Why we should all live in Iceland.

[Ryrin]

http://idratherbeiniceland.wordpress.com/2012/01/22/good-reasons-to-live-in-iceland/

 

1. Knitting is taught in schools. In a country with so many sheep, woollen products and long winters, this would be a really useful skill to have. I’m sure this early exposure to creativity must have something to do with why so many Icelanders continue to be creative later in life. Also, knitting in today’s busy world encourages you to slow down and enjoy an older way of doing things, not a bad thing for kids to learn.

 

2. Sunshine coffee. Some Icelandic villages are situated in valleys within very long, high fjords. This means that there will a couple of months where the sun does not get high enough in the sky to be seen in these areas. Can you imagine not seeing the sun AT ALL for a few weeks? On the first day when the rays of the sun do penetrate down to the village, they celebrate by having coffee, and call it “sunshine coffee."

 

3. Christmas Eve books. Books are still a very popular Christmas gift in this highly literate nation. (The literacy rate is apparently 99.9% – imagine being the one person in Iceland who can’t read!) This is the bit I love  – sheets are washed for Christmas Eve and after you open your new books you get to go to bed in your specially washed sheets. How cozy is that! What a great idea.

 

4. Leaving babies outside restaurants. This is something that visitors to Iceland often notice and comment on, but in a shocked way like “How can you possibly think your baby will be safe left outside unattended?” Well, because it’s a good way to give them fresh air and also allow you some uninterrupted time to enjoy your meal. Really, no one is going to come along and steal the babies.

 

5. Cocoa soup (Kakósúpa). Basically, hot chocolate (but thicker) as a meal! Wonderful.

 

6. You get what you pay for. In Iceland, you pay more for things, but they are of high quality. Here, you can pay a lot for things that are really badly made and fall apart, or you can pay a little for things and you can expect them to fall apart. It’s harder to get high quality items generally. This high quality mentality also comes through in the way that Iceland doesn’t “do” cheap, tacky tourist attractions.

 

7. Husband’s day. This is a timely one as it was only last week. Here in the UK, the way women generally speak about men is to describe everything they do as “useless”, and there is a lot of “typical man” disparaging sentiments . The idea of having a special day where it would be perfectly normal to buy your husband flowers and cook him a special meal would be laughed out of town. Yet in an egalitarian society like Iceland, even the men get their own special day.

 

8. Not judging single mothers. Iceland does have a high proportion of babies born outside wedlock. People aren’t judgmental about it. Apparently, it is because there is a long tradition of single mothers, as throughout history, most of the men were involved in fishing and had more chance of dying young and leaving them on their own.

 

9. Calling people by their first names. This is partly due to having patronyms rather than surnames, and partly down to treating everyone the same regardless of their age or job. The equivalent of “Mr” or “Mrs” is rarely used, and children can even call their teachers by their first names.

 

10. The swimming pool culture.. Unfortunately, in my country a lot of people wouldn’t dream of sitting in a pool/hot tub with people they work with or even with their friends. They would be too self-conscious about themselves and find it too weird to see others in their swimming costumes or shock horror, naked in the changing areas! In Iceland, it’s no big deal, just a nice relaxing way of socialising, and I’m sure there are health benefits for all the oldies that do it.

 

And it's cold and they have awesome pancakes.

 

Traditional Icelandic pancakes are different from what people call pancakes in many parts of the world; small, round, thin and sweet and are either rolled up with sugar or wrapped up in squares filled with jam—often blueberry—and whipped cream.

[Ryrin]

 

[Ryrin]

No more children with stupid names.

 

"The Iceland Naming Committee, formed in 1991, is the group that decides whether a new given name will be acceptable. If parents want to name their child something that is not included on the National Register of Persons, they can apply for approval and pay a fee. A name has to pass a few tests to be approved. It must only contain letters in the Icelandic alphabet, and must fit grammatically with the language. Other considerations include whether it will embarrass the child in the future and how well aligned it is with Icelandic traditions. It must have a genitive ending or have been previously adopted. Also, names should be gender specific, and no one can have more than three personal names."

 

Education.

 

Anyone who has completed upper secondary education in Iceland can apply to study at a university. With the exception of some courses like medicine and dentistry, the University of Iceland is obliged to accept all students who have an upper secondary diploma.

 

There are no tuition fees at the state universities (although there are registration fees), and student loans are available to cover living expenses and school materials.

[Daruya]

And they have the Icelandic horse!

 

[Ahmyra al'Ruley]

Horse is cute but its COLD!!!

[Rhea]

OK...where do I sign up!

[Ryrin]

I love cold.  Dar, that is a beautiful horse.

 

Rhea, you should do fine cause you already live in an ice land.

[Millon]

I've been sayin this to the missus for ages now. All because of this guy!

 

http://www.pbs.org/food/chefs/andreas-viestad

 

We LOVE this dude's cooking show called 'New Scandinavian Cooking'. The nut cooks OUTSIDE in various locations in Iceland. It all looks so beautiful and bloody DELICIOUS!!

