independent people is a book by icelandic author Halldór Laxness. written in 1948, this book later won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1955. it "... is to have evoked the mood and rhythm of life in an isolated community in a remote corner of Europe as no other writer has done since the time of the great Icelandic sagas." we follow the life of a small farming family in iceland in the early 20th century. i usually have trouble with the style and rhythm of writing from this era, but it completely and totally works for this 600 page monster. one learns a lot of icelandic history, gets a feeling for its contemporary roots, and we come much closer to understanding icelandic identity. i highly, highly recommend this book.
i joined a band! with a bunch of icelanders (and one pole). the lineup is hjortur on drums (and guitar sometimes), hugrun singing, girl whos name i can't remember on keys, girl whos name i can't remember 2 singing and playing guitar, me playing bass and singing. my friend alice was in the band before she left, and i saw them perform 2 weekends ago and was impressed. and they were looking for a bass player, so voila!
we're just establishing our rhythms for practice, etc, so things are kind of up in the air, but i'm stoked. we jam at hjortur's place, and hes got 3(?) kids, i think; so i get to hang out with an icelandic family often. its perty rad and lucky. i think i'll actually be composing music for this project, cause its really open ended.
i just watched a hilarious film: 101 reykjavik. it was made in 2000, and was pretty much entirely shot in reykjavik and the surrounding area. theres a few scenes with the university in it, and plenty of shots of bars i've been in, streets i've walked on, etc. its pretty good for just seeing what the place looks like, and kind of what it feels like. be warned, its pretty racy and theres quite a bit of nudity. its hilarious.
13.8.09
Mount Esja, Habunga, Hatindur
went north of Reykjavik via public transit yesterday to the foot of Mount Esja to climb that monster. Esja, i'm pretty sure, is the collection of ranges that tower above the capital to the north. they don't look all that big from Reykjavik, but because of the low atmospheric perspective (that thing that makes things look far away), things that are incredibly far away are almost crystal clear. after driving towards this huge rock for 45 minutes, it just continues to loom larger and larger until the range is impossibly huge. it doesn't actually take that long to get to the top, like 2 hours or something, and the view is amazing the whole way up. anyways, i hiked up to the top of that sucker, and started heading over the next peak, which is Habunga.
that its another peak is a little misleading, because the entire top of the mountains in this area is a great rocky plateau, pretty much as far as you can see when you're in the middle of it. so i walked through moss covered vastness (the moss was FEET thick in places, felt like pillows), and fields of shattered stone surrounded by fog: about 10km. about halfway to Habunga, the sky finally opened up, and i was dumbstruck with the view. every direction is huge monster mountains, and no or very little development with exception to the south. and barely a tree in sight. i think i'm starting to kind of get people's respect for nature and belief in fairies, trolls, elves, etc. here. the land is magical, and its also difficult to think of it in terms of resources. because what are you gonna do with smashed rock and fields of moss and huge mountains? i dunno. nothing profitable. but maybe i'm full of shit.
i then scaled the remaining height of Hatinder, and the sky opened up pretty much completely there. i kept giggling in disbelief at how enormous and beautiful the landscape was there. i wish the pictures did it justice, but they don't. i highly recommend hiking in Iceland. once you've reached the top there are little aluminum boxes on some of the peaks with little guestbooks inside for people to sign (see the picture link at the end of this entry); makes you feel special. then i hiked down into some fields and walked back to the road. my bus took forever to come, so i started hitching. no luck. but the bus eventually came.
images!
that its another peak is a little misleading, because the entire top of the mountains in this area is a great rocky plateau, pretty much as far as you can see when you're in the middle of it. so i walked through moss covered vastness (the moss was FEET thick in places, felt like pillows), and fields of shattered stone surrounded by fog: about 10km. about halfway to Habunga, the sky finally opened up, and i was dumbstruck with the view. every direction is huge monster mountains, and no or very little development with exception to the south. and barely a tree in sight. i think i'm starting to kind of get people's respect for nature and belief in fairies, trolls, elves, etc. here. the land is magical, and its also difficult to think of it in terms of resources. because what are you gonna do with smashed rock and fields of moss and huge mountains? i dunno. nothing profitable. but maybe i'm full of shit.
i then scaled the remaining height of Hatinder, and the sky opened up pretty much completely there. i kept giggling in disbelief at how enormous and beautiful the landscape was there. i wish the pictures did it justice, but they don't. i highly recommend hiking in Iceland. once you've reached the top there are little aluminum boxes on some of the peaks with little guestbooks inside for people to sign (see the picture link at the end of this entry); makes you feel special. then i hiked down into some fields and walked back to the road. my bus took forever to come, so i started hitching. no luck. but the bus eventually came.
images!
