So this is it

Greetings from Iceland.

I arrived the day before yesterday at around five. The country was not being particulary inviting, wrapped inside a solid dark grey shroud of clouds, greeting me with the occasional shower. It had been a long day of traveling and my mood was swinging every two minutes from some kind of sadness of leaving to wild and bouncy enthusiasm you always experience in foreign places.

I will try to avoid the complaints about being tired in the future, but that is how I most of all felt on that dark Friday afternoon. Nonetheless, I found to my apartment rather easily. Speaking of which, the place I am staying is quite interesting. The landlord had apparently just recently acquired this half of a little, three-floor, around-ten-room apartment. It does not look especially glorious from outside, but the insides have just been renovated, so he is apparently creating a little guesthousey place for foreign students. Not much is working yet, for example we are missing a fridge in main kitchen, a washing machine and an internet connection. Everything ought to be up and running in a few days, which is completely fine by me. I was one of the first arrivals anyway. Seeing the place helped me lighten up a bit, I liked it instantly.

After that I braced myself and navigated the short, few minute walk down to Laugavegur. It was surprisingly narrow and quiet for a friday afternoon in one of the most essential roads in a capital city. Just a couple of steps over the one way road gets you to the other side.

Taking the same road again in light resulted in the same discovery enthusiasm as the night before. The sea and Esja could be seen from a distance, inviting to take a closer look. I just might do a pedestrian sightseeing tour tomorrow and arm myself with a camera.

I also tested myself and took the not-so-long-walk-either to the mall Kringlan on 30th of December. Naturally, it was crowded beyond belief. There is apparently enough Icelanders to jam a rather big shopping centre.

So far I have managed to deal with people with my strange and varied mix of English, Swedish and really poor Icelandic. People have said that Icelanders generally will start speaking to you instantly in English if they notice you are struggling with the local language. So far I have managed to complete all my grocery store conversations without people speaking to me in English, so I think I might blend in someday. I slowly learning the pronounciation, but understanding rapid fire Icelandic conversations seems like a distant dream. Well, I've got to start somewhere.

Icelanders have also started the firework shows days ago. They've been flying around very plentifully already, so I don't really yet know what to expect from tonight. I think I will hike to Perlan to be able to spectate it properly. I wish everyone a good 2007 wherever you might be spending it!