Today’s post, it is going to be all about me.
If you came here for the pretty pictures of Iceland, don’t worry I have that for you to. Gorgeous pictures in fact, taken by my Viking on our recent adventure to the beautiful Bruarfoss, so stick around.
Back to me.
A few weeks ago I did a reader survey and got a lot of great feedback from you all. Doing a reader survey is such a great way to check in and see how things are going with your blog, and it is really helpful in deciding what direction I want to take my blog, something I am always debating. After reviewing the survey results I now have a somewhat plan of attack for this year, so thanks to all who answered!
One of the biggest things I wanted to find out from my survey was how you all felt about the variety of posts topics I write about. I am always wondering what type of a mix of posts is good to share, from Iceland travel tips to expat life and daily happenings, the number of post in each topic is something I am always playing around with. After reading your answers I was very happy to see that you all really like the current variety of content on Unlocking Kiki. Yay!
Another thing that made me very happy to see, almost half of you have started reading Unlocking Kiki within that last 6 months.
Welcome new friends!
With all the new faces around here it comes as no surprise that I also had many questions on the survey about who I was and what in the world I am doing in Iceland?! I get it, this does seem like a very random place to end up. So today I wanted to answer some questions you all had about who I am, what I do and how I ended up in Iceland.
Why are you living in Iceland?
Great question, and no surprise that this was the most asked question on the survey, Iceland is a totally random place to end up.
It all started 5 years ago. I had recently turned 21, was in my senior year of university, and had never been anywhere other than the west coast where I grew up. This was the year that this would all change. I applied for an internship abroad in Australia, and before I knew it I was saying some tearful goodbyes to my family and heading to the land down under for 4 months.
So what does Australia have to do with Iceland???
During these 4 months I met a boy, there is always a boy. This boy happened to be a Viking from the land of fire and ice, aka Iceland, a place I maybe had heard about once or twice in my life. At the time I placed the Viking in the “this will be a fun fling box” and thought nothing more of it. My time in Australia came to an end, I said a hard goodbye to the Viking, and back to Oregon I went.
I promise I am getting to the end of this soon!
Fast forward five months later, the Viking and I had continued talking, he was heading back home to Iceland after his university graduation when he decided to stop in Oregon on his way back to Iceland. After this trip it was clear the Viking was not just my fling from Australia and onto the fun long distance dating we went.
The next three years consisted of lots of skype talks, trips back and forth to each other’s countries (we were lucky and never went more than a few months without seeing each other), a 5 week backpacking trip around Europe, and even 5 months of me living in Iceland, until finally we had had enough of long distance and decided I would make the move over to Iceland.
Wheew, that went on for longer than planned but covers just about everything :)
The reason for this grand Icelandic adventure I am on:)
Why did you decide to move to Iceland and not H move to the US?
This is a question both H and I get asked frequently. When I met new people in Iceland and tell them I am from the states and moved here more often than not they will give me a funny look and ask me why in the world I would chose to move to Iceland?? Sometimes, when the wind is blowing me over I think this as well.
But there was good reason to our decision.
During those fun three years of long distance the Viking and I looked into every option possible of how we could be together. We looked into visa options for H moving to America, we looked into moving to a different country altogether, and we looked into me moving to Iceland.
Of course the easiest solution, and the one solution that everyone seemed to give us, just get married.
While that sounds whimsical and romantic not all international couples are ready to just dive into marriage so they can be together. I mean, how do we even know we can stand living together yet? We can’t get married before we have been in the same country together for longer than a few weeks!
Enter in Iceland where we were able to get a visa and actually be together. Thanks to Iceland’s small size and not as strict (but still surprisingly strict) immigration rules we decided that me moving to Iceland was our best option, and so I packed up and moved 4,000 miles away from home and here we are two years later.
So this is a longer than needed story basically saying it was easier and quicker for us to get a visa in Iceland than the states.
And as a side note, H and I have recently been looking into the visa process for him moving to the US, just out of curiosity since at some point in the future we would like to move there. Did you know that the first step of the process is sending in an application, which is an application basically just applying to start the visa application process, and it cost $500 USD!!! That is just the fee to start the process, don’t even get me started on the thousands of dollars that would need to be spent during the actual visa process! I think we will be staying in Iceland for a few more years.
Have you started learning Icelandic yet?
Ég tala smá íslensku. Traslation: I speak a little Icelandic :)
Icelandic, we have had quite the rollercoaster relationship these past two years, but I am happy to say that I can now have an intellectual conversation with anyone four and under.
