Archive for 'Icelandic customs'
Post office Posted by sequoia on Apr 23, 2012
One thing you’ll probably be doing whether you’re a tourist or immigrant is going to the post office. The downtown (area code “101” – Icelandic area codes are just three digits) post office is one of the places I’ve found where they’re always friendly and we always have a completely Icelandic conversation. They don’t call…
Þetta reddast, þetta kemur. Posted by hulda on Apr 10, 2012
One of the most Icelandic expressions I can think of is Þetta reddast, “it’ll work out”/”it’ll fix itself”. It’s used in any kind of a situation where someone’s facing a problem, no matter how difficult. It can be anything ranging from a confusing schedule at work to a situation that’s so desperate it would take…
Gleðilega Páska! Posted by hulda on Apr 5, 2012
Happy Easter to all you readers! The holidays have begun in Iceland and we’re now living the dymbilvika/kyrravika (Holy Week). I’m not counting last Sunday’s Pálmasunnudagur (Palm Sunday) because the actual páskafrí (Easter holiday/vacation) officially started today and to Icelanders that is what matters the most. Freely quoting my boyfriend and a teacher of mine…
Doctors, Clinics, Medicine Posted by sequoia on Apr 3, 2012
Edit: This is a very long post, I’ve edited it to make it a little more concise but I’ll do shorter ones in the future. Also, welcome, Hulda! Sometimes when I find new things or people correct me I go back and edit old posts to reflect the new information. For example, I added a…
Holidays Posted by sequoia on Feb 22, 2012
I have so many things to write about that I didn’t know what to pick, but how about learning about Iceland’s current three-day holiday streak? The first day is Bun Day (Bolludagur), the next is Sprengidagur (Fat Tuesday/Mardi Gras), and then today’s day is Ash Day (Öskudagur). On Bun Day, something that has been going…
Icelandic sample exams Posted by sequoia on Jan 25, 2012
This post is for the person who wanted to know about the exams for the Icelandic courses. Unfortunately this might be too late to help them, but hopefully it can help someone else. The first thing you need to know is that there are two different “Icelandic for foreigners” courses at the University of Iceland…
Hospitals and clinics Posted by sequoia on Nov 1, 2011
If you need medicine or a doctor, I’ve been advised to go to a private doctor instead of someone at a community clinic. I went to a clinic the other day anyway (the cost was 1.000kr for the visit versus 6.000 to 8.000kr) and unfortunately had bad results. The doctor didn’t know as much English…