Longyearbyen, Svalbard

The plane landed smoothly on the runway at Longyearbyen airport where a large number of excited students poured out into the single room airport to collect their luggage. Once the luggage was all collected we ventured outside to the coaches that would take us to our homes for the next 5 or so months. The sky was pitch black with a large sprinkling of stars which made it feel like the middle of the night, when in fact it was just gone 1300 (it didn't help that we had not slept the night before due in part to the large amount of light in the airport). Heading through the town we saw UNIS and the shops as well as the swimming pool and to my surprise both a primary and secondary school (which should not be surprising as there is a university on the island).
We arrived at Nybyen the student barracks for UNIS and attempted to drag or luggage to our rooms. As Sam was no longer able to come on the trip Stu took his room so we would be in the same barracks. Heading into the barracks you are required to remove your shoes and leave them in the 'cloakroom', however, the temperature difference is so severe you find yourself removing most of your clothing as well.
Heading up to our rooms we were pleasantly surprised to find we had sinks in each as well as a desk, table and two chairs with ample room left over. I quickly unpacked my room and gave everything its place then we headed back out and down to town.
I had decided that as it was the first day i would test how cold it was by just wearing my skinny jeans on my legs and a number of layers on my top. The temperature outside was -20 degrees and I can tell you now this was not sufficient protection for my legs.
The walk to the shop is a shallow 3km slope on a snowy road however is lit by bright street lamps. This did not stop it feeling like it was 1900 instead of the 1430 that it was. The temperature of the supermarket was much like those of the barracks so we removed our coats and hats and had a gander around what would be our only food store for the next semester. I and Stu had decided that it would be best to pool our resources and shop together as we would most likely be cooking together a fair amount. After some careful shopping and a look around the alcohol section for future purchases we headed back up the hill and home to cook some dinner.
We were informed that there would be a party of sorts in Barrack 10 just across from us as on Friday nights it is customary for different barracks to host a party in the kitchens.
After heading over to the party and having a beer it appeared that the lack of sleep had finally hit Andrew and he was promptly sent home to bed so he could get a full night sleep. The rest of us soon followed having being tired out by the last few days and wanted to be fully awake for the first full day in the Arctic Circle.