Jake and Heather's Odyssey

Study tour 09!

2009-06-13T07:11:00.000-07:00

So I just returned to Akureyri - alone...:-( Jake went back to the states due to silly Icelandic laws - but it is still both of our odyssey, so the name will NOT change! Anyways, our trip around the ring road was amazing. We saw beautiful weather on the east coast when we stayed at a small youth hostel called Berunes. It was voted best youth hostel in the world a few years ago! We stayed in a small cabin that was just built...it was very cozy - even though it didn't hold in heat very well! The first day we went to Alcoa - an aluminum smelter in the east which is entirely run by hydropower. That night we made hot dogs and went on a hike...the hike could be its own post all together, but I will keep it short ;-) So we started out at 10pm and started following a trial...well we had a few ambitious people on the hike and we got ALL the way to the top of the mountain. We crossed a number of "obstacles" as Mitch would say - everything from crossing creeks to climbing actual vertical rock! I can't believe I did it! It was DEFINITELY worth it to see the view from the top! We made it up to the top of the mountain at EXACTLY midnight - the sun was almost setting! It was one of the most amazing parts of the trip!

The next day we were a bit tired, but we traveled to Karahhjukar hydropower dam (the one that powers the aluminum smelter we visited the day before). We drove up the the dam, but we couldn't get out because it was still under a bit of construction - so it was a little pointless - and because winter pretty much just ended here, there was no water in the reservoir because they used it all over the winter, so it was pretty much just a large pile of rocks...then we visited the power plant and a small town called Egilsstadir. Here we went to the pool and met an olympic metalist in triple jump! He was in one of the hot tubs (small country!).

The third day (my birthday!!) was a travel day, we went around probably 1/3 of the island. We stopped at a glacial lagoon with bright blue floating glaciers, and we stopped at a national part called Skaftafell. We saw a few waterfalls on a short hike before it started raining. We drove to our next location on the southern coast of the island. It was very interesting to get to - 14 km off the ring road through gravel roads and winding up and down mountains...once we FINALLY got there, it was this amazing little place with 9 cottages in the middle of a mountain valley. There was a small cave that had picnic tables and grills in where we ate dinner. On my birthday I got tacos and margaritas!! it was AWEsome! I also got sang happy birthday to in like 7 different languages - Polish, Hungarian, Spanish, Swedish, Danish, Icelandic, and of course English! It was a great birthday!

The last couple days were a bit of a blurr - we ended up in Reykjavik and went to a couple waterfalls, a few geothermal plants, biofuels companies, and innovation centers. We also got to go to the blue lagoon and some amazing restaurants! Jake went home on Thursday morning after a going away party on Wednesday night...we went bowling and had a little cake at the beach - a very nice going away bash - oh ya, can't forget the shirt the guys got for him (they decided this was also his icelandic bachelor party) that was for 14 year old girls that had a robot that said "turn me on" in neon colors...haha!! He will be missed by everyone! But mostly by me!

The last day we got to meet the president of Iceland! He invited us to his home outside of Reykjavik. He spoke about his energy policy and some of the hard times Iceland went through to get geothermal implemented. He then invited us to tour his home which had a nice library and an archeology center in the basement. It was very interesting. After that we went to the American embassy. then the long trip back to akureyri. It was so nice to sleep in my own bed and shower in my own shower! It was definitely an unforgettable trip!

For the album of our trip go to http://picasaweb.google.com/Heather.Sanden/June09?authkey=Gv1sRgCI6bv_3Ctq3p1gE#

Pastries and Tulips

2009-04-12T13:25:00.000-07:00

Hello all, and happy Easter! Heather and I are stuffed from an international Easter feast out at Skjaldarvik (the RES dormitory outside of town)and our fingers are funny colors from dying Easter eggs. We attended church at the big church downtown that you've all undoubtedly seen in our pictures. We think we attended a children's service, as the kids in the congregation were involved with most of the service and most of the activities of the pastor were directed at children, i.e. cartoon slide show, puppet with great voice acting, etc... A group of girls even sang songs from the musical Momma Mia as special music, which was kind of odd for an Easter service, but they did a good job. The church was built in the 1920s and is very beautiful, with stained glass windows depicting familiar biblical scenes as well as people/events which are important in Iceland's religious history.

