Starling @ 19 said:

“As a black American now living in the capital of Scandinavia…”

Hold on a moment! I thought you were working as an academic in the United Arab Emirates.

I know it’s none of my business but curiosity killed the cat.

Did your contract run out? Were there tenure issues? Did your university get hosed by the world recession and lay everyone off? What lead you to Scandinavia?

In a previous life, I did post-doc work in Goettingen, Germany. The sky is almost always overcast there and one seldom sees the sun (there are excellent reasons why Northern Europeans have white skin). I found the environment there so depressing that it was driving me nuts. I shudder to think what Scandinavia is like in winter (particularly near the Arctic Circle). How are you staying sane?