Reykjavík Grapevine - 10.10.2008, Page 4

4 | REYKJAVÍK GRAPEVINE | ISSUE 16—2008
lETTERS
Sour Grapes
SAY YouR pIece, voIce YouR opInIon, SenD YouR LeTTeRS To LeTTeRS@gRApevIne.IS oR TexT +354 893 9589
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I was very interested to read the article
published in the March edition regard-
ing racism in Iceland. I moved to Iceland
from the UK 13 months ago and left after
10 months. During that time I worked in
a highly professional and well regarded
capacity and dutifully payed my taxes.
I did make an inital effort to learn the
language but recieved several dispiriting
setbacks very early on that has reduced
my enthusiasm. I find Icelanders initially
very friendly but only to a point and it
seems impossible to pass this point.
Whenever i have tried to use Icelandic
my pronounciation has intentionally or
unintentionally not been understood
and several times I have been asked why
I dont just speak english! I find Iceland
very insular and the views of many of its
inhabitants discriminatory. I have been
especially disappointed with treatment
of polish immigrants who seem to be
blamed for all that is wrong in Icelandic
society. In the UK we have a long proud
tradition of integrating other nationali-
ties and cultures and I feel that Iceland
has some learning and growing up to do
before it can be included in a modern
Europe. Of course this is not everybody,
as I have met and worked with some fan-
tastic Icelandic people whom I hope to
keep in touch with. My views expressed
here refer to the society as a whole and
in no way reflect my opinion of individu-
als.

Many thanks for allowing me to voice my
opinion.

Regards
Simon Fayers
Greetings Simon,
Thank you for your informative letter. It’s
also good to hear you paid your taxes.
Maybe they will help in subsidizing the
black hole of debt some of our well-mean-
ing billionaire playboys have plunged us
into.
Your points on racism are also welcomed.
It is kind of amusing to read so many
grand statements about an entire nation
of people in a letter denouncing racism.
But I digress. There are some real pricks
floating around downtown, and I am
sorry to hear you had to confront some
of them. So, on behalf of my bankrupt na-
tion, I apologize.
It was good to have you.
DUDE ARE BANKS STILL IN CONTROL?
I am reading some crazy stuff :(
How are things?
Anthony Johnson
Dear Anthony,
To be honest, I don’t really have any idea.
None of us do. We are all pretty much at a
loss here, and in more ways than one.
That said, things are fine – life is good.
The weather today was beautiful, I just
stole the new Jesu EP off some blog and
us at the office also figured out that even
if everything goes to hell, we still have
enough fish, sheep and potatoes around
to feed the 300.000 of us for a long, long
time.
So let’s celebrate and have us some
drinks, yeah?
Hey Grapevine!
First, let me thank you for running such
an excellent publication. I have been
visiting your country on and off for the
past decade, and I can proudly say I’ve
been following you guys since your first
issue. It’s proven a tremendous resource
on what’s going on over there and has
helped me make some great choices
when it comes to travel and nightlife
(thanks for the Greenland tip, BTW).
Your web-site is also looking swell these
days.
The reason I write you now is to enquire
whether I can submit an article for print
in the paper. I have been keeping exten-
sive travelouges of my visits, and some
of them are pretty funny if I say so my-
self. Do you take reader submissions? Do
you pay for them? Can I be a part of your
team?
Sincerely,
Stephen Lewis
Dear Stephen,
Thank you for your kind and encouraging
words. We try our best to make the paper
as good as possible, and sometimes we
succeed. It’s good to know you’re paying
attention.
Of course we welcome and encourage
any and all reader submissions. Just
send whatever’s on your mind to editor@
grapevine.is - and that goes for the rest of
you as well. We pay as much as we can,
which isn’t a lot, but I guess it depends on
where you live.