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CupcakePrincess
Oct 6, 2012
Will email you in June, thanks : )

There are seven universities in Iceland? HK has ten universities, and our population is 20 times the size of yours.

Have you ever ridden an Icelandic horse? I just watched a video of Icelandic horses tölting (is that grammatically correct?), and it is adorable.

Also, have you ever visited the Icelandic Phallological Museum? For reasons I cannot fathom, my boyfriend really wants to see lots and lots of penises. :eyepop:

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Deceitful Penguin
Feb 16, 2011

CupcakePrincess posted:

Will email you in June, thanks : )
Ain't no thang, I'll try to remember to check it.

CupcakePrincess posted:

There are seven universities in Iceland? HK has ten universities, and our population is 20 times the size of yours.
Icelanders, rightly in my opinion, decided that the way to get out of dirt poverty was by focusing on education. I think it's a bit too many, to tell the truth and some of them are more like a few departments from a Uni rather than a proper one, but eh. To each his own.

CupcakePrincess posted:

Have you ever ridden an Icelandic horse? I just watched a video of Icelandic horses tölting (is that grammatically correct?), and it is adorable.
I have, and in fact spent a summer doing so. One of the advantages of living on nob hill I suppose, is that there are stables in our town and there was a summer course thing where we learned about horses, rode them and in my case, inadvertently caused a lotta trouble. It's a nice way to spend an afternoon, though the touristy horse stuff is a bit off my radar.

Icelandic uses a pretty different grammar system from English, so mixing the two usually doesn't end well. Að tölta is the Icelandic form, but don't sweat it. And yeah, the Iceland pony is a well known adorable horse, second only to the Shetland pony or so I'm told.

CupcakePrincess posted:

Also, have you ever visited the Icelandic Phallological Museum? For reasons I cannot fathom, my boyfriend really wants to see lots and lots of penises. :eyepop:
His mind on the dong eh? Better keep an eye on him, if you see him looking at pictures of Ryan Gosling and such you may have a problem. :ninja:

Haha, but seriously, I haven't really had the time or inclination to go there. Usually either doing dumb thangs or working, but I hear its quite interesting.

Rashomon
Jun 21, 2006

This machine kills fascists
My wife and I are going to Iceland in mid July. I've gotten some advice from other American friends who have been there. We're starting in Reykjavik, doing the close stuff like the Golden Circle and Blue Lagoon the first couple days, then hopefully going up to stay a night at Hotel Budir and explore the Snaefellsness area (did I spell that remotely right?), and then driving up to Akureyri for a night, and then returning to hang out in Reykjavik a couple more days and possibly do a day trip down to Vik. Any recommendations for must see stuff along those routes that the guidebooks might not mention or emphasize?

And, more importantly -- any amazing shops in Reykjavik or elsewhere that sell clothes, music, English language books, art/paintings/prints, etc that we might be into? We're both artistic people and pretty adventurous.

edit: you mentioned a flea market or something in one of your earlier posts; that sounds right up our alley. Could you tell me a little more about that?

Rashomon fucked around with this message at 23:46 on May 17, 2013

Deceitful Penguin
Feb 16, 2011

Rashomon posted:

My wife and I are going to Iceland in mid July. I've gotten some advice from other American friends who have been there. We're starting in Reykjavik, doing the close stuff like the Golden Circle and Blue Lagoon the first couple days, then hopefully going up to stay a night at Hotel Budir and explore the Snaefellsness area (did I spell that remotely right?), and then driving up to Akureyri for a night, and then returning to hang out in Reykjavik a couple more days and possibly do a day trip down to Vik. Any recommendations for must see stuff along those routes that the guidebooks might not mention or emphasize?
A pretty solid itinerary. Good attempt at Snæfellsnes too. Most of those places are the classics and minor variations like maybe going pony riding, elf tours and things like that are possibilities, but I'd recommend talking to the Tourist info in Reykjavík about it because there's often good deals or interesting stuff coming up and I'm a bit out of date for a lot of that. When you stop at Snæfellsnes remember not to attempt the glacier unsupervised. It's, uhhh, not something we really like talking about but especially in warm weather glaciers are a death trap unless you know what you're doing. And maybe you'll get lucky like last summer and see a beached whale. People were very interested in telling me about that in the art gallery when they visited.

I got family from the North, and I'd say that if you're in Akureyri it would be a shame not to visit some of the smaller places around there. Siglufjörður is especially picturesque and on the way there you'd pass through what is beyond a doubt the most beautiful vale in all of Iceland. (This may be slightly tinted by nostalgia and good times)

Otherwise, you can usually rely on guidebooks for things like landmarks and natural beauty, which are the main attractions outside the city.

Rashomon posted:

And, more importantly -- any amazing shops in Reykjavik or elsewhere that sell clothes, music, English language books, art/paintings/prints, etc that we might be into? We're both artistic people and pretty adventurous.
edit: you mentioned a flea market or something in one of your earlier posts; that sounds right up our alley. Could you tell me a little more about that?
The highest concentration of all that is the capital area and especially around the city centre. Taking the bus there and just walking the streets is a good way to see a lot of interesting stuff, with some of the stores tucked away in little alleys and whatnot. The main shopping street, Laugavegur, starts at the main bus terminal and from there you can find a good shops for mosta that. Wander towards the Church if you want more shops, it's a pretty good landmark. Personally I love to explore, but if you want to be robbed of the thrill of the hunt, The Grapevine has a pretty great search engine for shopping, all in English. They also have reviews of books and all kinds of good stuff.
As for art, there are a few galleries around but it's not a world I'm part of to any great degree. I was working at the gallery because of my linguistic skills and ability to keep myself from going mad staying in a place with no internet. :v: If you like things like comics and that, Nexus is a good place for that. Eymundson is the big book chain, but there are a couple of smaller ones around. Skífan is the big movie/music store but if you wanna support a smaller, local shop then Geisladiskabúð Valda (Valdis' Cd-Shop) is a nice place to check out. For clothes you're out of luck, I mostly just buy that in the mall. Odds are you'll find it if you look though.

