On The Road Again (or Rather, an Airplane)

Hello readers (if any of you still remain),

I would say "It's that time of year again"....but is it? I guess it is, but only for the second year in a row (Can we make this an annual thing?!). My adventures abroad continue in a two-week (much deserved) vacation...yes, vacation this time. No work, just wandering. But this time, I'll have a partner in crime--one of my best friends and my roommate, Cerisa.

This will be Cerisa's first transatlantic adventure, and first time out of the US. It will be interesting to have another American to swap thoughts as we share our experiences. Our main destination is England, but I couldn't go to Europe without a quick (four day) stop in what became one of my favorite places on Earth--Reykjavik. Yes, readers, I am returning to Iceland. How could I omit it? It was magical. We will be doing the same things I did last year: the whale watching, the snorkeling, the lagoon, and of course the penis museum. We will also do new things: we will take the Golden Circle tour, see the marvelous black sand beaches of the South Shore, and hike to and descend into the Thrihnukagigur volcano.

Cerisa meticulously planned out our England itinerary with five days in London and the rest of our time exploring the country side and our Doctor Who fanaticism in Cardiff, we are sure to have an exciting, life-changing adventure that will not only further our wanderlust, but strengthen our friendship.

I will try to update when I can with what I can, but I make no guarantees.

See you on the other side of the pond.

Until next time,
Elissa

Keflavik Airport Icicles

Back in my post about Icelandic design, I wrote a bit about the "icicle" decoration in Keflavik Airport. At the time, I didn't have a photo, and I forgot and/or misplaced the photo I took of them on the way back.

Well I found it:

2014: A Summary

I've had an incomplete post sitting in my drafts for a couple months now, one that I just ctrl+A and deleted. It's not that I couldn't be bothered to finish it, it's that life got so busy and I forgot about it until now, when I was thinking about writing my summary of 2014 post. My thoughts from that entry will be included in this one, as they are all part of the big picture of 2014.

 I returned from Denmark just under three months ago, and my aforementioned blog post talked about my transition back to life in the US, which was difficult for me. It took me just as long, if not longer, to re-adjust to my "normal" life as it was in the US than it did for me to get used to my life in Denmark. Life back in the States felt mundane and boring (and still does, to some extent). The analytical comparisons I was making while in Denmark turned into, well, comparative comparisons. I would think things like: "Well Denmark does_______better" not "Denmark is different because..." Three months later I still occasionally make those comparisons, but they've dwindled into the things that are more thought than said. That being said, I think it was last week I said as I was falling asleep at my desk: "Well I wish I had my standing desk from Denmark. I never once felt tired at 3 in the afternoon!" I've also changed, and not just my perspective. My friends would tell you I'm much different than I used to be. I'm far more open (blunt, perhaps?) and without a filter. I'm more confident, and perhaps more anxious. I have a wanderlust now, and I'm trying very hard to satisfy that need. But, in introspect, I also think these changes in me have pushed people away...but it is hard for me to pinpoint exactly when these rifts started forming, if they are there at all. For all I know, these so-called "rifts" could just be the illusions of getting older and forming different lives and taking different paths. Regardless...

 I think 2014 was my best year so far, and the most challenging. So let's start at the beginning.

January 2014 began with the largest artistic undertaking of my life: My thesis project. It frustrated me sometimes; it made me want to yell, to cry, to stop and give up. But I prevailed, and wound up with an end product I am almost entirely satisfied with. In the coming year, I will try to continue adding to my book of churches, and even harder to make this tour something my city wants. It is applicable to life and tourism in my beautiful city, and although it may be arrogant of me to say, this is something my city needs.

The rest of my final semester brought about some great memories and people: I took a creative writing class in which I produced a short story, a story I consider to be one of my best written pieces (and one my professor thinks I could get published...but I've yet to attempt doing so. Perhaps that'll be a 2015 goal). I attended the Albany ADDY Awards with my team from Overit and proudly took a silver student award home for Point-of-Purchase design.

