Self-study and classroom lessons based on newspaper feature stories

This column is for self-study or classroom use and gives guided help with reading the wide variety of writing styles and topics that appear as feature articles in the Bangkok Post. The lessons include background information, skill-building practice and vocabulary explanations.

August 5, 2003

The attractions of the north

INTRODUCTION

Snow on the road in June
Can you imagine a place where the sun never goes down – daylight is 24 hours a day? And what about people who complain that 26 degrees is hot, can you imagine that?

If those seem strange to you, there’s some help for your imagination in today’s feature from the Thursday Horizons section. The writer, Peerawat Jariyasombat, made a journey to the Land of the Midnight Sun at the warmest time of year so he could tell Bangkok Post readers what it is like. You’ll enjoy reading his descriptions of the landscape and the life of creatures and people he met there.

After you have read the story, choose one of the two activities below. You’ll have to use what you learned in the story.
Activity One: Design a brochure

Suppose you and your small work group accompanied Peerawat on his trip to Norway as representatives of your tour company. Now your job is to design a brochure that will appeal to Thai travellers and encourage them to visit this land of 24-hour sunlight. Here are some of the ideas you might want to include in your brochure:

scenery

local wildlife

picture-taking opportunities

local food specialities

methods of travel

equipment and clothing needed

souvenirs to take home

You will want to use some of the pictures here to illustrate your brochure. There are brief labels just to identify each picture. You may want to use those or write your own.
Activity two: Write the captions

There is a group of people at a newspaper, called sub-editors, who write headlines, subheadings (called ‘decks’ in the newspaper), and picture captions. Today, you’ll have a chance to see what doing that job would be like. A good sub-editor knows what makes a good caption. Here are some guidelines.

It should tell what is happening in the picture.

It should include some important detail from the story that is illustrated by the picture.

Look at the pictures on this page and as you are reading, make notes of details that would be good to include in the caption for each picture.

Then cut out the pictures, paste them on a separate sheet of paper and write captions in your own words. You should of course use words from the story, but try not to copy whole sentences, that really lacks imagination.

OUR STORY FROM THE BANGKOK POST

Land of midnight sun

During June and July the sun never goes below the horizon and Arctic flora are in full bloom

PEERAWAT JARIYASOMBAT

Reinoya Island
Bright sun hanging on the northern horizon forced me to keep my sunglasses on even though it was well into the night. It was already 11pm, but the summer sun here on the northern tip of the European continent was still glowing brightly, the rays still strong. Every year for a period of two months, June and July, there is no night in this part of the northern hemisphere as the sun doesn't go down below the horizon.

SOME VOCABULARY HELP

flora and fauna
the plants and animals, respectively, in an area

productive
growing a lot

nestle
to sit or lie down in a warm or soft place

vitality
energy and enthusiasm

fjord
a long narrow strip of sea between high cliffs

thermal
designed to keep you warm by preventing heat from escaping from the body

thaw
a period of warmer weather following one of cold weather

raw
powerful and natural; not controlled or trained

slopes
hillsides

lichen
a very small yellow or grey plant that spreads over the surface of rocks

agent
a substance that produces an effect or a change or is used for a particular purpose

sanctuary
an area where wild birds or animals are protected

penetrate
to go into or through

punctual
exactly on time

diplomatic
connected with managing relations between countries

entourage
a group of people who travel with an important person

staple
a basic type of food that is used a lot

For the local flora and fauna, this is easily the most productive time of the year. The non-stop sun means plants and vegetables grow freely, birds nestle among the trees, reindeer emerge from their hideouts and roam the countryside. As for the local people, they forget about time and just try to enjoy the warm days and nights as best as they can.

On this day, it was clearly evident that the summer's sun had brought colour and vitality to the people of Lakselv, a tiny town on the Porsanger Fjord in the northern part of Norway. Its inhabitants had got rid of their thermal jackets and snowmobiles and taken to biking, trekking, swimming, fishing, and were even seen enjoying a drink in the sun.

“It is hot today,” my Norwegian guide, Jan Ole, said. It was 26 degrees Celsius, apparently quite uncomfortable for him and others more accustomed to living in temperatures below zero.

I thanked God for the melting of the thaw.