Kolaportið, the flea market I mentioned before is actually a pretty interesting place. It means "Coal-port" and it's an old coal warehouse re-purposed into its current incarnation. You can find books, clothes, candy, fresh taters, fish and shark there, as well as other things like toys or thai cooking supplies. You can try bargaining but it's very unlikely to work, there's not much tradition for it here. Get the Shark btw. It will put hair on your palms and cure dyslexia, as well as kill your nose. This is part of the Icelandic experience. If you do not get it before leaving they will not let you re-enter the country, unless you are vegan/vegetarian in which case an acceptable substitute is snorting ammonia.

Kiri koli
Jun 20, 2005
Also, I can kill you with my brain.

Rashomon posted:

possibly do a day trip down to Vik. Any recommendations for must see stuff along those routes that the guidebooks might not mention or emphasize?

I was in Iceland last September and we drove from Reykjavik to Hofn. I would highly recommend driving to Vik and along the way catch the bus into Thorsmork. You can catch the bus at the waterfall Seljalandsfoss, which is right off the Ring Road. I guess you can also take the bus all the way from Reykjavik, but I assume you'll have a rental car. The schedule when we went was the bus left Seljalandsfoss at 10am to go into Thorsmork and returned at 4pm (the schedule may change). You can stay overnight if you want, lots of people do multi-day hikes and camp or I think there are a few huts you can rent. We just stayed for a few hours and hiked to the highest point for the view. It was amazing and one of my favorite parts of our trip.

This is a glacier you see on the way in


Thorsmork Glacier by Kiri koli, on Flickr

You can't drive there yourself because you need to ford a few rivers.

Seljalandsfoss and Skogafoss are two huge waterfalls on the way to Vik which are right off the road. The beaches at Vik are pretty cool too, though the town itself is pretty small.

Popcorn
May 25, 2004

You're both fuckin' banned!
When I was in Iceland I met a girl in a cafe who told me she found Bjork very irritating because she perpetuated this image of Icelanders being these quirky fairy mentalists. Then she did an exaggerated Bjork impression and it was disturbingly accurate.

Is this view much shared in Iceland?

Popcorn fucked around with this message at 19:45 on May 19, 2013

Megafonzie
Oct 26, 2012

????????????
I did a quick ctrl+f for 'debt' and didn't find anything, so I figured I'd ask:

is Icelandic debt forgiveness a real thing that actually happened?

Deceitful Penguin
Feb 16, 2011
Sorry for late reply, was out enjoying Denmark.

Popcorn posted:

When I was in Iceland I met a girl in a cafe who told me she found Bjork very irritating because she perpetuated this image of Icelanders being these quirky fairy mentalists. Then she did an exaggerated Bjork impression and it was disturbingly accurate.

Is this view much shared in Iceland?
Yes. They call them "Krútt" or "Cuties" and many people don't like them. Many people are them. I have a few of them on my facebook but only one of them is very annoying. I don't hold up with them, they're mostly just a local variation on the hipster, but honestly I like them better than I do the people that think that the world revolves around money and finance and wear suits all the time. Annoying but harmless.

Megafonzie posted:

I did a quick ctrl+f for 'debt' and didn't find anything, so I figured I'd ask:

is Icelandic debt forgiveness a real thing that actually happened?
Big question. Woulda liked it more specific. Did we forgive a lot of debts for people just after the crisis? Yes, for some of the biggest and the ones that obviously would never be paid back. Those, well. Some were controversial. For the smaller ones there was a lot of readjustments. Better terms given, terms changed. Loans extended so what you pay each month went down and whatnot. Some were just cancelled entirely. I wish I had more on hand but it's late night and I should be asleep for my flight tomorrow.

Now, the coming government promised to get rid of all the loans! Lower taxes! Free money for everyone! This is bullshit and if they try it things will turn to poo poo instantly, because the international creditors won't stand for it, it way disproportionally favours the wealthy and they don't have the money for it. This is because they are liars and idiots and the latter also applies to Icelanders.

If you want more specifics on things like foreign loans, the crisis as a whole (oh boy) Icesave (please don't, everyone got so heartily sick of it that you can get beaten up on the street for bringing it up) or anything else to do with that whole shebang, I can start trying to remember the things I blanked out and maybe even dig up some corrections of foreign articles that actually tell it how it was. It certainly wasn't as pretty as the foreign media painted it at times.
Thanks for that, I ain't to up on the east because it's almost pure tourist and I was in the west and north. That glacier is called "Mýrdalsjökull" btw.

Deceitful Penguin fucked around with this message at 00:49 on May 21, 2013

Dr. Quarex
Apr 18, 2003

I'M A BIG DORK WHO POSTS TOO MUCH ABOUT CONVENTIONS LOOK AT THIS

TOVA TOVA TOVA
All right, I am joining the thread now, and since I got married in Iceland I think I know more than some chump who was just born and raised and still lives there :smug:

(I have a tendency to talk too much when Iceland is the topic, I promise I am editing everything I say to be like 25% its original length)

dougie posted:

Two of my favourite things are from Iceland, EvE online and Sigur Ros. Oh, three things, Eidur Gudjohnsen :)
Not so much a question as a shout out I guess.
No way dude, the best things from Iceland are skyr, puffins, and the Hamborgarafabrikkan. Actually I definitely preferred other places I ate, but none of them were called a hamburger factory.

