Postcard #15

May 28,2002

Hi all,

Well some of you have been waiting for this, I know the INL list has been, haha. I have been keeping really busy. I get into more trouble now than when I was working so much. April ended with a rush at school, students trying to finish papers, teachers trying to finish lessons and everyone wanted everything right now. Oh well, May 1 is a holiday here so had a break from the school work. Actually the last week and first couple weeks in May are kind of weird, lots of days off and most of them in the middle of the week. April 25^th, was first day of summer; May 1^st, Wednesday is Union, Labor Day; May 9^th, Uppstigningardagur (Accession Day) Thursday. Weeks sure were weird when you work for a few days and get a day off and work another day and get two off. Oh well can't complain, no one would listen.

May 1^st, I had to work for part of the day at the school getting rooms ready for exams. The exams started May 2^nd. Took my Blazer in for service and it sure runs better. It cost 8,000kr or  $130.00 CDN so I think it was worth it. Beginning of May we had some horrible weather, cold windy at miserable. Weather and having to deal with a bunch of drunken Icelanders at the hotel were making May a month to forget. I was happy or pleased to see that weather was no better in Canada. Calgary even made the front page of a few papers here and Winnipeg was mentioned after its snowstorm. Even though the weather was not great in the beginning of the month the days are sure getting longer, it is fairly bright all night now and getting brighter every night.

The weather improved as the month went on. April 10^th Villy and I traveled east to Skogar. It was kind of cold and windy but sunny. They have a word for it in Icelandic, gluggavedir, window weather. This was my first trip out of town on my Blazer; it was its test on the open highway. We spent the night in the former school in Skogar and had a nice visit with Thordur in the morning before continuing on our journey. We zigzagged our way to Vik and took lots of photos. Paid my cousin a quick visit and turned back for Reykjavik. We did a lot of exploring on the return trip as well and even though it was cold it was nice and sunny and great weather for taking photos. As I had to work at the hotel in the evening we made our way back to Reykjavik.

Sunday the 12^th a newswoman and cameraman from CNN Turkey checked in to the hotel. It sounded like they had had quite a day. Their luggage was lost in Frankfurt and they were delayed at the airport because of that, they came all the way from Keflavik by Taxi and she said it cost $100.00US. I didn't think it would of cost that much but that is what she said. They were here for the NATO conference and she was asking me some questions like how would be best to get to he conference. I was about ready to get out of the hotel for a while so I offered to take them for a quick tour of town. They treated me to supper and we even went shopping, as they needed toothbrushes and toiletries.

Well I wasn't invited to the NATO conference; there sure was traffic disruptions and security around the university and Hotel Saga. I just stayed away from the area and I even left for the countryside on Tuesday. Gudmundur and his wife invited me to their summerhouse.  It is south of Selfoss, about 45 min. out of Reykjavik. We went to turn on the water, for the summer. We had coffee and waffles and even though it was really windy and cold it was bright and a nice to explore new areas.

Wednesday, I made it official, I took in my work permit extension paperwork. I was also fortunate to be able to attend the Grand Opening of the New Canadian Embassy. It was a very formal occasion and I was able to meet some very interesting people. I also saw a few people that were in Minneapolis and it was nice to mingle with everyone. As usual the food was superb, and the champagne chilled just right. The foreign affairs ministers of Canada and Iceland were in attendance and both gave speeches. I especially liked how Iceland's foreign minister ended his speech and I quote " I am pleased to have Canada in town". It made feel good to hear that and some of the other speeches because they really spoke about links and increasing growth in trade and tourism between the 2 countries. It sounds a lot like my very reason for being in Iceland, go figure.

Well Thursday May 16^th was the last day of exams, so it was actually quite quiet for me. After work I took my Blazer over to Nesstal, Gudmundur's shop and checked it over and Gudmundur greased it for me. Well Friday after a quiet morning I snuck off work early like most of the staff and went driving. I traveled to the West Fjords. The weather was great, sunny and calm winds. I did get onto some horrible roads that reminded me of Iceland roads 20 years ago. Te he scenery was fabulous and I had to stop often to photograph. I made it to Latrabjarg, the most westerly point of Europe. I have wanted to make the trip for along time, I think ever since it was mentioned in speaking with Jean Chartrand a former teacher of mine in Gimli. She thought it was a fabulous place and I wanted to check it out for myself. Unfortunately I will not be able to tell her since she passed away last year. I guess I could say it was a memorial trip in honor of Mrs. Chartrand.

To be continued….