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Deceitful Penguin
Feb 16, 2011

Cessna posted:

What's the general opinion on Asatru, the attempt to reconstruct or revive pre-Christian religion? It is my understanding that they're building a church/temple in Iceland. Harmless kooks? Cool folk traditions?



(If this is an iffy question, ignore it.)
It does say ask me anything yanno. :v:

In general, people are mostly positive, if they think about it much. They're a visible minority as you see plenty of people around with a little Mjölnir around their necks, which is the more overt tell for it. Ásatrú has an, interesting history, in that despite ostensibly being the original faith of Iceland it had a lot of problems getting official recognition from the state due to the Church being general assholes; a bigger waste of money than that lot I've yet to meet. It's reconstructed from what are probably biased sources, but to consider it completely invented is pretty rich when it comes from Christians.

They're as a group mostly politically left simply due to their message and underlying principles; any overt racists get kicked out very quickly but the nationalists and right wing guys are simply frowned upon, so long as they aren't too serious. They do some general blót and whatnot and they're, well, not that bad I guess, although I haven't attended since I became an atheist. I still pay my church taxes to them though, because we should support domestic religion and not foreign ones. Besides I'm boycotting Israel and that Jesus guy came from the occupied territories so it would be very bad paying his cronies.

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Cessna
Feb 20, 2013

KHABAHBLOOOM

I'm an American who follows that path myself; I was just wondering how the general person-on-the-street in Iceland sees it...

Deceitful Penguin
Feb 16, 2011

Cessna posted:

I'm an American who follows that path myself; I was just wondering how the general person-on-the-street in Iceland sees it...
Ahhh, well, it certainly has a lot more acceptance than it does elsewhere. Never any hassles and there's plenty of people that are glad some people follow the old ways, even if they aren't.

From what the reaction was when I used to be ásatrúar on the forums I expect yanks aren't very fond of it, on either political end.

Cessna
Feb 20, 2013

KHABAHBLOOOM

Deceitful Penguin posted:

From what the reaction was when I used to be ásatrúar on the forums I expect yanks aren't very fond of it, on either political end.

I've never received any grief for it - not one bit. I suspect that this is because:

1. I live in Colorado, not the Bible Belt. Colorado is pretty open to this sort of thing. One of the ski towns even has an Ullr Festival; admittedly the whole thing is an excuse to get drunk and fall off skis, but it's still nice to see anyway.
2. I'm a pretty private person. I wear a Mjollnir, but it is under my shirt/tie at work. Co-workers who wear Crosses or the like do the same.
3. I have a job and wife and all that; I'm not a teenager.
4. No one knows what it is anyway.

When it does come up, which is rare, the reaction is generally affable cluelessness. "You do what? Huh, I didn't know anyone did that."

It's nice to know there's a place where people not only know what it but are positive towards it.

Cessna fucked around with this message at 22:10 on Dec 19, 2013

PT6A
Jan 5, 2006

Public school teachers are callous dictators who won't lift a finger to stop children from peeing in my plane
I think part of the negative reaction towards it in the States (and possibly Canada and Western Europe) has to do with how some white supremacist groups have co-opted it.

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
It sounds really dorky to me in the modern world where Thor is a comic book character.

Cessna
Feb 20, 2013

KHABAHBLOOOM

PT6A posted:

I think part of the negative reaction towards it in the States (and possibly Canada and Western Europe) has to do with how some white supremacist groups have co-opted it.

Yeah, the hell with them.

That's one drawback of not having any central organization; there's no one to kick out the people who make the reasonable people look bad by association.

Cessna fucked around with this message at 23:21 on Dec 19, 2013

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.

Cessna posted:

I've never received any grief for it - not one bit. I suspect that this is because:

1. I live in Colorado, not the Bible Belt. Colorado is pretty open to this sort of thing. One of the ski towns even has an Ullr Festival; admittedly the whole thing is an excuse to get drunk and fall off skis, but it's still nice to see anyway.
2. I'm a pretty private person. I wear a Mjollnir, but it is under my shirt/tie at work. Co-workers who wear Crosses or the like do the same.
3. I have a job and wife and all that; I'm not a teenager.
4. No one knows what it is anyway.

