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persiana ) installed. They completely block the passage of light and are a perfectly adequate solution to this problem. It's a mystery to me why no other country in Europe seems to know or care. So much so that there's no English version of the above Wikipedia page.

My current apartment has them. They're far less effective than the worst-installed blackout curtains. When pulled down fully they block maybe.. half the light?

Blackout curtains themselves do a good job, but have a lot of side bleed. Blinds even out the problem by.. also adding side bleed between each of the sheets.

Re: Information for foreign citizens in Longyearbyen [pdf]

#82

Post by Schiphol »

Nullabillity wrote: post #81
Schiphol wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In Spain every house comes with 'Persian blinds' ( https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persiana ) installed. They completely block the passage of light and are a perfectly adequate solution to this problem. It's a mystery to me why no other country in Europe seems to know or care. So much so that there's no English version of the above Wikipedia page.

My current apartment has them. They're far less effective than the worst-installed blackout curtains. When pulled down fully they block maybe.. half the light? Blackout curtains themselves do a good job, but have a lot of side bleed. Blinds even out the problem by.. also adding side bleed between each of the sheets.

If you have "side bleed" between sheets we are not talking of the same thing. Really.

Re: Information for foreign citizens in Longyearbyen [pdf]

#83

Post by Schiphol »

jdmoreira wrote: post #61
Schiphol wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In Spain every house comes with 'Persian blinds' ( https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persiana ) installed. They completely block the passage of light and are a perfectly adequate solution to this problem. It's a mystery to me why no other country in Europe seems to know or care. So much so that there's no English version of the above Wikipedia page.

Same in Portugal

I get how these blinds (or the shutters stavros talks about in a sibling comment) would initially be more popular in Southern countries, but one would think that places with 6 months of always-on daylight would catch up eventually.

Re: Information for foreign citizens in Longyearbyen [pdf]

#84

Post by Semaphor »

Nullabillity wrote: post #80
Semaphor wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wouldn’t sleeping masks help? I love those (also earplugs and weighted blankets), but I’m not actually that light sensitive.

I'm happy that it works for you, but I've never been able to sleep at all with that kind of pressure against my face.

Have you tried those with space for the eyes? They should lessen the pressure. But personally, I enjoy it.

Re: Information for foreign citizens in Longyearbyen [pdf]

#85

Post by barry-cotter »

elygre wrote: post #44
notch656a wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

All violence sounds pretty extreme to me by most standards. For instance, boxing would be illegal, and toddlers would be in jail if seen hitting their parents/siblings. In practice I imagine it means something like "no violence from someone larger to someone smaller." Most places no one really gives a shit if it goes the other way around, like young kid hitting parent or wife hitting husband.

Things being forbidden does not necessarily mean that jail time is the response. Many societies (and oh how I want to write “most civilized societies”, so I do) also apply different standards to kids than to adults.

> Many societies (and oh how I want to write “most civilized societies”, so I do)

There’s no point in doing this. No one feels like you’re withholding judgment, or that you are (not) an enemy to their values. Either go with “most civilised societies” or don’t. Don’t be extra petty.

Re: Information for foreign citizens in Longyearbyen [pdf]

#86

Post by Muskoxworks »

ncfausti wrote: post #5

Interesting – I was just looking into visiting/living in Svalbard for a couple of months for the unique experience of it. Unfortunately, I could only find one apartment building [1] and the price for an apartment was $6,000 USD. I've read that most of the apartments are owned by companies, and you have to work for the company to have access to the apartment. Does anyone know of any other alternatives for a short stay…

I am living and working in Longyearbyen, and have an apartment through work. It stands unused for 4 weeks when I am away on summer vacation. Send me a mesage if you are interested in renting

Re: Information for foreign citizens in Longyearbyen [pdf]

#88

Post by yencabulator »

rippercushions wrote: post #17
Nullabillity wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People always talk about the winters, but the thing that really messes with you is the summers, if you're light-sensitive then that's a really long period of not getting any proper sleep.

This is why virtually all Nordic households have blackout curtains.

I never saw such in Finland growing up. Thick roll-up shade, sure, but the edges would leak light. I'd say most Finns at least learn to sleep with light in the room.

Re: Information for foreign citizens in Longyearbyen [pdf]

#89

Post by Nullabillity »

Semaphor wrote: post #84
Nullabillity wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm happy that it works for you, but I've never been able to sleep at all with that kind of pressure against my face.

Have you tried those with space for the eyes? They should lessen the pressure. But personally, I enjoy it.

My eyes are fairly recessed already, the problem is more about the overall pressure on the face, which is a pretty inherent problem to that approach.

Re: Information for foreign citizens in Longyearbyen [pdf]

#90

Post by dylan604 »

cromulent wrote: post #69
dylan604 wrote: post #32

What's the typical cloud coverage in Svalbard? Is it typically cloudy? I've always been interested in the polar night strictly from an astronomy viewing perspective. Does the convenience of 24 hour night sky become moot from near constant cloud cover?

The observatory there has some sky-pointed cameras to check for the aurora borealis etc. When I was there in January there was quite a lot of clear sky. http://kho.unis.no https://virmalised.ee/aurora-live-cameras/#svalbard

What constitutes "quite a lot" in your terms?
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