I took an Intro to Marketing class. My professor was enthusiastic, intelligent, experienced (to my delight, a former LEGO employee!), and just overall an amazing individual; he is one of the driving forces that encouraged me to go to Denmark. John, if you're reading this, thank you for all of your support (and cover letter proof-reading!). Although I only took one class with you, you inspired me into having the most life-changing experience. I don't think I could ever thank you enough.

In May, I finally graduated college. Five years, two schools, countless hours of work, drops of blood, towels of sweat, tissues of tears, and mountains of debt later, I finally did it. There are moments during the day when I surprise myself and think I'd rather be in class, but the moment is gone as it came, and I'm back to not missing academia much at all.

After May, much of my summer "events" and happenings occurred simultaneously:

In the absence of classes (because I simply do not know how not to learn), my friend and I took up learning languages. I am refreshing my Spanish, dabbling in Danish, plowing through German, and attempting the conlang (constructed language, aka it's not a "real" language) of my friend's invention. Learning these languages helps me not just learn how to speak them, but more about English, which is really great.  Do you know what a pragmatic particle is?

In late spring, I became an active, open (read: out-of-the-closet) member of a fandom I had previously just been lurking in for the past ten years. I wound up drawing a lot as a result of being inspired, and became part of a group of artists like me. These people very quickly became my close friends, inspirations, heroes, and collaborators. I am proud to be one of you, and glad y'all welcomed me with open arms, and look forward to the day I get to meet you all. I enjoy talking with you every day, and it is nice to know that there is usually a friend online somewhere if I need one to be. To my friends (even the ones not in the art group), you help me understand cultures, new languages, and the lore of our unifying franchise. Big shout out to Corv, who deservingly won his dream job as a LEGO product designer and starts next week. You'll be awesome. Unity, duty, destiny!

Over the summer I became great friends with two amazing Danish girls who came and visited. In the US we had a lot of fun together (caving, hanging out, and getting really drunk (wait, that was just me, wasn't it?)). Although we were all NGE  our exchanges were different, we shared the experiences of being in other's countries and out of each other's comfort zones. Well, at least I was out of my comfort zone by a leap, a bound, and a transatlantic flight. As mentioned in my previous blog entries, I loved getting to spend time with you in your cities and learning about your culture.

Also over the summer, I visited Iceland and Denmark. They were my first independent trips abroad (as in, not having anyone I knew with me). I'll just say another quick thank you to the people who made this possible and amazing. Mom & Dad, John, The Delmar Rotary Club, the Vejlefjord Rotary Club, The Pedersen Family, The Sigvert Family, Lars & the Uhrenholt team, Christina, Arense, and anyone else I could possibly be forgetting. I also got to meet my oldest internet friend, Giada, while abroad (from the fandom mentioned above too, how about that!?) Thank you all for making the experience what it was. It was incredible. I won't describe my trip, but go back and read the previous blog entries ;)

Upon my return from abroad (within a week!), I found out I was the recipient of two American Graphic Design & Advertising awards, and I was on a plane bound for Texas to see my cousin Emily as a beautiful bride, which really didn't help the jetlag. While my time in Texas was short, I really enjoyed getting to see the family I haven't seen in a very long time, and see a part of the country I'd never been before.

In the past month, I have gotten my first full-time job (and in my field!). I'm around cars, looking at cars, and talking about cars all day long, and that makes the gear-head in me happy. It can be repetitive, but I cannot really complain about the work. I'm hardly bored, and I'm kept busy. Except right now. I'm not busy right now. End-of-the-month lull. I'm writing this at work... shhhhh. But I do miss the view from my desk at Uhrenholt. Tacking a photo of the view through the window up on my cubicle wall is not the same. And it doesn't smell like the ocean either. Maybe it's a scratch and sniff... Nope. Well it was worth a shot.

This year was a mixed bag of emotions. It brought agonizing heartache, but it also brought exhilaration and days of happiness. I lost friends, but it gave me amazing new friends and brought me closer to some of the ones I already have. I made the right choice wearing silver and gold today.