When it does come up, which is rare, the reaction is generally affable cluelessness. "You do what? Huh, I didn't know anyone did that."

It's nice to know there's a place where people not only know what it but are positive towards it.

I'm an atheist but I like that polytheist religions are still around. Hindus were lucky that it wasn't the Spanish who colonized their country. While the English were imperialists I get the impression that they were indifferent to the native population professing a different creed. What is it with Catholics and imposing their faith on other people? Didn't they try converting the Japanese and caused the Shimabara rebellion?

Wish there was a Greek pantheon religion as I'm a big fan of the whole mythology.

TerryLennox fucked around with this message at 05:05 on Dec 20, 2013

Deceitful Penguin
Feb 16, 2011

Cessna posted:

I've never received any grief for it - not one bit. I suspect that this is because:

1. I live in Colorado, not the Bible Belt. Colorado is pretty open to this sort of thing. One of the ski towns even has an Ullr Festival; admittedly the whole thing is an excuse to get drunk and fall off skis, but it's still nice to see anyway.
2. I'm a pretty private person. I wear a Mjollnir, but it is under my shirt/tie at work. Co-workers who wear Crosses or the like do the same.
3. I have a job and wife and all that; I'm not a teenager.
4. No one knows what it is anyway.

When it does come up, which is rare, the reaction is generally affable cluelessness. "You do what? Huh, I didn't know anyone did that."

It's nice to know there's a place where people not only know what it but are positive towards it.
And nice to know that people are keeping the old ways outside the Ice.


PT6A posted:

I think part of the negative reaction towards it in the States (and possibly Canada and Western Europe) has to do with how some white supremacist groups have co-opted it.

Cessna posted:

Yeah, the hell with them.

That's one drawback of not having any central organization; there's no one to kick out the people who make the reasonable people look bad by association.
Yea, there is absolutely nothing about race or ethnicity in the writs and any that add elements like that are, very misguided at best. There haven't been many people of foreign origin wanting to join in here but if they did they would be welcomed with open arms, so long as they are people of honour.

The more violent parts, ehh. Some people put a lot of focus on that and you can't rightly call them heretics, but then again it's not like the Christians are known for, hah, "turning the other cheek" when it comes to war and whatnot.

Bloodnose posted:

It sounds really dorky to me in the modern world where Thor is a comic book character.
This is what I usually link when people ask me how I feel about comic book Thor but you keep to the OG Abrahamic faith so you probs aren't all up in arms about that Jesus guy.

Also I was re-playing Sleeping Dogs and I thought of you and Cab. Maybe one day. :hongkong:

TerryLennox posted:

I'm an atheist but I like that polytheist religions are still around. Hindus were lucky that it wasn't the Spanish who colonized their country. While the English were imperialists I get the impression that they were indifferent to the native population professing a different creed. What is it with Catholics and imposing their faith on other people? Didn't they try converting the Japanese and caused the Shimabara rebellion?

Wish there was a Greek pantheon religion as I'm a big fan of the whole mythology.
The Shimabara was actually a bit more complex than that, especially seeing as you had the Ikko Ikki preaching what was in many ways very similar to the Christian creed politically (though Pure Land Buddhism has got a lot of differences with Catholicism of course), and seeing as getting rid of them had been a major pain the Tokugawa wanted to nip Christianity in the bud, from what I remember.

I don't think the Spanish getting India would have helped much, but this is Ask me about Iceland, not ask me about my impressions on different colonial masters and the various ways in which the different regions of the world are capable of resisting imperialism. :v:

Ferdinand the Bull
Jul 30, 2006
Probation
Can't post for 15 hours!
In your best estimate, what percentage of immigrants speak Icelandic decently? How many non-native Icelanders have you spoken Icelandic to? What is the general population's view on language and culture? Do you think it is possible for a non-Icelander to be considered culturally assimilated?

Cessna
Feb 20, 2013

KHABAHBLOOOM

TerryLennox posted:

Wish there was a Greek pantheon religion as I'm a big fan of the whole mythology.

