Bless Bless

Shortly, I will be lugging my luggage to the bus station and leaving Iceland. I have mixed feelings, as one might expect. While I am terribly excited to go home and see my friends and family and cuddle with my dogs, it feels strange to leave a place I have lived for so long, not knowing when I will ever come back. (I sure hope I come back. I mean, come on! I didn’t even see the phallological museum this time!) This semester has been a wonderful experience. I have done and seen the most incredible things; I have learned about a fascinating culture (especially its folklore—ask me about trolls sometime!); I have lived alone in a foreign city and felt completely comfortable, and my experience here has made me excited about the possibility of returning to Europe for grad school. (Though my attempts to learn Icelandic were somewhat underwhelming, I’ve recommitted myself to improving my German—so something good came out of that, right?) I’m glad I decided to study abroad, and very glad I decided to study abroad here, amid the sheep and glaciers and lava fields and indie bands. Some aspects of the program were less than ideal, but even still, this semester was ten kinds of glorious. Já!

What follows are some lists. Oddly enough, quite a lot of items on both lists seem to involve food. In no particular order:

Top Ten Things I’ll Miss About Iceland

1. Skyr. If I have not already sung the praises of skyr to you, then read up. (One key detail not mentioned on that site is that skyr is not yogurt. It’s technically a cheese. Right? Right?!) Also, as skyr is apparently now offered at Whole Foods, maybe I won’t be deprived of it when I go home. Delightful prospect!

2. Gamli Garður and its lovely residents!

3. Pedestrian-friendliness (Jón Ingvi, our Culture professor, tried to tell us that Reykjavík is a terrible city for pedestrians. Sir, you have not been to Cobb County.)

4. Snowy mountains! (Ohio has one, Georgia has the other, but alas! neither has both.)

5. Getting to walk by a statue of a wizard smacking the Devil with a book every day.

6. Swan pond. Thing 6.5: frozen swan pond.

7. All the things that are somehow cuter in Iceland than in America. This includes horses, sheep, and babies.

8. Flatkökur…I want to try to make some when I get home, but I fear it just won’t be the same.

9. Magnús’s crotchety one-liners. Magnús is my elderly Brit Lit professor, who delights in irony and always has a smile on his face while saying things like:

On Pamela:

"I highly recommend that you don't read this book. You'll never be the same, just from pure boredom."

On the madness of King George:

“If it is true that King George III had porphyria, then it should still be in the family of Windsor, so maybe we have something to look forward to.”

On Thomas Gray's academic career:

"He managed to find a fellow position at Cambridge that didn't require teaching... something I've always wished we had here."

10. The outrageous, beautiful, magnificent landscape.

Top Ten Things I’m Looking Forward to About Home

1. Family and friends

2. Reasonably-priced lattés. Actually, reasonably-priced everything.

3. Hot water that doesn’t smell like eggs.

4. Color. (I think every time someone’s asked me how Iceland is, I tend to say something along the lines of “Well it’s pretty flippin awesome EXCEPT, my god, is it ever GRAY.”) I’m going to dress like a rainbow every day. Might even dye my hair again…

5. Mexican food

6. No more 24-hour clock. Seriously. This has given me FAR more trouble than you would ever expect.

7. Dad Chili, Mom Bread, and other family-specific food.

8. Hulu. Sad, but true. I need me some 30 Rock.

9. Guilt-free English. I want to sound my loud vernacular horn over the roofs of the world.

10. 10 WHOLE HOURS OF SUNLIGHT. As a very pale person, I’ve always considered the sun to be my natural enemy. I was wrong! I take it all back! Can you ever forgive me?

Our only goal will be the western shore...