By Josh Mackintosh, Features Contributor
When we first arrived in Iceland two months ago, we ate all things Icelandic, such as fish quesadillas and lamb hotdogs, which Bill Clinton has been known to enjoy. We drank all things Icelandic, such as licorice schnapps and $9 pints of mediocre beer. We did all things Icelandic, such as soaking in the Blue Lagoon for hours, and visiting Ikea. Besides coming here to study Resource Management, we came here to experience Iceland.
The three of us barely knew each other a year ago. Jennifer was raised in Saint John, N.B. and moved to Halifax for work, and later for school. Lindsay is from Rothesay, N.B. and moved to Halifax to go to Dalhousie. Josh is from Kentville, N.S. and attended Acadia before going to Dal to study Environmental Planning. We were all studying planning on Dalhousie’s Sexton Campus. We did our studio projects, internships, and theses together before we graduated in 2009. Now we are studying in Iceland, working on our Masters of Resource Management, specializing in Coastal and Marine Management. It’s a multi-disciplinary program with students from all over the world; from Canada and the United States to Latvia, Iran and Mauritius. The program also includes professors from across Europe, the U.S. and Canada who are well known in their respective fields. Some of them even attended or taught at Dal.
The University of Akureyri offers our program in Isafjordur, Iceland. Isafjordur is in the Northwest corner of Iceland in an area called the Westfjords. Isafjordur is the biggest town in the Westfjords and has a population of about 3,000 people. Because of the city’s location (66 degrees North, at the mouth of the Arctic Circle) there are nearly 24 hours of light per day in the summer, and in the winter nearly 24 hours of darkness. In the Westfjords there are plenty of opportunities to go horseback riding, on boat trips, fishing, hiking or exploring for wildlife in the Hornstrandir Nature Reserve or on either one of two of the biggest seabird cliffs in the North Atlantic.
In Isafjordur, we have countless opportunities for hiking over the mountains around the fjords, over the avalanche barriers, and through the tunnels that borough deep under the mountain or along the seaside. We sailed around the Westfjords, and saw a glacier and the nature reserve. That trip, however, had to be cut short due to a gale warning. Despite a few nauseous classmates and a broken boom, the motor back to the town was one of the best ways to see the Westfjords. In September we experienced our first Icelandic snowfall. We have been told to expect it in May and sometimes June as well, so that is something to look forward to.
The Blue Lagoon was an interesting experience. When you see brochures about travelling to Iceland, you are bombarded with pictures of the Blue Lagoon. When you Google images of Iceland, the first image that shows up is of the Blue Lagoon. So naturally, we had to check it out. As we approached from kilometres away, we saw this cloud of perfect white steam escaping into the air. As we got closer we saw the perfect blue water, which is almost glowing. It doesn’t look real.
We came to the entrance of the Lagoon and saw hundreds of people. They were all trying to take token pictures of themselves in front of the lagoon’s bright blue water. When we entered the payment area, we were overwhelmed by the amount of people who were trying to get into the water at the same time. By this point, we had decided it was perfectly reasonable to pay $50 to access this lake of warm water.
We went into the changing room, which, if you don’t play sports growing up, is a place of extreme discomfort to begin with, especially in Europe where there is no shyness about nudity. Posted on the Blue Lagoon changing room walls was a sign that read: “All bathers must shower in the shower room with no clothes on before entering the lagoon.” Of course, being a fairly reserved North American, this made me even more uncomfortable.
After not complying with the posted naked shower rule, I quickly slipped out the door to the deck that runs around the lagoon and blended in with the crowd. The Blue Lagoon, despite being kind of cool, continued to disappoint me. It was packed with people who each wanted something different from it, ranging from families having fun putting mud on their faces, taking pictures and swimming around with orange arm floatation devices, to couples on honeymoons who were trying to have a romantic time kissing and snuggling.
The Lagoon can make you feel quite sick if you stay in too long; however, we wanted to get as much time in as we could for $50. It was a delicate balance. Once you see a floating Band-Aid it’s game over – time to leave.
We left the change room and were corralled like cattle through the Blue Lagoon shop, where you can buy $100 Blue Lagoon Shampoo or a $5 bottle of water, which you need, because the lagoon has dehydrated you to the point of collapse.
Coming to Iceland was quite an adventure. We each had varying first impressions of the place that we will call home for the next year. One thing that struck me upon arrival in Iceland is how much some areas look like the moon. Iceland is beautiful. The island is lush and green and full of expression in the summer, which is much too short. What Iceland lacks in long, warm summers, it makes up for with friendly people.
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