essential initialization

When I moved to Iceland, I'd spent the odd half hour here and there practicing the language on an online course that taught some of the basics, and I'd been here for a total of 2 weeks before arriving with the intention to live here. No problem since Icelanders all speak English anyway, right? This time it doesn't seem so simple. While S's immediate family is an enthusiastic group of English speakers and learners, the general theme of Germany doesn't seem to be quite the same. I keep hearing tales that most people my age can speak it, but either they're more shy about it or just don't see the point of giving it a go.

So I've got to learn German and learn it good. S and I have already been working on basic conversations, which at home naturally revolve around getting up and going to bed, cooking and who's turn is it in the shower. Not exactly workplace talk but it's a start, right? When I was there over Christmas I had plenty opportunity to try it out, to learn useful and useless new words (shall we talk about how to prevent mold in the bathroom?), and to travel on my own with only the thin thread of German to rely upon. I made it just fine and everyone I spoke to (train conductor, tablemate at the airport restaurant, even the metal detector guy) was extremely nice, patient, and cheerful. Not such a bad start, even if I did try to order späzle and the (not German) waitress arrived with a beverage instead.

Up next, while I'm still here and he's still over there, a German class! I signed up for six weeks at Mímir, the local continuing education institution. S's mom also thoughtfully gave me a pair of intro books for Christmas with CDs, so I can keep my ear in tune. My friend A is also a German teacher, and she lent me some of her teaching materials too. My favorite is Berlin Berlin, a cheesy series from the early 90s where the live acting is interspersed with cartoons for extra emphasis, making it the perfect series for me. I'm extremely good at saying keine Ahnung now, since apparently being in your early twenties and living in Berlin means you spend a lot of time having no clue. A perfect start for me in a new language in a new land!

out like Shout

The reason my other blog has gone silent is because the time has come to leave Iceland, and I haven't wanted to write about it there where my colleagues read sometimes. My job's not aware of my plan to leave, and I plan to keep it that way until the details are a bit more sorted out.

So why now? The reality of Iceland is that it's a place where almost nobody stays unless they're married to an Icelander or had kids with an Icelander and are sticking around to raise them. Everyone else leaves eventually. It's just not a friendly place to be if you're not connected to the society through family. Otherwise for all those holidays you're either flying somewhere at often great expense, borrowing your way into Icelandic family, assembling your own festivity from the rapidly dwindling crowd of expats, or spending it alone. Not the plan I've got for my life long-term.

Additionally, my yearning to master this language has disappeared. I don't speak it at home, and I don't speak it at work frequently enough to make a difference. It's not the language of my future and what I know already is workable enough. This definitely indicates to me that Iceland's not where I ever wanted to be long term, especially when factored with my reluctance to ever purchase any expensive appliances until only a few months ago.

Finally, volcanoes mixed with economic uncertainty don't really inspire the desire to stick around. Ever since I've discovered the environmental agency's air quality graph, I've been appalled by the frequency many of their measurements go into the unhealthy ranges. The ash/dust levels alone go into unhealthy territory at least once a month, covering the cars (and our lungs too, no doubt) in foul sticky gray dust. So much for that "pure clean air of Iceland".

So, what's next? The oft-mentioned S, being German, has proposed his native land as our next choice. Sure, it sounds like here I go again with yet another following-a-boy-to-foreign-lands adventure but it's not quite the same this time. The circumstances of the move are quite different. I'm not tagging along on his grand adventure because I have nothing better to do- we're doing this together. We're building this together, and while it's triggered a lot of the feelings I remember from years ago, I hope that with those feelings come some of the things I learned the first time around.

Over the next few months there's a lot to do before the plan can come to fruition, but I'm ready to do it. It's time to find my real home.