Ragnar the Mighty
my friend Alice invited me over on tuesday to come over and help cook supper for the person she's staying. randomly, the person shes staying with is Vala Ragnarsdóttir, dean of the school of engineering at the university of iceland (which isn't so random, Alice was giving a talk on sustainability at the university last week). so Alice has already started when i arrive, and i get busy helping with the cooking for 15 people. eventually everybody files in, and we have supper. of the 15 people i think something like 4 or 5 of us are ex-pats from europe and north america. the rest are icelandic, i think mostly Vala's family. i eventually get to sit down once the foods out and everybody is relatively happy, and get seated beside Vala's dad Ragnar.
apparently Ragnar was (is?) the owner of a big aluminum factory here in iceland, and was a big big producer of work and an economic force in his day. he was born here in Reykjavik 80 years ago, as was his daughter Vala. he sits a little hunched over, still a big strong man, somewhat oblivious, wearing black framed glasses and a nice suit. i keep trying to lure him out in conversation, with varying success. he speaks softly and i have to lean in to catch what he's saying. the whole family seems to get a kick out of my being in iceland for 12 days and sitting with a prestigious icelandic family all the same.
eventually Vala and her family are all caught up in conversation, in icelandic of course, and i'm spacing out eavsdropping on this language i have no comprehension of. they're cute; most of them are quite blonde, tall and thin. very easy to get along with.
very random.
apparently Ragnar was (is?) the owner of a big aluminum factory here in iceland, and was a big big producer of work and an economic force in his day. he was born here in Reykjavik 80 years ago, as was his daughter Vala. he sits a little hunched over, still a big strong man, somewhat oblivious, wearing black framed glasses and a nice suit. i keep trying to lure him out in conversation, with varying success. he speaks softly and i have to lean in to catch what he's saying. the whole family seems to get a kick out of my being in iceland for 12 days and sitting with a prestigious icelandic family all the same.
eventually Vala and her family are all caught up in conversation, in icelandic of course, and i'm spacing out eavsdropping on this language i have no comprehension of. they're cute; most of them are quite blonde, tall and thin. very easy to get along with.
very random.
weather and daylight
weather here is crazy moody and sporatic. for all the technical information on precipitation and temperature just check out the wikipedia page 'Climate of Iceland'. neither really captures how dynamic a single day can be though. it'll go from being warm and clear, to cloudy and cool, in the span of about an hour. i find that i'm constantly putting on layers and taking them off.
because of how north iceland is, there are vast differences in the amount of daylight hours. here's the variance:
and even right now when the sun goes down, it feels like it is perpetual dawn. which is weird.
because of how north iceland is, there are vast differences in the amount of daylight hours. here's the variance:
| Month | Daybreak | Dusk |
| January | 10:03 | 16:59 |
| February | 09:13 | 18:11 |
| March | 07:46 | 19:35 |
| April | 05:55 | 21:10 |
| May | 03:50 | 23:04 |
| June | 24 hours daylight | |
| July | 24 hours daylight | |
| August | 03:06 | 23:57 |
| September | 05:17 | 21:35 |
| October | 06:50 | 19:43 |
| November | 08:18 | 18:03 |
| December | 09:36 | 16:57 |
and even right now when the sun goes down, it feels like it is perpetual dawn. which is weird.
