Stranger in a Strange Land: My First Day in my New Home

Within a few days, my life changed completely when I was unexpectedly offered a job as a figure skating coach in Iceland. Everything happened just as I was approaching my final finals week of college, graduation, and Christmas. After some hectic days in Colorado, Pennsylvania, a cross country drive from Colorado-Pennsylvania, and a quick visit to London (more on that in my next post), I am finally here in Reykjavik, Iceland!

The photo above was taken not at dawn, but at noon when I finally stumbled out of bed to explore the suburbs (actually all I did was go to gas station to get an Icelandic SIM card).

I visited Iceland for nine days last February so certain things are familiar. However, I nearly forgot how gray it is and how little sunlight there is during the winter. I've been in four time zones in the past week and this isn't helping with my "what-time-is-it" confusion! Also, there is so much sulfur in the water. Both of these things I knew, but was still surprised by once again.

I haven't done much adventuring besides my flat, my workplace, and an almost Target-esque store but here are my initial reactions:

-I don't speak Icelandic at all, I don't have the currency conversion rate memorized, and (despite spending almost a year in England) I don't understand the metric system or Celsius. Since I am in a suberb and not the central part of the city, it is not touristy. Everyone keeps speaking to me in Icelandic. I guess I blend in. I need to learn at least conversational Icelandic. I had handy apps for USD to ISK and F to C on my phone but that's another story for another blog post. So right now I'm just guessing and looking up later that my 2000 ISK SIM card was really only around $15.

-It almost seems silly to have an ice rink when the sidewalks are covered in ice! The ice on the sidewalks is bumpy, but one day I might try skating to work!

-There are still lots of Christmas lights! The lights are on all day too, whether 9 PM or noon. I'm not sure if there is a significance to that or just that it is dark enough all day for lights.

Right now, I keep opening the door looking for the Northern Lights! I'll keep you all posted on my adventures! Thanks for reading!