Lögberg-Heimskringla - 03.12.2004, Blaðsíða 10

10 • Lögberg-Heimskringla • Friday 3 December 2004
KAKEN JOHANNSSON
PHOTO: STEINÞÓR GUÐBJARTSSON
Sandra Sigurdson gives
Emilía the ticket.
Won a trip
to Iceland
Emelía Júlíanna Gudb-
jartsson was the big winner at
the Annual General Meeting of
íslendingadagurinn, the Ice-
landic Festival of Manitoba.
She won a trip for two from
Minneapolis to Iceland in the
annual raffle and is eager to
go-
The Icelandic National
League of North America is
also offering a trip for two
from Minneapolis to Iceland in
a raffle to be drawn January
16. Included in the package is
$1,000 CDN, two nights at a
hotel, a one-day tour around
Reykjavík, admission to Blue
Lagoon, and transport from
and retum to Keflavík airport.
The retail value is $4,284.
A Canadian makes a
living in Iceland
Winnipegger Mark Wilson has lived in lceland for
about 20 years. He told Steinþór Guðbjartsson
that he feels as lcelandic as other inhabitants of
the country and likes it there.
13 JÓLASVEINAR,
Leppalúði AND
Grýla
PURCHASE YOUR
15 COLOUR CARD SET
In the early ’80s Icelander
Guðný Kristinsdóttir studied
at the University of Winnipeg
and that’s where her fellow
student Mark Wilson met her
for the first time. They have
lived together in Iceland for
20 years, are married and
have two children. Thelma
Björk is 16 years old and her
brother Kristinn Kerr is 11.
“After fmishing her stud-
ies in Winnipeg, Guðný went
back to Iceland in the summer
of 1984,” Mark recalls. “I fol-
lowed her in December since
I wanted to see what the
country was like and learn the
culture and the language. I am
still here but we are frequent
visitors in Canada. Actually
we have been there every
l'licsc inÍNchicvouD imp« urc
vcry much a part of tlic
Icelandic Christmas
cxpcricncc.
KETKRÓKUR, the meat
hooker, is thc twclfth
Jólasvctnn. Me would climb
on the roofs of thc tur'f
houses and would grab the
smoked mutton using his
long hook.
ÍIHMWlMÍWWIÍiBaiBllBfllBl^^
Upban %■
Khona Y'/ti-YQ&e
!*« v &
f. Ipbefí & p@ tu4ia e £ pe. n # t
mmmmmmmimmmmmmmmmmm
1$ . ;
KHTKkÓKI fK
nwiHomi

The Embassy of Iceland in Canada,
Guðmundur Eiríksson Ambassador,
Helga Bertelsen, Þórður Sigtryggson
AND GlLLES ThIVIERGE,
AND THEIR FAMILIES
SEND THEIR VERY BEST WISHES
for a Merry Christmas
AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR
TO the readers of
Lögberg-Heimskringla.
Gleðileg jól og farsælt komandi ár
LMBASSYOI K.T.I AND
,5(>0 AHk ii Sticci, Stiítc 710, Ottawa, ON KlK 7X7
Tcl: 611482 I ‘>44 fax: 61.1 482 1945
!
VÍNÍt oui vvclisitc: www.ilt laiul.org/ca or www.iffland.fa
year and sometimes twice a
year.”
Mark is Icelandic on his
mother’s side. His mother
Thelma Wilson was thefjall-
kona of Islendingadagurinn in
Gimli this year, and his
daughter Thelma Björk was
her attendant as the maid of
honour. His father Kerr Wil-
son is of Irish descent. Mark
says that it has been hard to
adjust to the dark winters in
Iceland and being away from
his family in Canada.
“The dark winter is the
hardest thing to get used to in
Iceland, but it is enjoyable
when the snow comes
because then things get
brighter. However, I miss the
weather in Canada and my
family there, of course.”
Difficult language
Most people find Ice-
PHOTO: STEINÞÓR GUÐBJARTSSON
Mark Wilson runs the printshop Formprent in Reykjavík
with his his wife and in-laws.
landic a hard language to
learn but Mark speaks it flu-
ently. “I tried to learn Ice-
landic in school but it did not
go very well,” he recalls.
“After two and a half years I
decided that I would only
speak English. But being
stubbom enough I answered
in Icelandic when people
Gilbart
Funeral Home Ltd»
J. ROY Gilbajrt « J. WES gilbart
Fmsx Stiiket, Gdviu 309 Ev eune Stbeet, Seijkiiik 482-3271
spoke to me in English. With
my background and the base
of the language I could
answer people in Icelandic but
it is a very difficult language.”
After having obtained a
degree in economics at the U
of W Mark moved to Iceland
and started working in his
father-in-law’s printshop,
Formprent, in Reykjavík. He
takes care of the sales and
runs the company with his
family. “I am just like any
other Icelander,” he says. “I
live a good life in Iceland, my
friends are all Icelandic and I
speak Icelandic 24 hours a
day. I am Icelandic now, more
Icelandic than Canadian.”
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