The new year is bound to bring new and exciting things (hopefully). September will hopefully bring me to Iceland again, and then England with one of my best friends, where we will [hopefully] visit my friend Tom. But other than the new goal to publish my short story and travel abroad once more, I have no idea what the year has in store for me.

Well, I guess I better "get back to work." Those Chrysler Jeep Dodge Ram banner ad templates aren't going to make themselves.

Godt nytår, mine venner.

Until next time,

E

Reykjavik Diary: Notes on Icelandic Design

Hello!

The very first thing I noticed about the Icelandic design was how contemporary it was. Even just setting foot in the terminal in Keflavik, it's modern aesthetic was noticeable. There were glass pyramids, decorative and not-quite-windows, hanging down like tinted teal appendages from the ceiling, no doubt a reference to icicles. I will have to try to remember to get a photo on the way back to the States. The drive from the airport was lacking in architecture, and mostly had dark landscapes that I couldn't see. But my first taste of the city of Reykjavik was the Harpa performing arts center at night. The windows changed color, which was quite nice to watch. The windows were cubes in nature. As a reminder, this iconic building was built during the Icelandic economic crisis, whenever that was.

In the daylight, I began to notice more trends in design. The buildings were almost entirely contemporary. They were all incredibly geometric in style, and fairly neutral in color. It is the older houses that had much more life to them, colored in saturated hues. If the [older] houses themselves weren't colored in bright colors, their roofs were. Below find examples of the old city architecture (built in the 1800s-early 1900s) and then the modern architecture, from 1945-present:

Now, regarding graphic design, there were some examples of vintage-style design, but for the most part, it was all very clean, contemporary, and generally rather abstract. There was very little that offended me, although I did see someone use papyrus typeface once. What did surprise me, was the seemingly random areas where advertising was placed...in other words, there didn't seem to be a system. It was on fabric hanging on signs, stuck on buildings, street corners. I didn't see any large billboards. But I did see a lot of small ones with the triangle shaped posts that rotate to form a complete picture.

Below find some examples of Icelandic graphic design.

That's about it for my notes on Icelandic graphic design.

Until next time!

E

Reykjavik Diary Day 2: Ow, I've got volcano in my eye!

Hello friends,

Here begins day two of my travels in Iceland, with pictures! Same disclaimer as last time: make sure you click on the photos to see them in larger detail! And I'm really sorry for the mess this blog is visually, I'm not going to spend time trying to fix the layout. :(

HDR photo of  Blue Lagoon

Once again, after a night of very little sleep, I was up early for more adventures. This morning I decided I was going to go out to the tourist attraction Blue Lagoon, a man-made hot springs and spa located in a lava field in Grindavík on the Reykjanes Peninsula. The water is superheated by the geothermal plant, and the water is rich in minerals like sulfur and silica, and supposedly does wonderful things for your skin. These minerals are what give the water its blue, opaque appearence. And the sands on the bottom of the lagoon are black too! Additionally, you can place some silica mud on your face, and that also has the regenerative properties. I got some mud in my eye, hence the title of this blog post. 

 Blue Lagoon and the Svartsengi
geothermal electric plant

You can read more about my observations of this particular area in my general observation post. But to recap, the drive out to the Lagoon was much different than the landscape I'd seen before. The smooth semi-green hills gave way to harsh, jagged rocks jutting out of the ground, with hardly any green to be found. In place of the green, they were coated in a pale yellow substance that looked a lot like dust or volcanic ash from a distance, but was really a thick, soft moss. The lagoon itself was very beautiful, and again, even my HDR photos could not do the blue hue any justice. On the drive back, I got a closer look at the volcano called Keilir, which is the Icelandic word for "cone." Both Mt. Keilir and the Blue Lagoon are located in Reykjanes Peninsula. See the bottom of the page for a photo of Mt. Keilir. 


.....

Do not proceed to read if you are easily offended. Skip directly to the next yellow ellipses.

