Kirsten Alburg Interview – Experiencing Polar Night at the Top of the World

The residents of Barrow, Alaska, don’t see the sun for the 67 days of polar night, but during the summer months, the midnight sun gives them 80 days of continuous sunlight. What is it like to live in this city at the top of the world?

Your hometown is Marquette, Michigan. What made you decide to move to Barrow, Alaska?

I moved to Alaska 20 years ago when I was 26 for a two-year adventure teaching in rural Alaska, and I loved it so much I stayed. Since then, I have lived and taught all over Alaska. I moved to Barrow four years ago because it was a region that I had never lived or taught in before. I thought it would be really exciting to experience the Arctic and it certainly has been.

I understand that there aren’t any roadways leading out of Barrow to any other place in Alaska, so the only way in or out is by plane or boat. Does this make you feel trapped in any way? Does the weather ever get so bad that neither boats nor planes can make it to you?

Most of Alaska is only accessible via boat, plane, snow machine, or four-wheelers. It really is a way of life for those of us who live here. It’s part of what makes it so exciting to live here. I guess when I think about it, perhaps it should make one feel a bit trapped, but to be honest, it’s just accepted that you might get trapped due to weather, and so you do your best to plan for it.  Here in Utqiagvik (Barrow), we are pretty lucky to have an Alaskan Airline jet service that offers multiple flights per day to Anchorage or Fairbanks. So the likelihood that we will be able to get out if needed is pretty good. However, I’ve lived in more remote villages, and when you involve bush planes, getting stuck due to weather, is much more of an issue.

Barrow is also known as Utqiagvik? Why?

Utqiagvik is Barrow’s traditional Inupiaq name. A few years ago, the community voted to change back to support the culture that is such a big part of life here. 

You are a teacher. What are the other main jobs of the other people who live there? 

We are a city with banks, schools, hotels, hospital, college, stores, restaurants, taxis, airlines, police department, government offices, etc., so there are many jobs for the people who live here. What makes us special is that we are the hub for the entire North Slope of Alaska, so we provide services for the outlying communities as well as our own. In addition, Utqiagvik is considered “ground zero” for climate change so we have Arctic scientists from around the world that travel here to do research. There are many jobs that support the science industry. Finally, we have the only tribal college in Alaska, which is one of our strong local employers.

Why did you decide to start a children’s magazine? What is this magazine about? When will it be available? How does one subscribe to it?

I decided to start a children’s magazine due to my strong desire to educate children around the world about the Arctic. The e-magazine is tailored for kids 7-13, and educates through fun facts, games, photography, science and service-learning opportunities. I am collaborating with Arctic scientists, Arctic educators, and Native Alaskans to develop content and activities. My thought is that the more we can connect youth with the Arctic the better off our planet will be.

I will be launching the first issue of the monthly e-magazine January 4^th, 2020. The first month is free and then it’s $4.99 per month afterward (you can cancel anytime). You can subscribe to the magazine by going to www.arcticexplorerkids.com.

What type of wildlife live near you? Snowy owls? Arctic foxes? Polar bears? Which of the wild animals if your favorite? Why?  

I enjoy all of the animals of the Arctic. They are all beautiful and amazing in their own way. I am constantly in awe of how well they adapt and subsist. As a photographer, capturing them living wild in this land has been a real treat. I’ve learned so much about what it takes to survive in this challenging environment. If I were to have a favorite, I would have to say it’s the polar bear. It’s such a big beautiful mammal and it faces a lot of challenges to survive in the Arctic. The polar bear is to be respected and admired. I’ll never forget the first time I saw one happily walking free out on the ice as if it was born to be there. It actually brought a tear to my eye and I couldn’t help but wish for the whole world to be able to experience that.

When do you get to experience the northern lights? What causes them? How long do they last?

The northern lights (aurora borealis) are actually the result of collisions between gaseous particles in the Earth’s atmosphere with charged particles released from the sun’s atmosphere. Variations in color are due to the type of gas particles that are colliding with nitrogen to produce blue or purplish-red auroras. They last anywhere from just a few minutes to hours at a time.

Do you know all the other residents of Barrow? How well?

After living here for four years, I feel that I know and have seen many of the other residents fairly often. However, as a community of about 5,000 that has many visitors, I am constantly seeing new faces. It’s not uncommon to see many people I know in the stores, restaurants, banks, etc., but I won’t know everyone. I rarely go anywhere without running into someone I know or without running into a stranger with a smiling face, which is great. It really is a tight-knit community. Most people are very nice, welcoming, and helpful to both residents and visitors. We all look out for each other, the kids of the community, and generally, it feels very safe. Overall, I’ve found Utqiagvik a pretty wonderful place to live, and I truly love living here.

How expensive is food on the top of the world? Gasoline? In other words, what is the cost of living?

I think on average you can add about 20% more to anything you can buy in stores in Anchorage and about 30% more than items found in the lower forty-eight. There are exceptions for both cheaper and more expensive. For a few examples, eggs are $7, milk is $9, a loaf of Dave’s Bread is $11, and gas is between $7-$9 a gallon on average. 

Do more people own snowmobiles or dog sleds than cars?

In Utqiagvik, most people have either snow machines, cars, four-wheelers, or side-by-sides. They also walk or use public transportation (taxi, city bus). In the villages, you will see more snowmobiles and four-wheelers than cars.

