Thank you Donald Rumsfeld

Sometimes I wonder if I should have moved to Iceland a long time ago. I thought about it the first time when I was 16, and then every few years after that it would occur to me again.

But I have to say, I am really glad I waited to come here until after the American military left. I am quite sure that a number of friends I have here in Iceland would actually never have spoken to me if I had come here in 1994 or 1999, or 2003, or 2005 even. During the Bush years it was difficult enough to be an American abroad, and whenever I traveled during those 8 years, I was always having to defend myself against people who thought that all Americans were like that. Now that the US Military has left Iceland, and we have Obama in office, there has been a slight lifting willingness to discuss the good things about American amongst the intellectuals in Iceland. But it is still pretty thin, and well, I have a feeling it would have been a real obstacle anytime prior to 2007.

So I came here at the right time, I know I did. Not only did I get a great apartment out of the deal, and a fabulously interesting job, but there were also more Icelanders willing to talk to me.

The universe has a way of working things out as they should, to quote Mr. Spock.

Comments

Valur said…
Halldór Kiljan Laxnes said something similar about things working out as they should. He said: "Þegar öllu er á botninn hvolft, þá fer allt einhvernveginn, þótt margur efist um það á tímabili."
December 14, 2010 at 9:10 PM
Anonymous said…
Nei nei nei! sem betur fer vita og vissu langflestir Íslendingar að það eru ekkert allir Bandaríkjamenn clueless stríðsæsingamenn! Ég vildi ekki sjá herinn hérna en hef ekki látið það bitna á mörgum ágætis kunningjum frá Bandaríkjunum.

Hins vegar fínt að hann sé farinn... :þ
December 14, 2010 at 10:52 PM
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