After a number of recommendations of other things to do in Reykjavik (from a friend of mine, and surprisingly my brother), I attempted to find the famous Iceland Phallological Museum, or...an anatomical museum of penises. I spent more time looking for said museum than I spent in the museum (because my map was wrong), but the museum was fairly interesting. I can't say I learned a whole lot about anything in particular, but the museum reminded me a lot of the Mütter Museum in Philadelphia...and if I dare say so, it was less strange than that. But they (whoever they may be) went about the museum with equal parts science and equal parts humor. Well, okay, that's a lie. It was mostly science. Lots of animal penises, and naturally the ones that took most of my attention (and most of the space) were the whale ones. They had a number of different whales, from narwhals, to minke whales, to orcas, and sperm whales. They had a lot of other animals too like cats, dogs, wolves, guinea pigs, and of course, the homosapien. Much to my amusement, the museum was located only a couple blocks from the church. I wondered if it was a coincidence, or an act of irony. After all, that church is rather phallic.

A wall of the museum. Many of
these tubes contain whale penises,
such as the minke and the narwhal.

.....

A traditional pyslur

After the museum, I went in search of a Pyslur, the Icelandic hot dog that I had heard so much about. I asked the girl to make it as traditional as possible, and so she piled on fried onions, remoulade sauce, and whatever else I couldn't identify. I wasn't too thrilled with it, but then again I supposed you have to like hot dogs, which I don't really. After my pyslur, I wandered about the city again, just taking as much of it in as I could. I walked up and down, noticing all the gay pride flags in every shop window. I even went back to Hallgrímskirkja (the church), but this time I went around the back so I could get a different angle.

For the rest of the day, I just wandered and explored, and found nothing notable. Although, I rather enjoyed the view of the water as I walked back to my hostel, a large ominous cloud had crept in over the mountains and remained there until after I left Iceland. Back at the hostel, I met my roommate, a lovely girl on her way back home in Toronto from a two-year study in London. She was lovely, and I spent the rest of the night with her, our other roommate (a Thai girl studying in Paris), and a third girl from Australia. We ate dinner together in the hostel, and I enjoyed talking with them and sharing stories, and scary creatures we find in our homelands (I hope to never find one of those Australian Hunting Spiders on the back of my car). But my traditional dish of salted cod with spinach was quite delicious.

Sunrise on my last morning, with the creeping cloud.

I really enjoyed Iceland and hope to one day return to see the rest of the island, because my two day stopover was really just the tip of the Iceland. Other observations (that are not design related) that I did not include in my observation posts were the apparent lack of police. I did not see once police car or officer until the morning I left, where their only purpose at this time was to close off streets for a parade. Also, Iceland has a love for Subway, Quiznos, and KFC. I also saw a Taco Bell. And a bunch of other fast food joints (non-American) called Aktu Taktu.  And they give us Americans crap for liking fast food!

Next stop, Denmark! (and probably another Iceland-related design blog post)

Until next time,
E

Other Pictures

You can see the minerals beginning to creep into the water.

Blue Lagoon

Mt. Keilir

Me and a killer whale penis. Jimmy, this one's for you,
if you know what this is in reference to.

Reykjavik Diary: Day 1 "Of course I like this job, I get undress a lot of lovely ladies!"

Hi there! For ease, make sure you click on the photos to see them in larger detail! And I'm really sorry for the mess this blog is visually, I'm not going to spend time trying to fix the layout. :(

Sunset

Now that I've sat down and had a little time to edit some photos, I can get to day 1.5 (including plane trip to) of my time in Iceland.

Sunset

My flight over was really nice. No screaming babies or children kicking the back of my seat. One of my first observations about this flight was trying to enrich people's lives with tidbits about the culture. The seatbacks had facts about Icelandic language, the pillows were covered in the words to an Icelandic lullaby, and the blankets said that if you were missing the hot springs, to use the blanket instead. I thought that was rather clever, and rather cute too.