Deceitful Penguin posted:

Uhh, word of warning about the showers, you're supposed to shower naked in them, but I think we might have added curtains in that one for the muslims.
This was probably the only uncomfortable thing that happened to me in the month or so I have spent in Iceland. The time I was minding my own business changing in the Blue Lagoon lockers when like 30 fully nude teenage boys came running at me to use the showers near where I was standing. My wife had a similar experience, though of course I cannot help but have the sexist belief that her experience was still less traumatizing.

Deceitful Penguin posted:

Gods, that sounds delectable. But nah, 'cause they withdrew during the Crisis, making us part of the elite non-McDonalds club.
Plus you are part of the elite non-Starbucks club as they also withdrew, unless I am misremembering what I learned. Honestly that is the reason Reyjkjavík can probably not be topped on my "favorite cities in the world" list, because you have to work hard to find an international chain. It helps you stay focused on enjoying the local culture when even the coffee shop chains are local to Iceland. I would basically go into a happiness coma right now if I could walk out of my apartment and find a Te og Kaffi down the street. I want to go back to Iceland :( Why do I not have any skills that would be useful for Icelandic employers :(

Deceitful Penguin posted:

That's actually one of my favourite things to do in foreign countries, see different grocery stores.
MINE TOO!!!! Even in my own country, I get excited when I am going to some region I have not visited frequently, so I can check the grocery stores/gas stations to try to find regional candy or cookies or something, anything to help make the world seem less standardized!

Also I like that your first in-city itinerary basically sounds like the routine we ended up stumbling into for every time we are there on a weekend anyway. Kolaportið is like my third-favorite shopping place in the world, and second-favorite of places that are actually open on a regular basis!

So, on behalf of basically every one of my friends who reacts in horror and disgust when learning about pre-alcoholic malt being a beverage in Iceland--do people actually drink it? Or is it like hákarl? (I am asked to relate my story of eating hákarl on at least a monthly basis, I was excited to read [on Wikipedia anyway] that most people who try it involuntarily gag; guess I am not most people :usingthesmugemoticonagain: )

Winklebottom
Dec 19, 2007

What the hell is up with you guys and mixing chocolate and liquorice? Not I mind, I've been picking up a couple of jumbo packs of Freyju Djúpur every time I've had a stopover in Keflavík on the way to the US and back, but the only guaranteed Icelandic product I can get in Copenhagen is 5-6 varieties of chocolate/liquorice candy. Also it's hilarious that Keflavík has a danish booze section with Fisk and Gammel Dansk, it's almost as good as coming home :denmark:

Deceitful Penguin posted:

Sorry for late reply, was out enjoying Denmark.

:respek:

Deceitful Penguin
Feb 16, 2011

Quarex posted:

All right, I am joining the thread now, and since I got married in Iceland I think I know more than some chump who was just born and raised and still lives there :smug:

(I have a tendency to talk too much when Iceland is the topic, I promise I am editing everything I say to be like 25% its original length)
It's not like I'm drowning in questions here, so you can feel free to write at whatever length you please. Never been one to skimp on words myself, after all. :v:

Quarex posted:

No way dude, the best things from Iceland are skyr, puffins, and the Hamborgarafabrikkan. Actually I definitely preferred other places I ate, but none of them were called a hamburger factory.
The best things in Iceland are Nóakropp, hrútaber and Noodlestation, in my humble opinion. "Fabrikkan" is also danish slang.

Quarex posted:

This was probably the only uncomfortable thing that happened to me in the month or so I have spent in Iceland. The time I was minding my own business changing in the Blue Lagoon lockers when like 30 fully nude teenage boys came running at me to use the showers near where I was standing. My wife had a similar experience, though of course I cannot help but have the sexist belief that her experience was still less traumatizing.
Hahaha, I can't imagine that. All men of the world, all got one, et cetera. How you gonna get clean wearing clothes anyhow? Even if you came in wearing some micro-speedo you'd still need to wash yo junk, as we can use less chlorine in the pools if everyone washes first.

Quarex posted:

Plus you are part of the elite non-Starbucks club as they also withdrew, unless I am misremembering what I learned. Honestly that is the reason Reyjkjavík can probably not be topped on my "favorite cities in the world" list, because you have to work hard to find an international chain. It helps you stay focused on enjoying the local culture when even the coffee shop chains are local to Iceland. I would basically go into a happiness coma right now if I could walk out of my apartment and find a Te og Kaffi down the street. I want to go back to Iceland :( Why do I not have any skills that would be useful for Icelandic employers :(
Hahaha, the most popular international chain nowadays is probs Subway, which is tepid and mediocre but cheap, Dominos, though I don't usually do business with them and KFC, which is just a good ol' standby when you neat sweaty sweaty chicken. I don't think we ever even had Starbucks, then again I ain't no latte sipping 101, I drink my coffee black and tasting of mud. It's nice you have such fond memories of the place though.

Quarex posted:

MINE TOO!!!! Even in my own country, I get excited when I am going to some region I have not visited frequently, so I can check the grocery stores/gas stations to try to find regional candy or cookies or something, anything to help make the world seem less standardized!
:hfive: Just came back from a Norwegian store, my bag was full of things I never tasted before. Gonna munch on it while I write this.

