Day 23 (Tue): Last day in Tórshavn!

Weather: sunny and warm, a bit windy
Walked: 9 km

This day was a sad day. I could not get past the feeling that it was all over!:( The summer, the language course, the people, soon having to say goodbye to my dear Mrs. Fanny, my new friends.. So sad but I tried to make the best of my last day in Tórshavn.

So I went for a walk and walked to the Tórshavn Outdoor Museum (in Hoyvík). It was a nice hike and I had good weather. The interesting thing about the Faroe Islands is that you should never presume anything about the weather: it might be good today and stay that way for a while, but it most probably won't be the same the next day! So, I was lucky to have spent the previous rainy day shopping and having this beautiful, sunny day for some outdoorsy hiking.

The Outdoor Museum had preserved several old buildings and the setting was nice. It was inexpensive as well. There were sheep, hens and ducks running around. It felt very authentic.

After the visit to the outdoor museum you get free entrance to the Faroese Historical Museum (Føroya Forminssavn, check link!)

I spent several hours looking around and learning new things. I also watched some of the videos playing in the video room: old footage from the old days, people celebrating Olavssøka and whale hunting/whaling.

I was amazed in many ways: I know that whales are BIG animals, but I had never thought of how the whale is transported in to the harbor. Once captured the whale is tied up on the outside the ship! And then the small ship slowly makes it way through the bumpy sea and upon arrival in the harbor, there is one big mess when they cut the "big fish" into smaller pieces... It was kind of yucky and very fascinating at the same time!

The museum had rune stones, sacral artefacts, fishing equipment, boats and some examples of Faroese national dresses. I especially enjoyed Eivør Paulsdottir's awesome red dress! All very interesting stuff.

After the hike back I had to force myself to do some packing. It was awful! I knew I'd get in trouble because of the books, the papers and of course my new (second hand) boots! In between the packing I had to get out for a while, so I went for another walk and during my evening walk I could hear Elton John's concert.

Sir Elton John's arrival had stirred up some serious debate because of the fact that he is very openly gay. There had been numerous articles in the papers and people being upset that he was coming to the Faroe Islands: some pleaded to the public to stay home and not attend the concert. I've forgotten to check what the press wrote about it afterwards, it would be interesting to know how it went for Elton John.

After the walk I had to pack the rest of my stuff and get some sleep...

Day 22(Mon): shopping and doing other tourist stuff

Torshavn's city emblem

weather: foggy and misty

walked: 11 km!

This day I had decided to do all the things I had had too little or no time at all to do. I walked around a lot! I went and bought some postcards and sat down to write them in Nordens hus and had a cup of nice, hot tea. I also helped some American tourists who had some trouble finding the shops and other tourist "worth visiting/must see" places. I had a very nice time by myself, just taking in the atmosphere, relaxing and enjoying little Tórshavn.

I found some very nice things at fleamarkets and second hand shops. You can see my purchased items below this text! I spent time taking photos and the weather was nice in that sense: the fog is much more interesting than bright sunlight.

Outside Nordens hus / Nordic House.

Dried sheep "feet" at the local supermarket Miklagarður!

No, I did not buy one, I found the smell quite horrible...

My Faroese knitted sweater.

Bought from a second hand shop the Blue Cross.

My colour and definitely unique!

I found a lovely "Chinese" dress in Torshavn's

second hand shop Blue Cross.

Yup, been to Chinatown in San Francisco

but this is where I found my dress...

How peculiar!:)

Real leather boots (that actually fit)

did not cost me much. Second hand shop on Bøkjarbrekka.

Souvenirs for mom (white+blue) and Hanna (turquoise).

Bought for a few DKK at the Red Cross second hand shop.

Day 21 (Sun): Taking it easy on "dagen efter"

weather: rainy and foggy

walked: not much at all

On Sunday after the farewell party I did not do anything worth mentioning. Sofia came to say her goodbyes early in the morning and Katri did the same later in the afternoon. I slept, did some reading and spent time at my computer and felt very empty: the course was over and all of my friends had left the precious little Faroe Islands behind them...

Day 20 (Sat): Exams & Grande Finale

On Saturday we had our last day, which to me, consisted of exams - one for Faroese language, one for Faroese literature. The exam took 2+2 hours and no lunch in between. I thought that it went OK and I had pretty much everything covered. (The results came in and I got a B+ for language and a B for literature, "B" standing for "good knowledge of the subject with lacking just some small details" and A being the best you could get -> me very happy!:)

Katri working on her exam.

After the exam I was happy that we had food at home: the Finns came to our house to finish the rest of the food and we were all happy. Afterwards I had the luxury and the time to take a little nap! And then it was time to go to the University for our last evening together. And I cried and I cried and then I cried some more after all the sentimental speeches: I had had such a wonderful time with the summer course, the Faroe Islands, new friends and all of it, and I was so sad that it was all over for us! :'(

The food at the going away party was awesome! The atmosphere was heartfelt! We sang, we drank, we had fun and stayed up very late. I sympathized with the ones leaving with the early morning bus to the airport - and was so happy that I had decided to stay for a couple of extra days! I could sleep in all day the following day if I wanted to (and so I did).