The Harpa, at 1:30am

Anyway, the flight went smoothly, as stated before. I got some reading done, and I experienced a gorgeous long-lasting sunset high above the clouds. The sky was afire with blues, oranges, violets, reds, and hues I wish my camera could have captured, even in HDR. But it was breathtaking, for sure. But this sunset also occurred at a late hour, due to my proximity to the arctic circle, and when I landed at 11:30pm or so, it was still light. By the time I got to my hostel, around 1:45am, it was STILL light. And that took a little getting used to, since I hardly slept during my 62ish hours in Iceland. But I got to see, for the only time, the Harpa Performing Art Center at night, which was pretty stunning. The shuttle driver told me that it was built during the economic crisis.

So, that night I climbed into bed at my hostel, trying not to wake my 5 sleeping roommates, and didn't sleep at all, from either over-exhaustion (explain that one to me, because I was really tired), being in a country by myself for the first time, or simply being too hot. Regardless of the reason, I was up bright and early to be shuttled at 8:00am to the harbor so I could go on a whale watch! (That's something I forgot to mention in my last two blog posts, that there are shuttles for everything that will pick you up and drop you off anywhere). My shuttle driver told me that Reykjavik is about 200 years old. The farther east you go in the city, the older it becomes. However, much to my disappointment, they are demolishing the old buildings to make new ones.

A little harmless jelly and a large stinging one.

I'm a lover of whales, and anyone who knows me can confirm that "lover of whales" may, in fact, be an understatement, so I was really excited to see what Iceland had to offer as the "Whale-Watching Capital of the World," especially at the idea that there could be orcas. Before we left the pier, I knew it was going to be interesting. The gift shop and museum were in a boat (the "museum" was in the ship's hull), and there were beautiful jellyfish hanging out in the water. One of them I knew was fairly harmless, and I find them floating in the waters off of Cape May. But the other, one with bright orange oral arms under its translucent bell, and long lapets, stingers that were easily 3 feet long. I wish I knew what this beauty was called.

Peanut came quite close to the boat

A restaurant selling minke whale

I did see more than jellyfish on this whale-watching trip. I learned a lot about, and saw a lot of: puffins (they're very cute, for the record), birds that look a lot like seagulls but are not actually seagulls, some harbor porpoises and white-beak dolphins, and of course...whales. I saw five minke whales! One of our sightings was a whale identified as "Peanut." I, of course, thought Peanut was very cute. However, much to my dismay, I was sad to learn that Peanut is in danger. Iceland is one of the 4 commercial whaling countries in the world, and one where they still serve minke for dinner. I will be honest to say, and ashamed to say, I almost considered a taste since it is a traditional Icelandic delicacy, but my love for the creatures won me over, and I went with something else for lunch that day.  I felt so terrible for even considering such a thing, the next day I signed a petition to stop commercial whaling in Iceland. I'm sorry Peanut, can you ever forgive me!

Snæfellsjökull

Even if I hadn't seen any whales on this trip, I would have been very satisfied. I got to see the capital city from the water, and learned more about the history of the area and the landscape. Most notably, this is the volcano Snæfellsjökull, which was made famous in Jules Verne's novel Journey to the Center of the Earth, serving as the entrance for their underground journey.  I also met a young [cute] researcher from New York, who was here in Reykjavik doing an internship. He was very nice to talk to, and made for great conversation when we weren't seeing any whales.

After the whale watch, I ate lunch at the place that sold minke, but I had a lobstersoup and scallops-and-peppers kebob. I'm not sure how Icelandic that was, but it was close and I was hungry! Following my tasty meal, I wandered about the city, and was slightly surprised at how walkable it was. Everything was close to where I needed to be (my hostel). Much of what I saw that I took pictures of was actually Icelandic design, which I've found is very contemporary, abstract, and simple, but that will be at the end of my next Iceland blog entry.

Hallgrímskirkja

Hallgrímskirkja
facing the altar

Related to the aforementioned comments about contemporary design was my stop at the Hallgrímskirkja church. It is the tallest church in Iceland and sixth tallest structure. It was designed by architect Guðjón Samúelsson, and took forty years to complete (1945-1986). It was certainly beautiful inside, and the view from the top of the tower, although I paid for an overpriced ticket, was beautiful. Inside, an organist was playing the pipe organ (to my delight) and I took a few minutes to listen to him play, although he didn't seem all that interested in what he was playing. He kept stopping and looking around the room in a bored expression. That being said I rather liked that, as I walked up the street towards the church, that the road was lined with children's drawings of the building. It was a nice touch that showed how much the natives love this city (or maybe they hate it because of the tourists, I don't know...doesn't everyone hate tourists?)