10.8.09
Darth Vader Unicycle
i'm making pancakes in my kitchen. which is what i usually do at 930 in the evening. i'm spacing out looking through the skylight at the park across the way and the busy street. on the sidewalk, making slow careful progress, is none other than Darth Vader, complete with cape and body armor, riding a UNICYCLE. i make a quick mental note, but sure enough, i've taken my medication. as i stand baffled watching Darth precariously balance on his one wheel, slowly making his exit left, a car on Miklabraut (the busy street) brakes, and pulls up on the grass right beside Darth. they get out, camera in hand, and pose with Vader. no doubt for their profile pics on that accursed facebook. taking no longer than 20 seconds, they get back in their vehicle, drive off, and Darth exits left.
10 day mark
so... its been about 10 days or so. i like it here. it IS odd though. Reykjavik is a lil' town. of something like 120K and then 200K if you count the outside environs. its a smaller pond than i'm used to. theres a lot of tourism, and as you all know, i deeply love the tourist industry. i would give my life to the tourism industry. you can pay for everything with credit cards here. even my little cup of coffee for 300 krona (about 2.50 CAD). there is a very strange combination of what i call 'animism' in the general populace (respect for the land, belief that it is alive, etc) and hyper consumerism. very odd. don't really understand it yet, because in my mind those 2 things are quite far apart. almost describing the 2 extremes of a large gradient. MYSTERIES!
i have 2 friends. they are hilarious. Harald and Alice. i'll try to get them to pose for the blog. they are lovely. i can't remember what i wrote for the last blog (and am too lazy to check) so if i'm being redundant, tough!
the land here is amazing. there are virtually no trees in the natural environment, and only very low grasses flowers shrubs etc. there are black rocks everywhere. they look like some giant smashed enormous boulders periodically, and this is the after math. the combination of the black rock and black stone and low vegetation gives the impression that the land recently survived some fiery cataclysm. which i guess is kind of true. i don't believe volcanoes made the land, i think it was Thor, or Loki. one of them.
i'm gonna go gallivanting up a mountain tomorrow. it is to the north of Reykjavik, and towers above everything in the landscape. which means that by tomorrow evening, i will tower over everything! bwha-hahah!
p.
i have 2 friends. they are hilarious. Harald and Alice. i'll try to get them to pose for the blog. they are lovely. i can't remember what i wrote for the last blog (and am too lazy to check) so if i'm being redundant, tough!
the land here is amazing. there are virtually no trees in the natural environment, and only very low grasses flowers shrubs etc. there are black rocks everywhere. they look like some giant smashed enormous boulders periodically, and this is the after math. the combination of the black rock and black stone and low vegetation gives the impression that the land recently survived some fiery cataclysm. which i guess is kind of true. i don't believe volcanoes made the land, i think it was Thor, or Loki. one of them.
i'm gonna go gallivanting up a mountain tomorrow. it is to the north of Reykjavik, and towers above everything in the landscape. which means that by tomorrow evening, i will tower over everything! bwha-hahah!
p.
4.8.09
photos & videos
2.8.09
up to speed
so, to bring us up to speed:
i left manitoba via bus on july 28th and had a semi-brutal 2 days on a bus to toronto. whipper-snappers, jocks and bus breakdowns (at 3h00) provided me with a continual advertisement of flying vs. bussing and made me wish i was a sado-masichist. got to the toronto greyhound bus terminal at 9h00, paid 60 bones for a cab to the pierson international airport and hung out there till 17h30. chanted my flying mantra of "trust the engineers" (thanks jen) and made it to halifax
by 21h00.
ran to catch my flight on iceland air, and got on the plane with a bunch of blonde haired tall beautiful people. the stewardesses were fierce and european and made you quake in your seat when you asked for orange juice from their little trollies. they give you a pillow and a blanket! which i assumed you could take with you (which very few other people seemed to assume). after about 4 or 5 hours on the plane dawn broke on us and we saw the Atlantic endlessly huge and deep, horizon to horizon. we were perched by the windows waiting to catch a glimpse of this still fictional island of tundra and vikings and bjork. and we did eventually see it. its dull pallette and strange broken surface made me think of a Mucha print of the moon, or plains in Mordor. the island's edges gently rise out of the sea, the coastline gently erratic.
we touched down in Keflavik around 5h30 icelandic time and went through customs (again). i went to pick up my luggage and pleasantly found that the big plastic container labeled "fragile" had a side smashed in, but was still semi-functional, and my bike box with the Torpado in it seemed A-O-K. i grabbed the 2nd taxi outside the airport, interupting the driver's breakfast of coffee and croissant, and hit the road to Reykjavik.
