Today this posting appeared on the government job-board (sorry, Icelandic only as far as I can tell).  Yes, it is my current job.  Which I have sort of resigned from – ‘sort of’ because I’m officially taking a year-long leave of absence for now because they’d (almost certainly) like me back if I change my mind.

I don’t know what I’ll do next job-wise, I’m trying to keep a very open mind.  For now I’m looking at job-openings, trying to find stuff that sounds interesting, but I don’t think I’ll really go for anything until next fall.  I’m simply too burnt out after what feels like a not-very-productive marathon through the Fields of Academia, and I feel I need this summer to recuperate.

As things stand now, my remaining duties are to 1) finish grading the two finals from last week (it’s been very slow and painful going since last Wednesday – the beautiful window-weather isn’t helping either), and 2) write and grade exams for the make-up exams (for those that flunked any of my finals) that will be held in early June.  After that I should be Done With Teaching.  Fow now, at least.  (And don’t get me started on the idea of having make-up exams in the first place, particularly when it’s less than a handful of students.  Those things are among my least favorite things, ever.)

Ironically, it would appear that I’m quitting while I’m ahead, because the Association of Electrical and Computer Engineering Students was kind enough to pick me as ‘Teacher of the Year’ this past school year.  I’m terribly chuffed and happy about that – I like to think I’m a good teacher for the most part, although I don’t (currently) enjoy the vast majority of tasks associated with teaching.

My 'Teacher of the Year 2011-2012' certificate from the Association of Electrical and Computer Engineering Students.

Yeah, so that’s where thing stand for now.  Anybody in need of an electrical engineer?

Jóhanna (Nökkvi’s fiancée, aka my soon-to-be sister-in-law) is graduating from the Icelandic Academy of the Arts this spring.  To show off their students’ works, the school puts on a large graduation show at the Reykjavik Art Museum, which opened today.  More/bigger images here.

Jóhanna by her very large painting titled "Ég geri hvað sem er" or "I do anything".

Only in Iceland? Here Jóhanna and her parents are with the First Lady of Iceland, Ms. Dorrit Moussaieff!

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As I’m typing this, I’m sitting in the Copenhagen airport (Kastrup), looking at the Icelandair-plane I’m about to board, and I figure I have some 15 minutes to kill before they start boarding.  So here goes: My first evening in Copenhagen (click the link for all the images, I’ll just post a few below).

The bed in my tiny, yet somewhat swanky/modern room.

One of the perks of having a state-sanctioned religion is that Easter-time comes with lots of holidays: Thursday, Friday and Monday surrounding Easter are all public holidays, and most schools take a week off or more.  We used the opportunity to visit Kata and Jói up north, just like last year (see this, this, this and this for a refresher) for a change of scenery, and the chance to spend some time with good friends.

This year we mostly lounged around.  The kids were mostly self-sufficient, we visited the next-door swimming pool a couple of times, visited a farm owned by Kata’s cousin, ate too much, and played board-games in the evenings.  The most energy-sucking ‘activity’ was me going out with Kata and her neighbors for two ‘couch-to-5k‘ walking/jogging sessions (weeks 2 and 3) after which my legs reminded me why I avoid running (Helloooo Shin-Splints!).

All in all we had a lovely time, and hope to visit them again this summer, when the area is a bit greener.

Three road-warriors during a walking-bit in very bright vests because that road is a 'main-road'.

The kids by the main-house at the farm. Behind them the fjord stretches inland.

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