Perhaps I fit in too well

     So far, when I have traveled alone in Reykjavik, I am presumed to be an Icelander.  I am addressed in Icelandic to which I awkwardly respond in English that I do not understand and to which, in turn, those speaking to me remark that they are shocked at how much I look like an Icelander.  I guess my Teutonic blood runs deep. 
     I am no stranger to this in my travels.  The same presumptions of my beloning to foreign lands followed me to Sweden, Germany and even South Africa.  In all of these countries I have been presumed to be a local and encountered suprise on the discovery of my American birth.  My Swedish host father remarked that I looked more Swedish than his son, Deutschlanders were prone to speak to me in German, and I was often called 'Baas' (the term that native people were required to call their white Afrikaaner oppressors under the Apartheid regime) in Namibia.  In all these countries I have had to look for ways to kindly tell those addressing me in foreign tongues that I only know English and shamefully let on that if we are to communicate it must be on my terms, not in the language of the people that are hosting me.  It would be better in these cases to stand out a little more than I do.
    I have experienced the same in Iceland.  I could not respond to store clerks trying to assist me in the local mall, nor the waiters at the restaurants in which I have dined, nor even those trying to strike up conversation with me while out on the town at night.  I have to rely on my presumption that those addressing me know my language far better than I know theirs. 
    Yet, unlike those other countries in which I have previously experienced this problem, Icelanders seem to expect to speak English or other foreign languages more than in most countries.  They are able to quickly switch over to engage my Anglo idioms with an effortlessness that I have not seen in other lands.  This probably has something to do with the fact that Iceland is dependent on foreigners in many more ways than most nations.  They are a small country with vast supplies of some resources such as fish or volcanic ash, but must rely heavily on imports for many elements of their daily lives.  Though in a globalized world we all do this, Iceland does not have the same choice to import or produce as, for instance, we in America do.  Thus, Icelanders must be able to communicate with others from outside the country if they wish to thrive as their own language and place is limited in what it can offer in material goods.
    It is a welcome change to be in a land that knows it must work with others to survive.  We are often blinded in the United States to seeing ourselves as independent and able to thrive without learning other languages or working well with others.  It is impressive to be in a country that lives out its connection to other people in a very intentional way on a daily basis.  I hope to learn even more about what it is to live life with a similar intentionality towards others.

Blessed Triune God, look kindly upon the people of Iceland as they seek to continually look kindly upon others in the world.  Help us all to see the shining examples of co-operation, peace, and goodwill that Iceland exhibits.  May we learn from their strengths as we pray that they may be comforted in these times of economic woe.