The Icelandic Canadian - 01.04.1988, Blaðsíða 33

THE ICELANDIC CANADIAN
31
Can you describe a typical day?
“It’s very ordinary. I’m in the office at
nine to read the newspapers and discuss
news with staff. Three mornings a week,
from ten to twelve, I receive people. Every
citizen can apply for an audience. Perhaps
because I am a woman or conversations
are confidential, many people confide
many things. Sometimes they are individ-
uals with private grievances, sometimes
members of societies or organizations.
They all leave, feeling they have unbur-
dened themselves. In the early afternoon I
write my speeches and articles . . . Yes, I
always write my own addresses. Around
five, there is usually a reception at the
residence, usually the Althing (Parliament)
or anniversaries. As an example, the Uni-
versity of Iceland was 70 years old this
year, and then the College of Surgeons
asked me to host a reception. Things like
that.”
How do you manage all this activity?
“Organization is my key. I like to organ-
ize. Once I have a schedule thought out, it’s
easy to follow it through.”
“I enjoy people and am never put off by
requests, but I am grateful for every evening
I can spend at home. I like to read and I
like to spend as much time as possible
evenings and weekends with my daughter.
This is very important. Although I want to
keep her off display, I take her to exhibi-
tions, which always open in Iceland on a
Saturday, and we always attend the cinema
and theatre together. I’ve been in office
(she counts on her fingers), 17 months,
but I’ve tried to keep my two roles separate.
I think I have succeeded. At a children’s
film premiere recently, the foreign news-
man who took our photo didn’t know it
was my daughter who stood beside me!
Astridur goes to school near the residence
with other children from the neighborhood.
Both of us come to town on weekends to
keep in touch with our old friends; many
of hers are children of my schoolmates.”
You made a stirring comment in your New
Year’s address about drugs and young
people. This seems to be a national problem
now.
“Yes. I am very afraid of drugs. I never
realized the number of young people who,
in an impulsive moment, smuggled in drugs
and are now on a waiting list for a term in
prison (not because there are so many of-
fenders, but because our few prisons have
hardly been filled in all the years till now).
A young person gets six months for smug-
gling, but in the time he waits for space, he
may marry, have a child or get a good job.
His whole life may have changed, yet he
must still serve his time.
It is great to have fun and to amuse
oneself, but using alcohol or drugs to forget
the moment, to forget the hour, to kill
time! Why kill time? Time is precious.
Under the influence of such drugs, one
looks at interior illusions and becomes iso-
lated. Society is for communication, for
friendship and love, not isolation! If every-
one did this, society would be paralyzed.
The exchange of new ideas is inspiring. It
takes time — and they want to kill time!”
What are your pet concerns for Iceland?
“To protect the country and the culture
from erosion.”
The President is an ardent conservation-
ist. Wherever she goes in Iceland, it is part
of her ceremony to plant three saplings:
“one for the boys now growing up, one for
the girls, and one for their brothers or
sisters yet to be born.” This is her way of
continuing the drive for reforestation, for
since settlement in the year 1100, the 25
percent of forested land (much of Iceland
is covered by glaciers and lava) has shrunk
to a miniscule l/100th. The results of this
casual devastation have influenced the
living conditions, the economy, the cli-