Lakselv's amazing landscape is a mix of miles and miles of rocky cliffs and hills stretching to the north and a nine-billion-year-old sliding glacier two kilometres thick. The best place to witness nature's raw power is Reinoya Island.

Huge slopes and strange-shaped rock cliffs make the island's landscape unique. The slopes are carpeted with vegetables and flowers, while the rocks on the field are covered with lichen. High rock cliffs dot the area. Every winter, ice floes crash against the rocks breaking them into small pieces. Then you can only travel around the countryside in a sledge pulled by reindeer.

“This is one of the two places in Europe where you can see this kind of landscape,” Helen Johnsen, the trip operator explained. Various kinds of plants and berries grow on the island, including Ainer, used as a seasoning agent when making smoked salmon. I did not see any big trees on the island.

Summer in the Arctic is also a happy time at Gjesvaerstappan, a bird sanctuary near the town of Gjesvaer on Mageroya Island, and home to countless species of birds.

From the deck of our ship we couldn't figure out what the Gjesvaerstappan, a group of three small islands, would look like because they were covered in thick fog. But after our ship penetrated the fog we suddenly found ourselves in the midst of millions of birds as they flew in wide circles above us. Every year from April to August, two million birds come to nest on its rock shelves.

“Eagle,” Iris Soderholm, my local guide shouted pointing to the sky. With a wingspan of over two metres, the mighty bird ruled the sky.

bird sanctuary
“The birds are quite punctual. They come back at the same time on the same date every year. Around 5-6 p.m. on April 14 you can see puffins flying into the sanctuary,” Iris told us. There were 400,000 pairs of puffins in the area.

Gjesvaer is 15 kilometres from North Cape, uphill, and we saw snow banks by the roadside with reindeer lying comfortably on them.

“The sun is hot for them (reindeer) too. The snow helps keep the bugs away,” we were told. These reindeer, contrary to us visitors from the tropics, I thought, must be praying for year-round snow.

As we reached North Cape the weather changed suddenly as thick fog moved in blocking out sunlight, and the temperature dropped to a cold 5.5 degrees Celsius within minutes.

North Cape lies on a steep rock cliff at 71 degree 10' 21” latitude, 2,053 kilometres from the North Pole. It is the northernmost edge of Europe.

Tourists come here for the midnight sun. From mid-May till the end of July, the sun shines non-stop for 77 days.

King Rama V stone slab
Thai tourists visiting here never miss a visit to a stone slab inscribed with the name of King Rama V that is on display at North Cape's City Hall.

On July 12, 1907, King Rama V made his second visit to Europe for medical treatment and to promote diplomatic relations. His entourage stopped over in Hornvika Bay, three kilometres from the cliff. Four local seamen carried His Majesty up the steep path to the cliff. That took a few hours, quite a difficult task in those days compared to the comfort of car travel that is available to us today.

If you travel around, you will see fishing villages along the coastline. Norway is famous for its salmon, which is the best in the world. Besides the rivers that are rich in salmon, there are salmon farms. Fish is the staple food in this part of the world. Well, not very different from Thailand and other countries in Southeast Asia, I thought.

“They are very fresh, probably from this morning's catch,” Ole said proudly pointing to a creel and then proceeding to tell me that Norwegians had salmon four days a week.

“What about the other days?” I asked. “Cod fish,” he replied.

The journey was truly an eye-opener and I will always have fond memories of my adventures in the land of the midnight sun.

Travel tips

Finnair operates daily flights on Bangkok-Helsinki route. Either way it takes nine and a half hours. From Helsinki get a connecting flight to Lakselv. Thai tourist require Visa to enter Norway.

Reinoya Island can be reached through Kolvik, 35 kilometres from Lakselv. A two-hour day package costs 350 kroner, including equipment.

Seabird safari to Gjesvaerstappen takes two hours. For more information visit www.birdsafari.com or e-mail Ola Thomassen at olat@birdsafari.com. The North Cape website www.northcape.no. For additional travel information in the north of Norway visit www.visitnorthcape.com

•This lesson was prepared by Maureen Paetkau, a professional teacher of English as a second and foreign language and Assistant Manager and Webmaster for Learning Post at the Bangkok Post.

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