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Tag: iceland

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By eevenden

Halló allir! (Hello, all!)

This week has been very exciting since my boyfriend, Evan, was here for his spring break! It wasn’t my spring break this week, but (unfortunately for my professors) I was mostly not in attendance. This blog is primarily aimed for our parents to read since Evan and I have done a lot this week, and I am sure they are wondering why we haven’t been very responsive to their texts. To make it easier, I will simply do a rundown of the week by day with where we went, pictures, etc.

Saturday (March 3rd)

Evan arrived in Reykjavik at around 7 a.m. on Saturday morning, having flown here directly from Pittsburgh. After a couple hours of sleep, he was already to adventure for the day. Saturday was primarily spent wandering around downtown Reykjavik. First we walked along the shore and explored Harpa, the opera house. Then we continued to the University where there was actually a prospective students’ day going on, so there were tons of people as well as sample projects and weird machines to mess with. Our walk culminated with going to the top of Hallgrímskirkja and looking out over the city, something I have been waiting to do until I had a tourist visitor. That night we had dinner at Vinyl, the vegan café near my house which I have also been waiting to try, and hung out at a bar downtown.

Reykjavik from the top of Hallgrímskirkja

 

Evan on the frozen lake in Reykjavik

Sunday (March 4th)

On Sunday, Evan and I started off on a three-day road trip along the south coast of Iceland with our rental car. Day 1 was our longest driving day (6 hours total) since we had to reach Höfn, a town on the east coast of Iceland, for the night’s accommodations. Our primary stops that day were Reynisfjara beach (the Black Sand Beach) and Fjallsárlón and Jökulsárlón (both glacial lagoons). Overall, the weather was very sunny, but also extremely windy – some of the windiest wind I have felt here in Iceland.

...continue reading "Spring Break? Kind of."

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By eevenden

Hamingjusamur föstudagur, allir! (Happy Friday, everyone!)
Beautiful weather has finally come to Reykjavik! (Even though Europe is freezing and a Nor’easter is brewing in the U.S.). Good things come to those who wait, I suppose! Since I have already posted about exploring the Icelandic countryside, I thought I would follow up by writing a blog post about some of the arts and culture in Reykjavik, Iceland’s capital city!

Often times, Reykjavik is neglected in articles and travel blogs about Iceland. Many people use it as a home base during their vacations, but do not spend much time exploring the city. Like in most situations, Reykjavik has a lot more to offer than meets the eye, (or that appears in your Google searches). Here is a brief list of some of the museums and events I have visited over the past two months

Þrettándinn (January 6th)

Þrettándinn (which translates to “the thirteenth”) on January 6th marks the end of the Christmas holidays in Iceland. On this day, many towns in Iceland host bonfires for residents to burn their Christmas trees and set off leftover fireworks from the New Year. Knows as the Twelfth night to English-speaking Christians, in Iceland, this day is rooted in folklore and is associated with the twelve Yulelads. Traditionally, the Icelandic Yulelads are depicted as descendants from trolls, who wreak havoc and scare children, but today they are equated to Santa Claus. Þrettándinn marks the end of the Yulelads’ mischief until the following year. The photo below shows the Þrettándinn bonfire that my friends and I went to at the beach in Reykjavik, near the University. Hundreds of people showed up to burn their Christmas tree, and the bonfire was accompanied by an impressive fireworks display. This was the first cultural event I experienced – just a week into my exchange. It was certainly a tremendous thing to be a part of.

...continue reading "Arts & Culture in Reykjavik"

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By eevenden

Halló allir! (Hello everybody!)

When people talk about Iceland, one the first things that comes to mind is “Vikings”. Famous for its sagas and home to Leif Ericsson, Iceland is often stereotyped as the ancient home for Nordic Gods, warriors, blacksmiths, etc., etc. As a foreigner, it can be very difficult to separate fact from fiction here, since (in America) we do not learn much about northern Europe, and, as tourists, we want to believe these interesting myths about Vikings. However, it is important to know that much of the “Viking history” of Iceland is exaggerated for tourism, and in fact, few people would consider themselves decedents of Vikings. While I am here, I am taking a class about Icelandic culture, where we’ve talked a bit about the history of Iceland. So I would like to share some of the information I have learned in order to counteract a bit of the stereotyping we have abroad.

In our class, we’ve learned that the common historical narrative for Iceland tends to look like this (see below), with the “prosperous times” of Iceland being associated with independence, and the “unprosperous times” being associated with foreign rule. However, this trend is not necessarily true, since the good and bad times of Iceland also correlate with climate changes. While Iceland was under foreign rule, it was also experiencing the Little Ice Age, which made life here much more difficult.

