BBC report on the Follow up of the Volcano's EruptionThe BBC is carrying a great report today, August 22nd, telling the story of the volcano two months after the eruption ceased. It's well worth reading. For those of us who spent a month in Iceland, it's good to hear Icelanders speaking English again. Watch the video. It carries you back to the kinds of accents we heard there. They're not quite the same as Norwegian or Swedish accented English. They're distinctive lilts and trills and it's great to hear them again. I miss Iceland! Kalle Iceland Volcano erupts -Again According to an April 15 report in USA Today online, quoting Dubai's Al Jazeera,
Doug York, reporting for the online social media site, Gather, gave some unconfirmed details of the latest eruption: Rivers have reportedly risen as much as 10 feet, and 800 people had to be evacuated from the flood zone as the melted ice makes its way to the ocean. Late afternoon on the 15th, Reuters reported that US carriers were canceling flights to Europe: David A. Castelveter, a spokesman for the Air Transport Association of America, said its member carriers had halted just over 100 flights between the United States and Britain on Thursday. Video footage of the latest eruption, as well as the March 21st eruption is at the bottom of the page. GSE Inbound Team from District 1360& ScheduleTeam LeaderMrs Sigridur Kristin Ingvarsdottir; is an Office Manager at the United Nations University-Fisheries Training Programme. In this role she is responsible for organizing students from developing countries from all over the world and making contacts for speakers and instructors for these students. In addition, she contacts companies for the students to visit. She has prior experience as a product manager, quality controller, bookkeeper, and banker. She has a University degree in business and logistics and she is also a licensed Fish Technician. She is Secretary in her Rotary Club, Reykjavik Breidholt. She is interested in visiting companies in the areas of the finance, warehousing, production, transportation and shipping and freight. These could be related to beef processing or other related industries. Her goals for this visit include gaining a better understanding of how professional working in the logistics field of the host country carry out their daily work and to share her work experiences. She is also interested in visiting an oil/gas exploration company and a winery. She enjoys the outdoors and activities such as walking and jogging. She would enjoy watching some types of sport activities. Team Member Mr. Haukur Thor Ludviksson is a programmer for the Icelandic Property Registry, a government agency that develops and maintains a central database holding real estate data that is used by various entities in Icelandic Society. He studied computers at Reykjavik University Technical College and in 2006 received a BS. at Reyjkavik University. In his professional life, he has the task of building a new infrastructure for real estate registration based on a new conceptual model and integrating older systems and services accordingly. He wishes to use this opportunity to see what technology and methods my peers are using in software development so that I may see how their systems are deployed, managed, and run on a daily basis. He has been involved in counting the votes in a referendum and is interesting to see what kind of software/methods Kansas is using regarding this Team Member Mr. Frimann Birgir Baldursson; is an Inspector for the Selfoss Police. In that capacity he has daily control and supervision of Police Officers. His education originally was in basic electricianship later graduating from the South Iceland Technical College. In 2001, he completed Basic Training at the National Police College. He first became a Police Officer with the Reykjavik Police and since 2007 has been an Inspector with the Selfoss Police. He would like to visit law enforcements in the region or state, ranging from patrolling officers to detectives investigating crimes. I would also like to get to know the courts and judicial system in general and the correctional system. If possible, I would also like to meet with a police union leader to discuss rights, wages, work environment and policemen’s rights in general. Team Member Ms. Steingerour Hreinsdottir is Project Manager/Consultant in the Development Center of Iceland. In this capacity she is the project manager in the field of business development and entrepreneurship projects in the south region of Iceland. She is responsible for making business-strategic and financial plans for new companies and working with established companies in strategic planning and marketing, and management change. She has a BS. in politics and international relations from the University of Southhampton and a MS in international development and security studies. She is very interesting in visiting some University Department related to Development and International-Education and Development Association. Most recently she completed a MBA in Global Executive Management at the University of Reykjavik. She was a teacher in a college teaching social sciences, ethics, learning methods and English prior to her present employment. She enjoys outdoor activities, including hiking biking and horseback riding. Team Member Mr. Oskar Torfi Thorvaldsson; is a Civil Engineer with a Masters Degree in Construction Management. Last year he finished studies in Finance and Management and is currently enrolled in Development Studies at the University of Iceland. He has done International work at NATO Headquarters in Brussels, Military Peacekeeping Mission in Kosovo and Red Cross Operations in Indonesia. Most of his professional experience has been achieved as a Building Control