POSTCARD # 14 April 28, 2002
Well just/finally mailed the last postcard but though I might as well start the next one. On reading over the last postcard I realized that I forgot to mention or brag that I made it on the cover of the student paper again. "Madur Arsins" the man of the year!! Even if I have had trouble meeting some people the students of MH sure know me. It is a good start, even strangers come up to me on the street and ask, you work at MH don't you? Oh well at least they know where I work.
Things are progressing on the tour planning for the Sunnukor tour to North America. I also had the chance to meet with another tour company that has trips planned for Minneapolis and Manitoba. I have to keep out of trouble somehow while I am in Canada this summer.
April 17th to 21st Villy and I did a whirlwind tour of Minneapolis. We attended the INL, Icelandic National League of North America Convention there. My cousins Jeff and Carol played host to us for the 1st day. The barbequed steak was awesome, I guess I miss my beef, and we had a great time with them. Carol even took a day off work so she could show us around. I was able to get a few parts for my Blazer and Villy went crazy at a camera shop. We visited Jeff at the school he works at as custodian, had to compare notes you know. They dropped us off at the hotel at the University where we spent the next 3 nights. The bus from Manitoba came rolling in at almost midnight so it was nice to greet all of them.
The INL convention was great, there must have been a lot of planning involved but it was greatly appreciated. Vigdis Finnbogadottir formally opened the convention and there were very many interesting meetings and discussions. Of course the food was fantastic, we were even treated to a seafood feast prepared by Siggi Hall a renowned chef from Iceland. The only complaint I have was the weather, it was so hot on the Thursday, I had to buy shorts and a lighter shirt. Saturday it got really cold and on Sunday it snowed, I would have to say they imported true Icelandic weather for us.
Now I am looking forward to the convention next year in Edmonton. The only down point of the trip was the long flight back to Iceland, I was not able to sleep at all and I had to go straight to work at the school. Needless to say even though I felt fine at the start of the work day I was pretty tired by the end of the day. I had a nap after work and of course that ruined my sleep later on, Oh well.
Tuesday was an interesting day, the new student council was announced and "sworn in" and they handed out gifts. Me being the person I am, I was given flowers and a nice thank you card, I thought that was enough but they called me back for a second gift and it was a handmade medal, a huge one about a foot in diameter and it had an Icelandic flag painted on one side and a Canadian flag painted on the other. I could not wear it right away because the paint was still wet. It is one of those things that I will treasure for a long time.
Sumardagurinn fyrsti, the first day of summer is a holiday for most in Iceland. I had to work the hotel until after lunch. It was a cold and windy day, but I thought I would venture down town. There was supposed to be a parade, but Villy and I couldn't find it. Like I said to him, maybe they cancelled summer in Iceland for this year. He didn't think that was funny. We were able to take in a bit of politicking though. The Conservative party for the city had a barbeque down town and we enjoyed 2 rounds of pylsur, hotdogs. Even though I can't vote in the upcoming civic election the hotdogs still taste better when they are free.
It is kind of tough to have to go back to work for 1 day before the weekend but it was an exciting day. First we, the teachers and staff were treated to breakfast by the graduating students. It was a nice get together. A little later we were treated to "Dimission", they tell me it is a tradition in the schools for the graduating students to perform various skits and entertainment for everyone in the school. Some of the pieces were just excellent.
Well another crazy weekend at the hotel is about to end. I did get away for a while to clean my blazer with Villy's help and do a few repairs to it with Gudmundur's help. I am off to a concert performed by the Women's Choir with Villy and since it is the first concert since Christmas I am looking forward to it.
Well guess everyone has had their fill of me ranting on and on, so until next time,
Bless bless,
Kent Larus