It was an important game for Iceland's women soccer team. They won 3-2! One of my dreams has been to take my children to Europe and watch a REAL football (aka) soccer game. Tonight, I checked this off my list !!! :) It was thrilling. Woohoo!!! My heart is full of gratitude for fulfulling & sharing dreams and ambitions. Soccer in Europe is like hockey in Canada, maybe people are even more passionate about their soccer here. We finished the evening by stopping at the hot dog stand by the Football Stadium for a famous Icelandic hot dog - they have special crunchy 'Cronions" which are crispy onions on the hot dogs & the mustard is darker. Whata fun evenin! Way to go, Iceland women's team! If there is a men's team game we'll go, too. (more pics in the gallery).
Iceland vs. Ukraine EURO soccer game! Thurs 25 Okt: we went to the football stadium filled with 7000+ people, watched & cheered for Iceland's women's team at their Iceland vs. Ukraine Soccer (Football) EURO qualifying game. The announcer said it was record for attendance for the women's Soccer! The stadium can hold 10,000 people. Tickets were only 1000 krona (about $10 CDN) for me and free for the kids, couldn't believe how reasonable. The public bus was 1400 kr each way so the bus cost over double the ticket prices for the game. Niall & I had the icelandic flag on our cheek, Lex got an Iceland scarf, we had flags, popcorn & hot drinks :) as it was only 4 degrees C. The moon came up, the setting was very cool, no pun intended as it was chilly!!. Everyone kept cheering "Eesland, Eesland" is how it sounds in Icelandic (spelled Ísland).
It was an important game for Iceland's women soccer team. They won 3-2! One of my dreams has been to take my children to Europe and watch a REAL football (aka) soccer game. Tonight, I checked this off my list !!! :) It was thrilling. Woohoo!!! My heart is full of gratitude for fulfulling & sharing dreams and ambitions. Soccer in Europe is like hockey in Canada, maybe people are even more passionate about their soccer here. We finished the evening by stopping at the hot dog stand by the Football Stadium for a famous Icelandic hot dog - they have special crunchy 'Cronions" which are crispy onions on the hot dogs & the mustard is darker. Whata fun evenin! Way to go, Iceland women's team! If there is a men's team game we'll go, too. (more pics in the gallery).
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The black layer ~10cm (above the little shovel) deep is tephra ash layer from the Katla volcano eruption in 1500! Under the redish shovel, is a darker layer showing the settlement in 874, when the first people arrived in Iceland (started tilling the land, had horses, sheep, animals that changed the soil). Further down, about 7000 years of lake sediments, even old tree stumps that old! (More pics in gallery). tephra ash dated 1500 (fingertips). Lots of field trips in university here! Very cool way to learn. Soils & Vegetation field trip told a story of Iceland's history. Each volcanic eruption is saved in the soil, to keep a record. It takes sooooo long to make soil, and how quick to deplete or change or destroy it. The black layer nearer the surface is tephra ash layer from year 1500 of the Katla volcano eruption. Further down, where the soil is darker is when the settlement in 874 in Iceland when the first people settled from Norway. soil changed, from tilling, animal grazing, trees cut down, erosion, etc. Further down in a layer a colleague found a tree stump 6000-8000 year old tree stump in what used to be a wetland from organic matter. Most students in this group were from all over Europe. Sept 27- Okt 7th, RIFF: Reykjavik International Film Festival. Before I forget, back a few wks ago, we decided to enjoy a little of this film festival especially since the university theatre was only three blocks away. I'd never been to one & it proved to be enjoyable for all of us. Films from Germany, France, Italy and Iceland. Some were in foreign languages, sometimes the film producer was present afterwards. Mobile Home, was a hilarious story of two young men in France who decide to buy a mobile home and live on the road, only to find it wasn't that simple. A German film called Lore, was based on a true story of five children (siblings) survival during the German-Nazi time (1947) when their Nazi parents were taken and no one coulld be trusted. Another, Kon-Tiki, the true story of a man named Thor Heyerdahl who in 1947 followed an ancient path 4300 miles across the Pacific on a fragile Kon-Tiki raft. Attacked by tidal waves, sharks and dangers, Thor and five buddies battled nature to prove they could ride a current on a raft that far! Beasts of the Southern Wild, during an ecological apocalypse a six-yr old girl and hometown are washed away by rain & try to restart their lives (a Sundance film winner). Italy: Leave It or Love