Það besta sem Guð hefur skapad er nýr ðagur

As this exchange semester is something so totally different from anything I ever experienced in my life, I choose to see it as a new start. I took the opportunity to put some good intentions in place, as probably more people will have done; I bought a cheap second-hand guitar to pick up my guitar play again and promised myself to go exercising as I used to do quite some time ago. (Actually; way too long ago...)

So this other day I was out for a run; not recreationally or because my good intentions prescribed me to do so, but just to blow off some steam. I ran and ran through the busy main street of Laugavegur, and as crowded bars with Top 40-music inside passed the corners of my eyes, I realised I had arrived at a part of town where I hadn't been before. More or less lost (as far as you can get lost in this small town), I came across an alley that at first sight looked as if it had been taken directly from an American drug dealer-movie; the only thing that was missing were the junkies injecting heroin. Blinding fluorescent lamps lighted the area, and as I came closer it became apparent that someone had been trying to add some 'hope' to this gray alley. 

The walls were painted in light-blue and -green, representing a blue sky and spring-grass, and children were playing under a big rainbow. Just above the rainbow there was an Icelandic quote, which I saved in my cell-phone and later that night translated. It said:

"Það besta sem Guð hefur skapad er nýr ðagur."

(The best thing that God has created is a new day.)

The quote was taken from the probably best-known Icelandic band Sigur Rós, and has been one of my favourite quotations ever since. For me, it demonstrates that as long as you wake up and the world is still there, there is an opportunity for second (or third or fourth) chances.

This is only one example of the inexhaustible talent Iceland provides. (In the domain of art, that is, not so much in banking...) Iceland is filled with very talented artists and Reykjavík has more stores that sell art than that is has dustbins (which can be very irritating too).

As a violent storm rages outside my appartment window, indicating that fall has officially started, I hope the new day God provides tomorrow will have better weather...