What languages do I speak & Where am I from?
When I was a child growing up in Iceland, I spoke Icelandic, perfectly and fluently. Then at age 8, after moving to Canada, I almost failed grade 2 because I couldn’t understand why no one would respond to my Icelandic. I eventually spoke English well enough to be comfortable speaking only English, but then forgot all my Icelandic. Then I learned French, a lot of French – one of the perks of emigrating to a bilingual country. I studied abroad, in France and Australia, majored in English, and came out a pretty good bilingual Canadian.
My first, biggest, (quasi) solo travel experience was participating in a 100-day circumnavigation of the world, peetering around the equator on the MV Explorer with 600 other students. The program is called Semester at Sea, and for anyone who has done it or is considering doing it, just know that it will either make you an OCD travel addict or, leave you feeling like you never need to travel again. The former happened to me, so the following summer I embarked on my first, true backpacking trip through South America and the Caribbean for 2 months.
The two summers after that I also spent backpacking in South America, so then I learned Spanish. First, it was just travel-survival Spanish, but eventually, I started thinking in Spanish and forgetting my French, even English at times.
Then to make matters even worse, I decided to move back to Iceland in 2008, which was when I realized I’d have to relearn Icelandic. Four years later, I've only spent a total of 20 months actually in Iceland, in chunks of a few weeks or months here and there, so its coming together, but falls apart every time I go to a French or Spanish speaking country and my second-language confidence switches between the three. I'm now completing a Masters degree in Icelandic studies, but we spend most of our time reading sagas in Old Icelandic so my day-to-day Icelandic use has started to sound a little archaic, and I spell Icelandic with a medieval twist.
Worst of all, the longer I spend trying to sort out and improve my secondary languages, my English deteriorates, and my handle on the language fluctuates from good to satisfactory, then back to okay. Good friends of mine know this as “Katrin-speak,” and even speak it fluently, since I regularly mix up my syntax, make up words, and switch between languages in a way that they’re used to.
My family in Canada tells me I speak English with an Icelandic accent, Icelanders tell me I speak good Icelandic for a foreigner, and everywhere else people wonder where I'm from, and when I answer Iceland, compliment my English for being so strong. This used to go unnoticed, but before I considered it a compliment, realized that the flattery is only intended by those who believe English is my second language.
So, I clearly have a language identity issue. Now, to make things more interesting, I have a cultural identity issue too, maybe stemming from the first problem, or perhaps reconfirming it. I’m an Icelandic born, Canadian raised, (soon-to-be) triple-passport holding daughter of a Guyanese mother, and I've spent more time travelling than staying in any one place for the last four years.
In North America, people think I look native American, so when I tell people I’m from Iceland, they picture some northern/Greenlandic indigenous group that I’m most likely descendant from. I only correct them half the time, since when questioned by an Icelander, “Where are you from?” I say Canada, and they probably picture very similar looking native North American ancestors.
Elsewhere, people think I look Latin or middle eastern, but in Latin America they call me gringa and in Egypt, a “white” person, which I've come to learn is a generic term meaning “rich westerner.” When people notice I look darker than most “white” people, I accredit my tanned skin to my mother, who’s from Guyana. “Ghana?” some ask, “No, GUYana” I respond. Then a short pause is followed by “Oh, Guinea!” and again I say, “No, GUY-ANA.” Then to save face, they dismiss their total confusion by asking “what part of Africa is that?” at which point I have to explain its actually in South America, that its not French Guiana, and then ask whether or not they really thought I look African. If so, then I’ve got a real identity problem; one can’t really look ‘African’ since the term only really refers to someone who lives in Africa, and the continent encompasses such a diverse and complex mix (of millions) of people, including those infamous ‘whites.’
Photos and Text by Katrín Sif
기타 흥미로운 블로그
요쿨살론부터 비크까지, 꽃보다 청춘 5화
드디어 하늘씨과 쓰리스톤즈가 합류했는데요! 설원을 달리는 모습에 저도 아이슬란드가 엄청 그리워졌답니다. 빙하와 빛나는 요쿨살론 첫번째로 향한 요쿨살론(Jokulsarlon)은 아이슬란드의 대표적인 명소 중 하나랍니다. 영어로 Glacier lagoon 이라고도 하는데요. 방송에 나온 것처럼 눈 앞에 보이는 빙하는 빙하수가 흘러서 녹았다 얼었다를더 보기스코가포스 폭포부터 오로라까지, 꽃보다청춘 4화를 따라서
여행 5일째, 포스톤즈가 처음으로 향한 곳은 아이슬란드 남부에 있는 스코가포스 폭포(skogasfoss)입니다. 아이슬란드 남부의 대표적인 폭포 중 하나에요. 방송에서는 들르지 않았지만 스코가포스 거의 바로 옆에 위치한 셀리야란드스포스(seljalandsfoss) 폭포와 함께 같이 들르곤 한답니다. 스코가포스 폭포는 폭포의 물줄기 끝까지 올라갈 수 있단더 보기꽃청춘을 따라서
요즘 인기리에 방영되고 있는 꽃보다 청춘 아이슬란드편! 저도 매주 빼놓지 않고 시청하고 있습니다. 많은 분들께서 포스톤즈의 발랄한 매력과 아이슬란드의 놀라운 경치에 빠져드셨을 것 같습니다! 이번에는 꽃보다 청춘을 따라서 아이슬란드를 한번 가보도록 해요! 사실 아이슬란드가 한국에서 그렇게 가기 쉬운 나라는 아닙니다. 거리도 멀고 항공권도 비싸고! 우더 보기
아이슬란드 최대의 여행 마켓플레이스를 전화에 다운로드하여 전체 여행을 한 곳에서 관리하세요
전화 카메라로 이 QR 코드를 스캔하고 표시되는 링크를 누르면 아이슬란드 최대의 여행 마켓플레이스를 주머니에 넣을 수 있답니다. 다운로드 링크가 포함된 SMS 또는 이메일을 받으려면 전화번호 또는 이메일 주소를 추가하세요.