It, included a tour of Italy by two people who wonder if they should stay or leave, as the present conditions in Italy for young people are not good. Got to see italian countryside & understand the dilemnas there. Startup Kids: the boys went to this film documentary focused on three entrepreneurs who started as kids putting together an online enterprise, their lessons, adventures, failures, perseverence & success. Overall, it was kinda a cool experience for us all - I may never go to another one but glad to what they're like - very cu the culture & creativity of it.. Biking home along the same area of oceanside. I'm so excited to have a bike now!!! It's sooo liberating, and was having serious withdrawals from missing my bike in Canada. Bikes are common transportation in Reykjavik for going to school, work, etc. Often, women bike with skirts, heels & scarves all dressed nicely and men dressed nice for work/school, etc. too. Although Niall has his own bike, we often just go on this bike together as he easily sits on the rack above the back tire; we go all over the place whether it's to get groceries or go to soccer, swimming pool, store or ocean. Niall jumped off the bike and took this picture while we were biking home along the ocean path. This bike fits Alexis very well, too, so am encouraging her to go for a spin on it as often as she wants :)!! This area in the photos is where we love to bike, run, watch the incredible colors at sunset or look for jellyfish, seals, birds or walk on the rocks at the beach. Once, the moon sat there on the horizon heavy like a piece of cheddar cheese, so orange and bright that we ran down to the beach to get a better view it was too unreal. Me with Guðrún, Sigríður & Arny (left to right, 3 generations) This evening, we were invited for dinner to our first time in an Icelandic home for a meal. Mary Nesbitt (91) in SK, Canada lived in Iceland 50 yrs ago and put us in touch with each other. The daughter, Sigríður (18), picked Alexis, Kai, Niall & I up in their car as they live a little outside the Reykjavik area. Arny cooked a traditional Icelandic meal: roast lamb, potatoes from her garden, salad, ice cream & coffee which we enjoyed together with her husband, Kartjan and Sigríður & Guðrún. They had rabbits outside for Niall to play with. Guðrún introduced us to Opal licorice, a new licorice to fall in love with!! She kiindly gave Niall a prized box. Guðrún didn't speak english, but translation helped. There's always something new and fun to try! They were so kind and it felt good to be in a family home, to practice the language, get to know them and their lives. Mary (in Canada) and Guðrún (in Iceland) have stayed connected & written letters to each other for 50 years! Was special to be included in their connection and friendship. By the way, in Iceland people's last names don't keep a traditional family name. Last names are a combination of their father's name with son (sson) or daughter (dóttir) for the ending. For example, these women's names all have a different last name. Grandmother: Guðrún Einarsdóttir; Mother: Arny Johannesóttir; and daughter: Sigríður Kjartansdóttir. By looking at their last name, you know immediately their father's name and whether it's a son or daughter. Cool, eh. Visited the Volcano House The past two weeks I've felt the pull of a 'study vortex' where it gets much busier with assignments, reading & studies. Keeping a balance is really interesting, yet I find the simplicity of living close to classes, kids schools, shops that it is pretty calm compared to the driving & pace of Kelowna. I'm finding Geophysics the most time-consuming as it's a new twist on physics that my brain needs to wrap around. That'll take time & am determined to 'get it'.. It's interesting that mountains have measureable roots that virtually float in the crust on the more dense mantle of the earth. It's measureable with gravity metres that we will learn to use on a field trip later in Oct. The isostatic equilibrium below us within the Earth & the balance of the Moon, Earth & Sun orbits are ummm, well, no words can say it is just cool. The weather has kept nicely. No snow, mostly cool, fresh & chilly days sometimes with rain. Today was a sunny cool day, perfect for a stroll downtown. There's a cool market with many treasures to be found!! Niall & I sampled more shark meat and purchased dried/pounded cod and smoked lumpsucker fish. Some Icelandic pie and cake topped it off. We found two wooden swords & sheilds a little boy was selling (he made em at school), a vintage Viking leather belt and Icelandic wool mitts for me. Found some cool books all in Icelandic language: an Icelandic bible, a thick donald duck comic book, and two more books. The girl working at the fish counter had really cool funky curly hair, i couldn't help saying "I love your hair!!" She shared that her