Rhiannon and Sam

Now that’s team building!

Rhiannon — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 17:08:35 +0000

One of the big differences between England and Iceland is the way that they see their bodies. The way that they teach their children about ‘The birds and the bees’ is the opposite to how English people do it…if at all. Everyone will know who has ever come to Iceland and gone swimming that all body parts hang out whilst getting changed. No one takes any notice of their nakedness nor anybody else’s! Now in England, no one gets naked. Ever. If you don’t get changed in the dressing room then you do magical things with a towel to make sure no one can see anything.

I have been swimming quite a bit in Iceland and at first I did the whole towel thing and got nasty looks from people as if say…Tut! Foreigner! And then one day I decided that I was going to go for it. To turn my back on the English shyness and say “Hello Icelandic Nakedness!” This is what happened…

I got into the changing room at my local swimming baths and sat there pretended to rummage around in my bag to put off the thing I had promised myself I would do. Finally, I built up the courage and stripped. I thought: This isn’t so bad! What is all the fuss about…? Then I walked around the corner into the shower area I was greeted by three of my nude colleagues. Standing as close as one person could get to another having a shower, talking, and inviting me into the conversation with big smiles. I didn’t know what to do or where to look. So, I kept my head down and spoke when spoken too. Quickly I got out of the shower and put on my swimming costume. Thankful I was clothed; I walked outside into the pool.

I almost died of embarrassment.

Wedding Arrangements

Rhiannon — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 14:55:07 +0000

The thing about organizing a wedding is all the decisions that have to be made. Decisions, decisions, decisions. I have got to the point where I say “You know what? You decide. Surprise me!.” The decision on whether to write our own vows or not. Whether to have champagne sorbet or lemon sorbet. How to decide what my hair will look like. Decisions, decisions, decisions.

The hardest decisions have been what songs/hymns to have during the ceremony. I am not particularly keen on the traditional Wedding March and to be honest I have no idea what songs to have instead. We have a band…just no songs…not good!

Then yesterday I remembered a song that I took to Romania with me when I was doing missionary work. I think it is a beautiful song and would like to share it with you

Newswipe

Rhiannon — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 13:14:38 +0000

Newswipe is a TV programme that makes fun of the weeks news and media headlines. Sam and I watched this one yesterday and I was over-the-moon as it has the clip of the news reporter bending down showing you how little snow there is AND the one of the monkeys eating warm food! If there is one thing we English are good at…it’s making fun of ourselves!

Sit back and watch this clip of how crazy “Frozen Britain” actually was. Enjoy!

Áfram Ísland!

Rhiannon — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 20:13:29 +0000

Iceland goes crazy for handball. They won a silver medal in the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Today, Iceland vs. Norway was watched by everyone at work after having an aerial specially installed for the TV. The children (and adults) were all screaming at the TV as the Icelandic team pulled ahead. After Norway won the Eurovision song contest it was imperative that Iceland beat them! I have watched glimpses of handball before but today I sat and watched the whole game with everyone else – it’s good! What is there not to like? A bunch of Icelandic men running around…I think I fell in love…with the sport…obviously, haha. Iceland won 34-35 so everyone is happy

In other news…Yesterday a polar bear was spotted on the East coast of Iceland. A man spotted the bear and quickly ran inside, rang 112 and hid in his attic awaiting the police. Sadly, the bear was shot. The bear was very young which is leading the police to think that the mother is somewhere close by. (Imagine that! “Is that a large sheep? NO! IT´S A POLAR BEAR!”) To read more on the story, plus the story of last years polar bear click here. It is a shame it had to be shot but they are dangerous creatures…I wouldn’t like to find one looking around my garden – that’s for sure!

Bóndadagur og Þorrablót

Rhiannon — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 10:44:56 +0000

Last Friday was bóndadagur (Husband’s day) in Iceland. Girlfriends and wives across the country were doing something special for their loved ones. This day also marks the beginning of Þorrablót where a whole range of traditional foods are eaten.

The smell of rotten shark and rams’ testicles are in the air as people celebrate the old month of Thorri. Thorri food includes hangikjöt (smoked lamb),súrmatur (pickled food) such as: ram testicles, sheep-head jelly and putrified shark. Harðfiskur, dried fish and the most controversial…whale fat.

At work I served pickled herring with onion…it didn’t smell too good, hehe.

Great news!!

Rhiannon — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 18:32:25 +0000

Óðinn and Jónella have booked their flights for our wedding!

We are really excited to have them come to England and share our day with us. Óðinn and Jónella have been really good to us since we moved to Iceland. They are both really awesome people and we are lucky to have them as friends. I am so excited now! I cannot wait!

Rhiannon x

Sweet sweet Iceland

Rhiannon — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 18:15:04 +0000

Home in Iceland! I must say that after four weeks in England I am happy to be home. I was a bit concerned about going back to work after staying for an extra week but I was welcomed back with hugs and smiles. Everyone has asked me about the weather in England with great curiosity…all I can say is…yes, it snowed. :p

The wedding preparations went really smoothly. How people can spend years planning their wedding I have no idea! Now, after bank accounts have been emptied, it is all ready to go …Let’s hope we can afford the flights back to actually be at the wedding

Sam and I were really busy trying to get everything sorted out and on top of that we had to clear out my nans house as it has been sold. We also had to help clear out my parents house so that things from my nans house would fit into it lol.

Sam and I are lucky to have amazing people around us. My friend Sarah was always there for a helping hand and a listening ear. My Aunty Mandy was a huge help…physically and emotionally. My Uncle Tim made me laugh and gave us champagne. My Aunty Julia and Uncle Steve fed us English breakfasts and let us play archery in the house! My Dad was driving us around everywhere to meet every Tom, Dick and Harry…and my Mum was always there with a medicinal glass of wine All of which we are very grateful

Roll on May 29th! X

Memories of 2009

Rhiannon — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 22:52:33 +0000

Britain hit by “mini ice-age”

Rhiannon — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 19:08:55 +0000

One thing I didn’t expect to see whilst in England was snow. However, as we landed in Heathrow airport snowflakes were falling. Over the past week there has been quite a bit of snow. Everyone I meet says “I bet you’re used to this now!” which is beginning to get a bit annoying. I have been laughing at the news reports about the amount of snow fall. I wish I could find a video of one news reporter bending down to an inch of snow and saying “Look at the amount! It is like sand! I haven’t seen this much snow since I was a child!” Another news report was showing monkeys at the zoo being given warm food so that they don’t freeze to death…which was sweet but made me laugh! The best news article was by the Mirror with the headline “Britain hit by mini ice-age“. At this point the temperature was hovering around 0°C and we thought England had gone mad.

Over the past few days the weather has got worse with temperature dropping to -22.3°C and as we speak snow is falling. It is the coldest spell in 30 years. The train services, buses and airlines have said that there will be cancellations and delays. We rang our airline yesterday and they said that we could move our flight to next Saturday which is good in a way…although I am missing Iceland and cannot wait to get back to some normality!

I have some great pictures of the snow and will upload them as soon as possible.

Love Rhiannon x

Rhiannon — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 18:09:41 +0000

Gleðileg Jól og

farsælt komandi ár!