Tuesday, 28th FEBRUARY

Since the meeting time was 9 o'clock, the members of the Hungarian team could sleep a bit longer. (Usually on schooldays we had to arrive at school at 8.) By 10.00 we had to go to the town hall to visit Albert, the mayor of Höfn. At first he greeted us, then he handed over some nice presents to each of us: a yellow fishing hat, a pen, a T-shirt, a CD( with the music of some local artists (eg.:Emil's father), and a badge. On our T-shirts there was a part of the lyrics of a song which Icelandic teachers and the MAYOR himself performed for us!!! Then we sang some Hungarian songs, eg.: Tavaszi szél.
After this short visit we went to a farm to try Icelandic horse riding. We learnt some interesting things about the skills of this type of Northern horses (eg. that they are able to walk/run in 6 different ways), then we could experience some of them personally because we all had the opportunity to ride a horse. I think there hasn't anyone who didn't enjoy this programme despite of the strong wind and cold. Perhaps the only problem was that after this we went back to school immediately and our room smelled like a stable and so did we.
We ate our usual delicious lunch and then most of us went home to put on some warm clothes because in at 2 p.m. we went sailing. The weather was still freezing cold and very windy so it was quite an exciting trip. At the end we were a bit wet but it was worth it! In the evening some of us went to the local café but unfortunately we missed this meeting because after this tiring day Denis fell asleep and the others couldn't inform us to get there. But this was not the end of our day because at around 10p.m. Emil called us to go out with Virág and him to watch the beautiful northern lights. We couldn't see much since it had almost disappeared by the time we left but at least we went on a night sightseeing tour so I could know Höfn better.

Kata & Denis

February 27

That day Nóra was very busy preparing for the presentation, and Birna was busy in school In the evening we had finished aaaall our work and went home to eat dinner. At 19:30 we arrived to Nýheimar. We had been told about a large surprise, and we were curious about it. Katalin told us that the Hungarian team was going to meet the president! The presentation started and the Hungarian team was pretty excited. The excitement was useless, because everything went well, and after all, there weren't so many guests. We watched Emil's video and laughed a lot. The guests liked the presentation and the video very much, and also the candy! On our way home we decided to find a place to get a better view of the northern lights. There they were, dancing in the dark.

A day in the Icelandic forest : February 26

After Saturday night fever Sunday seemed to be very hard to begin?
We met at 1pm in FAS, so in the morning everyone could sleep a bit longer than before. Then we climbed to a cliff on the sea shore to see some seals, which was the first time for almost all of us because in Hungary you can find seals only in the zoos.
The trip continued on the beach -with the unique black sand- and because of the sunny weather many of us run into the water with bare feet. However it soon turned out, that they only could stay in for few minutes without freezing. :)
As next, we took a little walk in a valley with plenty of different types of rocks around. And, of course we found some challenge in jumping over the rivers- not always successfully though. The surrounding mountains were also beautiful as the sun was shining on them. Then, we witnessed the enormous heights of the Icelandic forest surrounding a very nice lake. :) The cars we went by proved again how much they can stand the rocky roads among the mountains- of course, much more than our stomach?
The trip was not so long but it was very good to have some delicious waffles and hot chocolate in a typical Icelandic summerhouse. Thanks to Siggi´s mother and grandparents and to Hjördis´ husband for them!
After spending a ?delicious time? in the summerhouse, we had to leave for home because it was getting dark quite early among the mountains.
In the evening, as usually almost every one of us went cruising in the town to see some northern lights- with more or less success :)And by the end of this enjoyable day we had again more experiences of the country :)

Virág and Emil

Saturday, 25th February

A day by the harbour and FAS annual festival.