Google "Reconstructionist Hellenism" and hunt around a bit, it's there.

Deceitful Penguin
Feb 16, 2011

Ferdinand the Bull posted:

In your best estimate, what percentage of immigrants speak Icelandic decently? How many non-native Icelanders have you spoken Icelandic to? What is the general population's view on language and culture? Do you think it is possible for a non-Icelander to be considered culturally assimilated?
Long term immigrants mostly learn to speak decently and part of gaining citizenship is at least, 120 hours of Icelandic I think? It's very rare folks can't speak some Icelandic but a lot use English as a crutch to get by that then sticks. Percentage wise is hard for me to guesstimate and right now I'm going out so I too lazy to look it up.

I speak Icelandic to all folks unless they feel more comfortable speaking some other language, so which are a fair number but there's plenty who speak good Icelandic but aren't confident in it. Just yesterday though we had a dude here helping patch up the house and my cousin didn't realize at first he was Polish. Talked about Jak and Daxter and he was perfectly fluid, if a bit off re: grammar.

As for views on language and culture, that answer could run on for thousands of words. Can you be a bit more specific on what you want to know? Like, linguistic, what kind of culture, et cetera. Obviously Icelanders are "proud" of their language and go to great lengths to keep it modern but most people aren't exclusive or overly smug about it; comes from everyone speaking at least one other language I'd guess. Icelanders aren't overly keen on high culture, aside from maybe literature, but a lot still dig that.

And it's possible to assimilate perfectly but far from easy. They never seem to be able to let go of the whole umbrella thing for one, or they still arrive on time. Although a fair few blend in so well it takes a keen eye to tell they ever came from foreign shores. For kids, of course, it's no big problem.

Kitsch!
Jul 27, 2006

God made Adam and Eve, not Fluffy and Eve.

Deceitful Penguin posted:

Pffff, goony foreigners are a cultural staple for Icelanders and I'm sure that they would show you the Yule spirit, by giving you Jólaglögg (somewhat, but not totally unlike your eggnogg), malt & appelsín, hangikjöt and letting you light up a few fireworks. A shame you'll miss the new year but you'll still be able see some good stuff, depending on the weather; there's regular tourist staples like the golden circle, cultural things around the city, drinking like a mofo or maybe you can meet up with me and that guy I promised to take out for a drink. (If he remembers it, who knows at this point, wait was that you? I'll take you out anyway, but maybe just for some food and a bit of drinking)

Hey, do you have PMs or anything? Flying out in a few hours and don't wanna clog up the thread. I figure I'll spent most of Tuesday sleeping/eating/drinking, not necessarily in that order.

I've been enjoying reading about Christmas customs in Iceland (I've subscribed to Grapevine and Iceland Review) like these Yule Lads with names like Sausage-Swiper and Window-Peeper. I'm kind of relieved I won't have to deal with the shopping-focused holiday that takes place in my neck of the woods.

VV edit: thanks much, I'll follow up through email, have a merry christmas :)

Kitsch! fucked around with this message at 21:27 on Dec 24, 2013

Deceitful Penguin
Feb 16, 2011

Kitsch! posted:

Hey, do you have PMs or anything? Flying out in a few hours and don't wanna clog up the thread. I figure I'll spent most of Tuesday sleeping/eating/drinking, not necessarily in that order.

I've been enjoying reading about Christmas customs in Iceland (I've subscribed to Grapevine and Iceland Review) like these Yule Lads with names like Sausage-Swiper and Window-Peeper. I'm kind of relieved I won't have to deal with the shopping-focused holiday that takes place in my neck of the woods.
Nah, I really should get plat again. Tuesday is Yule, as in, today, so I'm pretty busy ferrying out presents and visiting family anyhow but Toss me a line at malcowitz at gmail.com and I'll see about showing you around the town. I'll check it when I can and give you my number there.

And yeah, they have great names. A fun pasttime is inventing dumb new names, like Door-Licker or Kebab-Taker, which never fails to amuse kids.