Quarex posted:

Also I like that your first in-city itinerary basically sounds like the routine we ended up stumbling into for every time we are there on a weekend anyway. Kolaportið is like my third-favorite shopping place in the world, and second-favorite of places that are actually open on a regular basis!
It's a pretty simple route to take, with some easy variations to make. Kolaportið is really great, I mostly go for the Thai supplies and 'taters but there's some great stuff to get there like candy, fresh fish and thangs.

Quarex posted:

So, on behalf of basically every one of my friends who reacts in horror and disgust when learning about pre-alcoholic malt being a beverage in Iceland--do people actually drink it? Or is it like hákarl? (I am asked to relate my story of eating hákarl on at least a monthly basis, I was excited to read [on Wikipedia anyway] that most people who try it involuntarily gag; guess I am not most people :usingthesmugemoticonagain: )
What? People don't like Malt????? What madness is this, Malt is pretty much a national drink and around christmas (and now easters as well) it is served with Appelsín (Icelandic Fanta) together to make a special holiday blend. Malt is one of the first drinks in Iceland (was meant as medicine) and is pretty drat popular even to this day, despite the bastards only selling it in half liter cans. Here's a video celebrating the 100 year birthday of the drink, which is unchanged to this day: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gxq8ffH_16I
And a pretty drat odd article about it as well: http://islenzka.net/olgerdin/
As for Hákarl, ehhh. People that dig it eat it a lot, there ain't many like that. For others, it's eaten at Þorrablót or when you have foreign visitors over.

Winklebottom posted:

What the hell is up with you guys and mixing chocolate and liquorice? Not I mind, I've been picking up a couple of jumbo packs of Freyju Djúpur every time I've had a stopover in Keflavík on the way to the US and back, but the only guaranteed Icelandic product I can get in Copenhagen is 5-6 varieties of chocolate/liquorice candy. Also it's hilarious that Keflavík has a danish booze section with Fisk and Gammel Dansk, it's almost as good as coming home :denmark:
:respek:
Haha, that just goes well together. Also, chocolate was expensive to get to Iceland while Liquorice was not, as well as the Icelandic liquorice being considered extra good. It certainly tastes different.

And what up Nordic bro, I'm nationally obligated to pretend to dislike Denmark, because of the whole "colonial overlord" thing but I love it in secret. Good peeps, good weather, good parties. Just don't tell the people in the LP forum that though, they think I hate it. :v:
And Danish booze is great. Not just the beer, but also the strong stuff. A good friend of mine says it isn't a proper night out without at least one shot of Gammel and I think that's a pretty reasonable opinion. And on a lark I got that Vodka in the aluminium bottle on the airport, that stuff was pretty drat good for a non-slavic vodka. Definetly getting that again when I'm at the airport and feeling like smuggling.

Had a great time in Denmark btw, Christiana, boat ride, visiting CBS and wandering the town. Woulda partied but cousin needed to be sober for her studies the morning after. Alas, alas, it had to wait for a better time.

Winklebottom
Dec 19, 2007

Deceitful Penguin posted:

Had a great time in Denmark btw, Christiana, boat ride, visiting CBS and wandering the town. Woulda partied but cousin needed to be sober for her studies the morning after. Alas, alas, it had to wait for a better time.

I gotta admit (to my great shame) that I've never actually visited Iceland, except on stopovers. What do you guys charge for a drink? I'd imagine Iceland might be one of the only places with higher prices than Copenhagen.

Deep State of Mind
Jul 30, 2006

"It was a busy day. I do not remember it all. In the morning, I thought I had lost my wallet. Then we went swimming and either overthrew a government or started a pro-American radio station. I can't really remember."
Fun Shoe
What's transportation like in Iceland? I can't see such a little place having a big metro system. Is there a big car culture?

Deceitful Penguin
Feb 16, 2011

Winklebottom posted:

I gotta admit (to my great shame) that I've never actually visited Iceland, except on stopovers. What do you guys charge for a drink? I'd imagine Iceland might be one of the only places with higher prices than Copenhagen.
A lot. If you're serious about drinking you always have to go to a party first or have some manner of discount unless you want to spend mad money. 93 DKK for a shot of vodka for instance.

Bloodnose posted:

What's transportation like in Iceland? I can't see such a little place having a big metro system. Is there a big car culture?
Yes. Everyone over 17 has a drivers license (or like 99.9%) and the vast majority of people drive around as their means of transportation. Some people use the bus system: which has decent speed and coverage but has been getting more expensive and a very select few ride bikes to work/school. I know of only 2 such persons and one lives in the city center.
For a metro system you'd need way higher population density than we do now. Iceland builds out, not up sadly.

TerryLennox
Oct 12, 2009

There is nothing tougher than a tough Mexican, just as there is nothing gentler than a gentle Mexican, nothing more honest than an honest Mexican, and above all nothing sadder than a sad Mexican. -R. Chandler.
Most of what I know about Iceland, I learned from reading "Journey to the Center of the Earth". Sollevertu!

Does Iceland assign a special significance to Snaeffeljokull or acknowledge the fact that it was the starting point of the journey to the center of the earth?

I have always wondered if you guys imported all your crops from abroad. I imagine farming would be difficult to do in its climate. What about beef? To generalize the question, are there any foods that are difficult/expensive to find?

What advice would you give to a potential visitor from the tropics? I would like to visit someday as it seems a very chill country. On that regard...how does your country view drugs?

CupcakePrincess
Oct 6, 2012
It's me again! We'll be going to iceland in a week, and we'd really like to leave you something from HK, so please check your gmail!

