time fleets

I'm turning 25 on Sunday...Feeling a bit weird about it as time passes so fast. If somebody had told me I would be spending my 25th birthday in Iceland I would probably have guffawed at them....Seems that old age is creeping upon me while I'm oblivious..... When I was shortly visiting a tiny town perched on Snaefellsnes peninsula, dubbed Riv, I felt sort of emotionally connected with that city... I wanted to stop there for some reasons my heart seems to value....and now I know that I will come back in July to stay a bit longer.

rif

Rif

a city that steals my heart away

its summer already

Hellisandur

I know that I know nothing

I finally went out of town for my mid-term training. As soon as we arrived we went caving. I didn't have neither proper shoes nor gloves and it was very slippery and soggy inside, but at last I accepted the challenge. At the end we all turned off our lights and experienced complete and eternal darkness. I was scared to death at the beginning, what made me realise how much I want to live on this earth and how real life seems to me that I cannot even imagine myself dying. Instinct of survival is so firm that it sort of compels you to do things you've never thought you're be capable of doing. Adrenaline the best incentive ever.  Life is strenuous sometimes and you set up yourself goals , you struggle to make them happened although at the end of your journey you just kick the bucket, pass away into infinite emptiness and being absorbed by blackness. You reach terminus with your one way ticket just as the cave I've been climibing through - ONE WAY. People and life and religions and politics they all confuse you. Soon you discover there is not such a thing as truth and hypocrisy is something considered to be normal . The end justifies the means. I don't want to be like that and I couldnt care less. I've been stressing out definitely too much lately.

Englar alheimsins

Today at work one of the guests made me aware of the fact that downstairs in the house where I live and work there is a painting hanging ,which was created by Pálmi Örn Guðmundsson, the main character of the novel and movie based on thereof "Angels of the Universe". The novel was widely hailed through critics and won the Nordic Council Literature Prize. The author of the novel happens to be Palmi's brother.
At this point of my life I feel moved and caught by that poignant story of an extremely smart and gifted person that Palmi was. He was different, one may say he was a haunted lunatic but it's not true...Working with mentally disabled people , taught me that most of them are more smarter than we 'normal'*this is a relatively subjective term* folks are. Yesterday Bjork noted on her fbook profile " there are certain emotions in your body that not even your best friend can sympathize with , but you will find the right film or the right book , and it will understand you . " 

Angels of the Universe excerpt :
"Yes, I know old Adolf {Hitler} killed lunatics, but don't forget he was just putting into practice what a lot of people think."
"Schizophrenia is deeply rooted in the Icelandic character. Look at all that belief in elves and spirits, ghosts and trolls.It's evidence of a split personality."

I highly encourage you to either watch the movie or read the book or preferably both.

painted by Palmi

An appointment with Mr President

Last month I met the president of Iceland Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson. Me and the other volunteers were invited to his residency

President's collection of books about Poland

My first post in ICELANDIC

 Due to the fact that my keyobard is Polish and finding Icelandic signs is quite a hassle, pardon me if I made some mistakes :)

Ég heti Mónika og Ér frá Polandi! Ég tala pólsku, ensku, þysku, pínulitla : persnesku, arabisku, sænsku og frönsku. Ég er sjáfbodalidi  á Islandi. Ég vinn á Gedhjalp. Ég er ad læra bara íslensku  í skólanum núna af þvi að eg er með master  í stjórnmalafræði. Islenska er erfitt tungumál  .Eg er ennþá mjög feimin við að tala islensku. Eg held að eg er hræðileg að tala og að skrifa islensku. Mér finnst gaman ad djamma, lesa bækur og hitta fólk. Ég hef verið á Islandi i fimma manuði. Mér liður vel hér. 

islenskar peysur

If you will ever visit Iceland, the thing you have to buy is an Icelandic wollen sweater {peysa}. I've already got two of them but none of them looks very traditional. Mine are a bit gaudy, so I stand out. I bought my first peysa in a souvenir store on sale and paid about 6 thousands kronas what is very rare even in the flea market you can expect prices to be 14 thousands and higher. Another swag I got from a
second hand and attention attention - it was so inexpensive just 1,500 kronas and it's so beautiful!

Gleðileg nýtt ár!!