Laverna
Mar 21, 2013


So I've got accommodation and I think it might possibly be near the centre of town or the good part or something, but not knowing a thing about this city I don't actually have a clue in the slightest. It's in the area near the Hallgrimskirkja, is that a good area or am I gonna get shivved walking home from uni at 4 in the afternoon?

Should I also send an email? Although I guess I'm gonna be there a while so no hurry. I should probably focus on packing instead.

dor1
Jun 5, 2011
I'd be surprised if you'd get shivved in Iceland at all.

Kitsch!
Jul 27, 2006

God made Adam and Eve, not Fluffy and Eve.

Laverna posted:

So I've got accommodation and I think it might possibly be near the centre of town or the good part or something, but not knowing a thing about this city I don't actually have a clue in the slightest. It's in the area near the Hallgrimskirkja, is that a good area or am I gonna get shivved walking home from uni at 4 in the afternoon?

Should I also send an email? Although I guess I'm gonna be there a while so no hurry. I should probably focus on packing instead.

Take my word with grain of salt, as I visited only for one week and everything was closed for the holidays, but I would routinely walk around in the early morning in the dark as I never accustomed to the time difference. I felt exponentially safer than my closest current metropolitan center (same approx. population) in America. My lodging was a little less than a kilometer from Hallgrimskirkja, so you'll be fine.

inscrutable horse
May 20, 2010

Parsing sage, rotating time



In Iceland, I'm pretty sure you could leave your poo poo unattended on the street for weeks, and it would still be there when you came back for it.

goku chewbacca
Dec 14, 2002
Don't parents leave their babies in their carriages unattended outside shops and cafés while they're inside? And don't Icelandic parents believe that cold air is good for their child's health, and so stick them outside when they're napping?

What is the average Icelander's perception of crime? Are there bad neighborhoods? Immigrant enclaves where feelings of exclusion are pervasive? Do they even consider that pedophilia exists?

dor1
Jun 5, 2011

inscrutable horse posted:

In Iceland, I'm pretty sure you could leave your poo poo unattended on the street for weeks, and it would still be there when you came back for it.

If you leave it outside your house, chances are it wont go anywhere.

goku chewbacca posted:

Don't parents leave their babies in their carriages unattended outside shops and cafés while they're inside? And don't Icelandic parents believe that cold air is good for their child's health, and so stick them outside when they're napping?

What is the average Icelander's perception of crime? Are there bad neighborhoods? Immigrant enclaves where feelings of exclusion are pervasive? Do they even consider that pedophilia exists?

Yes, carriages are commonly left outside shops and such because bringing it inside is just a hassle. And while i'm not sure about the cold being good for health thing, but yes, small children often take their naps outside.

Average Icelanders perception of crime? I don't know if i'm average, but i definitely notice crime. (I work at a metal shop and we used to put stainless steel outside the shop in a bin for recycling, but we had to stop putting it outside because it was always stolen)

There is a bad neighborhood, or at least, a neighborhood that is commonly referred to as being bad.

Oh, we are very aware of pedophilia, but i think we're not really paranoid about it. (I remember being told not to accept stuff from strangers etc.)

Kujaroth
Jul 26, 2006
Interesting thread! I'll be visiting Iceland in a few months so this was cool to read.

I'll fire off a few questions of my own...

How did your country end up being so crazy expensive? I live in Australia, which is hardly a cheap place to live. I am accustomed to high prices, so accustomed in fact that I can visit just about any other country in the world and consider it 'cheap' in comparison. Yet prices in Iceland are insane, particular car rental. I'm having to drop more than $4000 USD just to rent a 4x4 for three weeks. Plus fuel on top of that.

Does the average tourist have a hope in hell of ever pronouncing anything correctly in Icelandic? I am pretty sure I can say Reykjavik and Landmannalaugar correctly but not much beyond that.

What do Icelanders think of Australians? Do you see many Aussies up there? It's pretty much as far away as we can possibly travel, so maybe not.

Also, up for going drinking with any Icelandic goons in this thread in July when I am there although I don't plan on spending more than a day or two in Reykjavik. Your booze prices do not scare me, they are pretty much the same as those at many 'good' Sydney based bars and clubs. Only slightly more expensive at worst.

