No pain no gain

This time I came to Iceland with purpose to gain money ....Well I haven't realized that all of the good things require patience and pain. After that you can enjoy the good ones. I work my ass off , like crazy with almost no day off and I'm becoming weary and angry etc. 3 weeks left. It's not exactly hell but sometimes the temperature is close. Yesterday as usual I was waiting for the bus at 6.44 and one Icelandic guy accosted me. I knew him before - We always wait for the damn bus. But this time it was unexpectedly not late. We had a little chat about Poland. As a fan of heavy music he adores Nergal , and says that Polish alternative music rocks. He recounted also a story of an Icelandic man who hated Poles so much, he moved to Greenland not to see our ugly faces. Yeah it seems that Greenland is the only place in the world totally deserted not only of people but of Poles in particular. Not an easy lot to be a Polish person. Well now I'm in Laundromat, a cozy coffee and 'burger' place munching on my oven baked salmon and sipping mango juice. 24 days and I will be in a different reality. In Budapest,where are two people that I'm craving to see and this thought makes my day - everyday. Cheers

Icelanders and their 'little?' knowledge of Italian

After I had left Iceland I started learning Italian for some reasons I don't want to disclosure. Apparently me and my Italian friend were talking about 'Italian restaurants' in Reykjavik and we came to a conclusion there are no 'real' Italian ones here. What cracked us up? That many of the restaurants ,which supposedly should be Italian, are not thereof and the way we deducted it, was by their names. For instance 'Pisa restaurante' instead of 'Pisa ristorante' and so on. But one name enthralled us in particular.'Piccolo Italia', even those who just begun to learn Italian, can notice a major grammar mistake. To our surprise it turned out a restaurant with a mistaken name, is actually 100 percent Italian! How come? So the other day me and my boyfriend went out to dine there. The waiter and the chef were Italian. Still kinda shocked we asked them why they called their restaurant Piccolo Italia instead of Piccola Italia? Here is the answer - The restaurant was called actually Piccola Italia before, but as the manager changed they decided to alter at least one letter of the name, as according to tradition , it brings fortune. Anyway the food wasn't that bad :)

Iceland is sex friendly

One day at work, on the break 'smoking time', my co-worker told me that at 2 in the morning, he spotted a couple having sex in a park, near the area where he delivers newspapers. He mentioned that once he encountered akin situation in the toilet at the club. Do the Icelanders have no shame? LOL
Iceland let's make it clear is a sex friendly country. Sex is a need that often is quenched downtown Friday's or Saturday's night. I remember reading the 'Lonely Planet' travel's guide advising to always carry condoms, if needed. Maybe in Iceland you find it the easier than anywhere else to get laid. Sex is not so associated with love, unless the result of it is a kid. Icelanders adore them, which is good and beautiful at the same time to see spruced up fathers pulling babies in prams. This fashion trend should spread up the whole world. Anyway the 'Lonely Planet's advice might be very useful, as Icelanders shy away from buying condoms, or they just feel an incentive to become fathers so firmly, they cannot resist. Well alcohol maybe makes them dumber and courageous  when normally they are shier than a 5 year old kid...
Iceland is a sex friendly country what makes it a baby friendly country as well.

Iceland and Poland so far away yet so close

Yesterday's night I was woken up by hail.  Sometimes I think that summer season doesn't really exist in Iceland. There is just winter and '4 seasons all together' for the rest of  time. You never know what's going to happen. One minute hail, another snow, and afterwards beaming rays of sun. Icelandic weather is comparable to an Italian woman. She might be angry as hell, throwing plates, screaming but later on she is going to wear a bright smile on her face. Crazy. Anyway today I'm going to write about two nations that are so far away from each other on the map, yet so close. Poland and Iceland. Well someone said someday that Poles are fucking everywhere. Doesn't matter if its Cambodia, Italy , Spain or United Kingdom. For many years wiped off the map, we have the sense of relocating in our blood cells. We fought for our country to rise up from the captivity. We like to travel but sometimes we are forced to do so. In Iceland we make up for around 5% of the whole population, what means that we bear a curse of being the biggest minority.

What Polish people think of Icelanders?
Many Polish people were brought to Iceland because of economic reasons. They don't want necessarily to blend into the Icelandic society, which is hermetically closed according to their reasoning. Yes many of us don't speak English neither Icelandic and we don't make any slightest effort to knuckle down and absorb it. Excuses? Maybe yes , maybe not. But a priority in everyone's life is family and sometimes there is a lot to be sacrificed for such  case. It all revolves around money. I agree there are some Polish drunkards, screaming, drinking, stealing, putting a black stain on our reputation. Yet we are not all bad people and such are to be find in every nation anyway. Well its just the number of us being dispersed around the world. Nevertheless I talked to many Poles with a good command of Icelandic. What did they tell me? That Icelanders are people with no emotions whatsoever. Cold and shy not into sharing. There will always be that wall between us. I'm not speaking of the kids of immigrants who are basically considered as Icelanders by Icelanders. Language is the key, but its not the easiest one on earth. Anyway it's pretty weird there are so many foreigners here that Icelanders had to somehow master English and the good English they speak. I find it pretty weird if I had to go to a restaurant in my own city and order food in English. That's what happens here. As everything it has its downside and upside. Upside - Icelanders speak great English from a 60 year old granny to a 15 year old kid. Smart. Downside? Well its their country they should be served in Icelandic though.