it turned out that the driver was from a northern icelandic town and sang in an icelandic choir! his choir had toured the faroe islands (magical islands near here), parts of canada (including gimli) and the states. he pointed out the blue lagoon and other sights of interest in the mostly barren landscape: the old UN base, a pipeline transferring geothermal water, a big aluminum plant owned by a canadian. the roads are well made with strange foriegn signs with odd color schemes. traffic composed of almost entirely new european vehicles. traffic circles and light to mid density urban planning (when we finally got into the city). its a good thing i got a tour with the cab ride, because 11000 icelandic krona is a lot to pay for a 40 minute taxi ride.
Reykjavik was still asleep when i arrived at my flat at 64 miklabraut. the house looks grey and military, like every other house on the fairly busy 2 lane street. i waited around after finding the door locked. talked to a guy waiting ackwardly one stoop over ("i locked myself out, and my girlfriends out of town"), and borrowed his mobile to call my landlord Thorsteinn, whom i woke up.
he let me in at that un-godly hour and, bleary eyed, even gave me a bit of a tour. up past his flat on the 2nd into the top unit on the 3rd. the angle of the roof describes the edges of all the rooms with big skylights everywhere (which open!). 2 cute little bathrooms and 6 separate bedrooms in which (supposedly) 5 other foreigners lay curled up in their sleeps. Thorsteinn is a character (a very nice one). he makes me think of a character out of Guy Ritchie's 'lock stock and two smoking barrels'. hes squat and round with many freckles and tends to sweat profusely. lets you borrow tools and pay the rent whenever.
so the first day i spend dealing with jet-lag and icelation just getting my bearings. i rebuilt the Torpado (bike), but couldn't get air back in the tires until the day after. walked around reykjavik, giddy that THIS was my home for the next year.
the streets are narrow and all the houses about 2 or 3 stories tall. there are many slopes and gentle ups and downs which makes the city feel a little maze like. many rooves are metal, and the way things are built seems a lot different than north america. and people park their cars wherever the fuck they want. all up and down Miklabraut there're cars pulled up on the sidewalk half askew. and in the background always with the back drop of brown barren mountains in the distance. the city has a lot of wealth and tourism, so the streets nearly sparkle (puke) and there are lots of cute little shops that i'll probably never enter.
so the first day i just wandered around and slept a lot, and hung out with my german roommate Pascal, who is leaving for berlin in 2 days.
2nd day i got some air in my tires and zipped all around Reykjavik. its small! and fun to bike in. the streets are quite smooth and narrow with lots of speed bumps, traffic circles, and erratic tourist drivers to play with. i biked by the university of iceland and downtown. stopped in a little flea market and looked at some random shit.
Pascal had his going away party last night and i got to meet a bunch of people here. there were 2 montrealers here who i glommed onto, 4 germans, 1 swiss, 2 frenchies and an american. it was a whoop-la. the germans taught me a dexterity based card drinking game which was without name until i called it 'dangerous german game' (DGG) which seemed to stick. they also told me how to say uber-Scheisse (ultra shit) and omni-Scheisse (all shit (roughly)). i learned some basic icelandic and german and got to speak french with the frenchies and quebecers. we ate a lamb feast and got shit-faced off of wine and the german vodka. it felt really damn good to joke around with people and make some friends. big relief. and a good start, i think (knocking on wood).
i left manitoba via bus on july 28th and had a semi-brutal 2 days on a bus to toronto. whipper-snappers, jocks and bus breakdowns (at 3h00) provided me with a continual advertisement of flying vs. bussing and made me wish i was a sado-masichist. got to the toronto greyhound bus terminal at 9h00, paid 60 bones for a cab to the pierson international airport and hung out there till 17h30. chanted my flying mantra of "trust the engineers" (thanks jen) and made it to halifax
by 21h00.