Kujaroth fucked around with this message at 14:13 on Jan 3, 2014

Deceitful Penguin
Feb 16, 2011

Laverna posted:

So I've got accommodation and I think it might possibly be near the centre of town or the good part or something, but not knowing a thing about this city I don't actually have a clue in the slightest. It's in the area near the Hallgrimskirkja, is that a good area or am I gonna get shivved walking home from uni at 4 in the afternoon?

Should I also send an email? Although I guess I'm gonna be there a while so no hurry. I should probably focus on packing instead.
I'd write my will now and get a good life insurance policy, so at least your death will partially repay your debt to your parents.
(Your fears are completely unfounded and you're in a fairly good location, I'll show you the good noodle joints around there.)
I've already tossed my email around here, but in any case the one I'm using for this thread is malcowitz at gmail.com. Toss me a line there when convenient.

goku chewbacca posted:

Don't parents leave their babies in their carriages unattended outside shops and cafés while they're inside? And don't Icelandic parents believe that cold air is good for their child's health, and so stick them outside when they're napping?

What is the average Icelander's perception of crime? Are there bad neighborhoods? Immigrant enclaves where feelings of exclusion are pervasive? Do they even consider that pedophilia exists?
Yea on that, Iceland, despite the name, isn't that cold and mostly they aren't out long enough and are well insulated enough that they should be fine.

And yeah, dor1 is pretty on the money; while violent crime has been decreasing, petty theft has been increasing; depending on where you are though you might be oblivious to it. People know pedophilia exists and we have all the usual scandals on occasion, we even had a "pedo scare" a way back. There's this perception of Breiðholt being a bad neighborhood, but this is greatly exaggerated, I feel. No enclaves as far as I know.

Kujaroth posted:

Interesting thread! I'll be visiting Iceland in a few months so this was cool to read.

I'll fire off a few questions of my own...

How did your country end up being so crazy expensive? I live in Australia, which is hardly a cheap place to live. I am accustomed to high prices, so accustomed in fact that I can visit just about any other country in the world and consider it 'cheap' in comparison. Yet prices in Iceland are insane, particular car rental. I'm having to drop more than $4000 USD just to rent a 4x4 for three weeks. Plus fuel on top of that.
I don't think we've had qualified people working at our central bank or financial ministry since, uhhh, poo poo. '72? We had a brief stint of four years of a government that had some ideas how to work an economy, but that happened in the aftermath of the recession and they lost power the moment my countrymen heard the promises of free money, so there was a zero chance of any long time improvement on that end. (This applies to both the left-wing stints) I don't know Australian political history well, but from what I vaguely remember you haven't always been ruled by idiots like Abbot, unlike our lovely land.
Also we're way tinier than Australia, in such things as size of economy, population and number of poisonous snakes. Smallest independent national currency mofos!

Kujaroth posted:

Does the average tourist have a hope in hell of ever pronouncing anything correctly in Icelandic? I am pretty sure I can say Reykjavik and Landmannalaugar correctly but not much beyond that.
Different sounds present different problems to different tourists of different nationalities. Japanese tourists, for instance, have no problem with Hjalti, but Ellert? Hah.

Kujaroth posted:

What do Icelanders think of Australians? Do you see many Aussies up there? It's pretty much as far away as we can possibly travel, so maybe not.
We've had "Neighbors" on the telly for, decades now. For most Icelanders, that is pretty much the first and often last place they see Australia depicted in media. Oh, and a bunch of folks saw that great video of Julia making GBS threads over Abbot a while back, yea. And there's a few Aussies around, although I don't know any personally. One works for ma, I know.

Kujaroth posted:

Also, up for going drinking with any Icelandic goons in this thread in July when I am there although I don't plan on spending more than a day or two in Reykjavik. Your booze prices do not scare me, they are pretty much the same as those at many 'good' Sydney based bars and clubs. Only slightly more expensive at worst.
If I'm not drowning in work or abroad I'm game.

Btw, thanks for chiming in dor1. Good to have others giving their opinions to the readers.

