In Uummannaq, Tora has been practicing with the children. A group of children has been visiting Tora since the middle of January. They come almost every day, and sometimes stay for hours. The children -- mostly girls, ages 7 to 9 -- speak only Greenlandic, so Tora has to practice just to talk with them.

"This has been a great encouragement," Tora said. "The children are so happy that I am trying to learn their language."

In early February, Tora and the children went out to play on the ice. It was a good day to go outside and play, because the sun returned to Uummannaq, if only for a few minutes.

Uummannaq is so far north, the sun is gone for months at a time each winter. Except for a couple of hours of twilight in the middle of the day, it is dark all day and all night.

"The ocean is all frozen, and there are many icebergs, both small and large, frozen in the ice. It is a beautiful sight. This day the temperature was around -27 degrees C (-17 degrees F). The children had a lot of fun running around on the ice, and climbing onto some of the small icebergs. Climbing onto the larger ones can be dangerous because pieces can break off or they can split."

"After such a long time of darkness, it was so good to see the sun again," Tora said. From early February, the time of daylight and sunshine keeps increasing, and around the middle of May, there is sunshine all day and all night.

"When I don't understand, they try to speak a bit slower and explain it in different words," Tora said. "Sometimes I ask them for different words, and then write down both the Greenlandic word or expression and the Danish meaning of it."

One of the oldest girls, Lone (LOOH-ni), has really ...

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