November 2002

 

Well after a very cold October November sure was mild. Work kept me busy, I started out the month teaching the teachers how to use some of the equipment like the DVD players and satelite system. The short course went well after I had to figure out how to use the things myself. My teaching did not end there, I had to teach an Icelandic and a chemistry class, and well it was not too tough. I had to take roll call and set a video on play and hand out some work sheets.

The first weekend of the month I headed off for Skogar to visit the new part of the museum and Þórður as well. Along the way I popped into visit one of the cleaning ladies from the school. She was staying at a summerhouse not far off my way so I thought what the heck. Her husband works for Landsbanki, one of the big banks in the country. I guess banks have lots of money in all countries. Fantastic place and great coffee and snacks too. The days are getting shorter but I was able to stop a little to photograph. I arrived at suppertime in Skogar. I had a nice visit with Þórður and then headed to the museum suite to sleep early but of course there was lots to read. He always makes sure of that. I waited until the next day to explore the new part of the museum. It concentrates on technology and transportation. It is fantastic and is still being finished. It was opened in the summer but they still finishing a cafeteria and a few other minor things. After a good tour I headed for Vik to visit my cousins there. The weather was nice in Skogar and horrible in Vik, which is only a short drive away. I had a short but nice visit with them in Vik and then headed back for Reykjavik. I did make a point of stopping in Oddi, which is a very old church location. It was even mentioned in some of the Sagas including Njáls Saga. Even though the weather wasn’t great the view was superb of Hekla and the Njáls Saga area.

Apart from keeping busy at work I have been meeting with various people regarding next summer and other possibilities, the Icelandic Golf Federation, Isafold Travel, Vestfjarðaleið and Bændaferðir to name a few. I have even had a chance to visit the Canadian Embassy again. On the 9th Villy and I attended the INL of Iceland annual meeting, there was not many for the meeting but the lectures in the afternoon were well attended and very interesting. We even had a chance to present our idea of having a cultural night in Feb and it was well received.

The month went by fast; well actually I was working a little extra preparing for my little holiday. I took it upon myself to find a replacement. I approached a fellow Canadian who is going to University here thinking he would fit in. I showed him what I could for a few hours over two days and I heard that everything went quite well. I had given the teachers lots of notice so they did bring quite a lot of work for me before I left and that was good. About the only other thing I must mention is that we had a potluck lunch at work on the 12th, I was going to try to impress people by making a cheesecake. It went well except that the gelatin did not set so I ended up eating it and bought a cake instead. It tasted great but didn’t look great.

I took off to Paris on the 15th so it was a real short month and Paris is a whole story to itself.

I got back to Iceland on the 25th and went to work again on the 26th. It was busy at work but I was well rested after my holiday and the final week of classes went well. Friday the 29th the staff celebrated Aðventufagnaður, last year they called it Jólaglögg. It was a party anyways and we all had a great time. I invited Shawn and Tricia fellow Canadians to the party also. Shawn knew a few more people than Tricia but I think they both enjoyed it anyways. A few of us even ended up at NASA the dance bar afterwards. EXPENSIVE, it cost almost $20. to get in and bottled beer was almost $15.CAD. It was a real nice place but I don’t think it is worth the price. I even stopped at Celtic Cross on the way home, having bars open all night is dangerous. I slept until 13:30 the next afternoon. I don’t know the last time I slept so late but it felt good to just relax. I went over to Erlendina´s a MH teacher for pancakes and coffee, tuna on pönnukokur?? Then had a very quiet evening and watched some TV, a long overdue rest.

All in all a great month and looking forward to a great winter.