-Feb 3rd. Last evening the rain beat hard against my windows facing west, I`d say gale force, and changed to a few minutes of blizzard after which the wind died down abruptly. Then again, if this were New England, the storm would make the news because it`d down power lines and cause property damage. No so here: the wind simply blows through. Yet another example of that `wild yet oddly domestic` observation about things Icelandic. As for weather, people here are taking seriously the global warming report issued recently. Fortunately we have lots of renewable energy, and the report is an impetus to push this forward a bit more quickly.
-The daughter of a good friend of mine is getting divorced (what`s new?) shortly. My friend is into his second marriage, and she her first. And the current marriage isn`t going well despite appearances. There seems to be a more rapid turn-over of relationships here in Iceland compared with other places. More fundamentally, there isn`t that stigma of being divorced. I attribute some of this to the smallness of Icelandic society where everyone is related to everyone else. This observation came to the fore last evening when I visited a well-known professor at the university. He was married 28 years, has a family, and had several girlfriends. We talked about this for about an hour, concluding with the fact that living alone or remaining unmarried (celibate) is an alternative state with unique values not appreciated nowadays. It`s also a new if not outrageous idea in Iceland.
-Two workers at the loading dock, both in their late teens, were telling me how they planned to get drunk this weekend and sleep until 3pm. Very typical, something for which Iceland is famous. First reaction is one of disgust and repulsion at this widespread phenomenon which occurs each and every weekend. Here we are dealing with something that can only be comprehended from within the society itself. In this blog I`ve tried to present glimpses into Icelandic society, something you don`t hear about that much in the wider world. I am convinced that this binge-type drinking is yet another manifestation of Icelandic simplicity I noted often. When you`re with such people day in and day out you get insight as to how this characteristic manifests itself, and drinking like there`s no tomorrow is one.