Lögberg-Heimskringla - 15.11.2012, Qupperneq 12

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12 • Lögberg-Heimskringla • November 15 2012
The Snorri Program was an awesome experience. We visited and met so many interesting and great western Icelanders who were probably the
most patriotic Icelanders I’ve ever met.
The journey started in Minneapolis where Mallory
Swanson took us around the twin cities. The Icelandic
American Association of Minnesota and the Hekla
club welcomed us and during our two-week stay there
we did a lot of touristing, including the big museums
in Minneapolis, an awesome segway tour and a
ridiculously big mall. We also had many BBQs and
Elduðum Saman with Sigga and her “students” who
are getting pretty good at cooking in Icelandic.
We visited Duluth, a city I had never heard about
before but of course it’s an Icelandic settlement; like all
the other places we visited the people there were very
welcoming and showed us around all the settlement
areas and told us everything there was to know about
the place.
Minneota, Minnesota (I love saying that) was where
we spent our second weekend. They had the most
awesome Hardware store I’ve ever seen, Gíslason’s
Hardware. We visited cemeteries to look at the
Icelandic names and that’s where I started noticing how
Americanized all the Icelandic names are. It’s funny to
see when you know the original name, and especially
how much some of them have changed, for example
Gunnlaugsson to Gunlogson or Þorláksson to Johnson.
In Minneota we spent a whole day sorting Darren
Gíslason’s Icelandic book collection. I was expecting a
few books but when we arrived and started carrying the
boxes out of storage, there were 12 full boxes of very,
very old invaluable Icelandic books.
The next destination was Mountain, North Dakota
where Loretta and Björk welcomed us for a very
relaxing and enjoyable two days in one of the smallest
towns I’ve ever been to, where we met old people
who spoke fluent Icelandic, which was pretty weird
but very interesting. After Mountain we drove up to
Winnipeg and spent a great weekend there where we
were taken around the whole city with members from
Frón Icelandic club to see where the Icelanders lived
and what they did.
Final destination was the Vestur Íslendinga
settlement I had heard the most about, Gimli. We
stayed there for a little under two weeks around
Íslendingadagurinn. They had a huge parade, we were
on a float, and that’s where I came to the conclusion
that Western Icelanders are definitely a lot more
patriotic than any Icelander I know. Sarah Isliefson
took great care of us, we bumped into a bunch of
Icelanders living there, drove around the other
Icelandic settlements, watched the Icelandic national
handball team at the Olympics, had lots of BBQs and
a great time.
On my way home, I got to see the CN Tower in
Toronto, quite awesome.
Overall, the Snorri West program was an invaluable
experience. I learned so much, had a lot of fun and met
so many nice western Icelanders. On behalf of Karen
and myself, a special Takk to all the organizers, the
families we stayed with and those people who took us
around, including Claire Eckley, Diane Greenwood,
Elin Hansen, Chris Byron, Ann and Howard Hobbs,
Jody Arman Jones, Malcolm McDonald, Helga
Bjornson Visscher, Sue Bowen, Dan Bowen, Joe
Bowen, Isaac Musanto, Allen Gislason, Hafrún
Hauksdóttir, Mallory Swanson, Jody Ármannson,
Steve & Rosemary Guttormsson, TJ Johnson, Darren
Gíslason, Sigga Gudmundsdottir, Mike and Gloria
Gunlogson, Björk Olafson, Loretta Bernhoft, Pam
Furstenau, Susan Hjalmarson, Ron Johnson, Serena
Goebel, Vi Hilton, Kristyn Campbell, Kim Irwin,
Kristjan Kristjanson for the delicious food at the
Round Table and at the Snorri BBQ, Sarah Isliefson
of course, Helgi Skulason in Gimli, Bryan Bjerring,
Tammy Axelsson, Vicki and Lorne Kasupski, Larry
and Marie Markusson, Wanda Anderson, Karen
Helena Wallington and everyone else.
