Warm greetings from the land of fire and Ice, we experienced both of them very close by!
There were 2 different volcanic eruptions during my stay there and a lot of snow and ice, especially snowstorms. The city of Grindavik had to be evacuated and we were following closely how people lost their homes and their community as the area was claimed to be a risk area for lava flow. The rough and unpredictable nature makes Iceland a one of a kind but what stands out the most is the overflowing positivity and optimism of the Icelandic people. There are no problems, just opportunities. When we had a snowstorm after another and the spring was supposed to be already there I didn’t hear too many complaints. it was “no problem, our skiing season will just be a bit longer” I just love this type of mentality.
I did my exchange studies in a small city called Akureyri, the university was called Haskolinn á Akureyri. The university is quite small with a tight community around it. The studies were quite different from my studies in Proakatemia, mostly consisting of traditional lectures and final exams but the quality of the teaching was quite high. It was especially interesting to take part in some of the courses from the masters programme of polar law.
In the university they are focusing especially on distance learning and making studying in a university the easiest to access for everyone no matter their life situation. Therefore all of the courses are possible to complete completely online, only the final exams are on campus. However all of the exchange students and the younger locals prefer to study on campus so there are nice people to get to know and hang out with.
I didn’t know what type of place I was coming to before hand, but the north of Iceland is a outdoor paradise. There are a lot of opportunities for free time. More than 5 ski resorts just in the troll peninsula near Akureyri, not to mention the free riding opportunities as well as other outdoor activities to try. I have been snowboarding a lot, The closely ski resort has student discounts for the year pass so that was a very fun thing to do after lectures or before them. I fell in love with freeriding, grabbing your equipment and trekking up the fjords where you can find only traces from the arctic foxes and ptarmigans and once you have reached the summit taking the skins out and skiing down in the perfect powder! I was also rock climbing, horseback riding, hiking and of course cold plunging and relaxing in the hot springs!
Overall my exchange in Iceland was unforgettable and I would highly recommend visiting this country and experiencing its rich culture yourself. There is some magic in this island.
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