What Icelanders think of Poles?
Some hate us...Think that we are a piece of shit worth nothing, not deserving more than cleaning their houses. Taking us as limited. Luckily only those who haven't been in Poland. Of course the label of being 'thieves' has been pined to our backs, or invisibly tattooed on our faces. Unfair, but real and some of assholes from my country have their shares in that world-wide opinion.


I'm craving  for some sleep now anyway. Goda nott.

The glass effect

8 months ago I had been living in Reykjavik downtown , just a stone's thrown from the Parliament. I would rarely use Straeto services. Now it's totally the opposite, since I live in Breidholt. I find it pretty annoying, that I can't just go out Friday evening , after work.....There are :
1) no trains in Iceland
2) no trams in Iceland
3) no night buses in Iceland
4) no cheap TAXIS whatsoever
So the last bus on the weekend goes at 10 to midnight.....and If  I resort to coming back home by a TAXI I will have to splurge 6 thousand Icelandic Kronas....which is an equivalent of more or less 40 euro! What a damn ripoff! Plus the first bus on Sunday ever runs around 11....Well you can always try to walk - definitely the much healthier option...Though not recommended as a cure for hangover, mind you. Anyway going by the bus everyday in Reykjavik means - meeting the exact same people. It takes me around 30 minutes to arrive downtown . What can you do on a bus , having half an hour?

a) sleep
b) learn by heart names of the Icelandic bus stops
c) eavesdrop on people
d)read a book *only if you don't suffer from motion sickness*
e) watch  beautiful landscapes
f)reflect on your life
g)try to guess which passenger or bus driver is actually  POLISH *chances are high since we are the biggest minority here - 5 or 6% of the whole population.
f) enjoy the 'glass or a window effect' - in Africa they have a phenomenon called 'mirage' effect I happened to experience in Tunisia, but in Iceland you can encounter sth else. So you are either on a bus or in a car. The sun is shining the weather is clear, it looks as if it were 30 degrees outside. Summer at its best. What a perfect illusion and you actually come to realize it as soon as you get off.....Stormy, windy , if you are as thin as me you can feel as if pushed by an engine powered by the oceanic wind.


EUROVISION!
I think there is no other nation in this world that cherishes this song contest as much as they do. Or maybe its just another good reason to get drunk, who knows that?! Anyway Icelanders gather around , cook some nice meal or make a grill party *when the weather allows them to* and support ICELAND with all of their hearts.  Why so ? They have never won EUROVISION anyway....And their songs are way too melancholic to get the highest prize.


MEETING UNWANTED PEOPLE!
Yes in medium or large cities like mine , you can get away with murder from meeting undesirable people......Well but if you decide to come back to Reykjavik, you can be pretty sure you will meet all of them during the first few days of your staying! That's the rule and it does work. But it apparently teaches you something- Not to coward away from your problems. And if you are 100% percent sure of not returning  to Iceland as I had been before, I advise you to lose your hope. Well it's proven by life not by science that every person that had lived here for a while, actually came back...It can be for a month, for years...But it will happen, so take it into consideration.

IN A PURSUIT FOR CHANGE
Iceland will never leave you unaltered! YUP another rule. So if you have some annoyingly bothering , mind boggling traits of your character , Iceland will help you to fix it up! The harsh, coarse air, silence of the outskirts will give u a lesson. Iceland will prove how strong is your love. Plus provides you with free water . YAY

First few days!

How does it feel? Definitely weird. It's like being thrown into a place, you never thought of coming again to. Here I'm in Reykjavik, facing all of the demons from the past was not my aim, but it speaks for itself. I will have to! Nevertheless going to Iceland, helped me to figure out many things I was uncertain of before. The Icelandic summer is a bit shitty. The sun is of course up the horizon , but the temperature ain't high enough to feel as if you were in Spain or Italy! Plus the horribly annoying wind. The advantage of staying here is having all of the true friends , ready to help me anytime! Iceland is a beautiful country, and there are many positive things about it . But I guess as an immigrant or a foreigner I will always be just this, nothing more. Another thing it's not possible for me now to remember Icelandic, since I've started learning Italian and sometimes 'grazie' instead of 'takk' slips out of my tongue. Anyway I have just couple of months and I will enjoy them. Reykjavik is a good place for it! :D

At the London's airport!

It happens to me quite often that I have to wait many hours at the airport for my conjoined flight.  So was it also this time. My flight from Gdansk to London , where i was having my layover of 8 hours, was scheduled early in the morning. Out of excitement, despite being drowsy, I wasn't able to fall asleep. When I arrived in London, the level of stress in my blood increased. Shattered with two big luggages listening to British people speaking English with their sophisticated accent, I started seriously doubting if I made a good decision of coming back to Reykjavik. Waiting in line to the gate, I heard people speak Icelandic after 8 months. I don't remember much but I've never been extremely brave and fluent in Icelandic either. As I arrived in Keflavik, I got this impression of being overwhelmed  and unsure. There are still some remains of this state encoded into my brain. But it's get better, step by step. Today I met some old friends of mine, and talking to them helps me a lot to regain the 'reasonable side of me' *well sometimes i seriously doubt i have thereof*. I'm feeling pretty good now. I hope it's gonna progress this way :)It's good to feel you have many people around you that care for you, and they actually do show it. I will keep you updated :D