We got back from our trip to Copenhagen and Amsterdam on Saturday evening and were exhausted. It was a wonderful trip! We flew out of Akureyri last Sunday, and made our way to Copenhagen, where we landed at 2 a.m., then had to figure out the metro/subway system, and find our lodging, which was the apartment of a RES staff member's mother. Luckily Copenhagen has maps set up all around the city that give travelers the "you are here" arrow, and we were able to find the apartment (after thinking we were hopelessly lost) and get some shuteye before we spent the day sightseeing.

The city was much more beautiful in the daylight and when we weren't exhausted and praying we were in the right part of town. Our apartment was situated on a canal across from the Danish Parliament building, which is an old royal palace, and smack in the middle of the old downtown, which is now filled with historical landmarks and great shopping if you have the money. We were on our feet all day roaming around. We tried a danish since we were in Denmark, and it was delicious but flaky, so much of it blew away in the wind with each bite! We also tried Carlsberg beer, which is brewed in Copenhagen, and took a canal tour, which was very helpful in pointing out the significance of many of the buildings and statues we had already seen but had now idea of their significance. We got a taste of culture in the King's Garden, a park next to Rosenborg Palace, the home of King Christian IV, which was full of beautiful statues, flowers, and people drinking and leaving their trash behind.

On Tuesday evening we flew to Amsterdam and Heather's friend Lilian, with whom Heather became friends when she stayed in Altoona during high school as a foreign exchange student, met us at the Haarlem train station and graciously allowed us to crash at her place during our stay. Haarlem is a city outside Amsterdam, and only 15 minutes away by train. Wednesday was cool and rainy in the morning, so we spent as much time indoors in Amsterdam as possible. We still got to see many of the sights, but very briefly as we flitted from shop to church to museum. The weather cleared in the afternoon and we spent more time outside, and were able to enjoy the abundance of flowers and green grass. Thursday we went back into the city and saw the Anne Frank museum and a little more of the city since it wasn't raining, then went back to Haarlem and roamed around there with Lilian.

Friday was warm (around 70 Fahrenheit we think) and we went to the beach and then boarded our bus back to Copenhagen to catch our flight on Saturday. We can say we also visited Germany, since the bus stopped a few times here and we switched buses in Hamburg, but even though our passports were checked at each border crossing we did not receive any stamps! We got back to Copenhagen at about 5:30 Saturday morning and since the bus station was only a few blocks away from the apartment we were able to catch up on sleep before our flight that afternoon.

It is still snowing in Akureyri, although in Reykjavik the snow is gone and the sun shines, but we were able to experience green grass, warm weather, new cultures and a change of scenery, so Heather is refreshed enough to continue her hard work and I am already thinking about our next visit to the continent!

See our pictures at
http://picasaweb.google.com/Heather.Sanden/Copenhagen?authkey=Gv1sRgCKX8quHY6eKSbA#

http://picasaweb.google.com/Heather.Sanden/AmsterdamHaarlem?authkey=Gv1sRgCJq7wJ6rsLajbw#

The days are getting longer...

2009-03-18T14:38:00.000-07:00

Hello from the land of ice...although signs of spring are definitely here. We are starting to notice where there is actually sidewalk and grass. The mountains are even becoming less snow covered. It is also staying lighter a lot longer...it seemed like all of a sudden, but thinking back on it, when we got here less than 2 months ago, it was dark by 4 pm and the sun didn't come up til 10am or so. Now the sun isn't going down until almost 8 pm! They said something crazy like we gain 11 minutes of sunlight per day...for a while at least ;-) To give you an idea of what we are up against check this out - http://www.climate-charts.com/Locations/i/IL04063.php

Well before all the snow started melting, the town square became home to a giant snow man...REALLY giant.

We also learned that Iceland doesn't really celebrate St.patricks day, so we helped them out with that last night too...

Anyways, back to the books!

Simply the RES

2009-03-04T11:50:00.000-08:00

Hey, its Heather, thought I would contribute to this blog too...I mean it is Jake AND HEATHER'S Odyssey! So far things are going really well...school makes time move so quickly. The classes are pretty intense, last week we learned all you could possibly want to know about thermodynamics, and this week we are learning about energy production methods. Sounds thrilling huh? Clearly I don't mind it, otherwise it would have been silly to come to Iceland for Renewable Energy School huh? My daily schedule is class form 9-12, lunch, class again from 130-4. After that I need a break, but after that it is back to studying and projects. I am definitely learning a LOT.

