5 - My first week at uni

Dear readers,

The first week of university has started and I am really enjoying myself. I have planned to follow these courses:
- Icelandic Nature and Culture Legacy
- Icelandic - The Basics (learning the Icelandic language basics)
- Teaching practise (during this course we get experience in teaching young children at an elementary school here in Iceland!)
- Development of Food Products
- Ecological innovation in Food Science

I am really excited about these courses as it is a mixture of the development of food products and the Icelandic Nature. In the food course we are actually really going to make our own vegan product and a marketing plan, which is pretty exciting!

The locals told me that the weather is much warmer than it is supposed to be. I also think it is not that cold here, it is just pretty windy and it gets light very late (11:00) and dark very quickly (around 16:00). But this will change quite quickly as for example at the end of next month, the sun will rise at ) 08:30 in the morning and the sun will set at 18:42.

Last saturday I was invited by Alla, a lovely lady from Iceland, to join her and her family to a bonfire. It was so great. Again, the people were lovely and the bonfire was amazing to see! I can just stare at it for ages. To top everything off, there was a great firework show afterwards. I don't think I have ever seen such beautiful fireworks in my life. I would definitely recommend coming to Iceland during this Christmas / New Year season, the Icelandic people are just crazy about Christmas lights, bonfires and especially fireworks. The day after we went with all the exchange students to another bonfire with more fireworks, which was really nice too. This night was the last night that the

Icelandic people are allowed to set off fireworks, as this night marked the last day of Christmas for them. They celebrate Christmas for a total of 13 days! They have 13 Santa's and each day one leaves. So, the last night is kind of a farewell party for the last Santa. At this bonfire, instead of just burning wood, all the Christmas trees from the neighbourhoud are burnt. It was really nice to be able to feel like being part of this event. There were dressed up elfs and santa's and all the kids went crazy.

In our spare time me and my friends like to hang out and drink expensive coffees, plan trips and today we went to the pool! It was so cool: the pools are outside but the water is so warm due to geothermal heat! As the Icelandic people don't have to pay much for hot water, I have already noticed that they really make use of this because all the rooms in the houses are SO hot. And when it is too hot they don't just turn down the heating, they just open a window...

I am writing down all the places I want to visit during my stay in Iceland. I have got to say, these are a lot of places. So I will probably have to come back (what a shame, haha). Because we have such a bond group with all the exchange students, you can't get bored very easily. We have a groupchat with all the exchange students and

there is always someone up for a swim, a beer or just to hang out. The best place to drink beer is at the student cellar. Here half a liter of beer is only like 6 euros, which is very cheap for Iceland. It is so nice to be able to meet so many people from so many different countries, and get to know lots of different cultures. Also, everybody is very friendly which makes our stay so good.

I have quite some people visiting me so I also enjoy planning trips for when they come. The best things to do here are to show them around Reykjavík, maybe go to a museum, see some beautiful views, look at art/ statues, go swimming and eat some lovely fish food! Furthermore, I really look forward to hiring a car and do some road trips to explore the beautiful nature of Iceland! In the summer the puffins will arrive, which I can't wait to see!

All in all, I am really enjoying myself. The surroundings are stunning, the people are friendly and there is loads to do here. I don't really miss home yet to be honest , but perhaps later. Only time will tell. In the mean time, I will keep you updated via this blog!

Until next time,

Camille