Reykjavík Grapevine - 05.11.2011, Blaðsíða 4

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The Icelandic Tourist Board issues licences to tour operators and travel agents,
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Say your piece, voice your
opinion, send your letters to:
letters@grapevine.is
Sour
grapes
& stuff
MOST AWESOME LETTER:
to: the girl eds....
yer fussing about a asian tourist hotel in
niceland? errrr,. iceland?
Hotelling is a national dream there;
well, past formenting the
revoultion in the cafe. (managing it)
empires forever, eh?.
attached is a post you might like.
from my blog.
oh, and I'm 98,000 wds into a novel, almost
done the rough draft.
(sf, action adventure)
will be missing a few months yet
I miss my soak.
packrat
Dear packrat,
We’re not exactly sure who you are sending
this to as there’s no girl called “eds” working
at this office. But in any case, we thank you
for your letter! We’re really not sure what to
say either, but you should treat yourself to a
nice bubble bath when you finish your sf. ac-
tion fiction novel!
Hey guys,
Just wanted to share with you a letter I sent
to Tollhúsið after Pósturinn asked me for
details on a delivery I got from the UK... I
know it's probably a waste of time, but if we
all did the same at least they'd understand
a lot of people out there is sick and tired of
their practices.
Oh well, have a great weekend Y'ALL :)
Góðan dag,
I received a letter from Pósturinn today ask-
ing me to share the purchase details of an
item I ordered from the British company
The Book Depository.
Before I show you the order confirma-
tion I'd like to say that the way Pósturinn
and Tollhúsið operate regarding interna-
tional deliveries is closer to the practices
of a military dictatorship than those of a
Western democracy. I don't know who you
people think you are going through people's
mail invading their privacy and desperately
trying to make some profit you have done
nothing to deserve.
I'd also like to let you know how ridicu-
lous (and possibly illegal) it is that I'm asked
to pay not just the customs fees but a fee to
Pósturinn, whose job, as far as I know, is
precisely to deliver mail to the tax-payer.
Here's the order confirmation for the
item I've purchased, and by the way, I'm
still saving money shopping online. So have
a nice day going through people's mail!
Antón
Dear Antón,
People seem to be so irate with the Tollstjóri
these days. We just got a phone call from
someone who was so livid, steam was com-
ing from her ears. She gifted her mother a
pair of hiking boots and Tollstjóri harassed
her about it not being a gift because it wasn’t
wrapped in fancy Christmas paper. Oh she
was livid. She told us that she’s going to go
have pancakes with the president and give
him a piece of her mind…
Anyways, thanks for sharing your letter. We
feel your pain and so does the person who
gifted her mom hiking boots.

Dear Grapevine,

I married an Icelander and moved to Reyk-
javik from the UK a few months ago. I really
like it here and love the culture and history
of the place. It's very chilled and looks pretty
too, unlike UK cities. But the one problem
I'm having with Icelandic people is that
they are too ready to talk in English with
me. I know they are trying to be helpful but
I want to integrate as much as possible as
my future and the future of any kids I have
will probably be in Iceland. I'm struggling
to pick up the language because whenever I
try to practice it with any locals, they change
to English almost immediately. I didn't re-
alise just how bilingual Iceland was until
I moved here. I know you get lots of tour-
ists and influence from English speaking
countries, but I think there's too much of
a comfort zone for foreigners to not have
to bother to speak Icelandic. I know that I
personally would push myself a lot harder
to learn the language if I knew that is how
I would HAVE to communicate to do some
things. But I think native Icelanders being
so comfortable speaking English makes
it easy for the foreign settler to be lazy. On
the other hand, tourists who are only visit-
ing the country for short periods of time
benefit hugely from being able to commu-
nicate with Icelandic people, so I guess I
understand. It can just be a bit frustrating
some times. I have been told by some Ice-
landers that the only way to really integrate
and break down social barriers is to be able
to communicate with them in their native
tongue. Do you think this is true? What are
your thoughts on this?

Regards,

Steve Whiting
Dear Steve Whiting,
We’ll let you in on a little secret: Icelanders
love wery much to show off their English
skills. And they are pretty good at it, except
they mix up their ‘v’ and ‘w’ sounds all the
time. Yes, in Iceland this fine publication is
known as The Grapewine.
They may be trying to be helpful, too. And
at least they’re not like the French who will
sternly feign English incompetency when
you try to order a baguette at your local bou-
langerie.
In any case, there’s only one thing to do
about this. Keep speaking your Icelandic.
And don’t give up.

MOST AWESOME lETTER
FREE ICElANDIC GOURMET FEAST
There's prize for all your MOST AWESOME lETTERS.
And it’s a scorcher! No, really! It's a goddamn scorcher
is what it is! Whoever sends us THE MOST AWESOME
lETTER this issue will receive A FRIGGIN GOURMET
FEAST FOR TWO at TAPAS BARINN.
Did you hear that? Write in and complain about something
(in an admirable way), win a gourmet feast at one of Reykjavík's finest? THIS IS THE DEAl
OF THE CENTURY IS WHAT IT IS!
What's in a 'lobster feast'? Well, one has to assume that it has lobster-a-plenty. Is there
more? Probably, but still... Gourmet feast? Wow! DON’T PANIC if your letter wasn’t picked
AWESOME lETTER. There's always next month!
Now, if you're in the market for free goodies next month, write us some sort of letter. Give us
your worst: letters@grapevine.is
HERE ARE THE WINNERS IN OUR AWE-
SOME GRAPEVINE AIRWAVES AWE-
SOME CONTEST FROM LAST MONTH!
READ THEIR STORIES AT WWW.AIR-
WAVES.GRAPEVINE.IS STARTING THIS
MONDAY.
1st place: Davíð Arnar Baldursson,
who sometimes mistakes women for guitar
cases.
Davíð can visit our office as of Monday 07/11
to reclaim: A giftcard to the awesome Fon-
tana Spa for two, an Icelandic gourmet feast
at Tapas bar for two, a trip to Yoko Ono’s
Peace Tower from Elding Whale Watching, a
goodie bag from Kimi Records, a goodie bag
from Record Records, a fancy Grapevine tee,
a fancy Grapevine sticker, etc.
2nd place: Sunna Ósk Guðmundsdóttir,
for her delightfully liberal attitude towards
one night stands.
Sunna can visit our office as of Monday
07/11 to reclaim: A giftcard to the awesome
Fontana Spa for two, a goodie bag from Kimi
Records, a goodie bag from Record Records,
a fancy Grapevine tee, a fancy Grapevine
sticker, etc.
3rd place: Júlía Tómasdóttir, for falling on her
face in front of that guy from the band Hurts.
Júlía can visit our office as of Monday 07/11 to
reclaim: A giftcard to the awesome Fontana
Spa for two, a goodie bag from Kimi Records,
a goodie bag from Record Records, a fancy
grapevine tee, a fancy Grapevine sticker, etc.
THE MOST AWESOME GRAPEVINE AIRWAVES CONTEST YET! WINNERS!