Hallgrímskirkja
looking down nave
towards organ

Since I booked a combo tour with Elding, the whale watching company, I headed back to my hostel at 4 and got changed so I could be picked up to go snorkeling. A a quarter after four, I was picked up by a very cute boy named Aron. He was going to be my guide for the snorkeling, and I asked him many questions as we drove out to the national park where we would be snorkeling. The place we went was Silfra, a place of beauty. Silfra is located in Þingvallavatn Lake in the Þingvellir National Park, and it is where the Eurasian and North American tectonic plates are pulling apart, causing deep, ragged fissures in the ground. Silfra is the largest of these cracks, and it is where you can snorkel and scuba dive. And it is frigid. It clocks in at bout 35 degrees Fahrenheit, or 2 Celsius. The water is also perfectly clean, so you can drink it...and I did. And it was delicious.

Silfra

You wear a dry suit from head to toe, where everything is covered, except for your face! And by the end, if your face isn't numb, it's on fire from being so cold. It's bright red, your lips are cracked and bleeding, but you're smiling because it was amazing! You were swimming between continents. 

Silfra was really cool (not speaking literally in this instance). It had brightly colored volcanic rocks, purple and orange, that were not so brightly colored when you took them out of the water. (I took one home with me). And it also had bright colored algae, green and pink. Aron told me when I asked that no one knows where the pink algae comes from. They can't find a source, and it doesn't grow in the lake that Silfra is attached to. The title of this blog comes from when one of my group members asked Aron if he liked his job, and he replied with, "Of course I like this job, I get to undress a lot of lovely ladies!" in that very cute accent of his.

A crack in the landscape

Not a sign you see everyday. 

Silfra algae

Silfra fissure

The jagged cracks in the earth in  Þingvellir formed from
two tectonic plates, the Eurasian and the N. American
ripping apart.

That about sums up my first day and a...bit. After I got home from snorkeling, I had a tasty meal of traditional Icelandic food: braised lamb and spinach, which I paired with an Icelandic beer. After hardly any sleep, and being active all day, I was quite spent. I promptly headed off to bed, to, well, not get any sleep.

Until next time,

E

Reykjavik Observations Day 2

Oh, look, yet another post where I attempt to describe my surroundings and observations in vague, yet informative ways without photos.

Hmmm, where to start.

Well, today I ventured out the the touristy attraction of Blue Lagoon. It was interesting. I had never been to a spa before, so I didn't know what to expect, and after this, I still don't. It was a little jarring to walk into the locker rooms and see lots of nude women everywhere. Again, I'm not quite sure if this is a common occurrence in a spa, or if it is merely my American upbringing and being unaccustomed to public nudity. However, I got over the feeling of being uncomfortable, all was well.

On a more different note, the landscape I described in the previous post became more interesting as my bus wound through roundabouts and lonely roads out to Blue Lagoon. In spots, the ground plane was quite green. But the green gave way to pale yellow on coarse, jagged lumps of black pumice stone, which littered the land in layers upon layers. At first, I thought it was sand (you'll have to see a later entry with pictures to know what I mean), but as I wandered about the paths through the lagoon to take pictures, it was a fragile moss. And it coated everything like a thin blanket of snow. The "Blue Lagoon" did not get its name just to be poetic, the water in these hot sprints is opaque, where one cannot see anything more than two or three inches below the surface.Here, the scent of salt was faint, overwhelmed by the assaulting stink of sulfur (say that five times fast). It was especially pungent if you decided to relax upwind near the sputtering, bubbling geyser in the center (caution: the water was actually boiling).

