{"id":2758,"date":"2013-11-07T12:39:08","date_gmt":"2013-11-07T12:39:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/icelandic\/?p=2758"},"modified":"2013-11-07T14:47:51","modified_gmt":"2013-11-07T14:47:51","slug":"i-read-the-news-today","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/icelandic\/2013\/11\/07\/i-read-the-news-today\/","title":{"rendered":"I read the news today"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"news019\"<\/a>Oh boy. Despite the small size of Iceland there’s always something going on here, be it a lost tourist, strange accidents with lots of luck included, the mayor dressing up as a jedi and so forth. I collected some highlights from the most recent news here for you so without further ado let’s see what Iceland has been up to…<\/p>\n

Royal visit<\/strong><\/p>\n

The queen of Denmark, Margr\u00e9t Danadr\u00f3ttning<\/em> (Margrete II of Denmark) has confirmed she will be visiting Iceland 12.-14. November, on the 350th birthday of the collection of \u00c1rni Magnusson, a book collector who specialized in Medieval literature (link<\/a>). Unlike most collectors of his time \u00c1rni collected every tiniest piece of manuscript he could find, sometimes just a few pages, no matter how poor condition they were in. Half of his collection is now located here in Iceland, the other half in Copenhagen, Denmark. I will naturally be following with the festivities and reporting here!<\/p>\n

Road warnings<\/strong><\/p>\n

This may sound like it belonged in the weather section but it’s actually among the most important news at the moment. Iceland is dangerous to drive in when the roads are iced over, and if you think you know how it’s like to drive on slippery roads, think again. By all likelihood you have not tried to drive on a surface that’s like a giant wet, oiled bar of soap, which is what driving in most parts of Iceland is like for about half a year every year. Change to winter tires, this may be your last chance. Most parts of the land have now iced over and even if the ice melts during the days it will return the following night.<\/p>\n

Brei\u00f0dalshei\u00f0i and \u00d6xi are currently in impassable condition for driving. Always remember to check Vegager\u00f0in (link<\/a>) before heading out to see if the route you’re planning to take needs re-planning.<\/p>\n

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The cities may look deceivingly easy to drive, but this is the reality just a half an hour’s drive away.<\/em><\/p>\n

“One more spin and someone would have died”<\/strong><\/p>\n

As a stern reminder of how accidents can happen when the roads are slippery comes this piece of news: a group of friends drove off the road because of a patch of ice, fell into a river and somehow survived alive – by mere luck.<\/p>\n

“We were traveling for fun and the roads were empty. Suddenly when we took a turn beside a small mountain we drove onto ice. It was a big fall,” says Gunnar, one of the travelers of the car, and estimates it to be 30-50 metres. “I remember seeing the river and thinking as the car began to spin: ‘Just not into the river, and don’t land upside-down'”. As if an answer to him the car indeed fell on its tires and into a shallow part of the river where the current was not too strong. The travelers all survived alive, in good health and only suffering a shock and cold, wet feet, because this particular river starts at a glacier and is therefore ice cold. “Just one more metre and the car would have rolled to its side”, remarked Gunnar at the end of the interview. “Then we would not all have survived alive.”<\/p>\n

Madness in Stykkisholmur<\/strong><\/p>\n

For some reason the previous weekend has been very confusing in the small town called Stykkisholmur. Among the many tasks the police had were f.ex. a group of drunkards who had stolen a sheep and were walking it across the town, \u00a0a mechanic who was having a party which ended up with one bartender being rushed to hospital, and a fight that broke out in a hotel. The sole remaining policeman of Stykkisholmur had to call in help from \u00d3lafsv\u00edk before he could attempt to go over to the hotel to break it up.<\/p>\n

\"news025\"<\/a>BBC calling<\/strong><\/p>\n

A short while ago the musician \u00c1sgeir was interviewed for a Radio 2 show by Dermot O\u00b4Leary, who had heard a rumour that 10% of all Icelanders own \u00c1sgeir’s CD Dyr\u00f0 \u00ed dau\u00f0a\u00fe\u00f6gn<\/em> (= glory in dead silence\/complete silence). To test this theory he had brought a 2009’s phone book he had received from the embassy of Iceland, opened it at random and chose the first name that he saw, that of Margr\u00e9t Mar\u00eda Sigur\u00f0ard\u00f3ttir’s… who just happens to be a fan of \u00c1sgeir. Naturally she owns the CD!<\/p>\n

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Hulda recommends:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Fashion tip for Icelandic November weather<\/strong><\/p>\n

Wear a large sweater. Even better, wear two. Or three. Whatever you do remember that outside you’ll be battling severe weather conditions but once you’re indoors you never know what you’ll get: in some places you might as well be wearing a T-shirt, some are barely warmer than being outside. Layers of wool keep you warm when it’s most needed and they’re easy to shed according to the temperature indoors.<\/p>\n

Language learning hack of the week<\/strong><\/p>\n

It’s very easy to make loan words from English into Icelandic. You just have to transliterate the word, that’s all! The usage of the loan words is equally easy, Icelanders will almost definitely understand them and they’re also automatically of the neuter gender. So if in a tight spot where just that one particular word decides to disappear from your memory, throw in a loan word instead. It’s only mildly cheating. \ud83d\ude00<\/p>\n

There are few exceptions to the neuter gender rule but they do exist: words that have been in Icelandic language for centuries, such as kanill<\/em> (= cinnamon, M) or kristall<\/em> (= crystal, M) may have a different gender.<\/p>\n

One of the funniest insurance advertisements I have ever seen<\/strong><\/p>\n

– can be found here<\/a>. The text in the beginning says “this advertisement is based on real accidents” which is really all you need to know before watching it… \ud83d\ude00<\/p>\n

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