So the long awaited 2012 has arrived eventually. The new year's eve turned out to be a very generous night for me. I managed to end some things up , so that I could start new year off right. I'm back to square one. Game is on again. My new year's eve as mentioned above was excellent! At first we had a dinner in the house, where i live in. I was sort of responsible for preparing the main course, which was 'Coconut Cashew Crusted Chicken'. My grandmother was working in the Vietnamese restaurant for about 20 years, thereby I've been taught how to prepare some dishes characteristic for the Asian cuisine. Afterwards we made our way to Halgrimskirkja in order to see the epic fireworks. I can safely say that it was one of my best new years ever. I met a Czech guy Jan and we wished each other happy new year "szczęsliwego nowego roku (POL) šťastný nový rok(CZECH)looks so simiilar. Doesn't it- I love Slavic people :). Today I want to rant on two issues. First of all how easily I get bored. It's unbearable! Yesterday I've been reading the traits of my zodiac sign and to be honest I've never belived in horoscopes I would rather consider them as bullshit , but apparently after reading that characteristic I need to say it's all me! For instance :
Gemini Temperament:
'Gemini have the ability to react instantly to situations, and as a result, they have a very nervous temperament. They can be compared to a wound up spring as they attempt to absorb everything they can about their surroundings at once. The fact that they enjoy various situations and people add to their nervousness and that means they are almost constantly wound up. However, if they experience boredom and have nothing to survey, they get the same emotions, the need for excitement and variety. This is the Gemini duality, constantly conflicting emotions in one spontaneous, excitable package.'
It's so true Im in a constant rush for changes when I'm in the same place all the time I start craving for sth to happen. Feeling strangled is the worst of all. I'm a restless soul.
Gemini usually want everyone to think that they are always happy and doing wonderfully and stress never affects them. - no comment needed
Ok let's find sth to present me in a favourable light though
Gemini in a Nutshell:
Gemini people are many sided, quick both in the mind and physically. They are brimming with energy and vitality, they are clever with words. They are intelligent and very adaptable to every situation and every person. Gemini are curious and always want to know what's going on in the world around them. They are not one to sit back and watch the world go by, they want to be involved. This can sometimes make Gemini nosy, they do not mind their own business! This is because they really enjoy communicating, more so then most other astrology signs, they are the ultimate social butterfly. Gemini can talk and talk, but they have interesting things to say, their talk is not mindless babble. They have interesting opinions and thoughts on things and are not afraid to speak their mind. They are always in the know and are the one to see for the latest juicy gossip. Lacking perseverance, Gemini easily goes off topic to explore another thought or idea. Gemini are superficial, they will form opinions on matter without diving into them and exploring them fully. This can lead them into thinking they know everything, which they usually do but their mind is too busy to be concerned with fine details. Routine and boredom are Gemini's biggest fears. Gemini would rather be naive then know the depressing truth, they do not want anything putting a damper on their freedom or positive energy.
Ok let's switch the topic of my dissertation. "Icelandiv guys". An Icelandic journalist Alda Sigmundsdóttir in her e-book that is to become a book in may this year, wrote " Icelandic men have no talent for hitting on women. They just don’t. They’re either too shy or too drunk". I find this statement very true. Needless to say that can also be very lazy at times. Icelandic guys and their "Non-Art of Seduction". They never heap compliments on you, they just want to dragg you to bed whilst being on the binge. So tacky. Well though anyway I think I might be a bit harsh and nosy today and devious since I'm low in spirits
aa My icelandic course is slated for 16th of January. Wish me good luck. Let my second approach be successful!



I will be the first one to buy this book when it's released!

Eyjafjallajökull

I've had a nice day today. At first I was wrapping up the gifts for the Geðveik JÓL 2011. It was sort of a competition between some Icelandic companies in making music videos namely them singing Christmas songs. Then, afterwards we were informing 3 first places about their posistions in the contest. Til hamingju to the winners.It was a really interesting experience for me. Anyway I also took part in a sort of a competition but unoffical one though. Me and my friend's friend (British) had to say properly the name of that Icelandic volcano ,which paralyzed the air traffic lately, Eyjafjallajökull. Guess who won?Of course me. He didn't even stand a chance with me haha.Flott - said my co-worker.On friday I'm working with Vin(Red Crosss). I will have to offer a cup of hot chocolate to everyone that passes by. I'm also looking forward to seeing my Icelandic friend ,that I met in Poland. We are going to spend Christmas together. I've bought all of the gifts already. BTW It's so icy cold outside grr . I'm freezing. I've been listening a lot to the music here in Reykjavik and today I've discovered that my fave album of an Icelandic artist is Emiliana Torrini's me and Armini! I adore it. I would totally love to go to her concert but I don't think she has been playing any of late. :(

My day in pictures
The winner






and song of the day
Emiliana Torini's ha-ha

Sunnudag

Yesterday was Saturday. Although nightlife in Reykjavik is pretty boss recently I've just felt tired of partying and drinking so I decided to give my body and spirit rest. I went to Kolaportið and bought a unique issue of National Geographic from 1985 with a huge article on Iranian Revolution. I'm a bit ashamed of myself that I don't speak Icelandic despite living here for 3 months already. Yup this is disgraceful. I feel embarassed...It's Sunday today I don't feel like doing anything so I will just stay at home and watch "Ghostwriter" on TV. I'm posting some pictures of my room, of my wall in particular I don't think commenting is necessary.

