Last weekend I went to the mall for the first time in almost a year. The reason for my long absence began simply enough: I had no extra spending money so why go to a place that had everything I couldn’t afford on display? It just wasn’t worth the temptation.

As the months went by, my financial situation didn’t change but avoiding the mall became less about economic woes and more about not wanting to risk catching the flu, be it swine,  seasonal or otherwise. But finally, when my pair of shoes kicked the proverbial bucket I knew a trip to the mall was in my near future.

So last Sunday afternoon I took the plunge and went to the mall in search of footwear and was shocked to see that all of the stores were packed with people.

I didn’t know what I was expecting to find but I guess I just assumed that with the average person feeling the economic crunch here in Iceland, people would, well, stay home with their wallets.

Did I really think the mall would be vacant, all of the stores abandoned, with empty escalators taking ghosts of consumers past up, down and up again? Maybe not, but even so, the crowds took me by surprise.

I was even more surprised to overhear the conversations between the clerks and customers. As it turned out, a large majority of the people were buying Christmas presents. Wait a minute. Christmas presents? Over a month before Christmas? In Iceland?

If there’s anything I have come to learn about Iceland is that Christmas shopping, along with pretty much everything else, is done last minute. I also thought it was some sort of unwritten rule that Icelanders held off on any Christmas decorating until the first weekend in December.

I knew this “rule” did not apply to supermarkets and malls because I saw the first Christmas display of the season tucked away at the end of a grocery store aisle well over a month ago and the mall last Sunday looked like Christmas had exploded all over it.

But, I have noticed quite a few traditional Christmas lights on display in the windows of people’s homes already. This may be a little early but when I thought about it, decorations generally start popping up right around the time the sunlight starts to dwindle.

In October, candles become a fixture indoors, followed by the little blue twinkle lights on the trees lining the boulevard downtown. But these aren’t so much for Christmas as they are for winter, seeing as how they usually stick around until late February to early-March.

I knew the city had switched gears into full-on Christmas mode when on my weekly trip to the grocery store I saw stacks and stacks of the much anticipated Egils Malt og Appelsín (a beverage that is half orange soda, half malt) that comes in special Christmas cans at this time of year.

Next to the soda I noticed the elaborate displays of the Quality Street chocolates in their distinct hexagonal purple tins. Nearly every family in Iceland either gets or gives at least one of these during the holiday season.

Next to appear were the boxes of the ultra-thin piparkökur (gingerbread cookies) that come in all shapes and sizes. These and jólaterta (Christmas cake) are enough to ensure that no one escapes from gaining a few holiday pounds. (I myself am on my second box of piparkökur already—and it’s only the middle of November).

The other day I walked into the staffroom at work and a signup sheet for the annual Christmas party was already posted. That afternoon I heard two groups of kids spontaneously start to sing Christmas carols which made me realize the holiday season is indeed upon us.

Maybe I will have to jump on the bandwagon this year and put up the tree a week or two ahead of schedule. I might as well, since I was so inspired by how on-the-ball the shoppers at the mall were that I picked up a dress for the staff Christmas party along with my new pair of shoes.

There are only 40 days until Christmas. Am I alone in wondering where this year went?

Alana Odegard – odegard_a@hotmail.com