Deep State of Mind
Jul 30, 2006

"It was a busy day. I do not remember it all. In the morning, I thought I had lost my wallet. Then we went swimming and either overthrew a government or started a pro-American radio station. I can't really remember."
Fun Shoe
I understand whaling is an important part of Icelandic culture or something, to the point that there's some kind of exemption for Iceland from the international conventions against whaling. On that note, how many whales have you personally killed and on a scale of one to ten, how delicious were they?

Deceitful Penguin
Feb 16, 2011
Sorry for the late reply! Been busy slaving away in Norway and moving, so I kinda forgot this thread. :shobon:

TerryLennox posted:

Most of what I know about Iceland, I learned from reading "Journey to the Center of the Earth". Sollevertu!

Does Iceland assign a special significance to Snaeffeljokull or acknowledge the fact that it was the starting point of the journey to the center of the earth?
Uhh, a bit I suppose. Snæfellsjökull is a neat place and most people know about the Jules Verne novel or seen a movie adaptation but I never heard of anything like a tour around it.

TerryLennox posted:

I have always wondered if you guys imported all your crops from abroad. I imagine farming would be difficult to do in its climate. What about beef? To generalize the question, are there any foods that are difficult/expensive to find?
I can see how you might think that, but plants can grow in the hardiest of places. There's some limited agriculture, outside of the greenhouses which obviously don't care one whit where they are, but you only get a single crop and it's pretty tough competing with foreign products.
We're decently off re: Milk and meat products: Iceland was long based around fishing and sheep-farming and while of reduced importance nowadays they're still going strong, mostly thanks to protectionism. Beef is produced locally and despite some heavy tariffs you can also usually find imported meat. Problem is usually just the price.
Difficult to find, eh. If it's exotic you probably can't get it fresh, obviously. And some is just impossible to find. (My durian! :qq: ) There's lots of things that are hard/expensive to get but after a while you just stop noticing it or start shopping online, so it's hard to think of anything but M&M Peanut Butter, which is always sold out when I go to the American store. :(

TerryLennox posted:

What advice would you give to a potential visitor from the tropics? I would like to visit someday as it seems a very chill country. On that regard...how does your country view drugs?
Hmm. Don't bring a lot of clothes. And do bring some good summer clothes if you come in summer. Getting good cold-weather gear in Iceland is a cinch and it really isn't that cold so much as its just really really windy. You'd probably notice that Iceland is a lot less humid, but I'm not sure what difference that might to for you, but really people get used to the cold quite quick and if you don't, that's why we have so many cafés with warm coffe, thai places with chili dishes and stores selling cold weather stuff like woolen/silk leggings and windbreakers. ;)

On the drug end, know many that peruse the occasional narcotic substance, both in the softer end and the harder. And if you're thinking of indulging, getting the softer stuff, like the ol' MJ isn't too hard if you know how to do so abroad, just a matter of finding the right people and being discreet: the cops usually have bigger things on their minds than busting you but harder things need someone to vouch for you after a little incident a few years back, heh. I can't btw, don't approve of foreign drugs.

People are pretty opposed in general to drugs but younger people are pretty open about usage of the softer stuff between themselves. Lots of times someone take out and spread around a joint at a party and no-one thinks anything of it. Harder things, ehhh. It used to be more popular but seems to have fallen down after the crisis. Stopped finding the mirrors at high school and whatnot.

CupcakePrincess posted:

It's me again! We'll be going to iceland in a week, and we'd really like to leave you something from HK, so please check your gmail!
Haha, I have and it's what prompted me to recheck the thread only to find poor Terry having languished here for days. Sorry Terry!
I'm sending the mail in a bit, once I feel I've written it politely enough. One must show essential propriety in private correspondence, after all.

Bloodnose posted:

I understand whaling is an important part of Icelandic culture or something, to the point that there's some kind of exemption for Iceland from the international conventions against whaling. On that note, how many whales have you personally killed and on a scale of one to ten, how delicious were they?
Whaling is a part of the good old Icelandic tradition of: "What? Are you telling us what to do? No, gently caress you foreigners, we do what we want and you can't stop us, neener neener neener!". This is a fundamental part of Icelandic foreign policy and I'm not even joking.

And the IWC, what a gathering of clowns that is. We don't really have an exemption so much as we just straight up told them after the ban: "You know, nah, we still gonna whale" and then joined the club again with a "reservation" that "Yea, we're gonna whale for profit now, but not a lot". They still let us in.

Whaling is actually not quite as straightforward an issue as many anti-whalers paint it but I honestly don't see the problem aside from how unprofitable it seems to be, compared to whale watching. Can gawp at a whale a hundred times but only eat it once, after all. That is, until industrial pollution finally finishes them off. But I never seem to be able to get to argue with anyone about it here. drat shame, have fond memories of debating both sides.

And I've only killed 2 small minke whales on a lark once after 3 too many jaegerbombs but I kill for the thrill, not to eat. As a vegetarian I can only chew meat before spitting it out, lest I transform into a ravenous wilderbeast who would consume both men and mer, so I can't comment on the taste.
I hear from a reliable meat-eater it's like good steak but oily though. The blubber is like blubber, which is usually served soured in acid and eaten while drunk. You can get it near the harbour if you want but it's kinda expensive.

Dr. Quarex
Apr 18, 2003

I'M A BIG DORK WHO POSTS TOO MUCH ABOUT CONVENTIONS LOOK AT THIS

TOVA TOVA TOVA
Once when I was in Iceland one of the people I was eating with ordered whale. I would not have done so myself, but, you know, it was already there and dead and all, so I tried some.

Oh. My. It was so good. SO GOOD. I think there really is something to animals being tastier the cuter they are, because it tasted kind of like an amazingly juicy steak that came from a cow who spent its life underwater, or something. AAAAAAAA+++++ would sample someone else's again!