Icelandic cinema and just a little rant on life

Today I encountered an unexpected coffe meeting(apparently none of us was drinking coffe). Me and my friends were thrashing out people's capacities for making life taxing and complicated and I just realised I'm thinking definitely too much, so I decided to watch some Icelandic movies instead I hope they not gonna push me into a pondering mood again. I have some movies on my list I would like to see so let me introduce them to you.

1. A little trip to heaven
Plot : A husband and wife tangle with an investigator over her dead brother's million-dollar insurance policy.
Director:Baltasar Kormákur
source : IMDb


2.Mýrin
A murder opens up a bleak trail of long buried secrets and small town corruption for a worn out police detective and his squad.
Director:
Baltasar Kormákur


3.Sódóma Reykjavík
plot :Since his mother wants to watch TV, Axel, a young auto-mechanic, must recover her remote control, accidentally taken by his punk sister Maja. During his quest, he becomes involved in the conflict between Moli, the liquor smuggler, and Aggi, a night club owner who wants to be Iceland's first mafia boss
Director:Óskar Jónasson


4.Veðramót
Director:Guðný Halldórsdóttir
Writer : Guðný Halldórsdóttir

Plot : A young girl breaks up from her petit bourgeoisie home and her piano lessons to lead an entirely new life, as one of the personnel at an institution for juvenile delinquents in a remote part of Northern Iceland. It is the 1970s and the young people in charge of the place are heavily into flower power, sitar music and solving problems by frank talk sessions with the delinquents. However, the hippies, who themselves despise authority, soon find their own authority under attack by the rebellious youngsters, especially after the arrival of a mysterious young girl. Then a violent incident occurs that will have a decisively detrimental effect on relations at the institution.

So I'm writing again. Lots of things are happening to me and they change in a kaleidoscopic way so that I don't have full control over them. But the one thing I'm sure of is that I will never give up. I've always wanted to be a novelist but I couldnt pull myself together in Poland and start writing sth longer than just 7 a4 size pages. I think Reykjavik is a great place to get inspirations and vein. So I've made the first steep . I've been fighting with a large cloud of laziness that settled above my head recently. And I also fell in love but it's unrequited love unfortunately. Well it's not love its just a crush. One thing I'm proud of myself is that I'm courageous and I cannot hide my emotions. I would call it a Spanish temperament. I wonder what thing about me is Polish-maybe the fact I can drink vodka straight from the bottle?lol I like when people r asking me where I'm from because then I have fun telling them 'guess' . What answers do I get? Italy, Spain, Iran, Russia but never Poland though. I started putting some thing on my wall in the centre of it there is my name written in arabic and the rest of the stuff it's just the way I'm and some drawings I made. I think I'm very artistic. I've always claimed I'm an artistically impaired and well in general I'm an artist without any talents but it's not true. I just haven't unraveled all of my talents to the world yet. One of my best friends left Iceland and I feel a bit empty . I miss her so much. Have u ever felt lonely even though surrounded by lots of people? I get this feeling sometimes. It's because I'm gemini and I'm not stabile I'm adventourous and I get bored easily. I'm complicated and taxing. I suffocate staying in one place for a long time. Last friday we had a girls night out. It was fun yes I'm really funny sometimes...Ok its pictures time now.
Yeah I might look Russian here .

Reykjavik today in the morning. I woke up, looked through the window and saw it's white all around. I didnt wait a minute quickly dressed myself up and went outside to take some pictures. I love you Iceland for making me experience everything even if not all of them are positive we can turn them so be so.




I have not been inspired enough to write anything since my last post appeared....Lots of stuff has been going on recently and I haven't digested it yet I think. My head feels a bit empty but I keep seying to myself 'el tiempo todo calma' and it's true so why are we spending out time grieving over things we cannot change . It's not possible to turn the clock of time back. We just need to go on...a little help of patience might be needed. It's the most important tool we have to craft...Life is just like a sculpture and it requires an extraordinary amount of patience. I think Iceland is a proper place to learn how to be forbearing. My life has turned a new leaf and I've just become aware of how many things I already learnt and how much I will learn more. I've been confronted with my drawbacks and imperfections but at the same time I discovered bright sides of my personality. I realised how much I love Reykjavik . I woke up early today I looked through the window and saw snow....It's nothing new we have lots of snow in Poland but apparently it made me happy and relieved. A new day has come. I need to pull myself together and do things I've been planing to do for a long time but well I havent accomplished any of them. So let me officially jot them down here. I want to : learn Icelandic, boost my English up, learn Swedish, start going to Karma Kaguy centre in Reykjavik(buddhism), be active, get to know as many people as possible, write a lot more to be able to come up with an exquisite novel in the near future.
At the beginning on my Icelandic journey I had been living alone and then after two months Dana joined me (thanks for being here). Soon more people are going to fill this house up. 3 guys each of them will bring a piece of their own country into this house. Sweden, England, Iceland, Moldova and Poland- so international I love it :)