father is Icelandic, her mother is Canadian whose parents were from Barbados!! The likelihood of having such a similar heritage to Alexis, Kai & Niall was a nice surprise for us all!! She's 17 and plans to connect with Alexis. I am enjoying my red bike now that works well for Niall to sit on the rack so we get around very easily and it's fun! This afternoon, we visited the Volcano House (http://volcanohouse.is) to watch two films and a geology museum. There was a grand piano in the lobby Alexis & I played and oh! it felt good to play a piano. We love going to the coffeehouse together and playing cards, for some reason we laugh a lot there so we enjoyed that today, too. To top off the weekend, on our walk home we saw our first NORTHERN LIGHTS!!! They became bright purples, greens dancing across the sky. It was very momentous and exciting, a first for the children. Love the aliveness of the elements! Tonight, the kids n I went to watch Yoko Ono's annual lighting of the Imagine Peace Tower which was built in memory of her late husband John Lennon. The lighting was streamed live (http://imaginepeacetower.com/) as a symbol of their continuing campaign for world peace. Twas a magical nite for us!!! It's on the island of Viðey, a short ferry ride from Reykjavik (only tonite were buses & ferry free, although we walked along the ocean from home to take the ferry over to Viðey then took the bus back from the ferry afterwards). There were two wish trees, to write a wish & hang it. I wrote one, it said "I wish for all people to feel free, and to have love". Later, Niall said his wish was "for all people to have peace". We were close to Yoko Ono when about 1700 of Icelanders and TV reporters, surrounded the light. Yoko's closing words were "Thank you, Thank you, Thank you. I love you!". There was a mist falling, so the light shone high reflecting the mist & fog with Reykjavik's lights in the background. Ahhh, what a spectacular sight! John Lennon's "Imagine all the people" played. Lady Gaga is in town, she rec'd a peace award in Reykjavik today from Yoko Ono at Harpa centre downtown (www.lennonono-awards-in-reykjavik-iceland/). Btw, there's no army here & guns are illegal in Iceland. This is a very special place, seems perfect for the imagine peace tower. Ever since we've arrived, there's an indescribable sense of calm, respect & authenticity in the people and nature. My wish to you is to have a deep peace in your heart & soul wherever this finds you, and to know you are never alone & very well loved. :-) Link: www.imaginepeace.com Recent earthquakes, Bláfjöll, SE Iceland One of my most interesting courses is called Current Crustal Movements, taught by a well-known geophysicist, Páll Einarsson. Saturday, Oct 6th, we had a field trip to the location of a 3.8 magnitude earthquake at Bláfjöll the night before (just SE of us from Reykjavik). I felt fortunate to be in a group of all Icelandic students and the only foreign student, very cool. The woman who led our day was amazing! Her name is Gro, from Denmark, is only 30 yrs old & completed her PhD (pretty sure it's in geology). Currently, her post-doctoral is spent researching volcanic landforms on Mars and she does this research in Iceland because it is the most suitable environment on Earth to do such studies. A woman after my own heart, so curious and fascinated in our studies & loving being outdoors where it all is! She had danish licorice - wow, it was the best, very strong & shaped like old coins. I loved walking those lava fields. Very very inspiring. Basically, we hiked for many, many km over lava fields measuring the locations of fractures occuring from earthquakes with GPS tools. The GPS was receiving & transmitting signals to 8 satelites to narrow our location to within 5 cm. The past couple months, there have been quakes in this location from magnitude 4.8 to the 3.8 mostly, although dozens of tremors occured. This research hasn't been completed in this area, so it'll be interesting to note the fracture & uplift zones. It's very possible a larger earthquake could occur so it was a great learning experience. Since the field trip, Gro thankfully sent three of her scientific papers written that are fascinating to learn more of another planet, its volcanos, processes & landforms. It's common for Icelanders to wake up in the morning with their coffee and check the seismic activity that occurred during the nite, northern lights activity expected, etc at www.vedur.is. In the news, the earthquake zone we visited had an article http://ruv.is/frett/jardskjalfti-upp-a-38-i-blafjollum (just use copy/paste into google translate as it's in Icelandic). I love spending time with people that're enthusiastic & curious about the Earth in this sort of way, it was a day of further stretching of myself, not only inwardly but an outer awareness - of culture, our alive planet & universe. Current Crustal Movts field trip Last weekend, mom and the kids enjoyed Reykjavik while I was out in the field. They visited the Reykjavik Art Museum, Saga Museum, cycled, walked, visited our fav coffeehouse, played cards, etc. - thanks to mom for all the fun we've had together, the many laughs (we think there may be laughing gas in the pure Icelandic water cuz we laughed so much :-) especially the children loved it, too!!! I spent three days last Fri, Sat & part of Sun. doing field trips just east of Reykjavik - what a unique opportunity to learn from active nature. Friday, our Geochemical Analysis class went to , Flúðir, a quiet community in the Southern Lowlands surrounded in steaming hot pools and pumps of geothermal water. My group was mostly students from Germany & Lithuania; we collected & analyzed both the geothermal water & river water for pH, temp, O2, CO2, H2S via titration methods, etc w more to do in labs later. The geothermal water we sampled had a pH of 9.2!! Almost completely alkaline and 100.7 degrees C, it was sooo hot. Basically, we're learning how to chemically analyze the hot springs, etc and how to know where to drill for geothermal fluids/energy, that's a decision not to make a mistake worth millions to drill lol. Two people I worked with are from Africa, working with the United Nations and learning geochemical/thermal methods - they are real interesting. The 2nd field trip was our Current Crustal Movements class (the only one of its kind taught anywhere in the world because Iceland is so current!) to the microplate between the North American and Eurasian plate that are diverging/separating. A few wks ago, there was a 4.5 magnitude earthquake along a fissure which we visited. Our professor, Páll Einarsson, taught while we hiked along lava flows, uplifts, faults & fissures, with Mt. Hekla and Eyjafjallajökull volcanoes & glaciers in the near distance. This next wknd, we return to do GPS measurements, an active research project where we hope to find out new information about the microplate and post-earthquake stuff. Tomorrow afternoon, in a new Soils & Vegetation of Iceland class, there is a field trip for several hours - yah, soil sounds simple but no, it's not simple yet precious ancient material so am off to do more hiking around Iceland. Not complaining about that! :-) Lex may join me, hope so! The Icelandic language is gradually seeping into us, recognizing more and more sounds, words, letters and communication. Want to try? There's a free Icelandic language course online at http://icelandiconline.is. *** How long is the longest icelandic word? 64 letters!!! ***: vaðlaheiðarvegavinnuverkfærageymsluskúraútidyralyklakippuhringur. I've been doing the online basic Icelandic language course thru the University yet it's a low priority compared to the geology/earth science classes. I'd love to focus on the learning of language, it sounds and is a beautiful language (but my class schedule conflicted) as some classes attended were so fun, especially practicing with two people from Venezuela with their spanish accent :-) Actually, they were good! Then as I seriously struggled to make my mouth move to make new sounds like never before, they seemed at ease then shared it'd been one year they've been learning the language. We were told that children get a grasp of the language after three months! Niall is the most immersed in Icelandic language as he's in school f/t every day & children his age aren't fluent or even know any english yet. He has an amazing teacher, Hilda, that really has a calm, loving way about her and understands how to patiently work with Niall; he's becoming more excited and self-motivated for his learning. Yeah! Niall's classroom is surrounded in the Icelandic alphabet, which I tried to get pictures. There are 33 letters in the Icelandic alphabet (no letter 'c'); there are two a's, two e's, four o's, two i's, two u's, two y's, two p's (one p has a long line along the left & sounds like "th"), a letter d that looks like "an airplane taking off" above it (that's our favourite!), and an 'ae" letter stuck together. It's similar to german in that there are three genders, feminine, masculine & neutuer, although there is obviously much more to it! Yesterday, Alexis came home from Icelandic class and she'd learned how to order pizza over the phone & was told that before she leaves Iceland she's gotta do it :-) Kai and Alexis both have Icelandic language several times/wk as part of their Gr 9 and 10. It's a wonderful language, rich in history from the Nordic countries, i.e. Norway and Viking and Celtic heritage. Even tho it's not easy, I think we're all thankful for this opportunity to immerse in a new language. |
AuthorI'm the mom of my three beautiful children on this wonderful Iceland adventure. Archives
June 2013
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