To start from the beginning, Iceland was most likely colonized around 871 by Scandinavian and British farmers. Most likely, Iceland was visited before this for fishing purposes, and even inhabited before this time by Irish Monks. However, 871 marks the year when permanent settlement began, and this date has been estimated by comparing literary and geological data. Iceland is actually the youngest European society, despite the perception of it being very old.

...continue reading "Icelandic History & U.S.-Iceland Relations"

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By eevenden

Hæ vinir! (Hey, friends!)

This week I am going to write about my experience travelling around Iceland outside of Reykjavik (on a student budget). Since a number of people I know will be coming here to visit me or traveling to Iceland on separate trips, I figured it would be best to condense my knowledge and advice into a blog post in order to makes sure everyone’s trips are, one, safe, and two, relatively affordable.

Over the past two months, I have been on three day trips outside of the city to see some of Iceland’s famous natural landscapes! All of these trips have involved renting cars and planning a route for the day, which I will discuss later. My first trip was to the Snaefellsnes Peninsula in the North (#1 on the map below), a very scenic, mountainous area which is a bit colder and snowier than Reykjavik. The second trip (#2) was along the South Coast, as much as you can reasonably see in a day, which is famous for its farms, waterfalls, and black-sand beaches. Today was my third trip out of the city, around the Reykjanes Peninsula, home to the Capital and the Keflavik Airport, where almost all international flights arrive. This area is known for its tectonic and geothermal activity. In two weeks, when my boyfriend is here, we will drive further along the South Coast to Höfn (provided the weather is good) and spend three days exploring an area known for both its volcanoes and glaciers (see pink, hashed line). When planning trips in Iceland, it is worth asking yourself “what kind of sights do I want to see”, because it will differ a lot depending on where you go.

In this blog post, I will discuss the process of renting a car and driving in Iceland from a tourist/student’s perspective, since it is the cheapest way (and therefore only way) I have traveled throughout the country. There are a number of tour companies which can make your experience less of a hassle, but those trips will be more expensive, limiting, and crowded. So, unless you are very limited on time or don’t feel like researching and planning a trip, I wholeheartedly recommend driving yourself.

...continue reading "How to Travel Around Iceland (on a student budget)"

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By eevenden

Halló aftur! (Hello again!)

This is week has been a bit more hectic than usual with exams and projects due. As a result, I have been thinking a lot about the types of homework and assignments I receive while at GW compared to the University of Iceland, and how different types of work reflect cultural values and harness different types of skills in students (and future employees). No need to remain vague, let’s get to it!

One of the biggest differences I have noticed while here in Iceland is the emphasis on group work and presentations. Three of my four classes have a group project (or multiple) over the course of the semester. And, many of these projects require us to present our information in front of the class for 15-30 minutes. For one of my classes, we have to present current articles on sustainable energy topics every week and go through a serious “Q&A” session each time (with actual questions, not just awkward silence until the professor says “okay, thank you” and you can sit down). Many of the other exchange students have noticed this, and we have joked that it’s the “Nordic culture of cooperation.” However, this joke became reality this Friday when I had a group exam in Glacial Geology.

“What is a group exam and what is the point of it,” Americans may be wondering (that’s certainly what I was thinking). Our group exam consisted of 18 multiple choice questions. Each question had multiple potentially correct answers, and it was our task to identify every correct answer. For every wrong answer, we also lose a point. This was all a bit confusing at the time, but our professor began the exam by saying, “this exam is meant to facilitate discussion and be an exercise in cooperation.” I could almost laugh at how fitting that statement was, but have also been mulling it over ever since. (And I guess it worked since we talked ourselves silly in circles about each question.)

...continue reading "Contemplating Cooperation: Academic Differences between Iceland and the U.S."

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By eevenden

Halló! Velkomin á bloggið mitt frá Íslandi! (Welcome to my blog from Iceland!) This semester I am taking a break from the hustle and bustle of D.C. to study abroad at the University of Iceland in Reykjavik. As a part of a scholarship I am receiving from my university, I will be keeping a blog for the time I am here. I have already been in Reykjavik for nearly five week, so I have a lot to talk about! For this specific blog post, I will focus on general impressions and what it has been like to be an American in Iceland so far! Let’s dive right in!

My walk to school!
My walk to school!

...continue reading "A Beginner’s Guide to Studying in Iceland"

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