I am a multi-tasker by nature. There’s too much to do in one day and not nearly enough time, so when I can combine at least two things together, I feel a little more at peace. I am a multi-tasker by nature, but I’m really bad at multi-tasking. I try to do two tasks at once and if I’m lucky, I fail at a minimum of one of them. I’ll attempt to do homework while eating dinner and end up getting spaghetti sauce all over the textbook. I’ll try to read a book while running on the treadmill and I’ll end up reading the same line over and over for 3.5 miles. I’m bad at multi-tasking but I love it, and I always try to make it work.
Here in Iceland is a bad multi-taskers nightmare. There is not a moment I do not wish I was doing more than one thing. I want to hike outside and experience the natural beauty of this wonderful place, but I have a book I don’t want to put down, a compost bin of worms to tend to, friends to make and bond with, pies and brownies to bake (or eat) in the bakery, clay owls to mold in the pottery shop, miles to run on the treadmill, or a steamy pool to jump into and relax. Here in Iceland should be my nightmare, but I have found my multi-tasking paradise. I have learned how to knit. On one of the first nights here, I sat down with the CELL group resident knitting expert (there’s always one) and learned to knit a stitch. A stitch turned into a row, and a row turned into a square, and a square somehow turned into a sort of lop-sided hat. It didn’t matter how the first hat turned out, because I was hooked. Now I can make hats while making friends, I can brace the cold outdoors whilst making a scarf to keep me warm, and I can make a headband while learning about sustainable building in class or attempting to learn Icelandic. I can call friends from home while knitting, and I can finally join the pre-lunch knitting posse. I’ve vowed to make all my family and friends back home a hand knitted hat, and I can’t wait to do it. With each stitch and each row I feel a little bit closer to the culture here, a little bit closer to the community, and a little bit closer to the group. I must admit I’ve gotten a little addicted; it’s been three weeks and I’ve knitted three hats… But each new friend made here is another hat I have to make so I better get back to it!
-Natalie