Subject: Postcard #7

Nov 21,2001

Hi folks,

Well what about those Blue Bombers, even more reason for me to go to Montreal this weekend. The weather sure is unpredictable. It still is not cold at all. Well it did snow Nov. 5th and that snow stayed for a whole 3 days. It has been raining quite a bit and I am not sure which is better, snow or rain. At least rain means it is warm. Even when there was snow on the ground it was quite warm. The main downside to winter in Iceland is the short days, it is dark until 10 and gets dark again at 4. It is kind of tough to take pictures, especially when it is cloudy, it is never bright enough to get any good pictures.

Well life goes on, and I am starting to work on some tours for next summer. I continue meeting people and am getting pretty well known around town. People come up to me in stores and on the streets and say Hi, Kent, need a ride or how is work at Menntaskola? I have also had some downers, I received some replies to my discussion paper on establishing a "Canada House" here in Iceland, some were quite negative but at least they took the time and effort to write. Government has been somewhat negative, I think they think all I am asking for is money but I think dialogue and moral support is much more important than money right now. I am very disappointed with certain groups like the Icelandic National League in Iceland. They do not even reply or acknowledge me. Everyone says to talk to them but they have to do some talking back for us to get anywhere.

Enough complaining, the days might be short but I still get out to explore when I can. On Nov. 9th I headed east with my cousin Atli, he was going home for the weekend and I asked if I could tag along. He lives in Vik but I got off in Skogar. I had promised Thordur Tomasson, the museum curator that I would visit. I last saw him 2 months ago when I visited with the school group. He even called me once to ask when I was coming to visit. The weather was getting a bit crazy on the way, windy but at least it wasn't cold and icy. We arrived in Skogar at 18:30 or so, and well received by Thordur, his sister and her husband. We sat down for a traditionally Icelandic supper of Lifraplysa and Blomur, liver and blood sausage. It was excellent and I enjoyed it very much. We sat and visited for a while. Thordur is a remarkable man, anyone that knows him probably knows him from the museum, and he is truly amazing. He is the same at home, just going all the time. How one person can know so much and always be on the go, reading and absorbing more all the time. He is even writing, on a small portable typewriter, verses that he is coming up with on the fly. After watching the news we headed off to the museum. There is a guest room there and that is where I spent the night. Of course we had to go exploring in the museum first, we took a quick tour and I got more of a history lesson that normal. We also checked out the archives. The papers and books, in the archives are awesome. There is also allot for North America, but most is from the area. There are personal manuscripts and diaries that have not been touched for many years but the are preserved and will be catalogued and researched some time in the future. I was beginning to think he wasn't going to let me go to sleep at all. He made sure I was comfortable and handed me 2 books to read before I went to bed, well he probably read 2 books but I was barely able to open one book and flip through it a bit. 

The weather really turned bad, the wing howled all night. At one point there was banging, which I thought was someone knocking but it was just a branch banging on a window. I did have a good sleep except for that noise. After breakfast a group of German travel agents showed up at the museum. I don't think the cars were turned off and Thordur was out of the house and at the museum doors to welcome them. I am always impressed to see him handle a group. Language is not a problem for him, he mixes Icelandic English and German, and keeps everyone captivated. He is not afraid to pull things off the wall and show people how tools or gadgets were used. He of course treats everyone to some pump organ music. In the old church that is on the grounds he makes people open the hymnbooks and sing along, it is like he is conducting a service. I am honored to say he is my friend and I only wish I had half the energy he has, even though he around 80 years young. Well I could go on and on but I will have to do that later.

Thordur gave me a ride to Vik after lunch, he was going to a funeral and I had wanted to go there anyways. Even the ride was interesting as he pointed out many interesting things along the way. I got to my cousins place after a blustery ride. My cousin, Atli's father is the community doctor in Vik so I went from staying in a museum 1 night to staying in a health center the next. I did go out for a short walk but the wind was still really bad. The salt that blew up from the sea was unbelievable. After a day of these bad winds you could not see out of the windows of the house. I am sure the salt took its toll on vehicles as well.

After 2 days of wind and rain, Sunday was gorgeous. Not a cloud in the sky and little wind. I headed off as early as I could to take pictures. Atli was heading to Kirkjubaerjarklaustur to play basketball, like a little kid I wanted to tag along. While he played ball, I toured the village and took pictures. The village is very historical, Irish Monks were said to have settled there some 900 years ago.

We got back to Reykjavik pretty late but the trip was very enjoyable and well worth losing a bit of sleep over.

Except attending another Mason meeting it was a rather uneventful week, the weather and short days doesn't help either. Friday Nov. 16th was Icelandic Language Day, it is celebrated on Jonas Hallgrimsson's birthday. The writer was born in 1807-I think and they have been celebrating this event since 1995. The students and staff of the school were treated to Voluspa by Thorarin Eldjarn, performed by an actor and a musician. The musician is actually the husband of one of the English teachers, an American, small world. It was very interesting, even if I didn't understand everything. The person in charge of the computers and I skipped out a bit early to attend a equipment show at one of the big technical companies here. There sure is some interesting equipment on the market and it is more fun when it is not your money you are spending, well actually we just looked and didn't buy anything. We thought we would be treated to some alcohol but coffee, kleinur and sandwiches were the only things available. We went out to a bar for a while anyways. Ouch, in Iceland it is normal to see people order a beer, 1/2 liter and a double shot of hard liquor on the side. I had to try, and it tasted good but a round for just the 2 of us was $40.00cdn. I sometimes wish I had an expense account, then I could really have fun.

Saturday the 17th, I journeyed to Blonduos with my English teachers. I drove as they were feeling kind of tired, it was cloudy, raining and dark most of the way. I was able to visit some old friends, actually one friend celebrated his 90th birthday this past summer. My parents were able to attend his birthday party but I was still not in Iceland otherwise I would have attended it as well. It is good to visit my old haunts, as Blonduos was the first place I worked in Iceland when I first came over in 1979.

Sunday was kind of a lazy day, I knew that the east and west finals were being played, and after 1 1/2 hours of downloading I was able to listen to the broadcast. It probably would have been easier to just call someone and find out the score but I am a stubborn Icelander.

Iceland is getting ready for Christmas and so am I.I think and hope I have done all my Christmas shopping, as I will take it to Montreal in a few days. I guess my next postcard will include a word or two about Boston and Montreal. You might a well experience it all with me,

Bless bless,

 Kent Lárus Björnsson