It has happened to me three times now, so I'm wondering if this is an Icelandic cultural thing I should know about. The first time, I was having a really hard day. The calendar said it was LATE SPRING, but the weather felt like the dead of winter and every time I went outside I got grumpy. Come to think of it, when I was inside I was grumpy too because I felt entitled to be outside enjoying warm weather. Anyway, I was on my way home and an old man came up to me and the Read More
Cultural Norm
If Finland is a spitting culture and England is a proper culture, I think I've figured out what Iceland is. It is a PEEING culture. I cannot tell you how many times I've looked out my window and seen someone peeing in our back parking lot or out front in the bank parking lot. It is unreal. I have started tapping on the window just to make sure the perpetrator knows he is spotted. Most of the time, the criminal is unashamed.The other day's experience takes the cake. Read More
Búsahalda Byltingir
The other day, I took the kids to a park near downtown to enjoy a few rare moments of precipitation-free fun. We heard some banging in the distance, and immediately I knew what was going on. There was really only one thing it could be. It must be....It had to be....the Búsahalda Byltingir. Darcy and I had just been having a wild ride on the see-saw, and I made her laugh so hard that she threw up all over the front of her coat. It was time to leave anyway, so we made our way home...in the Read More
The Chronicles of Language Acquisition
The last nine months of learning (what is said to be) one of the hardest languages in the world: Month 1: I can say my name, how old I am, and where I am from.My Icelandic is as good as Darcy’s English (2 year old level). I feel completely overwhelmed by the complex grammar structure of this language.There are 48 words for the number one. FOURTY-EIGHT. My husband, Colby, has studied 2 languages with similar grammar and gets it immediately. Although the grammar is ridiculous, I am learning new Read More
What is happening to me?!
I have had a really hard week. I feel like I've been welcomed back to Iceland with a slap in the face. I have had very little strength to face all the challenges of being back, trying to get settled in, and starting language class. This morning I found this article that made me feel very understood. This exhaustion is normal, and hopefully soon this too shall pass. Read More
Adventures in Scandinavia, Part 1
In Iceland, people are serious about catching rays when the summer sun shines (since it's so rare). It’s almost as if people just collapse wherever they happen to be when the sun peeks out. One time, I looked out my window and saw a full-grown man lying prostrate on a piece of grass beside the bank parking lot. I love to see the Icelandic people enjoying the warmth of nature and not taking it for granted. Naturally, here in Finland I want to soak up every last bit of summer. Yesterday, I Read More
So…we are in Finland.
The VISAS never came, and our second 90 day period on our passports is up. We don’t know how long we’ll be here…we don’t know much except that we are together and in God’s hands. If you are not on our prayer team and would like to get monthly updates or weekly updates, just let us know. We flew into Helsinki, Finland and then drove 3 ½ hours north to a college town called Jyvaskyla. This place is strikingly similar to where I grew up: marshes, lakes, and HUNDREDS of trails for walking and Read More
Road Race (Icelandic style)
We finally discovered an Icelandic running website that advertises different races around here, so Friday night we decided to go to an evening race in the outskirts of Reykjavik. Colby and I both wanted to compete which meant the girls were coming with us in the jogging stroller. The 9K race started out on a very narrow trail, so Colby and the kids were literally in last place for the first mile in an effort not to hold any one up. The kids could not understand this, and the whole first mile I Read More
June 17th
Sautján Júni. (Soi-tjown Yoo-nie). We kept saying it all day because it has such a ring to it. Basically, June 17th is Icelandic Independence Day. Like 4th of July, minus the fireworks. We started out the day going to one of the suburbs to partake in the festivities. I saw a schedule of events that boasted of games and kids activities, but when we arrived at the Viking Village to participate, they wouldn't let us in to the "fair grounds" unless we paid. BOO. We decided to skip it and Read More
Glaciers, Fairies, and Lunatics
I told Colby last weekend that the only thing I really wanted to do for my birthday was hike on the glacier, Sólheimajökull. The next day at language school, there was a new girl in our class from Germany. At the end of class she asked me if I wanted to hike Sólheimajökull with her on Saturday because she had already scheduled a trip with a guide (and her roomie from Switzerland). Colby looked at me, smiled, and said, "I'll watch the kids!" The weather called for 80% chance of rain, so I was Read More