Elrobot
Dec 28, 2004
Press the buttons all at once, all of the time
I also just booked my flight from Canada in July to visit your country for the first time with my gf! They now have a direct 6hr flight from Edmonton to Keflavik for a decent price, so I'm visiting in July for the ATP concert series. Has anyone had any experience with the festival? It's first Icelandic version of the festival was last year at Ásbrú in Keflavik and this year there is supposed to be stuff happening in Reykjavík the week before I'd like to check out alongside some touring of the country. Aside from the headliners all the other bands announced so far are Icelandic.

Noctis Horrendae
Nov 1, 2013
What are the main foreign influences on modern Icelandic culture? Is Icelandic culture similar to other Nordic nations or distinctly different? I've always wondered about this.

Deceitful Penguin
Feb 16, 2011

Elrobot posted:

I also just booked my flight from Canada in July to visit your country for the first time with my gf! They now have a direct 6hr flight from Edmonton to Keflavik for a decent price, so I'm visiting in July for the ATP concert series. Has anyone had any experience with the festival? It's first Icelandic version of the festival was last year at Ásbrú in Keflavik and this year there is supposed to be stuff happening in Reykjavík the week before I'd like to check out alongside some touring of the country. Aside from the headliners all the other bands announced so far are Icelandic.

Alas, I don't listen to music, so despite my country being stuffed with these festivals I don't know much about it. If none of the others chime in I could ask my cousin, whos an audiophile, about it or my aunt, who is an organizer for Airwaves and might know.

Noctis Horrendae posted:

What are the main foreign influences on modern Icelandic culture? Is Icelandic culture similar to other Nordic nations or distinctly different? I've always wondered about this.
There's a lot of Icelandic culture! In comedy, there's a lot of British and Danish influence, with shows from both countries like Klovn or Blackadder, Black Books and shitload being watched a lot. Other TV thangs are mostly American, with some European things thrown in; German crime and Scandinavian, while with cinema I'm simply not that well into it.

Art is also rather cosmopolitan; plenty of mainland and yank influences there, though I'm not good on the hauté couture end. Literature is solidly European though.

But yeah, Iceland, while somewhat supportive of domestic culture before the current administration decided that culture was for losers, was pretty Americanized, with continental influences being more structural than intentional.

If your question was meant more about like, "national culture", then Icelanders are the most Right-Wing of the Nordics, which is like being the shittiest member of the best club in the world, to use a flawed analogy. Stereotypically, Icelanders are characterized by a carefree attitude towards everything, with the general idea that things will work out in the end, being always late and being kinda money-grubbing. Oh, and way too conceited and arrogant on the international political stage. Hah. On the other hand they're supposed to be friendly, hard-working and good at drinking? Something like that. That kinda poo poo always seems a bit over-simplified to me but then again, I'm in the culture game academically. (Just, focused on the other end of the planet.)

Nicknames include: Little America, Europes Nature Park and The Country that went Bankrupt.

inscrutable horse
May 20, 2010

Parsing sage, rotating time



DP is being very modest, I suspect. For an outsider looking in, Icelandic culture is quite different from continental Europe, even from the rest of the Nordic countries, but this is meant in the best way possible. Whilst I can hardly say I like a lot of Icelandic music or literature, I can certainly appreciate how they try to create something that is unique to Iceland. This is not to say that Icelandic culture is completely alien - it's still readily identifiable as being quite Nordic, but it is unique. As a Faroe Islander, I've always found it to be positive when my compatriots look to our cousins in the north for inspiration, and then create something new and distinctly Faroese.

Dr. Quarex
Apr 18, 2003

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

TOVA TOVA TOVA
Speaking as an American who kind of wants to be Icelandic, the culture in Reykjavík is basically a fantastic mix of some of my favorite things about living in different parts of the USA. Reykjavík is full of people who are at least as cool, if not cooler, than all the hipsters (said lovingly) that fill my adopted home of Seattle. This is also clearly a culture that loves good food, and the fact that you can get great-quality food from dozens of different types of cuisine reminds me of the best parts of city life generally, perhaps specifically of the ease of hopping from cuisine to cuisine in Washington D.C. (though I will say the Mexican food we had in Reykjavík was terrible).

