I'm eagerly waiting for tomorrow's Finland party. Us Finnishmen decided to throw a dedicated party since majority of exchange students know nothing about our country (besides Santa and Nokia).
Our program for the evening consists of Finland related quiz and watching movies 'Perkele' and 'Uuno Turhapuro goes to the army'. Both movies are with English subtitles, naturally.
Our cuisine is going to be minimalistic but authentic. We are going to serve home-made Karelian pasties, Fazer chocolate, salty liquorice, Salmiakki Koskenkorva and Koskenkorva with Tyrkish Peppers. Too bad we didn't find malt flour anywhere. We would have wanted to serve mämmi as well.
I'm going to continue teaching Finnish to my fellow students. Some already know important expressions such as kuivana kakkoseen, pannaanko, nussitaan etc. It's good that our language is so rich. There are dozens of different ways to express the same thing :)
10/23/2009
10/21/2009
Minor setback
I got "robbed" last weekend. I wasn't mugged in the streets or anything but apparently some nasty bastard copied my debit card. At first, I noticed several hundred euros missing from my account. I couldn't tell why because transactions weren't visible in my account statement. On Monday, I saw three different purchases made with US dollars at Macy's in Illinois, USA.
I acted immediately. I closed my card and informed my bank about possible card duplicate running around. The bank clerk asked me to write a report: how and when I lost the money. If my story checks out, I'll be refunded. There shouldn't be any problem: The purchases in The States were made few hours later than my previous purchase here. I should have a private jet or something to travel so fast between these continents.
I'm still amazed that my account wasn't entirely wiped out. If I was a bad guy I'd withdraw every single penny. Luckily this bastard wasn't that clever.
I acted immediately. I closed my card and informed my bank about possible card duplicate running around. The bank clerk asked me to write a report: how and when I lost the money. If my story checks out, I'll be refunded. There shouldn't be any problem: The purchases in The States were made few hours later than my previous purchase here. I should have a private jet or something to travel so fast between these continents.
I'm still amazed that my account wasn't entirely wiped out. If I was a bad guy I'd withdraw every single penny. Luckily this bastard wasn't that clever.
10/15/2009
Reykjavík and it's surroundings
Friday: "storm" & "navigating"
It's important to travel in style. Photo by Katka.
Main topic on Friday was the upcoming storm but it turned out be a load of bullshit. We came across only few spots of ice and snow whilst driving on the mountains, otherwise it was just really windy. I mean REALLY windy. I've never pissed as far as during our break.
Hours of driving in the "stormy" weather wasn't enough for us. We decided to seek our apartment hotel in Reykjavík for one hour more. People in my car got really frustrated following the "navigating" car. Navigating in this context means a guessing game.
At destination, we found the keys to our rooms left on a table in the main lobby. Icelandic reliance is amazing.
Saturday: Geysir, Gullfoss and the capital
Gullfoss
I'm glad we went to see Geysir and Gullfoss – now I know not to visit them again. I'm getting tired of visiting popular sights. Not just because they are very commercial but because they have nothing to do with the real Iceland.
Yeah, and we aren't tourists... Alberto, Katka, Bianca, Eetu and Aiga.
After spending seven weeks in Akureyri, I've already gotten used to small town atmosphere. All the noise, traffic and quantity of people in Reykjavík was shocking. I felt like we had accidentally driven to a another country – partly because the streets were full of people speaking any other language besides Icelandic.
Even though Reykjavík is a big city, the city centre is on one street, Laugardagur. The street is quite long (~2 km) and full of shops, restaurants and bars side by side. Still, it seems that no matter how many bars they build they are always full. No chance getting a seat.
It's important to travel in style. Photo by Katka.
Main topic on Friday was the upcoming storm but it turned out be a load of bullshit. We came across only few spots of ice and snow whilst driving on the mountains, otherwise it was just really windy. I mean REALLY windy. I've never pissed as far as during our break.
Hours of driving in the "stormy" weather wasn't enough for us. We decided to seek our apartment hotel in Reykjavík for one hour more. People in my car got really frustrated following the "navigating" car. Navigating in this context means a guessing game.
At destination, we found the keys to our rooms left on a table in the main lobby. Icelandic reliance is amazing.
Saturday: Geysir, Gullfoss and the capital
Gullfoss
I'm glad we went to see Geysir and Gullfoss – now I know not to visit them again. I'm getting tired of visiting popular sights. Not just because they are very commercial but because they have nothing to do with the real Iceland.
Yeah, and we aren't tourists... Alberto, Katka, Bianca, Eetu and Aiga.
After spending seven weeks in Akureyri, I've already gotten used to small town atmosphere. All the noise, traffic and quantity of people in Reykjavík was shocking. I felt like we had accidentally driven to a another country – partly because the streets were full of people speaking any other language besides Icelandic.
Even though Reykjavík is a big city, the city centre is on one street, Laugardagur. The street is quite long (~2 km) and full of shops, restaurants and bars side by side. Still, it seems that no matter how many bars they build they are always full. No chance getting a seat.
10/09/2009
Going on a quest
The first map of Iceland (circa 1000)
Today we're leaving on a weekend trip to Reykjavík. There's 10 of us going so we fit perfectly into two cars. It's amazing that renting cars for three days (including gas) is actually cheaper than going by bus or a plane. And the price gap is huge!
Our intension is to travel popular tourist route called Golden Circle. The three main stops are national park þinvellir, the waterfall Gullfoss and geysers Geysir (dah) and Strokkur which are both in the geothermally active valley of Haukadalur. Naturally we're also going to familiarize ourselfs with the capital city and it's nightlife.
The latest weather report shows that there is a storm coming into western parts of Iceland. When I look at the map I think the storm is the least of our concerns :)
10/07/2009
Money hasn't vanished from Iceland
One thing has been bothering me a long time: Icelandic coins. They consist of 1, 5, 10, 50 and 100 krona coins. OK, that doesn't sound bad – there are actually fever coins than in the euro system. But the problem is their value. Even small things cost hundreds of kronas which means that you always get shitloads of coins in return. After few purchases all your bills have magically disappeared and your wallet's coin pocket is bursting out worthless pieces of metal. They really should get rid of the smallest coins – they are a pain in the ass, literally ;)
Góðan daginn. There's 108 coins worth of 722 ISK (~3,9 €).
Góðan daginn. There's 108 coins worth of 722 ISK (~3,9 €).
10/02/2009
Finding Moby-Dick
I attented a whale-watching trip at Hauganes. Our boat full of cheering tourists got their money's worth: We saw one minke and few humpback whales. It was quite fascinating to see huge wild mammals in their natural environment. The whales weren't on a playful mood – they just made a quick appearance on the surface before diving. I didn't get any pictures but luckily managed to shoot some video.
We also tried fishing. It turned out be as easy as in a grocery store. The fishes were almost voluntarily jumping onboard :) Our catch was mostly cod but we also got herring and red fish.
This trip was a part of Icelandic Nature course. It's pretty nice to get school credits for trips like this :)
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