On Saturday after having lunch with our families we went down to the harbour (Höfnin) and explored a huge fishing boat. Sædís´s father, Valdi, who works on the boat, showed us around. We saw several high-tech equipments that are necessary for navigation and for locating the fish. Valdi also showed us how the fish was processed after being pulled into the ship. After discovering the ship we went to see an eel farm that is probably the first eel farm in the country. We also heard about an experiment they were making there. When we had finished checking out the eel farm we took a walk around the harbour-area. Seeing the ship, Akurey, that has been stranded in the bottom of the harbour, which is now used for some kind of decoration for the harbour and it is also used as a pub during the Lobster festival in July. Then, the Hungarian team was lucky to see a small boat landing the catch of the day. There they could see cod, catfish, haddock and redfish. After this time at the harbour in fantastic weather everyone went home and prepared for the evening. Everyone showed up at The FAS annual festival between 7 and 8. The dinner then started at 8 o?clock and during the dinner there were entertaining scenes on the stage with singing, comedy and a chronicle of the year that had passed since the last annual festival. Half past ten, everyone in the waterfire team + a few guests went to Elvar`s house and had a great party with a lot of dancing and "magicjuice"-drinking. Around 1 o´clock everyone flocked to the dance which had already started in Sindrabær (the local socialclub). There, the dancing continued and everyone had a great time until late in the night.

Elvar and Zsófi

February 24th

We had to be in school at 9 am. In the morning everybody was busy with different things: the Icelandic students were working on their tasks with their groups and practising for the party which took place on Saturday; the Hungarians were prepairing for their presentation because they had to be ready by Monday.
At noon Auri (who is from Sri Lanka and teaches English and Spanish in Fas) invited the teachers for a typical Indian dish.
In the afternoon we went to a glacier called Hoffelsjökull which was nearby and can also be seen from the school. We travelled by cars and we had enough jeeps to be able to go through a little stream and many huge rocks. Finally we got there, and as soon as we got out of the cars, we started to climb down the slopes of the mountains to be nearer the glacier, which was not a usual one. It had a very strong blue colour. Besides this the weather was also nice because the U-shaped valley didn´t let the wind blow through.
After this amazing experience we went to a little stream, from which we could drink as well. But the way to the stream was quite difficult for those who climbed over the mountain. The others used the cars to get there.
Then our next stop was a little farm which was also not far. There the people work with only horses. This farm (as many other in Iceland) is very developed because farmers use modern machines. There we had to face the wind as there was no mountain slope. On the farm there was also a little church (100 years old). Next to the church we saw a cemetry.
At the end of the day the waterfire team met at Emil´s house and we had a so called "karaokee evening", when we sang different songs from the 80´s and from our days´s music. Though we got home late, it was quite funny and we had a very good time together.

Saedis & Dóri

February 23

This day was about eating and sports. In the morning we started the day with a football tournament that was held on the football field near the school. From the 5 participating teams only one could rise as a victorious one. Teachers and the Hungarian team also participated and the Hungarians completed with some legionaries became 3rd.After a longer break the members of the waterfire team met in the evening. The program was the enjoyment of the different traditional foods of Iceland. Such one was for example the raw shark which was buried for 6 months before we could try it. I think I can count its taste to the worst experiences in my short life. But there were some really good things to eat too. Such one was for example the flatbrauð með hangikjöti which is smoked lamb meat on some kind of pancake. This little food festival was held in one of Höfns oldest buildings which was a boathouse. The whole place now functions as a historical museum of Höfn. After this day I think no one has the right to complain about the hospitality of Icelanders.

Siggi and Dani

Our 5th day in Iceland

February 22nd

As it was the open week in our host school, FAS, we had to be there by 09:00, when a traditional Icelandic card game called Hornafjarðarmanni started. It was invented by Albert and since couple of tournaments are held every year. The ground rules are divided into 3, all depending on what card is drawn at the beginning of the game. If you draw 2-6, you play " Nób ", and you have to get he fewest packs. From 7 to 10 is tromp, the color of the card that was drawn " kills " every other cards. If Jack, Quinn, King or Spade are drawn the so called Grand is played, in which the highest card wins. The Water & Fire team also played, at the end Elvar won and he was crowned as Hornafjarðarmanna- champion, and was awarded with pizza and coke. The second was Sædis.
Than at 17:15 we went to an Icelanding farm, where we saw Icelandic sheeps and cows, and we could pet them, some of them started to chew our coats, trousers and hand, however there were some very shy animals and they didn't let us to touch them. In another building we saw milking machines and the owners showed us how to milk a cow.

Viki and Hrói