Last weekend we went on our first "excursion" to beyond Akureyri. We went to Godafoss, a geothermal area, and Lake Myvatn. The whole trip was excellent. If you want to see pictures go to my picassa page: http://picasaweb.google.com/Heather.Sanden/IcelandMarch?authkey=Gv1sRgCJ6Z7P6uvaThTQ# - that website has all of the pictures from the trip...overall it was so great! If you every get the chance, swim in one of those nature baths - I still feel relaxed!

So to end here, a couple of things I have noticed about Iceland
1. They do not have a lot of child safety laws apparently, they tend to leave their children in their strollers outside in the winter and the carseats are in the front seat, not the back.
2. Things move slower and get started later - I have only seen 2 drive through places and no one seems to go to work until 9 or 10 in the morning. Not to mention the grocery stores and shopping places close at like 6pm...but thats a whole other story!
3. Chicken is not a staple of peoples meals like it is in the good old midwest...we have resorted to fish and beef...good thing we got Paul's recipe for beer battered fish!

Well thats it for now...have to get back to my project! By the way...today is our 1 month mark for being in Iceland!

Heather

We're All Moved In!

2009-02-24T09:05:00.000-08:00

Our sweet water boiler pot.

So we have tons of room and love having a new kitchen! We also have a good sized storage room, although I don't think we'll be doing much storing. We also have a balcony and our view looks east toward the fjord, and from the balcony we can see south and west up the mountains! It's good to be settled in finally!

p.s. here's a portion of our view

Photos- Some Old, Some New

2009-02-18T10:49:00.000-08:00

Monday, February 16th, 2009

2009-02-16T03:19:00.000-08:00

It's been a quiet week in Akureyri. The students are busy with a project- they are working in groups on a paper and presentation- and I am getting to see more and more of the town and culture. Heather started class last Monday, and with the promise of work I spent the day in the back of the classroom waiting to speak to someone about my responsibilities, but the staff was busy hearing thesis defense presentations given by the students who will be graduating this week. After Tuesday and Wednesday I spent exploring the town on foot, taking pictures of the landscape. I am starving for opportunities to take pictures of people, as I need to work on that aspect of my photography. Heather gets home around 4:30 and spends time on facebook catching up with people and events at home, then hits the books while I catch up on reading. Since we are living in a hotel and do not have a kitchen or even a fridge (some of the other students were fortunate enough to have a mini fridge in their hotel room, we've created a makeshift fridge in the window) we go out to various restaurants and try to order big meals so we can have leftovers.
We decided to celebrate Valentine's Day on Friday since RES planned a party on Saturday night. We went to the Thai restaurant we had been to before and then went to our favorite cafe to share a dessert. The RES party on Saturday night was a great opportunity to meet the students finishing up and get advice on living in Iceland. RES allows the students to use the classroom for movie nights and parties as long as the room stays clean and intact, so we played a trivia game, with the first and second place teams winning beer from a local brewery. Our team came in 2nd. Then, as true Icelanders, we headed for the after party so the evening could begin. We partied in one of the apartments we will be moving into, and we can't wait to move in! We waited until about 1:00 a.m. to go to our favorite bar, since that is when the crowd arrives, and danced to the hits of the 80's and 90's, which seem to be the most popular musical eras.
On Sunday we took school vans out to Skjaldarvik, a RES dormitory 10 miles outside of Akureyri where about 12 of the students will be living. We used the spacious kitchen and dining room to cook a spaghetti dinner for 30 something students. To the astonishment of many of the other students, it was the American males who took charge of the kitchen and, with the much needed help of a few of the girls, served dinner right on time. We can't wait to do the same thing again, hopefully we will be able to cook for everyone every weekend!
We will hopefully be moving into our apartments on Thursday, so stay tuned for news and pictures of our new accomodations!

At Last

2009-02-09T05:18:00.000-08:00

I've found temporary work! The RES staff have asked me to help edit the English in the 2009 thesis reports (the class that is graduating this month). Since English is the required language for the reports, and most of the students are from European countries, and since the staff is Icelandic, they are in need of someone to make sure the language in the reports is correct. I'll be editing the reports electronically, then be sending them back to the author for approval. I don't know what or how I will be paid, but I'm excited to have something to occupy my time and to have some responsibility while I'm over here. That's all for now, more updates will follow. Take care!

