Making Peace With Þetta Reddast
Note: Codi Shogren wrote about her 2024 experience in the Snorri Program- a unique opportunity for North American Icelandic descendants to spend six weeks in Iceland learning about and exploring the country. The deadline for applying to the 2025 Snorri Program is fast approaching (January 13, 2025). The program cost for 2025 is $7200 USD, and many organizations including the INLUS offer partial scholarships. To learn more, go to the Snorri.is website.
My name is Codi and I am from Minnesota. My great-great-grandmother immigrated to Minneota, Minnesota from Iceland and married a man whose parents moved to Minneota from Iceland. Thanks to the two of them, I am one-eighth Icelandic which qualified me for the Summer 2024 Snorri program. Previously, I have explored other languages and cultures through language immersion summer camps, exchange programs, and traditional language courses in a classroom setting. The five weeks of Snorri proved to be different from any prior experience and brought both expected and unexpected challenges for me to learn from.
Codi with fellow 2024 Snorris on the adventure tour portion of the program.
The biggest challenge for me was learning to embrace the Icelandic phrase þetta reddast which roughly translates to: everything will work out in the end. I like to know what is going on: when something is going to happen, how it will take place, who will make it happen, and when it will all stop. That is not necessarily how Icelandic culture functions.
Throughout the first week I think I heard þetta reddast maybe twenty to thirty times, and frequently as a response to a question I had about an itinerary, or a housing placement, or a volunteer placement, or even the weather. Slowly I learned that I needed to chill out, be more present, and just trust that what needed to happen would happen.
Week one and two of the program filled my heart (and my Instagram) with joyful moments of living in the present. I met the other 14 Snorris, including the three incredible women with whom I shared a room and bunk beds.
After getting off the airplane, we dropped our bags and picked up our suits for a relaxing afternoon at the national pool. The 15 of us followed in previous Snorris’ footsteps in both meeting the sitting president of Iceland and in our love of frequently tasting ice cream.
Other classic Reykjavík activities included eating pylsa (icelandic hotdogs with the special sauce), a trip to Bónus, going up into the steeple of Hallgrímskirkja to look out and hear the bells, drinking Kókómjólk, taking the public transport, hiking Mt. Esja, enjoying spa time (Sky Lagoon), and visiting many many museums. Then it was time to take buses, ferries, and cars to meet our host families.
Codi and Inga volunteered together at 66North during their homestay portion.
Daily life with my host family was one of my favorite parts of Snorri because I got to be a part of their family and pretend that I actually lived in Iceland full time. I lived with my mom’s third cousin, Margaret, and her family in Hafnarfjörður. In addition to the family in the house, her daughter lived a street over with her family. Between the two households there were also two dogs which I was delighted to hang out with.
I even got to join my fourth cousin, an 11-year-old bilingual boy who loves soccer. He kindly took pity on me and became my tour guide and translator on a few walks and I am forever thankful to him. I also got to help make Icelandic pancakes, play uno, hike another mountain, hang out with a group of funny and strong Icelandic women, and watch multiple Euro Cup games. I didn’t grow up in a big sports family so getting to watch soccer with my host cousin’s husband and two young boy cousins was really fun because they were full of enthusiasm and knowledge about the games. They were also not always cheering for the same team. I didn’t have a nicely laid out itinerary for how the home stay would go, but I wouldn’t change a thing about it.
The final part of the Snorri Program was an adventure tour in the Westfjords. Reuniting with my fellow Snorris was exhilarating with all of us full of stories to share from our time spread out around the country. I was lucky enough to enjoy more unplanned moments of excitement and peace on the adventure tour.
One evening a bunch of us ran down to the shore of a fjord to watch whales during their feeding. Another time we all went swimming in a hot spring after horseback riding. Of course the sunsets each night took my breath away. Luckily, we had consistently beautiful weather. Though I did buy myself a really nice rain jacket, we didn’t experience those sideways windy and rainy days of iceland until the end of our trip. These moments were all worth waiting for and most of them happened beyond the explicitly planned itinerary.
Codi with fellow Snorri Ty horseback riding in Heydalur.
In Iceland I had to set aside what can feel like a constant need to plan for the future and just enjoy the nature and the people around me. I guess I learned to trust þetta reddast but being only one eighth Icelandic, I still think that in order for everything to work out, sometimes it takes a little help.
This five-week island adventure would not have been possible without scholarships from Icelandic Roots, INLUS, the Fargo-Moorhead Icelandic Klubb, the Guttormsson Memorial Scholarship, and the Icelandic Hekla Club.
I would also like to thank the Icelandic women in my family who encouraged me to apply for the program which helped me travel to Iceland for the first time and to make connections with so many new people.