Also thanks for the heads-up on malt+appelsin. Now I know how to figure out what in the world to do with either of those drinks next time (I generally just exclusively drink Suisse mokka when out in any European country because I am a 9-year-old child apparently).

Deceitful Penguin
Feb 16, 2011

Quarex posted:

Once when I was in Iceland one of the people I was eating with ordered whale. I would not have done so myself, but, you know, it was already there and dead and all, so I tried some.

Oh. My. It was so good. SO GOOD. I think there really is something to animals being tastier the cuter they are, because it tasted kind of like an amazingly juicy steak that came from a cow who spent its life underwater, or something. AAAAAAAA+++++ would sample someone else's again!

Also thanks for the heads-up on malt+appelsin. Now I know how to figure out what in the world to do with either of those drinks next time (I generally just exclusively drink Suisse mokka when out in any European country because I am a 9-year-old child apparently).
There's a few of those exotic meats, like reindeer, puffin and whale, that are hard to get in some places that are worth trying if you're a meat eater I suppose.

And you just always taste local beverages. Oh, green melon soda, how I long for you~

Dad Hominem
Dec 4, 2005

Standing room only on the Disco Bus
Fun Shoe
It's amazing how the important things to ask only become obvious upon arrival.

For example, is bathing in this water going to make me smell like rotten eggs forever?

(We made it here safe and sound by the way, thanks for all your help!)

Shut Up Spanish
Nov 6, 2010
I was in Iceland last October and this thread has brought back many happy memories!

My abiding impression of the place is that everything is a) outrageously beautiful and b) outrageously expensive. You're not joking when you say you'll notice the lack of humidity though; the air was so dry that after a few days my skin was actually peeling (gross). Not sure if it's less harsh in the capital though, we only spent 24 hours in Reykjavik and the rest was spent right up in the far north west near Isafjordur.

I also remember there being a huge section in the Bonus in Isafjordur devoted to popcorn/popcorn kernels and flavourings, which I found both bizarre and hilarious. I LOVE foreign supermarkets!

csidle
Jul 31, 2007

Deceitful Penguin posted:

A lot. If you're serious about drinking you always have to go to a party first or have some manner of discount unless you want to spend mad money. 93 DKK for a shot of vodka for instance.
Are you serious? In Aalborg, Denmark, most places will charge you 10-30 DKK for a shot. 93 DKK is insane! What about beer, or a Mokai?

Crankit
Feb 7, 2011

HE WATCHES
I heard there's a database that people in Iceland have to check to make sure they don't sleep with their own cousins, is this true? Does it bother people there or do they just view it as a part of the dating process?

England is roughly 30% larger than Iceland but has a population 176x larger, would this combined with the inbreeding database mean my potent English sperm is highly prized by your females?

Skeleton Jelly
Jul 1, 2011

Kids in the street drinking wine, on the sidewalk.
Saving the plans that we made, 'till its night time.
Give me your glass, its your last, you're too wasted.
Or get me one too, 'cause I'm due any tasting.

Crankit posted:

I heard there's a database that people in Iceland have to check to make sure they don't sleep with their own cousins, is this true? Does it bother people there or do they just view it as a part of the dating process?

Nah, it's not a database where they have to check, this story is probably just a case of Chinese whispers. It was in fact a recent iPhone app where people about to sleep with each other can just tap their phones against each other and it checks if you're related to each other and if yes, how critically.

Deceitful Penguin
Feb 16, 2011

breathstealer posted:

It's amazing how the important things to ask only become obvious upon arrival.

For example, is bathing in this water going to make me smell like rotten eggs forever?

(We made it here safe and sound by the way, thanks for all your help!)
You'll stop noticing the sulfur (that's the smell btw) in a couple of days and unless you've got some kinda sulfur sticking skin you'll be fine. Geothermal water is rad though, haven't been to another country yet with warm swimming pools.

Shut Up Spanish posted:

I was in Iceland last October and this thread has brought back many happy memories!

My abiding impression of the place is that everything is a) outrageously beautiful and b) outrageously expensive. You're not joking when you say you'll notice the lack of humidity though; the air was so dry that after a few days my skin was actually peeling (gross). Not sure if it's less harsh in the capital though, we only spent 24 hours in Reykjavik and the rest was spent right up in the far north west near Isafjordur.

I also remember there being a huge section in the Bonus in Isafjordur devoted to popcorn/popcorn kernels and flavourings, which I found both bizarre and hilarious. I LOVE foreign supermarkets!
Haha, Icelanders loving love popcorn. Cheese flavoured, with extra butter or low butter, different spices and even, eugh, sweet popcorn. Missed it a lot in Germany.
And the country is pretty dry all over, only places that even have a hope of humidity are off the coast and most of them aren't really places people go.
Great to know you enjoyed Iceland and if you come back try and hit me up so I can show you Reykjavík~

csidle posted:

Are you serious? In Aalborg, Denmark, most places will charge you 10-30 DKK for a shot. 93 DKK is insane! What about beer, or a Mokai?
93 DKK is the highest I've paid, but even the cheapest won't get lower than 50 DKK. Beer is somewhat cheaper, but after my stay in Southern Germany my appetite for domestic beer waned significantly. It's not bad I guess, it just, doesn't compare. That said it is a drat lot cheaper, especially if you know where to get 2-for-1 or during happy hour.
As for other drinks, mostly expensive but some bars have offers that are, bearable.

Crankit posted:

I heard there's a database that people in Iceland have to check to make sure they don't sleep with their own cousins, is this true? Does it bother people there or do they just view it as a part of the dating process?