Sofia, me and Hjördis at the farewell party.

At our farewell party we also danced some Faroese chain dancing: a very simple "one step right, two to the left" - choreography with singing (chanting) old norse verses. Our course leader stood in the middle and served everyone a shot of aquavit (schnaps)! I don't think that there were many sober dancers after that session!

I also went out a small trip to see what was going on at Bar Circus. I also got hit on (my first and only time in Tórshavn) when a guy asked if I wanted to spend the night with his friend. I was so baffled that I couldn't respond with anything witty, but when I think about it, it would've bee nice if he had asked for himself (we're not in first grade anymore)...

Day 19 (Fri): Study-for-exam-day

Weather: sunny and unbelievably warm!

Walked: 5 km

We had Friday (actually, Misdummer's eve!) off so that we could study for our exam on Saturday. I slept quite long after the night at Circus, then we had the Finns come over to our house and we prepared lunch of all the food we had left. We made a vegetarian pasta salad, fried potatoes and a Spanish veggie omelet (tortilla, as they call it).

We spent the day studying together but it was just so UNFAIR that this study day was perhaps the most beautiful day we had experienced so far on the islands!! Of course. Murphy's law, or something...

After the serious and anxious cramming we went to get a pint of Faroese cider at Café Natur. The day went by very quickly!

Day 18 (Thu): Last day of school & Sushi

Weather: nice, cloudy but no rain

Walked: 5km + evening walks

Day 18 was a Thursday and we had our last lectures. It was a long day! We had to stay for some extra teaching in Faroese language. Phew! At the same time it was sad and also nice to get out of class and start planning the last evening with my course friends.

After the lectures we took a quick pit stop at home and then we headed out to get some sushi at Tórshavn's one and only (?) sushi restaurant Etika (click on the link to see more!). It was one of the coolest restaurants I've ever been to. The interior design was awesome! I was surprised that the price was actually reasonable, maybe even cheap (?) considering that sushi food is still thought to be a bit "hip"and "cool", so I expected a pricier menu. (Ps. Etika also has a restaurant in Copenhagen, I'm sure it's also worth a visit.)

And as it seems, I only eat sushi abroad!:) This was my second time at a sushi restaurant, my first was in St. Petersburg last year (2009). So I'm definitely not a connoisseur, but I have to say that I loved it! The Norwegians ordered a ton of small things (a larger portion than ours) and we all did our best with the chopsticks.. Hah, great fun! A tired old joke: No wonder the Asians are so skinny, they have to eat with chopsticks!:)

Our sushi plate. Delish!

Needed some help with the eating;)

Afterwards we went to get hold of the rest of the group that were watching a football (soccer) game, Denmark vs. Japan - the Danes didn't want to miss the game, which is why we didn't have any Danes with us at the sushi restaurant. Apparently Denmark had lost: a surprising turn of events!

It was a bit cold outside so we headed in to cafe/bar Circus, an underground bar in the heart of Tórshavn. I stayed out until maybe 01 o'clock? Headed home because Circus closed shortly after we arrived. Hmph! *dislike* Just when we started having some serious linguistic fun!

Wall painting at Bar Circus. Turned out

photos weren't allowed. Oops. My bad:)

Bar Circus. The kitschiest bar í Havn!

Encouraging writings on the wall

@ the unisex toilets of Bar Circus.

Day 17 (Wed): Jóanes Nielsen

Weather: fog, rain and sunshine

Walked: 4km

Today (28th June) I think I saw the author Jóanes Nielsen driving a blue van in Tórshavn. I'm pretty sure it was him. And this proves that Tórshavn is a very small town!

We had a long day (23rd June) with literature. In the morning we had our regular literature lessons and the whole day was dedicated to the author Jóanes Nielsen (see link), whose novel, Glansbílætasamlarnir ("The Scrap Collectors" or sth like that: what an unsuitable and clumsy translation in English!) we had read and were supposed to analyze. I don't know how good a job we did, but we did our best.

In the afternoon we had the author himself come for a visit. We had questions. He answered. I think I asked two questions. He didn't understand my Swedish:) I don't think we managed to be very deep with our questions... I would love to bedazzle an artist or someone whose known to be an intellectual. But so far I haven't succeeded:)

I found myself fascinated by his eyes and constant thoughtful frowning. I wanted to go over and wipe the frown away, make him not frown. I thought he was interesting.

Jóanes Nielsen signed my book, coolness!

I now have two signed books from Nordkurs: the Jóanes Nielsen book and Hallgrímur Helgason's "101 Reykjavík" from Iceland (2003, see link).

Curious facts:

- The Faroese Glansbílætasamlarnir has a typo on the cover! It's written Glansibílætasamlarnir with an extra -i- after Glans- ...

- The "New Norwegian" translation has a beautiful cover paper: the scrap pictures on the front cover are black and they reoccur on the inside of the paper cover, kind of hidden. Lovely symbolism! Lovely graphics!

Glans(i)bílætasamlarnir (Faroese, blue cover),

Glansbilledsamlerne (Danish, black cover),

Glansbildesamlarane (Norwegian/"New Norwegian",

white cover, picture of the inside of the paper cover)