lost without Iceland

I have spent almost 3 years in Iceland now and had a great time. Now I have left – very spontaneously. Thinking back I must say, I learned quite a few things during that time. Some examples are:

• I learned that one can do a good job in a bank,…without wearing a suit
• And I learned that it is ok to scream once in a while – even in the office
• I learned that you can even do a good job while wearing fancy hats gorgeous sunglasses or red metal wigs
• and I learned that you might be careful when having a video conference with SAP while being dressed like this
• I learned how you can setup an annuity loan where the only constant is the number of payments
• I learned that you can “build a church”, even though you think you are only loading bricks
• I learned that you must not tell an employee of Kaupthing Bank to jump
• and I learned that there can be a country where everybody is leading a company
• I learned that Vikings - even though they are strong and wild - have to write at least one book in their livetime
• I learned that you look rediculous while using snus!
• I learned “how to drink”, even though I thought I knew it before
• I learned that it is sometimes a good idea to have a drinking culture that differs from “drink as much as possible as fast as you can”
• and I learned that high taxes on alcohol do not prevent from drinking in any way
• I learned that everybody can do a good Karaoke job if he or she has drunk enough
• I learned that some food is getting better, when it is rotten
• And I learned that some food is still awful, even though it became better by being rotten…
• I learned that there can be a lot of pronunciations of ll and that – with some training – your mouth can produce sounds that you never thought of.
• I learned to pronounce “verði þér að góðu”, what was one of the hardest things I ever did
• learned to say Hlemmur in a way even an Icelandic taxi-driver would understand it
• I learned that a language that has 45 different ways just to say the word “green,” does not necessarily need a single one for the meaning of “please”
• I learned that painting every house in a different colour leads to an unexpected cosy and nice picture of the town
• I learned that, while Köln is often called “the northernmost town of Italy”, there is still a far northern place that could be called the northernmost neighbourhood of Köln
• I learned why the girls in Iceland are pretty and those in England are ugly
• I learned that 44 degree hot warm water feels veeery hot when you jump into it
• And I learned that a glacial river will wake you up, no matter how tired you are…
• I learned that – if you think you know all traffic signs all over the world – somebody will create an unexpected new one
• And I learned that it is ok to put traffic signs just in the middle of the street
• I learned that you can either believe in elves and trolls or not, but still live with them
• I learned that it is possible to expect, that everybody is honest without being totally disappointed
• And I learned that the statement above does not apply for car rentals
• I learned that it is possible to mix the cold attitude of Scandinavian people with the amazing tranquillity of people from south Europe
• I learned that you do not necessarily have to have only one Santa Claus. 13 will do fine, too
• I understood that even small children can survive when they are left outside in the snow in a warm buggy
• I learned that smaller does not necessarily means worse – if you’re talking about lobster for example…
• I learned that it need not to be taller than a man to call it a horse
• and I learned that total silence can hurt in your ears
  
• I learned that fireworks can be big, no huge,… no , … maybe HUGE!
• I learned that you can change the name of a big company like Islandsbanki within one weekend
• I learned that every weather is predictable (if “maybe windy, could rain or snow, depending on the temperature” is called a prediction)
• I learned that if it is snowing after april, its not snowing but only frozen water falling from the sky
• and I learned that vertical rain - in other words: rain falling top down - means indeed good weather
  
• I learned that you can adjust the power of a radiator by only opening more and more windows
• I learned that you do not need tissues when you have a running nose (still I do not like this lesson!)
  
• I learned that even Vikings need a toy – preferable a monster jeep
• And I learned that there can be a lot of different meanings of “off-road” since a glacier for example is NOT really offroad
• I learned that cute birds can be tasty as well (sorry for that, Filiz)

Finally I learned that you can put a huge project on hold within one afternoon
And now there is one important thing I still have to learn:
Living without a bunch of crazy people on a crazy island…

Takk fyrir sidast! Èg svona að við sjaumst aftur!