England is roughly 30% larger than Iceland but has a population 176x larger, would this combined with the inbreeding database mean my potent English sperm is highly prized by your females?
If you aren't doing good at home you probably won't do better here. Icelandic women are always on the lookout for good dudes, but that's the same the western world over methinks. Like Skeleton Jelly says, you're probably thinking of the new app that taps into Íslendingabók (which is a site which contains the known genealogy of all Icelanders) and checks if the two are too related. If you're closely related, yeah, it might be a bit creepy but if it's not too close just loving isn't that big a deal, especially if you're drunk. (And you always use protection) Does make family moots a bit awkward sometimes though, I hear.

Henry Black
Jun 27, 2004

If she's not making this face, you're not doing it right.
Fun Shoe
Being such a small country, what sort of privileges does the President have?

Cymbal Monkey
Apr 16, 2009

Lift Your Little Paws Like Antennas to Heaven!
I'm a vegetarian and I'd really like to visit Iceland. How practical is this?

Addendum: I'm not expecting to be able to eat like a kind and sample all the finest local delicacies, just be able to get from day to day and not starve.

Cymbal Monkey fucked around with this message at 18:15 on Jul 1, 2013

Smoking Crow
Feb 14, 2012

*laughs at u*

Why are all the sagas in Icelandic?

Deceitful Penguin
Feb 16, 2011

LittleBob posted:

Being such a small country, what sort of privileges does the President have?
Right of veto; he can deny signing legislation into law, forcing a national referendum. Before our current president, this had never been used and honestly it's a bit dubious if he should have. And he decides who gets the right to form government.
Seeing as he was re-elected, I suppose the majority of my countrymen agree with him.

Cymbal Monkey posted:

I'm a vegetarian and I'd really like to visit Iceland. How practical is this?

Addendum: I'm not expecting to be able to eat like a kind and sample all the finest local delicacies, just be able to get from day to day and not starve.
I'm a vegetarian as well, so it's completely doable and there's plenty of good grubs. The ever useful Grapevine has a list of at least 90 restaurants that serve vegetarian dishes, although most of them are in the capital. Outside of it you might be reduced to sammiches, the occasional soup and pizza.
Vegan is tougher and not really possible outside of the capital unless you cook for yourself or only visit a bit before hitting Akureyri, which I think has a vegan place.

Smoking Crow posted:

Why are all the sagas in Icelandic?
A good question. The sagas are written in Ancient Norse, the predecessor to all Nordic languages (no finland stay away, you dont count) which remained almost unchanged in Iceland due to the simple fact that linguistic evolution was stunted here, combined with a movement following romanticism to "purify" the language. While the sagas are mostly comprehensible, if archaic to Icelanders even today (once it's been but into a legible font) you can make the argument that it isn't Icelandic.

And also because Latin was lame.

WAFFLEHOUND
Apr 26, 2007

Deceitful Penguin posted:

you can make the argument that it isn't Icelandic.

Literally every linguist would call them "Old Icelandic" which is sometimes used interchangeably with "Old Norse" :)

Deep State of Mind
Jul 30, 2006

"It was a busy day. I do not remember it all. In the morning, I thought I had lost my wallet. Then we went swimming and either overthrew a government or started a pro-American radio station. I can't really remember."
Fun Shoe
If I wanted to enjoy an Icelandic cultural product, like a TV show or movie (no Bjeourk please), what would you recommend?

Skeleton Jelly
Jul 1, 2011

Kids in the street drinking wine, on the sidewalk.
Saving the plans that we made, 'till its night time.
Give me your glass, its your last, you're too wasted.
Or get me one too, 'cause I'm due any tasting.
If you're really too lazy to type it Björk, please, at least go for Bjork. Bjeourk looks just horrible.

Deceitful Penguin
Feb 16, 2011

WAFFLEHOUND posted:

Literally every linguist would call them "Old Icelandic" which is sometimes used interchangeably with "Old Norse" :)
Not here they don't. :colbert:
(the archaic term used by some is "gammeldansk" or old danish, heh.)

Bloodnose posted:

If I wanted to enjoy an Icelandic cultural product, like a TV show or movie (no Bjeourk please), what would you recommend?
Do you like Like, folksy nice pop-music? Then "Of Monsters and Men" is pretty good. Sigurrós are well known, and are pretty good melodic/ambient music thing and a lot of people really like them.
Comics wise there's ol Hugleikur Dagsson showing off traditional Icelandic humour, but on shows, hmmm. Most of them are, strangely enough, in Icelandic so your options are farely limited.
Children of Nature won a bunch of awards back in the day, Jar City was a decent crime movie and I suppose you may wanna check out 101 Reykjavík.

I'm not really a movie kinda guy though. More into books; Of which everything by Laxness is great, with "Independent People" being a very critical look at the "soul" of Iceland and Arnaldur Indriðason making a lot of good modern crime fiction.

Skeleton Jelly posted:

If you're really too lazy to type it Björk, please, at least go for Bjork. Bjeourk looks just horrible.
It's phonetically correct though. Ö sounds nothing like O, after all. ;)

WAFFLEHOUND
Apr 26, 2007

Deceitful Penguin posted:

Not here they don't. :colbert:
(the archaic term used by some is "gammeldansk" or old danish, heh.)

Í enskt "gammeldanks" er eitt frákendur málið :eng101:

Yes I know that's not Icelandic and my inflecting is probably off but you should be able to get the gist anyways. :colbert:

Bloodnose posted:

If I wanted to enjoy an Icelandic cultural product, like a TV show or movie (no Bjeourk please), what would you recommend?

