Já punktur ís

Today I reached a level of acceptance about living in Iceland that I see as something of a turning point, or at least a recognition of reality. Not a decision to stay by any means, I hasten to add, not signing a lease or a mortgage for a flat bigger than the shoe box which some might consider to be a better sign of really deciding to stay (investing in that shaky thing, Icelandic property in 2008).

I finally reached a suitable level of Icelandic understanding to make my way through the online phone book and sign myself up to be included, findable, trackable, available for communication. I should soon be found on ja.is.

Another milestone today.. I arranged an appointment over the telephone entirely in Icelandic. It seems rather miserably small-scale but communicating, understanding and being understood have been issues which have separated me over the last few years from really feeling part of Iceland. I did have to ask for the date again.. I´d never heard of the 80th of May before. Still a little shaky on those numbers.

Feeling a little bit smug!

Just wait a minute..

So they say if you don´t like the weather, wait a minute. I thought things got silly in Scotland but we´ve had fun here in the last few days. Hail, snow, rain, sleet, sunshine and blue skies. Then I drove home after belly dancing and had to stop to take pictures .. there were the most amazingly dramatic, purples and greys, blacks and blues; anvil-shaped clouds hugging the mountains all around leaving Reykjavík underneath an island of blue mediterraneanesque (well one can dream!) sky. That was all on Monday.
Today was pretty much the same but I sheltered inside and looked up through the big windows at work .. each window had a different type of weather.

I´ve been inside the last few days though planning ceilidh fun, whistling and fluting and listening to lots of music. I´ve also been trying out my Icelandic skills and pushing them as far as I can with letter writing. The joy of getting a response in Icelandic back from an email sent by me in my "special" Icelandic is immeasurable. Understanding it is cloud nine. Turns out that everyones' tolerance for poor grammar here is much better than I had thought and I can just go for it and talk like a baby. I had underestimated the tolerance for funny sounding Icelandic and was keen on using it as my favourite excuse to avoid trying to speak. Oh well no excuse now.. Gagagagooo woohoo!

Sisilly's tree

Tree of Life by Welsh artist Jen Delyth

A'm hame noo. Back wi the blether o' the seagulls o'er the ruiftops an' gae soft sleepy whirl o' the cushie doos in the trees. Thae soonds mak a lassie feel that this is kinda hame. Guid tae be hame!

But hame and heim .. they are blending, all becoming one. And thats nice. I like also that to the untrained eye the words for home and the world are so similar in Icelandic .. heim, heimur.

I saw sisilly's tree yesterday and I've been thinking of it this morning. Roots and branches .. perhaps you send a branch out into the world to taste the air in another place and it will become another root. But the world can feel small these days and we can stretch about and keep roots all over so that wherever you go back to you are going back home.

Apples, oaks and (mis)translations

Ever tried translating sayings into another language? Imagine from the point of view of a non-native English speaker (sorry all non-native English speakers but this is to make a point): Picture the scene and translating this:

Poor, withered old codger, he popped his clogs and they all thought it was just old age. His old lady though knew that the others were barking up the wrong tree. You see, his niece had this butter wouldn´t melt in her mouth look. She was sweet, pretty with big blue eyes and an innocent air but somehow the old lady just never took to her... just said "I´m not going to bother beating around the bush at my age, she´s not my cup of tea and thats that". Maybe when you are someone´s niece you have some sway with the will-writing plans and this idea just wouldn´t budge from the widow´s head. But would anyone believe her, an old lady, slightly not there in the head, long since lost her glow? She didn´t think so."Lost the last of her marbles with grief and years of bottled up jealousy" they´d say. That girl was going to run off with all the gold and get off scot free.

And, haven´t you always wondered, what was the "best thing before sliced bread?"

In Iceland you can say "Ég borga bara með reiðufé" mistranslating to "I will only pay with an angry sheep", "Hver á þessa bók?" being "Hot spring river this book" or "Hann stóð á öndinni", "He stood on the duck". In Iceland also no apple falls far from the oak tree! Apparently. But then apples are giant heavy American ones with little taste and oak trees are few and far between.

Here is the ever-present issue about how much one understands as a foreigner in a country. I always wondered if many foreign students I met were desperately shy or had little sense of humour but I realise being in Iceland and often being lost in conversations that it is really hard work listening to a foreign language you are not fluent in. Add sleepiness or background music and it is virtually impossible. So.. one can easily become quiet and drift off in conversations to a dreamy world of ones own and rarely will you laugh at jokes or crack your own. It takes a determined and outgoing person to avoid this trap. Things get better though and after a phase of being silent as your learn some words yourself, feeling lacking in a sense of humour and being really frustrated, once in a while you'll laugh out loud at something or answer wittily to some over-blunt Icelandic comment and my, it is nice to feel more part of things. It is like being released from some sort of cage.

"Epli og eikur" (apples and oaks) is a new musical production from the theatre group Hugleikur, written by Þórunn Guðmundsdóttir. I went with Óli to the premier last Friday. It is a twisty-turny story of love and confusion and criminal activity.Even foreigners can follow the plot and get at least one pet worm joke. Many of the songs and jokes are constructed on plays on words so that is difficult, but very funny if you get it.. and if you don't there are always the slap-stick moments and the musical interludes that will keep you amused. If you can go, do.. Möguleikhúsið near Hlemmur for the next few weeks. This is of course a blatant plug for a play with my boyfriend and the two English gentlemen in so I´m not particularly objective. But it is fun. Truly. The music is fun and the acting is really professional. They are another bunch of super-talented musicians and artists, jacks of all the entertainment trades (almost) and masters of many. Möguleikhús is really intimate so you feel like you are in someone´s living room. It´s cosy and nice. I´ll go again.