The Mid-Course Crisis

So far my blog has been entirely positive, and with good reason: these have been two of the most exciting/busy/crazy weeks of my life! I apologise for the first bit of negativity but there will inevitably be low points on a year abroad.

Yesterday was the half way point of our stay here at Nupur and I realised I was starting to feel a bit lost. The excitement of the first week has worn off but the end of our time here is not yet in sight and some of us are having what we’ve called a ‘mid-course crisis’. We have a set routine revolving around studying, eating and sleeping and the Icelandic classes are getting seriously difficult (maybe more on that later if you want death by word-endings). But one of the hardest things is the lack of privacy and time to ourselves. 

I don’t want to sound ungrateful because I’ve met lots of really great people here and I love spending time with them. Also, I really enjoy sharing my room with Hanna but we’ll both admit that our box room is really not big enough for two people! The main communal spaces are big and social but on our corridor we share a tiny kitchen between 24 people, and 12 girls share one toilet and shower; it’s always a battle to get ready in the morning!

So yesterday I felt a bit too claustrophobic and I made my first phone call to my parents. By that point I was feeling pretty frustrated, especially after some connection issues, but it’s amazing what a difference a twenty minute phone call makes!

I instantly felt much happier and had a good evening walking and cooking with Maarit and Enya. I felt even better this morning after eight hour’s sleep (for the first time in weeks) and the amazing feeling of the Icelandic grammar finally starting to click into place.

It was inevitable that there would be difficult times living in such an intense environment, especially when I can sense that many others are feeling the same way too, but I’m glad I’ve had one bad day so I can move on and enjoy the rest of my time here. That one day of feeling slightly negative pales into insignificance compared to the other ten brilliant days.

I was going to add a picture of the view from my window, something which will always cheers me up, but unfortunately the internet is far too bad (just to add to the frustration...!).