My last day in Iceland
Today is my last full day here in Iceland, which gives me a little time to reflect on the last few days (but a full roundup of FanFest will have to wait until I get back and have some time to go through my pictures). It's actually sunny today for the first time since Wednesday, though I've spent almost all my time over the last few days either inside the FanFest venue or out with various people around here.
Visiting Iceland has been a really interesting and fun experience, especially being here and spending time with people from all over the world. While GenCon always has a lot of people from outside the US, here at FanFest, the attendees are mostly from outside the US -- I've heard people speaking dozens of different languages, not to mention English with as many accents, and it really gives you a feeling for the fact that the world is a much bigger place than you can possibly realize when you spend most of your time in a single place. I've been able to meet a lot of people I have considered friends here, even though we'd never met in person before, and I will be taking home a lot of great memories.
The most fascinating thing about being in another country has been seeing all the little differences between being here and being in the US. Nearly everything here seems a little smaller (including my bed in the hotel room and the bit-too-small duvet), the smell of sulfur when you run the hot water (due to the fact that hot water here comes from geothermally-heated springs under the ground), the fact that you get a yellow light before a green light on the traffic signals, and the way cars actually expect to cede the right of way to pedestrians (quite a change from the mess on campus, for sure). I think just being exposed to a different way of doing things and a different environment has been incredibly healthy for me as a person.
The worst thing about this trip is that it really hasn't been long enough for me to really feel like I have learned as much as I should about this place, and I wish I had time to learn the language and culture here. I was really excited about coming here, and it has not been a disappointment; I can't wait until I get the chance to take a trip like this again.
Visiting Iceland has been a really interesting and fun experience, especially being here and spending time with people from all over the world. While GenCon always has a lot of people from outside the US, here at FanFest, the attendees are mostly from outside the US -- I've heard people speaking dozens of different languages, not to mention English with as many accents, and it really gives you a feeling for the fact that the world is a much bigger place than you can possibly realize when you spend most of your time in a single place. I've been able to meet a lot of people I have considered friends here, even though we'd never met in person before, and I will be taking home a lot of great memories.
The most fascinating thing about being in another country has been seeing all the little differences between being here and being in the US. Nearly everything here seems a little smaller (including my bed in the hotel room and the bit-too-small duvet), the smell of sulfur when you run the hot water (due to the fact that hot water here comes from geothermally-heated springs under the ground), the fact that you get a yellow light before a green light on the traffic signals, and the way cars actually expect to cede the right of way to pedestrians (quite a change from the mess on campus, for sure). I think just being exposed to a different way of doing things and a different environment has been incredibly healthy for me as a person.
The worst thing about this trip is that it really hasn't been long enough for me to really feel like I have learned as much as I should about this place, and I wish I had time to learn the language and culture here. I was really excited about coming here, and it has not been a disappointment; I can't wait until I get the chance to take a trip like this again.
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