Someone I met today runs a dog-sledding tour for Inspiration Iceland. Andrew knew where all his guests were from, there were 3 pairs and he manages the payments... So of course he would know. I asked if we locked the door before getting into Andre's jeep.

"This is Iceland! You don't need to do that around here."

We chuckled and hopped in to pick up the other guests. As we were driving, we were having conversations about where we're from.

"Do you guys consider yourselves American?"
"Uh... Well... Depends on who you ask."
"Hehehe, it must be a thing of islanders to want their independence."

I would later learn, on 28 March, that Iceland seized its independence from the Germany-occupied Denmark. More on that later.

We chatted a little more, and it turns out he's from Switzerland originally. He lives in Iceland with his wife. They have a few kids, and a greenhouse where they grow coffee, "It's not profitable, but we do it because we can."

He had such a great sense of humor, even if it was insanely cold for us. Someone on the tour forgot his gloves, "You know, it's not such a good idea to leave your gloves at home anywhere in Iceland."

He had a lot of experience with the dogs, and really enjoyed meeting new people. He was as polite as the man at the DFS counter I had met. It wasn't the same kind of nice I was used to but it was nice all the same. He talked about the community aspect a bit, which confirmed some of what I had thought after reading the History of Iceland.

Even with the snow, cold, and high cost of living... But as he put it, "It's a hard life, but it's nice."