ran to catch my flight on iceland air, and got on the plane with a bunch of blonde haired tall beautiful people. the stewardesses were fierce and european and made you quake in your seat when you asked for orange juice from their little trollies. they give you a pillow and a blanket! which i assumed you could take with you (which very few other people seemed to assume). after about 4 or 5 hours on the plane dawn broke on us and we saw the Atlantic endlessly huge and deep, horizon to horizon. we were perched by the windows waiting to catch a glimpse of this still fictional island of tundra and vikings and bjork. and we did eventually see it. its dull pallette and strange broken surface made me think of a Mucha print of the moon, or plains in Mordor. the island's edges gently rise out of the sea, the coastline gently erratic.
we touched down in Keflavik around 5h30 icelandic time and went through customs (again). i went to pick up my luggage and pleasantly found that the big plastic container labeled "fragile" had a side smashed in, but was still semi-functional, and my bike box with the Torpado in it seemed A-O-K. i grabbed the 2nd taxi outside the airport, interupting the driver's breakfast of coffee and croissant, and hit the road to Reykjavik.
it turned out that the driver was from a northern icelandic town and sang in an icelandic choir! his choir had toured the faroe islands (magical islands near here), parts of canada (including gimli) and the states. he pointed out the blue lagoon and other sights of interest in the mostly barren landscape: the old UN base, a pipeline transferring geothermal water, a big aluminum plant owned by a canadian. the roads are well made with strange foriegn signs with odd color schemes. traffic composed of almost entirely new european vehicles. traffic circles and light to mid density urban planning (when we finally got into the city). its a good thing i got a tour with the cab ride, because 11000 icelandic krona is a lot to pay for a 40 minute taxi ride.
Reykjavik was still asleep when i arrived at my flat at 64 miklabraut. the house looks grey and military, like every other house on the fairly busy 2 lane street. i waited around after finding the door locked. talked to a guy waiting ackwardly one stoop over ("i locked myself out, and my girlfriends out of town"), and borrowed his mobile to call my landlord Thorsteinn, whom i woke up.
he let me in at that un-godly hour and, bleary eyed, even gave me a bit of a tour. up past his flat on the 2nd into the top unit on the 3rd. the angle of the roof describes the edges of all the rooms with big skylights everywhere (which open!). 2 cute little bathrooms and 6 separate bedrooms in which (supposedly) 5 other foreigners lay curled up in their sleeps. Thorsteinn is a character (a very nice one). he makes me think of a character out of Guy Ritchie's 'lock stock and two smoking barrels'. hes squat and round with many freckles and tends to sweat profusely. lets you borrow tools and pay the rent whenever.
so the first day i spend dealing with jet-lag and icelation just getting my bearings. i rebuilt the Torpado (bike), but couldn't get air back in the tires until the day after. walked around reykjavik, giddy that THIS was my home for the next year.
the streets are narrow and all the houses about 2 or 3 stories tall. there are many slopes and gentle ups and downs which makes the city feel a little maze like. many rooves are metal, and the way things are built seems a lot different than north america. and people park their cars wherever the fuck they want. all up and down Miklabraut there're cars pulled up on the sidewalk half askew. and in the background always with the back drop of brown barren mountains in the distance. the city has a lot of wealth and tourism, so the streets nearly sparkle (puke) and there are lots of cute little shops that i'll probably never enter.
so the first day i just wandered around and slept a lot, and hung out with my german roommate Pascal, who is leaving for berlin in 2 days.
2nd day i got some air in my tires and zipped all around Reykjavik. its small! and fun to bike in. the streets are quite smooth and narrow with lots of speed bumps, traffic circles, and erratic tourist drivers to play with. i biked by the university of iceland and downtown. stopped in a little flea market and looked at some random shit.
Pascal had his going away party last night and i got to meet a bunch of people here. there were 2 montrealers here who i glommed onto, 4 germans, 1 swiss, 2 frenchies and an american. it was a whoop-la. the germans taught me a dexterity based card drinking game which was without name until i called it 'dangerous german game' (DGG) which seemed to stick. they also told me how to say uber-Scheisse (ultra shit) and omni-Scheisse (all shit (roughly)). i learned some basic icelandic and german and got to speak french with the frenchies and quebecers. we ate a lamb feast and got shit-faced off of wine and the german vodka. it felt really damn good to joke around with people and make some friends. big relief. and a good start, i think (knocking on wood).
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