Uni and culture

Aino, Snorri, Karen, Roxy, and I went to Þingvellir (same place as last year) to do a photoshoot of some dresses Aino had made. It's about forty minutes away. Karen and Roxy modeled, Snorri drove, packed lunch, and took photos, Aino instructed the posing and took photos, I carried bags and took photos. Tourists were blatantly staring at us most of the time even though some of them were wearing much stranger clothing, like neon green boots.

We got coffee and ice cream at a roadside tourist shop which was a few minutes from the actual place. The only restrooms were there - there were some at the site but they were closed. So far the most tourists I've noticed have been German, I've found them in the grocery store at the mall too.

Classes are going alright. I have four classes, all for learning Icelandic (Culture, grammar, pronunciation, self-study, etc.) and have one class Mondays, three on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Aino has signed up for a culture class taught in English where they visit museums and things but I didn't sign up because I was unsure of what my workload would be like.

Most of the teachers are fine except for one who speaks to us as if we're native Icelanders, so I can't understand what she says most of the time. Most of our textbooks are entirely in Icelandic. For classes we follow powerpoints, read aloud from articles and pick out words we don't know, and have group conversations like "When is your birthday? Where do you live?".

There are twice as many foreign students now than before the economic collapse. There is a café on the ground floor of every Uni building. It used to be that annual bus cards were free for students but because of the collapse that isn't true anymore. You can't completely trust the Uni's website because a lot of information, at least on the English version, is outdated. Even so they might change something at the last minute and not tell anyone.

We went to get our bus cards too. There are two windows at the Hlemmur (downtown Reykjavík) bus station, one for regular bus stuff and one for bus cards for students. You have to give them your kennitala (social security number), phone number, Email, a USB with a photo of you on it, and pay them the card fee (either with cash or card). My debit card wasn't accepted for some reason so I had to pay in cash. You can choose to pick the card up in a few days at the bus station or the University, I chose the University and I should be able to pick it up today or tomorrow (after paying for it Monday).

My card also wasn't accepted when I tried to buy more phone credit online, so I had to pay for credit at the 10-11 convenience store a block from my flat. Instead of buying a plastic card you tell the cashier you want phone credit for your brand (mine is Vodafone) and you can get it in 500, 1000, or 2000kr amounts (just round it up to $5, $10, $20). They print a receipt for you and you call the number on the receipt, then you get a text when the credit goes through saying how much you have.

While in town we went to the library and I got a library card. It was somewhere around 1.200kr. I also noticed they don't group books by language like the US does. For example, in the Icelandic history section there was books in Danish, German, English, and Icelandic all on the same shelf. In the US they would probably be in a "foreign language" section then broken down into a History or non-fiction subcategory.

I've noticed in Iceland they use texts for a lot more things. For example, I was texted when the book I reserved at the student bookstore to buy came in. I was Emailed a copy of the receipt they gave me when I bought the bus card. My landlord also contacts me by Email.

Friday Roxy has a party because she just moved into a new apartment so I'll be going to that. I also never had a moving in party so mine will be held next week, it was going to be this Friday until we found out Roxy's was on the same day. My Swedish friend Jox is going to come visit me for a few weeks in December-January and he is also learning Icelandic, it'll be his first time in Iceland.

I live on Eggertsgata instead of Akrasel now and I changed my address with the National Registery, so if you want to mail me something and don't have that address contact me. Remember to mark packages as "gift" or I'll get taxed.