But really, Icelandic, it is so tough, and the growing pains of learning a new language, it has been hard on me. When I first moved to Iceland and was waiting for my visa I took two Icelandic classes. These classes really helped me, but they just barely covered the surface of Icelandic. After my two classes were finished I was feeling excited about how much I had learned in a short time, but knew I had a long way to go.
And then I started working, and once I started working full time my motivation to study Icelandic, it basically went away.
The thought of coming home after working all day and studying an incredibly difficult language, well it just does not sound that appealing to me. I am also the type of person that if I am not in a structured class I have a hard time studying on my own. So, for the last year I have not been actively studying Icelandic.
However, my daily life is surrounded by Icelandic, from my co-workers to the tv, running errands and meeting up with friends, not a day goes by that I am not around Icelandic conversation. So even though I have not been learning Icelandic in a class just being around the language has helped me so much, I really am amazed at how much I can now understand just from listening to those talk around me.
But, the time has come for me to suck it up and get back to class.
This time around I can feel I am really motivated to learn. I am feeling settled into my life in Iceland and feel like the next step I want to conquer is the language. I am really determined to reach some level of fluency with Icelandic, even if it takes me years!
My first class starts this week, wish me luck guys!
Do you feel like an outsider when people speak Icelandic around you?
To be honest, my answer to this question changes by the day. Sometimes I have no problem whatsoever when others are speaking Icelandic and enjoy the opportunity to practice my Icelandic skills. Other days when I hear Icelandic I just want to become invisible and not deal with it. Living in another language, it is an adventure.
Those first few months in Iceland I really struggled with feeling like an outsider when people where speaking Icelandic. I felt like I stood out in the crowd and would quickly get really uncomfortable. I remember not wanting to leave the room to use the bathroom once at a party because I knew that once I left the room the conversation would switch back to Icelandic and I was worried about how long it would take before it went back to English.
I have countless stories like this.
Thankfully over time this feeling has gone away, it probably helps that I can understand some of the language. Now when people start speaking Icelandic I don’t mind at all, but I do get tired when I am trying to follow the conversation, which requires all of my attention, so I have a hard time focusing for long. But when I am able to add something to the lunch table conversation, I basically feel like I am on top of the world.
Hopefully I will be coming back to you all in a few more months with more stories of lunch time conversation wins, 2016 is the year Icelandic will finally come out of my mouth!
How did you find a job in Iceland? And what is your job?
When I moved to Iceland I had no work visa, no job, or really any idea what I was going to do. Yeah, it was a bit of a terrifying feeling jumping into the unknown when I moved to Iceland. Thankfully I found a great job just three months after I moved to Iceland, but it was definitely a stressful process.
So how I found a job in Iceland, I have a full post about this coming soon. For now the short answer, networking and using my connections is really what helped me find a job in Iceland.
As for the second part of the question, I currently work at a university in Reykjavik handling the graduate programs in Computer Science (side note, I know very little about computer science, thankfully my job doesn’t require me to) as well as handling marketing for the department and all international relations. This job has been so amazing for me and my co-workers are the best, they have quickly become my Icelandic family and there support is invaluable to me.
A full post about my job search process and tips for finding work abroad coming soon!
Are you part of an expat-club in Iceland?
Yes, and I highly recommend joining an expat group in your area!
My friend and I manage an expat group here in Reykjavik called Girl Gone International. You can find GGI groups in cities all over the world. ( I wrote a full post explaining Girl Gone International here)
Our group meets up once a month, usually at a cafe, and it is a great time just chatting with ladies from all over the world. Joining this group was really the turning point for me in finding friends in Iceland. My closest friends are ones that I met at GGI events and I am so grateful for them. You never know what new friend you will make each month.
I know some people think you should only try and make friends with the locals, which is definitely something you should do, but I think it is also really important to have a group of friends who completely understand the things you deal with in expat life. I think getting out there and trying all kinds of events, both with locals and expats, is a must when living abroad!
Any advice for someone in a international relationship?
International relationships, they are tough and tend to be full of long time periods spent apart, visa complications, and issues with cultural differences. But you know what, it is all more than worth it!
When I was making the decision on if I should move to Iceland or not one thing my mom said to me has always stuck with me. She asked me, “if you don’t go will you regret it?” I bought my ticket the next day.
My advice, don’t let the fear of the future and the challenges that will can arise stop you from continuing the relationship. Even if things don’t work out you will have one amazing adventure to always remember.
So take the leap, better to know than live in regret!
Thanks again to everyone who took the time to answer my survey, I so appreciate you all!
If you are wanting more information about me and the Viking, ( we all love a good love story) you can read more about our relationship here.
Have a great week everyone and thanks so much for following along with my crazy Icelandic adventure!
Question of the Day?
Do you want to see a post with all the survey results? Any questions you have that I didn’t cover?
