Annie Rhiannon

Monday, February 12, 2007

Spennan magnast...

I've got just over two weeks left in Iceland and I'm getting nostalgic. I've really loved it here. In the past few years I've met so many fantastic people and seen some truly jaw-dropping sights. Glaciers, northern lights, black sand deserts, the midnight sun, and Icelandic X-Factor, to name just a few.

I've learnt a lot from the Icelanders. Not Icelandic, unfortunately, but plenty of other useful things that I can take with me when I leave. For example, that there's nothing wrong with being naked. And if you want to do something then you should just go ahead and do it. And that you should never moan about things; just fix things. And, as a general rule, everything always works out okay. And that pizza and strawberry jam taste really, really good together.

In return, here are some tips of my own:

1. Cheerios are not the only breakfast cereal.
2. You don't need a 4x4 to get to Kopavogur.
3. Or a knife & fork to eat a burger.
4. There is no W in "Victoria's Secret".
5. Megas lyrics don't translate.
6. U2 are shit.
7. So is Prins Polo.
8. Nobody else remembers the Cod War.
9. I was only messing about the Kókómjólk.

It's been a wonderful three and a half years. I'll be back one day. And I'll learn Icelandic properly then, I promise. I at least want to be able to hold down one conversation that doesn't include any advertising headlines.

Spennan magnast!

29 comments:

  1. My dear, how is Kelso going to cope when you leave??

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  2. Well, seems we hardly ever see each other these days anyway then he'll probably be okay. He's probably found another little orphan to cook for already.

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  4. The Icelandic X-Factor?! Did Sigur Ros win?

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  5. The only items I have issues with on that list are 7 and 8. Turns out quite a few Brits I've bumped into 'round here have actually heard of the Cod War. This surprised me.

    And Prins Polo... now there's a little bit of history that may never make it into the books.

    A few years back the Polish company that makes Prins Polo changed their packaging to make it airtight. When I was a teenager, the candy was just wrapped in folded aluminium paper. This meant that during shipping from Poland it got "softened up" a tad by the damp...

    Health concerns be damned, it tasted much better that way!

    Today I think it's more habit and culture that keeps us eating the stuff. The copy-cat "Prins" from Góa is actually much closer to the original taste, but also suffers from airtight packaging.

    I could probably make a fortune buying Prins Polo, poking holes in the packaging and storing in a damp place for a couple months before reselling to nostalgic Icelanders.

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  6. Oh um, well, and I also kinda like U2 and Kókómjólk... ;-)

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  7. When you mention "Megas lyrics" are you talking about Mega City 4?

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  8. Ooh, what's the talent like on Icelandic X-Factor? And being naked is awe-some. Rock on.

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  9. I like U2 and kókómjólk.

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  10. I always feel like puking after kokomjolk. pizza + strawberry jam is just wrong. I use fork & knife when having burgers from Vitabarinn and cheerios are not the only breakfast cereal.

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  11. Sigur ros didn't even get through! Can you believe it? The Icelandic Simon Cowell said they "didn't even know how to play their instruments properly."

    (That's not true).

    It's still going on anyway, these are the contestants. I have a secret crush on "Alan".

    Megas

    Bjarni, only an Icelander could be so passionate about a chocolate bar that tastes like a padded envelope.

    Don't get me wrong, I like Kókómjólk too. It's just that I was exaggerating when I said it was the BEST thing about Iceland. Obviously the BEST thing about Iceland is Appelsín.

    But U2 really are shit.

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  12. ooh, why are you leaving iceland? it sounds so lovely and exotic...

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  13. You can't move to Ireland and slag off U2, it is like poking fun of God. You will have to kneel outside Bono's gate and say a decade of the rosary as apology.

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  14. I am so sad you are leaving! What am I going to do in summer? (apart from save a lot of money that I would have spent on cocktails if you were around).

    I love Kókómjólk!

    No one ever talks about U2 in Ireland. We are still talking about the pope's death. And the weather of course. And ringtones.

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  15. And that you should never moan about things; just fix things.

    Annie, you are my ideal woman. I want to print that quote, frame it and hang it on the wall in our house. You know what would happen though? Linzi would moan that the frame wasn't hanging straight.