Something else I have noticed about Reykjavik is the apparent lack of Icelanders. I know that may sound strange, but I am now convinced that Iceland natives do not exist (sarcasm). Most of the individuals I have met have been from Canada or the States. I met some guy at the Lagoon today who was born and raised in Schenectady. (For those of my readers not from New York's Capital District, Schenectady is one of Albany's two major sister cities, the other being Troy). I did, however, tonight spend some time with my roommates. One, a Canadian from Toronto, another from Australia, and the other a native Thai girl living in Paris. But almost everyone I hear around me and have seen around the city has been of North America's two uppermost countries.

A final observation about Iceland is its gay pride, which is really great to see as an supporter. I wish I had a picture to show (I don't, not even on my camera), but every storefront, every restaurant has a pride flag or something rainbow. And when I noticed the flags, I noticed the couples. The openness of the city's sexuality reminded me a lot of Key West. Keep on keeping on, Reykjavik.

I'm sure there are more observations I made, but they can come in a future journal entry. I don't have my notes with  me, sorry.

Until next time,
E

Reykjavik: An Overall Observation Day 1

It's difficult to write a blog post about your travels when you're presently lacking a way to include photos, so I'll just do my general thought on the  Reykjavik area until I can write up a proper picture-loaded entry.

Reykjavik is young. It has a short history,as my shuttle driver this morning told me. It was only "recently" colonized, about 200 years or so ago. And its youth, or perhaps boisterous teen years, radiates from its sidewalks. It is full of young tourists, and that energy is apparent as you walk about through the streets, along the shore, or sit idly waiting for your tour bus or shuttle. It smells of the ocean, with the pungent odor of fish drifting into every nostril, and the faint taste of sea salt in every bite you eat, whether it is salted or not. The wind is cold and ruffles your hair, nipping at your hands and nose and biting your lips until they are chapped. With the rain hitting you in the face and the acidic soil, you'd think the hills would be green and vibrant, but instead it is a sickly green-brown with erratic white splotches, colored as such from the fiery result of shifting tectonic plates. Where there aren't smooth hills, rocks jut out from the ground like angry earthen teeth, with harsh chasms deep and dark and full of wonder and history. The seawater is bitter, burning every exposed surface of skin until it numbs.

My words make it sound like Reykjavik is a terrible place. It is not. It is stunningly beautiful. It is picturesque, even hauntingly so, and I could stare at these glacier-and-volcano-carved mountains for hours, perhaps until they all erupt again. Two days in Reykjavik will not be enough, and I think someday I will have to return to see the rest of this island. However, as much as I love the smell of this city (yes, the pungent odor of fish), the grey of overcast skies, the sepia-tone landscape, and the temperate cold do not make me want to live here. Even if there are whales.

Until next time,
E

An Introduction

I've never been one for change. I like being in spaces that I know, which is usually Albany, New York (but sometimes Cape May, NJ is an acceptable replacement). I'm very attached to these places, and they inspire me consistently and constantly as the artist and designer that I am.

 I'm an introvert who loves spending time with her friends, but needs an extensive amount of alone time to recharge. I've always been shy in addition to my introversion, and someone who is not very skilled at making conversations with almost anyone, my friends included. And I've always been sort of viewed as uncool, with nerdy tendencies up the wazoo. All of these things amount to a giant leap, or I suppose a flight, out of my comfort zone.

 Tomorrow I travel to Denmark. Well, technically I fly to Reykjavik, Iceland first, which is where I will spend a couple of days seeing the landscapes and snorkeling the waterscapes. But then I move on to Middelfart, Denmark, where I will be staying with a beautiful family of four, and interning with Danish company Uhrenholt. Now, this won't have been my first time abroad, and it's not even my first time abroad without my immediate family. But it is the first time I will be abroad as an independent.

 I am beyond terrified. I will miss my home, my bed, my friends, my family, my cats, my familiarity. But I know I will have an amazing time, meet new people, see new sights, make new friends, and hopefully pick up a job interview or two!

 I'll try to keep this updated as much as I can, with pictures and instagrams or whatever, but no guarantees. I hope I don't bore you, and I'm glad you're along for the ride.

Love,
E