Sykur for life.

Skeleton Jelly
Jul 1, 2011

Kids in the street drinking wine, on the sidewalk.
Saving the plans that we made, 'till its night time.
Give me your glass, its your last, you're too wasted.
Or get me one too, 'cause I'm due any tasting.

Deceitful Penguin posted:

It's phonetically correct though. Ö sounds nothing like O, after all. ;)

Yeah, but still, at least for me that looks very clumsy. I'm not Icelandic, but speaking Swedish and Finnish I see more than enough of that from foreigners and while o/a is incorrect, it just looks less... weird. Hämäläinen might not be Hamalainen, but jesus what an abomination Haemaelaeinen is. If Icelanders have a different stance on this I don't know, but you're a broken nation if you prefer those vowel monstrosities.

But seriously, getting the ümlauts takes just a few seconds on google. They're letters of their own and leaving them out is exactly as bad as leaving out letters in English, it really doesn't matter in widely recognized names such as Björk but in other contexts a lot more so.

I guess there's a chance I care too much about ümlauts but goddamnit they're letters and deserve love too as much as anyone else!

Obdicut
May 15, 2012

"What election?"

WAFFLEHOUND posted:

Í enskt "gammeldanks" er eitt frákendur málið :eng101:

Yes I know that's not Icelandic and my inflecting is probably off but you should be able to get the gist anyways. :colbert:


Sykur for life.

Thanks, good poo poo, I hadn't heard this before.

Deceitful Penguin
Feb 16, 2011

WAFFLEHOUND posted:

Í enskt "gammeldanks" er eitt frákendur málið :eng101:

Yes I know that's not Icelandic and my inflecting is probably off but you should be able to get the gist anyways. :colbert:


Sykur for life.
Haha, legit? Most of what I remember from Linguistics was about the families and poo poo like that, or about modern theories from Uni, which were sadly also distracted by the large number of, interesting exchange students. Was always more interested in the practical usages of languages rather than theory anyhow.

And I thought up more music; Jet Black Joe are great, as are The comedy group Baggalútur, as you'll not find better Icelandic Hawaiian or country music. (Music is to the right on that page a bit down)
Retro Stefson have a very interesting sound, while my favourite current Icelandic song is probably "The Ocean is Black" which is about as Icelandic as you get, a dirge about committing suicide. Very traditional.
Really though, I'm away from my main playlist, so I have to rely on my terrible memory for Icelandic music, as I don't listen too much to domestic things except on the radio.

Skeleton Jelly posted:

Yeah, but still, at least for me that looks very clumsy. I'm not Icelandic, but speaking Swedish and Finnish I see more than enough of that from foreigners and while o/a is incorrect, it just looks less... weird. Hämäläinen might not be Hamalainen, but jesus what an abomination Haemaelaeinen is. If Icelanders have a different stance on this I don't know, but you're a broken nation if you prefer those vowel monstrosities.

But seriously, getting the ümlauts takes just a few seconds on google. They're letters of their own and leaving them out is exactly as bad as leaving out letters in English, it really doesn't matter in widely recognized names such as Björk but in other contexts a lot more so.

I guess there's a chance I care too much about ümlauts but goddamnit they're letters and deserve love too as much as anyone else!
Yeah, it looks better but I'm giving him a pass specifically 'cause I know him from the China thread, even though come to think of it he's not actually Chinese, like, say, Pro PRC...

But yeah, I have several language packs and remember the unicode for the ones I don't have (Ü! :argh:) but as we were taught to use "ue" for that one it doesn't annoy me as much as it did.

Deep State of Mind
Jul 30, 2006

"It was a busy day. I do not remember it all. In the morning, I thought I had lost my wallet. Then we went swimming and either overthrew a government or started a pro-American radio station. I can't really remember."
Fun Shoe

Deceitful Penguin posted:

Comics wise there's ol Hugleikur Dagsson showing off traditional Icelandic humour, but on shows, hmmm. Most of them are, strangely enough, in Icelandic so your options are farely limited.
Children of Nature won a bunch of awards back in the day, Jar City was a decent crime movie and I suppose you may wanna check out 101 Reykjavík.
Thanks for the links and don't be shy about sharing things just because they're in Icelandic. I think the language is really cool and being in the language makes it sound more authentic.

Deceitful Penguin posted:

It's phonetically correct though. Ö sounds nothing like O, after all. ;)
It is phonetically correct? I was just being a jerk and typing out a bunch of vowels because I don't like Björk, which made it all the more funny when Skeleton Jelly got mad, and now apparently triple funny that my vowels turned out to be a close approximation. I don't know Icelandic phonology at all.

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Deceitful Penguin
Feb 16, 2011

Bloodnose posted:

Thanks for the links and don't be shy about sharing things just because they're in Icelandic. I think the language is really cool and being in the language makes it sound more authentic.
All the stuff I mention is in Icelandic, but it does have subtitles in English. Fóstbræður is a classic Icelandic sketch show and searching for that on youtube gives a shitload of great things. Here's something that requires little understanding of the language; just know that you should always shower before going into an Icelandic swimming pool.
Bonus: The readheaded dude in that sketch is the current mayor of Reykjavík. SEXY

Bloodnose posted:

It is phonetically correct? I was just being a jerk and typing out a bunch of vowels because I don't like Björk, which made it all the more funny when Skeleton Jelly got mad, and now apparently triple funny that my vowels turned out to be a close approximation. I don't know Icelandic phonology at all.
Eh, close enough. The phonology is complicated enough that what you wrote is close, although "Byerk" is sometimes used.

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