It looks like I very well may be playing more soccer this semester than ever before. Today I discovered a group of international students who play soccer every Tuesday and Thursday on an outdoor turf field with waist high surrounding walls. Most all the students playing are also studying at Háskóli Íslands. I was surprised at how well organized it was and the amount of people that were there. It was like showing up to play indoor soccer at a nice soccer facility back in Texas but without paying anything. It is outdoors and very well lit which couldn't be more perfect. Reykjavík was full of dense fog and misting rain, but surprisingly it did not substantially affect the players footing on the turf surface. My only complaint is that the walls are not as firm as an outdoor hockey rink per say, and the ball was kicked out of play and well down a hill a couple of times, and since the turf is lined at midfield and around the edges the students play with out-of-bounds. In high school, me and my friends never had out-of-bounds which led to continual play and play off the walls but not here. Most everyone wears flat indoor shoes, but you know there had to be the one Spaniard that wore his cleats and blasted shots every time he touched the ball. I was talking to a student from Rome that said last week they played with 10 people, perfect for two teams, for about 2 hours in the snow on the turf. He said it was just a really good football match and everyone was playing well and the conditions made it that much more fun. Very exciting.
My classes are pretty enjoyable aside from the fact I have a class at 8:20 Mon-Thurs. No class on Friday though. I have also figured out that there is no uniform end date for classes. There is a general end date for classes and a general time period for finals, but many classes end early. For example, my Icelandic Medieval Literature class final exam is April 7th. April 7th! That gives me a whole month of only 2 classes to deal with. My other classes might even get done by the first week of May I don't really know yet. Maybe if classes get done with early I can use the opportunity to travel more of Iceland or even more of Europe, as many of the U.S. students are planning to do. Most of my classes have weekly homework worth 20% of my final grade and a final exam worth 80%. Finally, classes where it pays not to do your homework! We have a week off of class the week of my birthday in February and an Easter break right before the Final Exam period.
On a final and unrelated note, I watched Fever Pitch (1997) which is not about the Boston Red Sox fan, but rather about the original idea of a mad English football fan who lives and breathes Arsenal football. Colin Chisholm if you are out there reading this which I know you are, you should watch it, because I was thinking of the relation to you and Oklahoma football the entire time. Good show.
Ég heiti Kris.