Officer at the Municipal Planning and Building Control Office of Reykjavik. Oskar’s interests include: music and drum playing, films, photography, design, sports, card games and travel. He has never traveled to the middle of the United States and is glad to have the experience to visit Kansas. His vocational visit suggestions are to visit municipal building control offices; City Departments; building Sites and a architecture/engineering firm. He also would like to visit Kansas City/Denver and a Winery/Brewery visit. | District 5670 GSE Outbound TeamCarl Isaacson, Team Leader  Our team leader is a six year veteran of Rotary, having served on term as President of the Lindsborg Rotary Club. He is, by his own admission, a Scandophile, a lover of all things Scandinavian, though with an admitted bias for all things Swedish. Son of a Swedish immigrant, he is proud of his heritage and the contributions the Swedish nation has made to the building of America. Isaacson is a Professor in Communication Arts at Bethany College, Lindsborg. As such he teaches across this broad discipline, teaching everything from Mass Media to Interpersonal Communication. His deepest academic interest is in Rhetoric, and in how humor is used rhetorically. Later this summer he will present a paper on Swedish American Humor in the early 20th century to the International Humor Society Convention in Hong Kong. He is looking forward to learning how Iceland conducts education, and particularly how Icelandic Universities are using online instruction to improve teaching and learning and increase the number of learners. Andrea Ring, Team Member  She was born and raised in Salina, KS and has never lived outside of Kansas. While she reports that "I cherish my Midwestern roots," she loves to travel and explore new things. "I understand that one of the main activities to do in Iceland is swimming in the hot pools, something I look forward to doing. I also look forward to hiking, whale watching and of course shopping in Iceland. I would also love to explore the music and art scene in Iceland. And try some good seafood. David Naistat, Team Member  He has also conducted research on Alzheimer’s disease and its molecular basis. He says that he "would appreciate an opportunity to interact with fellow researchers and academicians." On a separate note, David finds it amazing that virtually all of Iceland’s electricity comes from renewable sources such as geothermal and hydroelectric power. The point of connection between this fact and the state of Kansas could be made by pointing out that our state is second in the nation in wind potential. In his free time, he enjoy exercising, reading outside my field, and keeping up on world events. He would welcome opportunities to experience some of the cultural life of Iceland. Like many Icelanders, David is a fan of team handball. Iceland's national handball team placed third in the last European Championship. He has played this sport for almost two decades in my home country of Argentina, and would like, if possible, to take in a handball game at one point. Sarah Harvey, Team Member  As part of her job, she teaches basic music theory, basic music history, instruments (Orff instruments and recorders), and vocal music. At the fourth graders prepare one concert a year, and fifth and sixth graders prepare two concerts each year. During the summer, Sarah enjoys travelling or working at the USD 333 Summer CAP Program. She also has 16 private piano students. Sarah writes, "My world is very much saturated in music! Even my hobbies include playing piano and singing (preferably not at the same time) at my church or anywhere I get a chance, playing in the community concert and jazz bands, and singing in the community choir. My non-music related hobbies include reading and, my favorite hobby, traveling!" She says that she would love to experience the Icelandic schools, and see how their school system differs from ours. She is especially interested in seeing how their music classrooms are run, what subjects they study in the music classroom, and how she can incorporate this information into her own classroom. Preparing to apply for the GSE team, Sarah found some potential familial ties to Iceland, which she is eager to explore further. Sarah Jean Maaske, Team Member 
She works on promoting
the town and surrounding area and works hard to show all that their
town has to offer, encouraging families, business and entrepreneurs
alike to settle there.
She went to school studying Agricultural
Economics and worked closely with the Economic Development Committee to
help the people and businesses prosper. She is a very active community
leader and is on many boards including Travel & Tourism, the local
theatre board, Lions Club, Safe Routes to School and Kansas Hometown
Prosperity Initiative just to name a few. She believes in working
closely with the youth in the community and supporting them as much as
possible.
She is actively working on putting a disc golf course in
Atwood working with the students and businesses to complete this and
provide an activity for everyone to enjoy.
Just recently married, Sarah
values family and friends and enjoys spending time with both.
Given Sarah’s love to travel and see landmarks, museums, music & shows, trying new food and meeting new people she is very excited to visit Iceland. While there she hopes to visit with other community leaders to discuss how they will continue to draw in tourism and keep businesses’ hopes high during this economic down turn. Jennifer Thomas, Team Alternate Dressing for Success - Reykjavik StyleJust a thought from "Yessica" who blogs at "Icelandish"
March is fashion month. She writes about
her fashion experience in Iceland:
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