Swimming in Winter is Great!

2009-02-08T09:25:00.000-08:00

So far we've been to the geothermal pools twice, and it was amazing both times. We met an old blind Scot who is married to an Icelander and frequents Akureyri, and he told us he's always out and about, and if we ever see him in town and have any questions to ask him. This has been our experience with the population. Local or foreign, everyone is outwardly very friendly and helpful, which is a relief since it has been such a transition. Since most of the population speaks English we (the rest of the students included) feel guilty not knowing much Icelandic, but we are trying to pick up phrases to make dealing with us easier.

We've also experienced some of the nightlife. A couple of bars offer student specials, so we have visited those for the cheap beer. We have adhered to the American standard hours of operation, but Icelanders do not start the party until well after midnight, and usually go until morning. So we have not really experienced the bar scene in full swing, as we usually retire for the night when it starts to pick up. For us to do this (and those of you who know Heather will agree) Heather will have to get over her Cinderella syndrome. We will make it one of these weekends. Last night RES threw us a small party with free beer, wine, and delicious hors d'eurves (spelling?) and we learned that even the authority figures at the school like to party! They feel, and we gratefully agree, that making the students feel at home is very important, so they have been absolutely wonderful in helping us make the transition into a new land and culture... That is all for now. Check back soon!

We Made It!

2009-02-05T11:10:00.000-08:00

So we made it to Akureyri ( pronounced Ahkoorehrey with the R's rolled), Iceland on Wed. February 4, sleep deprived and exhillerated. We had left Minneapolis at 10:30 a.m. on Feb. 3rd and didn't get to Akureyri until 11:45 on the 4th. We had a couple long layovers without much sleep, and this was especially hard because we could barely sleep on the night of the 2nd because of the excitement of leaving the country. But we made it safely and are quickly falling in love with the town. We are still getting used to the time difference, Iceland is 6 hours ahead of Minnesota, so we lost some time en route.

When we landed in Akureyri, the PR representative for the School for Renewable Energy Sciences (RES) whom we've been emailing for the past month recognized us from pictures we sent in and drove us and three other students to the Hotel Harpa in downtown Akureyri. We have met several of the other students, from Mexico, Slovakia, Kazakhstan, Poland, Hungary, and have quickly become good friends with all of them. All of us being in such a new situation has made it very easy and necessary to make friends. Arnbjorn, the representative from RES drove us in "green" cars to our hotel and met us for dinner later. His job is to make sure the students feel at home and get whatever they need, so we will keep him close.

For the first two weeks we will be staying in the Hotel Harpa in downtown Akureyri. The hotel is very nice, and as I write this I am sitting in the lobby, a wifi hotspot, with several of the other students who are all on their computers as well. There are several shops and cafes very close by the hotel. Actually, most of the buildings featured in photos on Akureyri's website are within a block of the hotel.

The day we arrived we got a tour of the campus and wandered around town with some of the other students. That night we ate at Bautinn, a restaurant right across the street from the hotel, and I tried horsesteak. It was better than I expected. We ended up falling asleep at about 9:15 (we didn't even make it through the opening credits of a M*A*S*H episode) after fighting jetlag all day.

The next day we slept in, missed breakfast, and had lunch at a cozy cafe down the street in a building we had seen on Akureyri's website several times before departing. We meandered around town some more and visited the public library and some shops. I've made it my goal to buy an Icelandic wool sweater, but at prices between 7,900 Kr and 28,000 Kr ( b/w $80 and $250) I haven't been able to justify the purchase. After seeing the downtown area we went to an outdoor public pool. The water is chlorine free and geothermally heated, so as long as we were in the water we were very comfortable, but we had to make quick trips between pools and hot tubs. I don't know how exactly the water is cleaned without chlorine, but they are very strict about showering before entering the water. There is not much of a crime rate in Akureyri, as we had to leave our shoes on an unprotected rack outside the changing rooms. Everyone here is relaxed, friendly, and seems trustworthy. We are now preparing to go out to dinner and experience some of the night life in the city. Stay tuned to find out if we make it!