Published September 12, 2014

Anna’s 47th Editorial

I went on a vacation last month. It was wonderful. I left the country. I spent very little time sitting behind a computer. I stopped following Icelandic news. I browsed our website and Facebook a few times. It was really wonderful. I tuned out (and all but turned on, tuned in, dropped out).

To say that nothing much happened while I was gone would be an understatement. The Icelandic media seems to be in shambles (turn to page 16 for the scoop on that). The office ate Thai food last print week (we usually subsist on burgers and pizza). They also threw a party with a Bouncy Castle (thanks a lot for waiting, guys!). Justin Timberlake was here. The Fljótsdalshérað municipality’s ‘Truth Committee’ declared that the (formerly?) mythical Lagarfljót worm is REAL (go to grapevine.is to read that story). And then a bloody volcano threatened to erupt, didn’t erupt and then erupted elsewhere (turn to page 6 for a geophysicist’s overview of what happened and how it might play out).

A bunch of other things probably happened too, but I’m still playing catch up. So, as I thought about what to write, my feelings about being back in the country inevitably came to mind. I often find it difficult to jump back and forth between two drastically different lives (the other being in the Land of Opportunity, where I grew up). But after the initial jolt of returning to this small, cold rock wears off, I go back to being content and find myself wondering, ‘Could I really leave? Will I miss it too much?’

One of the aspects that I most appreciate about living here in downtown Reykjavík (and busting my ass for a magazine with silly long hours) is how closely connected I get to be to all kinds of people doing exciting stuff. It’s the kind of place where a drink after work turns into a many-hour adventure in which you run into all kinds of people that you didn’t realise you missed or wanted to see. And a farfetched request on Facebook for a photo of Möðrudalur turns up all kinds of help (turn to page 28 to find not only a photo of the seemingly obscure church that I was looking for, but also a photo of the altar painting in which Jesus Christ is sliding down Mount Herðubreið!). This is what it’s like to live in a small, tight-knit community. Somebody knows somebody who knows somebody who knows.

Now I’ll probably have found my bearings by next issue and have more to say about what’s going on, but there’s no shortage of interesting articles to read here. In addition to the above mentioned ones, there’s an interview with Björk on pages 10-12. Another couple of big ones with Gusgus and the designers who worked on their visuals (and made our cover!) on pages 21-24. And a whole bunch of other stuff, too.

Until next time…