When I published my last post a few weeks ago, I never imagined that I would be writing my next one under such unprecedented, life-changing, and scary circumstances.
As of March 20th, my Fulbright program was officially terminated due to the severity and far-reaching range of the COVID-19 outbreak. However, we were given the option to remain in Iceland as private citizens, a freedom which I immediately chose to exercise as I greatly feared contracting and spreading the virus while traveling, felt much safer sheltering in place in Iceland, have a much stronger personal support network in Reykjavik than I do in any one place in the United States, and since I've already been confirmed as an Árni Magnússon Institute scholarship recipient and University of Iceland student for next year.
To have my Fulbright grant terminated and so many aspects of my daily life that I've built here in Iceland so abruptly brought to an indeterminately long halt is incredibly scary and deeply heartbreaking. Moving back here, as a Fulbright fellow no less, was nothing less than another dream of mine come true, and I'm still often struggling with a strong sense of loss and resulting anger and resentment from having that experience in all its beauty cut short.
But moving forward through these difficult times, I'm going to try to make something out of the current situation. I've not often had time or especially energy to blog in the last several months, and I'm going to try to do so more often moving forward. Cut short though it may have been, this experience still remains intact. My Fulbright experience in Iceland was one of the most beautiful and important periods in my life, and as I'm staying here, I look forward to continuing to build my life and strengthen my roots here. I've decided to share my final report to the Icelandic Fulbright Commission here, which I wrote in Icelandic as testimony to how much my language skills have progressed since I came here and how proud I am of how far I've come. I'll of course include an English translation below the original Icelandic text, and continue to update this blog further in the coming weeks. Enjoy.
Þegar ég kom til Íslands sem Fulbright styrkþegi í ágúst 2019 var landið nú þegar mikilvægur staður þar sem ég hafði upplifað sérstaka og áhrifamikla upplifun. Núna er ekki bara það. Í gegnum síðasta sjö mánuði hefur Ísland orðið heimað mitt.
Sem nemendur við Háskóla Íslands, hef ég dýpkað þekkinguna mína af íslenskum máli og íslenskri menningu í tímum í talþjálfun, málfræði, og íslensku máli. Út af því að ég hef stór áhuga á norrænum tungumálum og menningum almennilega, ég hef líka kunnað að meta tækifærin til að bæta við notkunina mína af skandinavískum tungumálum, gegnum tímum í dönsku og sænsku. Að frátöldum venjulegum tímunum hef ég njótað líka marga fyrirlestra um tungumál, menningar, sögu, og líðandi stundir Íslands, norrænna landa, og alls heimisins.
Ég tókst við að vera meðlimur nokkurra samfélaga. Sem félagi í Háskólakórnum hef ég lærði mikið um hefðbundna íslenska tónlist, eignast góða vini (bæði Íslendingar og útlendingar), og bætt íslenskuna mína mjög mikið gegnum samtölum með þeim. Sem sjálfboðaliði við AFS á Íslandi hef ég byrjað að taka þátt á ný í samtökum sem ég var mjög tengdur við í fortíðinni, og tengjast við bæði fyrrverandi íslenska skiptinema og útlenda skiptinema sem komu til Íslands. Og sem Fulbright styrkþegi hef ég tekið þátt í menningarathöfnum og fengið einstæðan möguleika til að tjá Fulbright á Íslandi í ráðstefnunni “Our Voices” í Amsterdam.
As of March 20th, my Fulbright program was officially terminated due to the severity and far-reaching range of the COVID-19 outbreak. However, we were given the option to remain in Iceland as private citizens, a freedom which I immediately chose to exercise as I greatly feared contracting and spreading the virus while traveling, felt much safer sheltering in place in Iceland, have a much stronger personal support network in Reykjavik than I do in any one place in the United States, and since I've already been confirmed as an Árni Magnússon Institute scholarship recipient and University of Iceland student for next year.
To have my Fulbright grant terminated and so many aspects of my daily life that I've built here in Iceland so abruptly brought to an indeterminately long halt is incredibly scary and deeply heartbreaking. Moving back here, as a Fulbright fellow no less, was nothing less than another dream of mine come true, and I'm still often struggling with a strong sense of loss and resulting anger and resentment from having that experience in all its beauty cut short.