I put all of the negative emotions that have been haunting me for the past days aside . Quoting Bob Marley ' Don't worry about the things cuz every little thing's gonna be alright."

I think Im boring with my rants a bit so Im posting some pictures today. Have fun looking at them.
my best mates here in Iceland dont we resemble sugabebes a bit?huh ;) yes Sugababes are back in town going to party today just as at the time I arrived. Love u gals.

Cold as ice

When I had been studying geopolitics, I discovered how influential the weather is and how it has been impacting the societies from time immemorial. Iceland is a cold country when it comes to weather , maybe temperatures are not droping below -20 as it happens in Poland almost every winter but hey we don't have such a strong wind ,which makes you feel as if you were in Siberia. Not to mention the overwhelming darkness . Iceland is formidable. Beautiful and frigid at the same time. What about people then? I think some of them are cold as ice and as the weather here doesn't pamper you often its indeed very hard to break this ice which is rather thick than thin. I can tell I have friends in Iceland but the fact is none of them is Icelandic though. Let's just wait for the thaw.

Ups and downs

Eating sheep heads with the crazy priest

Me and my cherie Sarah


Life - ain't easy especially when you r still at the beginning of the process called adjusting to living abroad. Btw Bjork's concert was impressing, amayzing, awesome, epic, great, wonderful etc etc. Well she is a creator, and she is a living legend at least for me. Every time I listen to "Joga" , I feel enthraled and brought into another reality to the world of pure ,sheer and intangible emotions that are filling my blood with molecular energy. Sounds crazy.Doesn't it ? Not crazier than the priest I've met. Have u ever met a priest (ok he is not a catholic priest but still)who, dances incessantly for 3 hours without any breaks?Without being sloshed, mind you. I bet ..not! I'm down in the dupms today I'm not satisfied with how things are going on around me. I would like to feel more useful and needed at work, because when you are not doing anything that enriches you whatsoever, you lose all of your energy. Laziness is like a vampire who sucks all of the blood out of your body. That's how I'm feeling as if I were burning out a bit. Nevethless I'm not going to give up so easily now I'm not only a Pole who drink vodka straight fromn the bottle but also a viking who rock the dance floor.

Peaceful sunday
On Sunday me and my new flatmate Dana from Moldova, visited Fred (half icelandic, half american musican and painter). He showed us what he has been working on for his whole life not only drawings but also music. The music he composes resembles trance and ambient style. He was also impressed by my English. Nowithstanding that I heard it, I still feel like having a large hurdle in my head that prevents me from beliving in my skills. Anyway it was flattering to hear I'm having a really good accent when speaking English. My Sunnudag was crowned by listening to SUNNUJAZZ band in FAKTORY and after two weeks of fruitless requesting they finally played my favorite song FLY ME TO THE MOON. TAKK FYRIR GUYS :) CONCULSION- patience is an universal key, that opens every door.

100 + 1 reykjavik

About month and a half ago........or should I begin with 'Once upon a time' ? Hell no it's not a fairy tale although just as someone already said I've been living here in such a big old house upstairs like a princess waiting for prince charming to show up. But apparently he fell off a horse. Horse ,yes the horse had a miserable lot as well since I ate him once for lunch not knowing it was that poor creature though. Ok but let's not stray off topic. A month and a half ago... I stamp my feet hard againts the ground as in it would make me feel more stabile. Unfortunately I did not expect such a harsh wind, that with a blink of an eye is able to sweep you off the surface, to be an obstacle in getting what I want. Iceland. What I felt whilst being on a plane? Fear? Excitement? or maybe just nothing. Yeah I think that my mind must have gone completely and utterly blank - tabula rasa. Nevertheless I still remember my first morning in Reykjavik, my first tea sip and a glimpse at the Parlament. Everything from scratch, new life. Just a 22 kg luggage, laptop and reflex camera - things that are indispensable for life. Insecurity?Unbearably overwhelming. Shitty English no Icelandic- Eg skil ekki. Now I'm working on keeping the balance up. Will this severe and intense wind blow me off of the ground? hmm not really I'm becoming more and more viking though.