Paris was white. It was mid-January and I was arriving with Air France from Bamako, the capital of Mali. Policemen with Schaefer dogs welcomed us to the continent. Especially those white-skinned. Others, the colored ones, had to show their passport before entering the building, entering Europe, under the watchful eyes of the dogs. Scary.

It was white and cold a couple of years ago in Yellowknife, North West Territories, northern Canada. One of the first things I noticed, was that all the taxi drivers were black, having recently arrived from Kenya in search for a better life.

I thought it was strange at first to encounter them there, in the middle of nowhere. But then I realized that it showed the adaptability of the human race, in a good way. They were looking for a better life, a future, in a small village on the Canadian northern tundra, far from the equator where they grew up.

Our culture here in Iceland would have been so much poorer if we hadn’t had the good fortune of having our musical life enriched by the Jewish classical musicians, Róbert Abraham, Páll Pampichler and Vladimir Ashkenazy, who migrated to the country in the middle of the last century.

Our food culture would have been so much blander had the boat refugees from Vietnam not set sail for Iceland in the early 1980s. Or people who arrived later from Thailand, India and Italy, bringing their exceptional culture to us, at 64º north.

They have taught us how to eat and buy different food. And helped us understand that life is not a Snow White fairy tale. We should open up our borders more. Get in more people, different people to broaden our horizon. That is Iceland’s future.

It would be best if foreign brains could be hired to steer our economy out to calmer seas. If we are ever to get it right, we need people who see the situation with fresh eyes and do not have a next of kin, a former business partner or a school mate to deal with.

That is causing trouble right now. Everyone was involved with the current economic crisis. We collectively messed thing up. The whole nation. But there is a future, and it’s not dark. It’s white and bright.

Today is the 55th day of the year, the day Pope Gregory XIII introduced the Gregorian calendar 427 years ago, which we still use.

Yes, today, Jonas Moody will get married to Gísli. Maybe a little sooner than they had planned because of their situation (see Jonas’s Daily Life). A good day for a good man.

I have worked with Jonas for just over two years, both on the warmest day ever in Washington D.C. and on a cold, crisp, white day here in the capital. Jonas is always super professional.

I hope that Jonas will stay here in Iceland for years to come. To enrich our lives and culture.

Páll Stefánsson – ps@icelandreview.com 

Páll is filling in for Alexandra Hertell.