Historically, sled dogs were used often. However, today we only have one dog sled owner in town, Geoff Carroll, and he has a pretty incredible story.

https://player.fm/series/ak/ak-taking-a-ride-with-the-last-dog-team-left-in-utqiagvik

Can you explain what causes polar night?

Polar night is caused by the rotation of the earth in relation to the position of the sun. The earth rotates on a titled axis of around 23.5 degrees. As a result of this axial tilt, there are periods of the year where the Arctic Circle and the Antarctic Circle are either completely exposed or obscured from the sun.

Is it completely dark during the polar night? If it does get completely dark during the daylight hours, are enough streetlights and other lights kept lit to mimic daylight? 

Many people believe that it is completely dark from the moment the sun sets until it rises again. This is not true. It’s more of a gradual descent into darkness with many hours of dusk or twilight. As we get closer to winter solstice, the dusk hours become fewer and fewer, but we usually have some sort of light reflections at some point each day. We have many streetlights that brighten up our lives and some of us have what we call “happy lights” within our homes to mimic the sun’s rays. These, combined with taking your vitamin D daily and just keeping busy, really help.

I used to live in England. Days were rough during the winter months, especially when daylight didn’t come until 10 a.m. and the sun set at 3 p.m. Once the sun sets and stays away for a little over two months, how do you keep from letting all the darkness depress you? What do you and the other residents do for entertainment?

The people who live here generally love being here, so they have a positive attitude about the darkness. However, it can be a real struggle for some, and I think the best strategies are to make sure you take your vitamins, stay busy, and just find ways to enjoy the darkness. We have many fun community events and festivals. People get together with friends, and we keep our Christmas lights up longer. Many people get together with friends for meals, movies, and game nights. It’s also a really great time to enjoy craft making.  I love being outside taking photos during the polar night, and I love x-country skiing with friends. We use headlamps, and usually one of us has a handgun for bear protection if needed, but it’s just great to be outside enjoying the beauty of the Arctic night. Everything in life is about the lens you choose to see it through; it’s about your perspective. I’ve found that in life it’s important to keep that in mind.

How does the polar night affect your students?

You know, it really doesn’t affect the kids that much. They still play outside after school, and if anything, it helps them get to bed earlier. In the spring when the sun is up all the time, it is much harder for the kids to adjust to. They are up all night and tired in school the next day.  

Do people have trouble with depression and alcoholism because of the many days of darkness? What about suicide? 

Well, depression, alcoholism, and suicide are very real challenges here in Alaska, but I don’t feel that the days of darkness directly have a big impact on that. I’ve had 32 of my former students commit suicide over the past 20 years. Many were drinking at the time, and all of them have occurred in the summer.

How do the people of Barrow feel about the movie 30 Days of Night? (I love it! And the name of the lady running down the street as a decoy at the insistence of the vampires is named Kirsten!).

Ha. Thanks for noticing that. My friend group and I watch it every year as the sun sets in in Utqiagvik, and it took me until the third year to notice that. The movie is kind of silly for us who live here. We laugh at all of the inconsistencies between the movie and our real life here in Barrow, and there are many, which makes it fun watching (and I’m not a horror fan).

How often do you have power outages during the polar night? Does everyone have a generator in case of one? 

We don’t normally have power outages at all actually. If we do, it’s usually just a small section of town. We had one last year and it lasted about thirty minutes. but that is the only one I can remember in my four years of living here. The town has backup generators for important buildings like the school. We have a pretty excellent power crew up here; they keep things running pretty smoothly. 

What is the favorite hot beverage to drink during the cold winter months of darkness? Tea? Coffee? Hot chocolate? Something else?

I’m a big tea drinker. Chai tea lattes are my favorite. We have a few coffee shops in town that do a great job, however, the cost of a large Chai is $9.95. So at that price, I only splurge on Sundays.  

Barrow has 67 days of darkness during polar night, but doesn’t your town also have something like 80 days of constant daylight—I think this called midnight sun— during the summer? Does this affect people differently than the polar night? 

Yes, it seems that we have much more sunlight than darkness. We use strategies like having blackout curtains over our windows, setting timers in our homes to remind us to go to sleep, bedtime alarms on our phones/watches to help us stay on schedule. You just have more energy until later at night, so you really have to watch the clock. However, I’ve found my body adjusts to that as well, and after a few weeks of constant sun, I tend to get tired the same time every day. It’s the kids that have a hard time adjusting to the sun as I said before. It’s also a very beautiful time of the year. When the sun rises again, it comes back very quickly. By mid-March, it’s sunglasses season again.

Note: All of the pictures in this article, except for the one of the cover of 30 Days of Night, were taken by Kirsten Alburg. Thank you, Kirsten, for answering my questions and allowing me to show off your pictures. If any of you have more questions for Kirsten or just want to see more of her beautiful pictures, you can friend and follow her on Facebook.

You can also follow her on her YouTube channel.

Writing Prompts

Write a story about a character who moves from a tropical climate to Barrow, Alaska. Why does this character decide to move there? How long does it take them to adjust to the new climate and way of life?

Kirsten said that the movie 30 Days of Night has a lot of inconsistencies about “real life” in Barrow. Can you write a vampire story that truly depicts how they live?

The North Pole is in trouble—you decide what kind—so Santa, his family, his elves, and his reindeer must temporarily relocate to Barrow.