Reykjavík Grapevine - 24.08.2012, Blaðsíða 16

16
The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 13 — 2012
get to me,” Adey says. “I just hide in the
bathroom and cry so my kids don’t see
me. But you have to get past it because
you’re the foreigner here. Even if they
give you a passport, you’re still a for-
eigner. You’re the outcast here.”

A new problem to solve
Barbara John says stronger laws against
discrimination could help some Icelan-
dic immigrants. Barbara, a warm but
direct woman, is the German member
of the European Commission against
Racism and Intolerance, or ECRI, the
human rights monitoring arm of the
European Commission. On a rain-
soaked Saturday morning in early July,
she sips on coffee at the St. Gaudy Café
in Berlin and discusses the 2011 trip to
Iceland she made with ECRI.
During her visit to fish factories, she
met with Polish immigrants, the ma-
jority foreign nationality in Iceland, to
gauge their quality of life. She pitched
monitoring plans to government work-
ers and ministry officials, and tracked
down little evidence of outright dis-
crimination. But some prejudice may
lie under the surface, she says.
“When there is an option for some-
one who is Icelandic and speaks the
language and there is someone who is
an immigrant and also speaks it, well,
what will happen? You tend to hire peo-
ple who are similar. ‘I know Icelandic
people, so they are similar to me, so I
will hire them,’” Barbara says. “This
kind of discrimination is everywhere.”
Barabara’s visit culminated in
an ECRI report published in Febru-
ary. More monitors and stronger laws
against employment discrimination are
needed in Iceland, the report says, and
government officials need to collect
more information on individuals’ race
and nationality to keep their hand on
the pulse of the immigrant population.
The country also needs to improve
on helping immigrants get over the
most significant barrier that hurts
their employment chances: learning
Icelandic. “Since Iceland became open
very recently to immigration, they are
not very sophisticated in teaching their
mother tongue, of course,” Barbara
says. “They said they are improving in
this. They admitted that this is a root of
their weakness.”
“Of course, if one can put it this way,
[Icelanders] are like a tribe. Normally,
being a tribe means excluding the oth-
ers. What we found was that this was
not the case in Iceland,” Barbara adds.
“On the contrary, because they know
this very well from their history and
traditions, and the small place they live
together, they know they cannot stay
closed. They have to open up.”
Charting a course for
immigrants
But life may get easier for immigrants
soon, as new legislation works its way
through Parliament and as the country
continues its economic ascent in the af-
termath of the 2008 crash. In addition
to the non-discrimination bill worked
up by the Ministry of Welfare, immi-
grants vying for jobs could see sweep-
ing changes in a new law that would
grant them work permits automatically
when they receive residence permits. A
committee in the Ministry of the Inte-
rior is hammering out the new bill.
Government officials and advocacy
workers are also trying to make small
but meaningful improvements for im-
migrants trying to learn Icelandic—the
main barrier to gaining employment.
The Directorate of Labour, a govern-
ment office, covers the costs of Icelan-
dic courses for immigrants, but only
pays for the first two levels of classes.
Gerður says her office also lost funding
after the crash, adding that she wishes
they could offer more personalised
counselling for immigrants.
At beginners’ Icelandic class at the
Intercultural Centre (Alþjóðasetur) in
late July, ten foreigners—whose former
homes ranged from the United States
to the Czech Republic—jot down notes
about pronunciations and struggle
through conversations in Icelandic
about daily tasks. Guðbjörg Linda Hart-
mannsdóttir, a young blonde woman
wearing jean shorts standing the front
of the class, writes “Hvað er klukkan?”
on the white board and draws a clock.
She’s teaching her class how to discuss
time in Icelandic.
More immigrants are visiting her
classes this year, she says, and more are
unemployed. “There’s been full classes
this summer, which is different be-
cause classes are usually more popular
during the winter months,” she says.
One of Iceland’s most notable im-
migrants, the first foreign-born MP in
the country, Amal Tamimi, is trying to
secure more funding for immigrants
to take those courses. “We need more
financial support to do our projects.
There was a lot of cutting of funding
for the Icelandic courses,” Amal says.
The organisation Amal directs, the
Equality Centre (Jafnréttishús), advo-
cates for immigrants, but she says even
that advocacy must tread a thin line in
Iceland. “I don’t like to complain all the
time that because I am an immigrant I