But moving forward through these difficult times, I'm going to try to make something out of the current situation. I've not often had time or especially energy to blog in the last several months, and I'm going to try to do so more often moving forward. Cut short though it may have been, this experience still remains intact. My Fulbright experience in Iceland was one of the most beautiful and important periods in my life, and as I'm staying here, I look forward to continuing to build my life and strengthen my roots here. I've decided to share my final report to the Icelandic Fulbright Commission here, which I wrote in Icelandic as testimony to how much my language skills have progressed since I came here and how proud I am of how far I've come. I'll of course include an English translation below the original Icelandic text, and continue to update this blog further in the coming weeks. Enjoy.
Þegar ég kom til Íslands sem Fulbright styrkþegi í ágúst 2019 var landið nú þegar mikilvægur staður þar sem ég hafði upplifað sérstaka og áhrifamikla upplifun. Núna er ekki bara það. Í gegnum síðasta sjö mánuði hefur Ísland orðið heimað mitt.
Sem nemendur við Háskóla Íslands, hef ég dýpkað þekkinguna mína af íslenskum máli og íslenskri menningu í tímum í talþjálfun, málfræði, og íslensku máli. Út af því að ég hef stór áhuga á norrænum tungumálum og menningum almennilega, ég hef líka kunnað að meta tækifærin til að bæta við notkunina mína af skandinavískum tungumálum, gegnum tímum í dönsku og sænsku. Að frátöldum venjulegum tímunum hef ég njótað líka marga fyrirlestra um tungumál, menningar, sögu, og líðandi stundir Íslands, norrænna landa, og alls heimisins.
Ég tókst við að vera meðlimur nokkurra samfélaga. Sem félagi í Háskólakórnum hef ég lærði mikið um hefðbundna íslenska tónlist, eignast góða vini (bæði Íslendingar og útlendingar), og bætt íslenskuna mína mjög mikið gegnum samtölum með þeim. Sem sjálfboðaliði við AFS á Íslandi hef ég byrjað að taka þátt á ný í samtökum sem ég var mjög tengdur við í fortíðinni, og tengjast við bæði fyrrverandi íslenska skiptinema og útlenda skiptinema sem komu til Íslands. Og sem Fulbright styrkþegi hef ég tekið þátt í menningarathöfnum og fengið einstæðan möguleika til að tjá Fulbright á Íslandi í ráðstefnunni “Our Voices” í Amsterdam.
Auðvitað hefur ástandið sem er í gangi haft áhrif á upplifunina mína. Núna er háskólinn lokaður og kennslan rafræn. Það er frekar erfiðari að æfa sig vel og bæta við, en kennararnir hefur ábyrgst að við ætlum að klára misserinu og taka próf. Ég er nú þegar staðfestur sem þátttakandi í náminu á næstu ári og styrkþegi við Árnastofnunina. Ég hlakka til að halda áfram að vera partur Fulbright samfélagsins á Íslandi og að hjálpa með viðeigandi viðburðum. Ég er djúpt þakklátur Fulbright stofnuninni fyrir tækifærið til að flytja aftur til Íslands og styrkja ræturnar.
When I came to Iceland as a Fulbright grantee in August 2019, it was already an important place to me where I had had special and influential experiences. But now it's not only that. Over the course of the last seven months, Iceland has become my home.
As a student at the University of Iceland, I have deepened my knowledge of Icelandic language and culture through lessons in conversational practice, grammar, and Icelandic language. Because I am greatly interested in Nordic languages and cultures in general, I have also appreciated the opportunity to improve my knowledge of Scandinavian languages through lessons in Danish and Swedish. Aside from regular lessons, I have also enjoyed a great many extracurricular talks and lectures about languages, culture, history, and current events in Iceland, the Nordic countries, and the whole world.
I successfully became part of several communities. As a member of the University Choir, I have learned very much about traditional Icelandic music, gained many close friends (both Icelanders and other foreigners), and improved my Icelandic immensely through conversations with them. As an AFS Iceland volunteer I have begun to take part again in a community in which I used to be very active in the past, and connected with both Icelandic AFS returnees and foreign exchange students who have come to Iceland. And as a Fulbright grantee I have taken part in various cultural activities and gotten the chance to represent the Icelandic Fulbright Commission at the "Our Voices" Fulbright conference in Amsterdam.
Of course the current circumstances have affected my experience greatly. For now the university is closed and teaching is online. It is quite a lot harder to practice well and improve language skills in this way, but our professors have assured us that we will be able to finish the semester and take our exams. I am already confirmed as a University of Iceland student and a recipient of the Árni Magnússon Institute for Icelandic Studies scholarship for next year. And I look forward to continue being a part of the Fulbright community in Iceland and to help in relevant events in any way I can. I am deeply grateful to the Commission for giving me the opportunity to move back to Iceland and strengthen my roots.
