First five days in Reykjavik

Hello my blog readers. Sorry to keep you waiting, but I did not know that the University was going to be this slow at setting up Internet.
The perfect word for every experience is different. Not bad, but different. (duh Danielle, you may be thinking, you are in a different country).
I have only wanted to leave once, and that was within five minutes after moving into my dorm. But after giving myself some freak out time over the fact that I was in Iceland alone, hungry, and had no idea where I could get food. I decided that I was going to make the most of my time here. After all, I was on an adventure and it couldn't continue if I was sitting in my room all semester. I walked around the city by myself and instantly fell in love with the picture-book cuteness of everything.
I did end up finding food and even a calling card. When I returned back to my dorm I met two other girls that live in my dorm from Taiwan. They were very nice to me and told me there was a cheaper place to buy food. So they took me there. Nothing else exciting happened that day because I slept for at least 10 hours.
Another reason why I had been freaking out when I first got here was because I had a "to do" list and no idea how to get it all done. Thankfully so did every other international student! So Ting, Charlize and I decided that we would go together. It took us two days to become "legal" in Iceland and legal in our rooms. I have become very comfortable with the map of Reykjavik now after having to walk in different directions for papers signed and photos taken. The city of Reykjavik is like no city I have ever been to. It is far from Chicago and nothing like Cottage Grove. It is small, homey, and cute. I feel like I have walked around most of the streets here and things already seem familiar.
During those two days I continued to meet more people in my dorm. The dorm I am staying in is coed and everyone is an international student besides the RD (who is Icelandic). There are about seven from the US (one from MN), six from China, two from Taiwan, and a few others are from Germany, New Zealand, and Canada.
Story time:
A total "Danielle" moment happened on Monday. Ready for this? I was eating dinner with Ting and Charlize and this guy walked in and started to make his bagel. We all said hi but that was it. After a few minutes he asked me a question that I could not understand, so I repeated what I thought he had said, "Do I know if there are any good churches here?" thinking maybe he saw my WWJD bracelet. He looked at me very confused, "No, I was wondering if you knew if this toaster worked." ha, yeah. That is how I met Tor. He is from Washington and oddly enough we are friends even after my "Danielle" moment. (hope you enjoyed the story, it still makes me laugh).
Okay, back to how things are different. These dorms are different from NPU because they are all single, guys live here, and we all have to cook our own food. The oddest difference is this University does not seem concerned if we miss class because classes started on Monday and we couldn't sign up for our classes until Monday. But we couldn't find out when those classes were until we had our user name and password for the school website, which I just got today. I ended up going to one class because I found out when the time and day was, but other then that I have been bumming around the city and campus getting little things done. I also found out that the professors don't care if you show up to class at all, just as long as you pass. Another difference is how people pass the time for fun. As I am sure you have guessed, a lot, well more like all but a few, drink. That has been interesting for me because I have never put myself in a situation like this. But God has blessed me with three friends that don't want to party either. We all went to the international student "meet your buddy" party but enjoyed ourselves without any alcohol.
Speaking of my buddy, he has been great. Petur picked me up from the bus stop and has been e-mailing me ever since I got here. I told him about not knowing if my classes would fit together and he sat down with me and helped me pick out classes that did not overlap by using his username and password.
For those wondering about the weather. Yes, it is cold. It feels like MN in late fall, but nothing unbearable. It has rained a few times, but like every travel paper I have read says, if you don't like the weather in Iceland - wait five minutes. Which is true. It does change often.
It is hard for me to believe that I have been here for only five days. It feels more like two weeks, yet I still feel jet lagged. Oh well, I'll soon get used to sleeping when I should just like I have gotten used to making food. (ha.. or not).
I started this book on the plane over called "Wide Awake" by Erwin McManus and my friend Bethany is going to be reading it to while she is in Africa. I'd like to invite you to join us reading this book. I am only 39 pages into it and I am finding it an enjoyable read as well as challenging. Here is a quote from it: "Life is a work for art. The canvas you paint first is your life. Then your life becomes the brush from which you paint that part of the world you touch while you are here on this planet. You are an artist. What work of art will you leave behind?"
I hope you take that question and quote to heart, give it some thought. I am praying that God will use me as a brush to paint a masterpiece here in Iceland for all those I meet.