And speaking of how to counteract what I hate about city life (the impersonal nature), there is also a friendly-to-the-point-of-eeriness, reminiscent of my time spent in the rural upper peninsula of Michigan, that pervades the interactions I had with nearly everyone I met, from business owners to strangers in restaurants to the locals I knew through friends-of-friends-of-friends. I mean, we booked an apartment complex for our wedding guests and after a couple of days of being there the landlady gave us the keys to her beach house an hour away and told us to go spend a day or two there for our honeymoon. What? No, that is not a thing that happens in real life. Neither is our wedding photographer giving us all of our photographs after taking them and telling us to pay him whenever we wanted.

I do imagine that the rest of Iceland that is not Reykjavík has a completely different culture, though. Kind of like how people in the rural parts of the USA sometimes think that all big cities are full of evil and should be destroyed.

Also Ultima VII avatars are perfect for the Faroe Islands.

Noctis Horrendae
Nov 1, 2013

Very interesting, thanks. IMHO being extremely right wing isn't too much of an issue so long as you don't end up with too many extremist groups, and Iceland doesn't have the population to support that, so.

Laughing Zealot
Oct 10, 2012


Quarex posted:


I do imagine that the rest of Iceland that is not Reykjavík has a completely different culture, though. Kind of like how people in the rural parts of the USA sometimes think that all big cities are full of evil and should be destroyed.


The "City of Fear" was a nickname often used for Reykjavík in the parts where I'm from.

Noctis Horrendae
Nov 1, 2013

Laughing Zealot posted:

The "City of Fear" was a nickname often used for Reykjavík in the parts where I'm from.

What're the origins behind this name, out of curiosity? Aren't the bigger cities in Iceland the most safe?

Laughing Zealot
Oct 10, 2012


Noctis Horrendae posted:

What're the origins behind this name, out of curiosity? Aren't the bigger cities in Iceland the most safe?

A few years back there was an unusually high amount of fights and attacks on people in the Reykjavík nightlife. Well, maybe just an unusual amount of news about them.

http://www.grapevine.is/Author/ReadArticle/Is-Reykjav%C3%ADk-the-City-of-Fear

DP may be able to provide a better answer though.

Noctis Horrendae
Nov 1, 2013

Laughing Zealot posted:

A few years back there was an unusually high amount of fights and attacks on people in the Reykjavík nightlife. Well, maybe just an unusual amount of news about them.

http://www.grapevine.is/Author/ReadArticle/Is-Reykjav%C3%ADk-the-City-of-Fear

DP may be able to provide a better answer though.

Interesting. Thanks for the link. I've literally never heard of any major, sudden crime outbreaks in Iceland - far less Reykjavik - so this is news to me.

Brand New Malaysian Wife
Apr 5, 2007
I encourage children who are bullied to kill themselves. In fact, I get off to it. Pedophilia-snuff films are the best. More abused children need to kill themselves.
Myself and a friend were in Reykjavik for a few days between Christmas and New Year and had an amazing time. :)

We did our tour with Iceland Excursions which was £170 and we thought pretty good value for money (seven of us in the truck; Geysir, Gulfoss, Northern Lights, Viking parliament, dinner and thermal baths, 11 hours).

Deceitful Penguin
Feb 16, 2011
There is a saying: "Keen is the visitors eye", which may apply here. My view of Iceland has always been very critical, but perhaps one of the best attributes has undeniably been our ready acceptance of foreign influences up to a point.
Although until recently we didn't have great mexican and the new place doesn't make quesadillas. :(

Most of the other places I been for long enough to compare with have been podunk places anyhow, like the S-German countryside or Norway. And Norway don't even got KFC outside they capital!

Noctis Horrendae posted:

Very interesting, thanks. IMHO being extremely right wing isn't too much of an issue so long as you don't end up with too many extremist groups, and Iceland doesn't have the population to support that, so.
Oh, our extreme right dudes are usually libertarians, which are laughed at by the majority of the population. Really, the current right-wing here might be described as blue dog democrat on a bad day but normal one on a good day.