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  16. A shame you´re going Annie. Your blog sustained me through the last few weeks of my shitty job in London before moving to this beautiful frozen rock... Many´s the night I have lain awake thinking that my whole Iceland experience would be fulfilled if I could just meet that witty Ginga woman "accidentally" in Kaffibarinn one evening.
    Had one of my 1st true Icelandic moments in my Spoken Icelandic class last night... My teacher asked in Icelandic, in front of the whole class whether I read blogs on the interweb. I answered in the affirmative. She then asked if I knew a certain Welsh Graphic Designer and it turns out that you guys were together at some summer house over the weekend and stumbled on the fact that you both kind of knew me... Iceland and the Blogosphere are both very small places and I love that.

    One last thing: Before you leave Iceland I´d be very interested to hear your opinion of the new upstart Kókómjólk-wannabe, Kappi. I have yet to sample either chocolate-milk-drink and I reckon the view of a connoisseur such as yourself might keep me from making a terrible mistake.

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  17. Hi Ben! Yes, Vala told me she was teaching someone who was ridiculously good in Icelandic. When she said your name I recognised you from Kelso's place. We should meet up before I leave, drop me an email. I haven't tried Kappi yet either but I'm glad to see that something is giving Kókómjólk a run for its money. Probably all the cool kids in Kaffibarinn will drink it, just like they all had to buy black Macs when they came out.

    Truculent, I know, I keep thinking we'll still have my apartment here every time we come back but we won't. So it's hotels.

    CB: I'm going to Dublin to live with Bjarni.

    U2 are still shit.

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  18. U2 are totally shit, but you don't ever say that in Dublin.
    What you do instead is pretend that they're not famous at all.
    So when you see Larry Mullen on Grafton Street, you lean in with the shoulder as you pass him.
    When you see Bono in the boozer down in Dalkey, you tell the short-arsed git to move, he's in your seat.
    That sort of thing.
    Because what they love about Dublin is the fact that no one treats them any differently here!

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  19. I wouldn't recognise any of them anyway, except maybe Bono, but only because he's always wearing those stupid sunglasses. What kind of twat wears their sunglasses all the time? Okay, I know I do it but that's only in an ironic way.

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  20. From one island to another... Hopefully your move won't spell the end of the blog? And yes, U2 are shite - the sunglasses aren't the only thing wrong with Bono, he's also got an inordinate amount of gnashers. Twice as many as any normal person, I swear!

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  21. "Hopefully your move won't spell the end of the blog?"

    I'm only a reader, so what do I know? But another Irish blog is going to be harder to pull off than an Icelandic blog. So is a blog where your woman has a man and everything is grand. Where's the fun in that? We just have to hope Annie can do it.

    If not, it was good while it lasted.

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  22. I thought U2 had become Dutch, for tax purposes.

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  23. "But another Irish blog is going to be harder to pull off than an Icelandic blog. So is a blog where your woman has a man and everything is grand."

    I know, I know, your concerns are not unfounded. What I'm really looking forward to is Bjarni dumping me for another woman (someone thinner, hopefully) and I'll have to move somewhere really barren and exotic (maybe the Antarctic) as a way of healing my rotting heart — it'd make a great blog.

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  24. Careful what you wish for, Hon. There's some very single, very attractive, very scary Dublin women out there who wouldn't have a problem at all stealing away your handsome and economically attractive Icelander.
    Trust me, it's like Gladiators some weekend nights in Dublin. Your Mrs goes to the loo and bam! there's a stampede of glammed up thirty somethings straight over.
    And, as you outed me elsewhere, I'm ginge and that still happens.
    You're gonna have to put a bag over your lad's head in public.

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  25. Uh, what if I don't want to be stolen?

    But yeah, the blog is obviously doomed. I won't be letting Annie do this anymore when she's living with me, I expect her to spend all her time cooking and cleaning.

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  26. You ALL want to be stolen. Pfft.

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  27. I'm looking forward to the new chapter, "so I am". This blonk is far from dead.

    I'm surprised Ben (from the above comments) doesn't write a blog. Surely he could take over the Brit-in-Iceland role, which shall be greatly missed.

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  28. Annie, having recently returned to Dublin after four years away myself, I have to warn you it ain't easy. The whole coming back thing, I mean. Reverse culture shock, and all that. Added to which, tricks learned abroad like saying what you think are not always best appreciated by the indirect Irish population. Still, I'm learning them, one minor offence at a time. Good luck on the move back.

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  29. U2 is shit*

    ..I know it's wrong, but it feels so right. Damn our native tongue.

    Long time reader, first time commenter. Your blonk has kept my dream of someday living in Iceland alive. Making this dream a reality appears to be easier said than done, seeing as I'm fresh out of high school with no qualifications to speak of. And America is, for some reason, outside of the "European Economic Area". Bullocks.

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