"Velkomin heim" - Icelandic patriotism makes me want to puke. Even if all the foreigners I´ve met think this is so sweet.

Anyway, I´m back in Iceland. Really don´t know if to say "home" in Iceland. But it´s nice to be back, hearing dad and his wife talk to the TV-news and looking over Sundin blá; the harbor area of Reykjavik with its backdrop of mountains painted pink in the evening sun... *sigh* Hope the weather will be equally fantastic tomorrow as it was today, since my brother and Addy really do deserve it for their wedding.

Will any of you be surprised when I tell you that my last evening in Svalbard this time was another health hazard?? It took off very innocently, with a delicious dinner up in Nybyen (the furthest reaches of town, where the UNIS-students live in utter isolation from the rest of the town´s inhabitants) and me showing off my S-America and Antarctica slides. We were only going home afterwards BUT the irresistible Puben simply sucked us into it´s murky, dark interiors. Já já. Met some more friends there and after closing time we went to my place, continuing the party and trying to keep the promise I made to Henrik, my winter-season flat mate, as he left: That his half-full bottle of pure Russian vodka would be annihilated a.s.a.p. We didn´t make it, but had a fantastic time (probably therefore...). Helen was in THE best mood I´ve ever seen her in, and together we performed my historic polar bear encounter from Akselöya in such a vivid manner that it left me on the verge of a nervous breakdown. Couldn´t sleep all night! Thus the health hazard...

Not nice to leave Longyear. It feels like home now. I´ve actually been away from Iceland for so long now that it doesn´t really feel like home anymore. It´s what happens when you loose contact with people and with the mentality of a place in general. Have definitely lost all contact with the Icelandic mentality. It´s exciting, all these things that happen when you move out of your territory and learn to see it in a totally new perspective. Received an e-mail from Arnon today where he says the same is happening to him. Really exciting!!!

Anyway, plan to enjoy my time here on Frón.