This is the first week where I wasn’t sure if I’d have time to write an update. It’s 9pm on a Sunday and I’ve been doing school work for the last 12 hours. Whew! Grad school is no joke. Of course the last week has been more than just starting some classes. It’s an entirely new field, with different assumptions of pre-existing knowledge, and a structure that might be typical but differs from what I’ve experienced before. It’s been a lot, but good, and I’m sure that as things keep rolling it’ll quickly become familiar.
One small snag is that I had to swap one of my courses. My program requires either ASK105F Iceland in the International System or ASK103F Iceland‘s Foreign Relations and while I didn’t have a strong preference I chose the former because the scope seemed broader. But when the class started we found out there was a scheduling error, and its actually longer than the published timetable, which means it conflicts with one of my other classes. So I switched to ASK103F, which actually smooths out my week a bit, making my heavier 2-class days Monday/Thursday instead of Wed/Thursday.
One of the things I was curious about is whether or not I’d be an outlier in this program, given my age and background. That question was answered immediately when I met the person sitting in front of me during my first class. He’s 8 years older than me, with a background in air traffic control, and is currently a member of the Icelandic Parliament! Can you imagine a US congressperson finding themselves on a foreign affairs committee and enrolling in a graduate program to brush up on their knowledge?
The photo above is an Icelandic keyboard, and while it looks familiar the changes to accommodate Þ, Ð, Æ, Ö, and some accent marks make it impossible for me touch type with confidence. I have to use this keyboard to print from the campus computer lab because the printers won’t connect to a laptop. Entering my username and password for the first took a few minutes. The @ symbol that is paired with the Q requires pressing the AltGr button to the right of the spacebar. And when my fingers reach for the left shift key they naturally land on the combined less-than/greater-than key, providing a nice row of >>>>>>>>>>s in the middle of your password. Some of these shifts are subtle enough to make you question your sanity, like pairing & with the number 6 instead of 7.
Yesterday was an hugely packed day in Reykjavík. In the morning was the marathon, and all the additional races of various lesser lengths, snaking their way through the city. By noon, events had kicked off for Culture Night, with over 400 events across the city from free museums openings, to craft markets, to live music everywhere. I had a loose schedule of things I wanted to see, but also just wandered around, stumbling into strange and delightful happenings.
Perhaps the most low-key event is Waffles and Coffee, a two-hour period where the city supplies the ingredients and materials to the host and people open up their homes to serve the eponymous items. It fosters these casual gatherings throughout the neighborhood — strangers and friends in backyards and living rooms, sharing a snack.
Noted & Done
- Had dinner with an old friend and her family before they headed out to explore Iceland on their vacation, which was really nice.
- Went to the National Library for the first time, which will be a good place to study.
- Saw Desperate Mortal at Space Odyssey.
- Saw Frítt Fall at Nordic House.
- Went to the Friday Open Lab at the Intelligent Instruments Lab.
- Iceland stopped sending packages worth over $100 to the USA, along with many other countries, due to lack of clarity around import rules.
- <rant>You know how every elevator in the USA has a “close door” button but it never does anything when you press it. Apparently this placebo button is meant to comply with the Americans With Disabilities Act, although I question that explanation since the timing of the door automatically closing is what would matter for someone with a cane or a wheelchair. Is it because Americans are so insensitive they would close the door manually in someone’s face? Also, why have a fake button — just leave it out, or put in a blank! </rant> Annnnnnyway, the elevator in my apartment here has a functioning “close door” button and it is glorious! I press my floor number, and then the close button, and I’m off.