Falling for Reykjavik

I had thought that the rainy season had started but these past few days have been the best kind of fall days. As I am writing this now the sun is shinning pleasantly on my face. It is easy to fall in love with a city during your favorite season. Fall is a beautiful face of Reykjavik. Yesterday on my wanderings I noticed the trees changing into a gold that Minnesota trees would be proud of.

I decided yesterday that Reykjavik is the kind of city I could live in. If only there was a bit more English around (I guess it wouldn't matter if I could speak and read Icelandic. ha) This city has charm and class with its brick sidewalks and colorful buildings. You can literally walk everywhere if you give yourself enough time, the mall, downtown, the art museum, and the pier. You wouldn't need a car here (but most locals seem to have a car). The coffee shops here are all small and adorable. There is not on Starbucks here and I would like to applaud Iceland for that fact. They don't need to be commercialized, the charm would start to die if Starbucks was on every corner. Yesterday I spent the afternoon in a coffee shop that seemed to not have a name but had great chairs and awesome chi tea! I have only heard police sirens twice since I got here. The first one was two mornings ago and for a second I thought I was back in Chicago. ha. I was walking back from getting food one afternoon and this little girl about 6 or 7 was walking home alone from school and when she got to her apartment she took out her key, unlocked the door and walked right in. That's not something I am used to seeing.

This past week has been very chill for me, mainly because my cold has left me exhausted. I was going to go out last night and walk around with Rebakka and Charlize but I fell asleep at 9 and didn't wake up until they came knocking on my door at midnight. I felt so bad. But now after having 12ish hours of sleep I feel like I can enjoy my days again. I didn't even hear the loud party people come back early in the morning - now that is an accomplishment for me!

I am coming up on my third full week here and some days I still can't believe that I am here! I was sitting in class on Tuesday (British Novels from 1900-40s) and the teacher was using examples of authors that I have also read. When I was leaving the class room I thought, "wow, how crazy. I am in Iceland taking a Literature class and we have all read the same authors even though we grew up in different countries." It may seem like a silly realization to you, but to me, it was a big deal to notice that. There are ways that the human race is connected, and I am thankful that I can be connected to the Icelanders here through written words.

I am fully enjoying getting to know some of the ladies here in my dorm. Last Monday Rebakka heard Charlize and I in the kitchen putting away our food and she asked if we wanted to have a coffee break with her. It was wonderful and warmed my heart.

The photo above I took yesterday on my walk back from coffee. I love that I have to walk around the pond to get back to my dorm. I walked toward the edge of the pond and five ducks came running (waddle run) towards me because they must have thought I had brought them food. It made me laugh but I still left as soon as my picture was taken because I have seen those ducks become agressive over food.

"... when you stop learning, you stop growing. When you stop growing, you start dying." wide awake 53. Go learn something today friends.