And of course I want to thank the INL of NA,
Halldór Arnason and Ásta Sól Kristjansdóttir of INL
Iceland, and all the sponsors of the program, including
Icelandair, Íslendingadagurinn, the Guttormsson
Family Foundation, the Canada-Iceland Foundation,
INL clubs in Minneapolis, North Dakota, Winnipeg,
Gimli, Brandon and Toronto, and many individuals
donors, including Vicky Teather, John Valberg, Gavin
and Joy Wood, Allan Miller, Garry Oddleifson, Judy
Bradley and Lilia Arnason.
One of the most important programs of the Icelandic National
League of North America is the
International Visits Program
(IVP). The program provides for
mutual visits where Icelanders
give concerts or lectures in
North America reciprocated
with visits from North America
to Iceland.
The IVP visitor from Iceland
in 2012 was Viðar Hreinsson
who recently concluded his
tour of a great number of
Icelandic settlements in Canada
and the USA, introducing his
English version of Stephan
G. Stephanson’s, biography,
Wakeful Nights.
The IVP visitor to Iceland
was Sunna Pam Olafson
Furstenau who gave 12
presentations all around
the country telling about
the Icelandic settlements in
North America. Her tour is no
doubt a major contribution to
spreading information among
Icelanders, all around the
country, about the history of
emigration, stimulating them
to learn more and eventually
visit settlements in North
America.
Sunna’s presentation, The
Love of Iceland in America,
included some 500 photos
elegantly timed with her text.
Her itenerary was ambitious,
with 12 presentations in
24 days including the West
Fjords and the Snæfellsnes
peninsula. She drove 3,300
kilometres and over 500 people
attended her presentations.
She documented her tour from
day to day with 24 blog posts
which had over 8,000 all-time
views of the page and many
Facebook posts with hundreds
of photos.
I was present at three events
and very obviously the people
who attended were extremely
affected by the story that Sunna
was telling. She reported that,
“In 10 of the 12 presentations,
people in the audience were
crying. Sometimes, many
people were weeping and it
was difficult to uphold my own
composure and, yes, in a few
locations, I cried, too.”
Sunna made her appearance
in the Icelandic national
costume, Upphlutur and her
composure was an important
factor in setting the scene.
When she walked through
Reykjavík downtown towards
the City Hall on Menningarnótt
– Cultural Night – people turned
around and even followed
her to the presention. The
following day she presented
at Húsið in Eyrarbakki, 60
kilometres south of Reykjavík,
and was interviewed there by
Karl Jeppesen who is making
a documentary about the
Icelandic settlements in North
America.
The Icelandic media were
very interested in Sunna’s
tour and she was interviewed
twice for national radio.
Morgunblaðið took an
interview which was placed on
the prominent back page.
The INL of Iceland
convention was held in Akureyri
on August 25 and The Love of
Iceland in America was the main
agenda item. The convention was
held in Akureyri on the occasion
of the 150th anniversary of the
town. The local TV station N4
which broadcasts nationally
made an 11-minute interview
with Sunna which was shown
regularly during the festivity
weekend.
The INL of Iceland,
its members, and all those
interested in spreading
knowledge in Iceland about the
Icelandic settlements in North
America, are deeply grateful
to the INL of NA International
Visits program for selecting
Sunna Pam Olafson Furstenau
for this important mission to
Iceland. We all appreciate the
generosity of the sponsors of
the trip, Icelandair and Sunna
and her husband Jeff.
Sunna Olafson Furstenau: Around Iceland in 24 days
Almar Grímsson
Hafnarfjörður, Iceland
The two 2012 VP representatives, Sunna Pam Olafson
Furstenau and Viðar Hreinsson
Sunna with US Ambassador
Luis F. Arrraega and wife
Mary
photos: aLmar Grímsson
Snorri West 2012
Gísli Rúnar Gíslason
with contributions by Karen Óskarsdóttir
Snorri West 2012 participants
Karen Oskarsson and Gisli Runar Gislason,
Snorri West 2012 participants, at the Viking
Statue in Gimli
photo: sarah IsLIefson