Summer of Midnight Sun - Chapter 4: New Places = New Faces

 Throughout my 86 days in Iceland, I was able to meet countless new people from so many places that I could not keep track. Whether it was in Isafjorður on business or in the bars of Reykjavík, I seemed to meet friendly people wherever I went. I surely won't be able to do them all justice, so I hope the few close friends I made will suffice.

    I lived in a house split into seven separate rooms for nine people, luckily this summer we only had five. Sam had been there the longest out of any of us, a Brit who has been in Iceland for just over three years to finish her master's and continue in museum work. Lance had flown in from France for the summer to complete an art in business internship with a local studio and restaurant, while Aga came from Leipzig, Germany to work as a tailor at the locally prestigious Yeoman studio on Laugavegur. These were the closest people I had while I was in Iceland, as we spent pretty much every spare moment together. Our weekends seemed to be a whirlwind of clubbing Friday nights, and hiking it off on Saturday or Sunday as we ran around the country. We also got to know each other quite well on a day-to-day basis and developed an almost family-like atmosphere. It was remarkable to meet absolute strangers and have them become some of my closest friends over three months. I miss them all dearly.

    At work, I was surrounded by Icelanders, but there were a few other foreign nationals sprinkled around the office. Lisa Marie in HR is from Austria and we became quite close during my time there, as she believed that the foreign community should stick together. I owe some really good times to her, especially towards the end of my time when I wouldn't have gone alone, but she dragged me out to events I loved like Pride Day and Culture Night. I also had the blessing of working with Maik, my supervisor from Germany who gave me a real understanding of German directness, something that I liked and learned to love. I cannot thank him enough for the hours spent encouraging my creative expansion and helping my ideas flourish. I also became good friends with Georg and Laufey, two coworkers of similar level and age. We made a good team, taking advantage of our free time to hang out on the balcony or to run for a hot dog (Icelanders love hot dogs, I'll explain later).

    There were also wonderful people I met in passing, like friends of friends at a bar or just simple happenstance. While my best friend was in town, we met two men from Cairo and Portugal at the bars, who both had unique stories and reasons for being there. At one of Lances' studio shows, I was able to meet artists from across Nordic Europe who were working in the building. I even got to meet the former president, Ólafur Grimsson for a brief moment while he was speaking at a Kerecis event.

    In the end, the friends made and the people I met during my time in Iceland are really what made the trip.