did not get this or that, but we do have
to get our rights as immigrants too.
Nothing comes easy,” she says.
With For-
eign Unemploy-
ment Ballooning,
Some Smell Dis-
crimination
Continued
The Reykjavík Bacon Festival begins August 25 on Skólavörðustígur at 13:00.
Celebrations will continue into the evening at KEX Hostel from 19:00, with
organisers promising a night of music, entertainment and lots of bacon.
Iceland | Bacon
A delegation from the united States
of America landed at keflavík this
week for the start of an interna-
tional diplomatic mission on one
of the foremost issues of the global
agenda for the future of humanity.
That’s right, bacon.
Members of the Iowa Bacon Board
met with the Iceland Beikon Board on
August 23 for the first International Ba-
con Summit held at Höfði, the former
French consulate building where U.S.
President Reagan and Soviet chief Gor-
bachev met for the Reykjavík Summit in
1986.
That historic meeting was anticipat-
ed to be a major turning point in bring-
ing about the end of the Cold War, but
both sides left disappointed with how
little progress they had made. Twenty-
six years on, these international meat-
lovers hope to achieve far more.
As Iowa Bacon Board Chair Brooks
Reynolds explained in a press release:
“All participants have signed a prelimi-
nary agreement, promising not to leave
Höfði until we drink all the Brennivín,
eat all the bacon-wrapped whale meat
and agree on key measures that will
greatly improve the enjoyment of bacon
for everyone, everywhere, all of them.”
Beikon Board head honcho Bogi
Guðmundsson says he sees the summit
as an opportunity “to bring a unified
vision for bacon-lovers everywhere,
building bridges between those who
see the many possibilities of bacon.”
The Reykjavík Bacon Festival
Two days after the summit, the Blue
Ribbon Bacon Tour will present the
Reykjavík Bacon Festival, as part of its
travelling bacon circus that crosses the
States year after year, having rocked up
at Keystone, Colorado, only last month.
Their connection to Iceland is happily
familial: “My brother is a cardiologist in
Iowa State, and one of his friends is the
brother of one of the members of the
Iowa Bacon Board,” Bogi explains. “The
more they discovered about the coun-
try, the more they thought, ‘We must go
to Iceland!’”
Bogi says the festival will give ba-
con lovers the chance to try a selection
of both American and Icelandic bacon,
with local chefs contributing their own
bacon-inspired dishes. “I don’t think we
have the same variety of bacon in Ice-
land,” Bogi admits. “So this is a good
way to introduce and import Iowan ba-
con.”
He describes the Iowan meat-eaters
as “funny, bacon-loving guys,” with a
wealth of knowledge in all things ba-
con, which they’ll be bringing to Satur-
day’s street showcase. “The Americans
will be cooking a lot of the bacon; they
have plenty of experience!”
He is also looking forward to trying
the novel bacon-inspired dishes prom-
ised by some of the neighbourhood
restaurateurs who are taking part, such
as SNAPS and Fiskfélagið. But even he
doesn’t quite know what culinary tricks
they have up their apron sleeves: “They
will surprise us!” he says excitedly.
Ultimately Bogi’s objective is simple.
He wants to show the manifold possi-
bilities of bacon and have a good time
doing it: “It’s a good way to spread joy.”
He is already planning to gather as
many Icelanders as he can to travel to
the States to join the Blue Ribbon Ba-
con Tour next year. “We are trying to
make friends in the States, so we can
go over and promote Icelandic produce
at their festival.”
A promising future is beckoning for
Icelandic beikon this weekend.
Sizzling Weekend Expected
On Skólavörðustígur
Words
Mark O'Brien
Photos
Alísa Kalyanova
“
All participants have
signed a preliminary
agreement, promising not
to leave Höfði until we
drink all the Brennivín,
eat all the bacon-wrapped
whale meat and agree
on key measures that
will greatly improve the
enjoyment of bacon for
everyone, everywhere, all
of them. „
Island
• History, art and nature
• Restaurant / Café
• Tel. (+354) 533 5055

More info on www.videy.com
Viðey is an island situated just few minutes from Reykjavík city by ferry.
The island is the perfect place for individuals, friends and families wanting
to enjoy a relaxing but also adventurous getaway from the city life.
Only 7 minutes away from the city
From Skarfabakki to Viðey
From Viðey to Skarfabakki
13:15 14:15 15:15
13:30 14:30 15:30 16:30
11:15 12:15 13:15 14:15 15:15 16:15 17:15
12:30 13:30 14:30 15:30 16:30 17:30 18:30
12:00
15:30
From Skarfabakki to Viðey
From Viðey to Skarfabakki
From Reykjavík Old Harbour to Viðey
From Viðey to Reykjavík Old Harbour
Winter (on Sat. and Sun. from 16 September to 14 May)
Summer (daily from 15 May to 15 September)
Ferry schedule
Daily beginner riding tours
- ideal for families
Start at 10:00 and 14:00 from 1 June to 31 August