Laughing Zealot posted:

A few years back there was an unusually high amount of fights and attacks on people in the Reykjavík nightlife. Well, maybe just an unusual amount of news about them.

http://www.grapevine.is/Author/ReadArticle/Is-Reykjav%C3%ADk-the-City-of-Fear

DP may be able to provide a better answer though.
Just like most of the world, violent crime has been going down for years. There's some truth to there being more coverage of it, but also the fact that we actually always have cops there now, which is practically the only time you see the buggers. I haven't seen a traffic cop for months until the day before yesterday, was kinda thinking they'd gone extinct.

I guess it would be remiss not to mention that there were a few violent crims that were out on the street when they oughta been in prison but weren't, due to lack of room but that was only a few dozen at most and they made room soon enough, from what I remember.

GiantAmazonianOtter posted:

Myself and a friend were in Reykjavik for a few days between Christmas and New Year and had an amazing time. :)

We did our tour with Iceland Excursions which was £170 and we thought pretty good value for money (seven of us in the truck; Geysir, Gulfoss, Northern Lights, Viking parliament, dinner and thermal baths, 11 hours).
Good price and seems like you got a good view of the south! And great you had a good time, did you get some good pics?

NFX
Jun 2, 2008

Fun Shoe

Deceitful Penguin posted:

Most of the other places I been for long enough to compare with have been podunk places anyhow, like the S-German countryside or Norway. And Norway don't even got KFC outside they capital!

Podunk, maybe. But slightly less barren than this:


Or this:


The first image is from somewhere around Mývatn if I remember correctly. The second image is, of course, Heimaey. What a cool little island.

The view towards the town is a little better:




I visited Iceland in the summer of 2011, had fun driving all the way around.

NFX fucked around with this message at 17:49 on Jan 15, 2014

Noctis Horrendae
Nov 1, 2013

Deceitful Penguin posted:

Oh, our extreme right dudes are usually libertarians, which are laughed at by the majority of the population. Really, the current right-wing here might be described as blue dog democrat on a bad day but normal one on a good day.

Oh god, how terrible. THAT kind of right-wing politicians.

inscrutable horse
May 20, 2010

Parsing sage, rotating time




I'm going to start a business, and export white paint to Iceland - I'm going to make a fortune :allears:

Noctis Horrendae
Nov 1, 2013

inscrutable horse posted:

I'm going to start a business, and export white paint to Iceland - I'm going to make a fortune :allears:

Well, you'll make a fortune for the first few years, and once everyone in Iceland has enough white paint you'll go broke. There's only 300,000 to sell paint to, mind.

Deceitful Penguin
Feb 16, 2011

NFX posted:

Podunk, maybe. But slightly less barren than this:

I visited Iceland in the summer of 2011, had fun driving all the way around.
Nice pics! I'm mostly only bitter because Pizzabakeren is awful and no fried chicken meant my two comfort foods were off the table. Meanwhile KFC had a summerlong special with great pieces and I missed it. :qq: Also you get movies way late, jesus.

inscrutable horse posted:

I'm going to start a business, and export white paint to Iceland - I'm going to make a fortune :allears:
Market is all tapped out. But you're in luck; like half the drat houses in Germany seem to be "Red Tiles, White Walls" so you could take it there instead.

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NFX
Jun 2, 2008

Fun Shoe

I'll take that as an invitation! We had a really nice trip. Except for a few days with overcast weather, it was sunny and almost 20 degrees celsius (68 F) the entire time!

Of course, on the morning we arrived the volcano Katla had decided to wash out the road, so we had to take a small detour:


A volcanic lake, again near mývatn:


"Pylsukofinn" basically means sausage coffin:


Gullfoss was kinda crowded:


Like I previously hinted, a lot of Iceland is really flat:


I can't actually remember what this place was called, but we were told to check it out. It was pretty:


Hey it's another picture of that church named after the guy who was kidnapped by Ottoman pirates:

And then I ran out of batteries for my camera and forgot to charge them again.

NFX fucked around with this message at 07:57 on Jan 17, 2014

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