How has it already been a month?!
I guess time flies when you are adapting to life in a new country.
The last 30 days have definitely been a whirlwind of excitement, fun, confusion, and frustration. Mostly good things, but other things maybe just the nuances of settling in.
8/19: Today we landed in Iceland – aka our new home. If I had a theme song that I wanted playing when I walked off the plane, it would be “Welcome to Iceland…it’s been waiting for you” (to the tune of the T. Swift song, ya know?) Like I said in the last post, there is just something I identify with here, and it already feels like home. Thankfully our new bosses are the most amazing life-saving people on the planet, as they pick us up from the airport and help us load our 7 suitcases into their vehicles. I bought this homeopathic remedy called “No Jet- Lag” specifically so we wouldn’t be out of commission for the whole day, but I think my adrenals were too fried from the move to care about that. Hence, I was in a complete fog and don’t remember much of that first day.
8/20: Remember when I told you that Bobby bought us FIFTH ROW Of Monsters and Men tickets back in March? Well by now we were celebrating what a good decision that was. Let me tell you, this concert was ahhhmazing. Since they were the soundtrack to our ring road trip, they have a special place in our hearts. And they put on a mean concert. In the beautiful Harpa concert hall. It was fantastic.
8/22: Looks like we arrived in Iceland at the right time, as this weekend is the Culture festival, or “Menningarnótt” in downtown Reykjavik. This is a day when thousands of people get together to celebrate Iceland’s diverse artistic culture. We walked around for hours discovering talented live music, dancing, and galleries.
8/24-28: This week was spent running around everywhere: getting our national ID card, cell phones and internet (what a pain!) and countless trips to Rúmfatalagerinn (aka my new favorite store, basically an Icelandic style Bed Bath and Beyond) to re-buy our entire life. I’m not kidding, I’ve been there so many times that the employees know me!
This week we also got to move into our NEW APARTMENT which is wonderful. We live on the 8th floor which overlooks Reykjavik and have views of the mountains from our balcony and of the ocean from our living room. One of our first nights, we saw the northern lights which I interpreted as Iceland giving us a big beautiful welcome hug. (Unfortunately I had to keep the star jumps to a minimum as to not upset the neighbors, but gasps and squeals of excitement did occur!)
8/29: Day trip! Vestmannajaer is another place I have been wanting to see for a while, so we took the ferry ride to the cutest island I have ever seen. Included was a hike to the top of a mountain with breathtaking views. (More about this fantastic place in a future post!)
|
9/4: I picked up our second european plug in – a crock pot! Aren’t they the best invention ever?! I can’t live without one. I have already made 3 batches of bone broth 🙂 |
9/1: Celebrated our 2 year anniversary. Bobby surprised me with a brand new espresso machine! Now we can make that delicious Icelandic coffee at home all.day.long 🙂 |
|
|
9/6: Wild blueberries grow everywhere here – just have to drive out of the city a bit and stop on the side of the road. We picked about a half gallon in an hour! |
9/16: I also attended my first Crossfit class in over a month – yikes, a little rough getting back! And thank goodness for gesturing because I couldn’t understand a word they were saying! I just look like a lost puppy trying to listen intently and then secretly follow people around.
A couple of things that have been tough/I have been a baby about:
-We have converters EVERYWHERE in our house. Ok, so we couldn’t buy all new electronics, so simple things like charging our phones and computer, running the essential oil diffuser, etc all need a converter. And of course I blew one of them out our first week here with my hair dryer. And killed the power in our apartment a couple times. It’s fine.
-The first time I tried to do laundry I had no idea what to do. I mean look at this display! What do these images mean?! And how am I supposed to know what temperature is in Celsius?! (Same difficulty applied when trying to use the oven for the first time.)
-When we were walking through Ikea the first week buying essentials like bedding, towels, etc. I had a minor breakdown when I realized that I already had all this stuff and now I’m just buying it again AND its twice the price! It was a low point.
-Another low point was the first time I went to the grocery store to do a major pantry re-stock. It was pretty easy to grab the basics like chicken and vegetables. But when I’m trying to read labels for ingredients that fit my specific eating qualifications and I can’t understand a single word and every item I pick up requires at least 5 minutes to use Google Translate…by the time I got home I was exhausted.
-Lastly, obviously the language is difficult to understand. Like, I can’t follow at all. It’s really weird to be in the same room as two Icelandic people having a conversation. I’m constantly trying to pick up on the few words that I do know. Do I watch them as they talk back and forth and laugh when they laugh? Or do I just sit there by myself and ignore them? Super awkward. The good news is I can at least make it through the checkout at the grocery store! REALLY faking it obviously, but it’s still a victory.