[Elgee]

I have long said I want to move to Iceland.

[F Horn of Valere]

So curious thing about the names... if an Icelander goes to another country to give birth, is that rule able to be skirted? And does it apply to just first names, or also middle names?

 

 

I like the list... though I can't get my head around leaving babies outside. I'm just too untrusting!

[Ryrin]

I've been sayin this to the missus for ages now. All because of this guy!

 

http://www.pbs.org/food/chefs/andreas-viestad

 

We LOVE this dude's cooking show called 'New Scandinavian Cooking'. The nut cooks OUTSIDE in various locations in Iceland. It all looks so beautiful and bloody DELICIOUS!!

That's awesome!!

 

I found this:

 

"Icelanders love sauces. Gravy, dipping sauces, condiments... Basically, we have a sauce for everything. And we like to drench our food in sauce. Even though the meat or the fish or the vegetables are to a great standard, it's only going to be better with sauce."

 

"Now, it may be freezing and a storm outside - but Icelanders are known to have a BBQ in any kind of weather, acting like they live in the blistering Australian sunshine. Come rain, come shine, we still want to have our lamb/fish/whale grilled with proper coals (or gas). And then smothered with sauce."

[Ryrin]

So curious thing about the names... if an Icelander goes to another country to give birth, is that rule able to be skirted? And does it apply to just first names, or also middle names?

 

 

I like the list... though I can't get my head around leaving babies outside. I'm just too untrusting!

Yeah, it's hard for me to wrap my mind around that one.

[Niniel]

Iceland is my dream vacation. It´s where the elves live. :)

 

I have heard that there are no snakes there, not sure if it´s true or not. 

[jmm]

Sounds like a wonderful place; let's go!  DM colony expedition, embark! 

[dawnflower8]

I'd really like to live in Iceland. It's just beautiful, and the winters there are long. I wouldn't mind living in Greenland either. 

 

And they have the Icelandic horse!

 

It's so pretty! 

 

So curious thing about the names... if an Icelander goes to another country to give birth, is that rule able to be skirted? And does it apply to just first names, or also middle names?

 

 

I like the list... though I can't get my head around leaving babies outside. I'm just too untrusting!

The point is that everyone living in Iceland is so trustworthy that they won't steal them. My problem with it is that it is cold there...hopefully they give the babies warm blankets! 

 

And Icelandic accents are just the greatest.

[michellem]

The leaving babies outside-thing is normal here too. Why would someone steal your baby? And yeah Dawn, they're bundled up in lots of warm clothes and a tiny duvét.

 

6, 9 and 10 are normal in most of Scandinavia.

 

Also, you forgot to mention the hot springs Ry; Iceland has wonderful hot springs.

 

My dream vacation is a horseback tour of Iceland.

[Jak 0' the Shadows]

Ok, I'll add Iceland to the list of places to live... man, how am I gonna manage to live in Iceland, DuBrovnik, New Zealand, Ireland, and the US? 

 

but I totally agree with Jmm, we should have a DM party in Iceland.

[Chang]

Wow, that's cool!  I was not aware of many of these little facts.  It just goes to show that you learn something new every day!

 

And I'd certainly love to live in Iceland for a spell (along with many other places), but I don't know if I'd be able to last very long in Iceland.  I'm just not a big fan of the cold.  Give me hot weather year round, and I'd be happy. 

[Elgee]

 

"Icelanders love sauces. Gravy, dipping sauces, condiments... Basically, we have a sauce for everything. And we like to drench our food in sauce. Even though the meat or the fish or the vegetables are to a great standard, it's only going to be better with sauce."

 

"Now, it may be freezing and a storm outside - but Icelanders are known to have a BBQ in any kind of weather, acting like they live in the blistering Australian sunshine. Come rain, come shine, we still want to have our lamb/fish/whale grilled with proper coals (or gas). And then smothered with sauce."

 

 

Oh Light I'm loving this place more and more!

 

I'm with Jmm ... let's send a request to emigrate.

[Ryrin]

Icelanders Braai!

[Barmacral]

A number of the things on the list are similar or the same in Sweden as well.

 

Also Iceland is not a part of Scandinavia. Scandinavia is a geographic region that pretty much only includes Sweden, Norway and Denmark. Iceland is a Nordic country though. The Nordic nations are all the ones I mentioned plus Finland. A common misconception that I only learned recently.

[Mrs. Cindy Gill]

people

used to leave babies outside restaurants and stores everywhere in the us until the seventies or so when everyone got paranoid.

 

Iceland looks lovely.

 

I'm not going anywhere with "ice" right in the name.

 

fool

me

once...

[Daruya]

When I was in high school, we had a neighbor 2 houses down that was from Iceland.  I wish I knew how to spell her name but it's pronounced something like this:  Ay'-thur (the "th" isn't really soft but it isn't a hard "t" either). 

[Elgee]

Icelanders Braai!

 

Exactly. So they're basically South Africans, only with better weather.

[Panchi]

I heard that there are more volcanoes in Iceland than in any other country