Home is a place you grow up wanting to leave, and grow old wanting to get back to. ~John Ed Pearce

After I bought the house in Iceland, I knew that that was where I was heading, when was uncertain but it was definitely on the cards.


During visits to Iceland I had met the head of Hólaskóli - a semi university, not yet with uni status but was heading that way.  Once I knew I would be  going back and the cousins back in the fjord knew as well the networking began.   On one of the later visits I met up with Skúli again and told him of my plans, by mid march I was having a telephone interview for a job.  He also phoned Bernd, my friend and ex boss.... So, by the time I got on the plane to leave Hamburg I knew I had a job at Hólar.  The job description was quite vague - but that did not worry me too much - it was just good to know that I had a job to go to.  So I arrived in Sauðárkrókur on the 21st of June - I went North by bus and thought perhaps mum would have come or sent someone to meet me in Varmahlíð - nope no one there.  Not to worry took the shuttle bus to Sauðárkrók and got to mums - opened the door - shouted hallo.... no answer, walked in and saw a note on the stairs - the weather was really good - the note said - gone fishing with Jón..... back soon.  Ummmm... ok. so no fan fare - no major hey how wonderful to see you and know that you are home. 


I laughed.  What else was there to do - and Yes the weather was wonderful.  So I took my bag up the stairs and got myself settled in in mums house.  My house is just behind hers... I could see it out the window... I went over to check things out.  My cousin and nephew had pulled another wall down within the house, (under my instructions), and so the place looked like a demolition site.  Still I knew that it would all be fine in the end.  The plumbing had all been redone.  I knew that I needed to pull out the carpets, get rid of more walls, redo the wiring, get supports in the cellar, new parketry or flooring of some sort, a lot of painting and  be ready for the container with all my worldly goods.  


I started work in the first week of July, so I had just over 10 days to buy a car and start the home renovations...  I got the car on the saturday before work started... it took half an hour to buy the car - a grey coloured subaru impressa... good car - still going strong... 


I got my cousin to come in and take down some walls and put in supports in the basement and re-do the floor in the house - putting masonite  on top of the old floor boards... which would have been really rustic to have - but they had major cracks....  and so would have let in a lot of cold air... the current flooring is also quite cool on those frosty days.. 


Around the middle of July I got my dog.... my Freyja, my wonderful little companion.  So she was there during all the renovation delights, painting walls, putting down the new flooring, her dog hairs are an intricate part of this house.... Somewhere on my flickr are lots of photos of all the renovation stages.... 


I think I moved in sometime in August... I really can't remember the dates... during all this time I was working full time at Hólar... the job ended up being as an accounts data entry type thing... with added bits including putting together a mission vision statement for the uni, doing the student records and ordering books and doing whatever... the drive to Holar started at 35 minutes, by the time I eventually left I was doing it in around 20.... it was a beautiful drive.  Hólar is such an amazing place, but I have blogged on this before.  


My sister came to Iceland to celebrate her 50th birthday in the September of my first year - and my house was done so we could have her party here.... So good!


So that was the journey that started on the 1st of March where the question was asked where were you born and where do you live now and how did you get there......


Oh dear - finally something different to blog about - not just me me me moi and myself... yay!!!!