Iceland June 2001
In June 2001, we took an 11 day Elderhostel tour of Iceland. We found the
Icelanders to be very warm and friendly; they and their history are very
appealing. Some things we found particularly interesting were:
1) All native Icelanders are descended from a few individuals, and nearly
everyone can trace their genealogy back to the original settlers--it's already
done for them and on file in libraries.
2) They are very protective of their language. Instead of adding modern words,
such as "computer" to their vocabulary, Icelanders make up a new word
3) Iceland did not enter the modern age until World War II. Until that time,
they were an agrarian society, often living in sod houses widely separated
from each other. Now the majority live in Reykjavik and their economy is one of
the foremost in technologies, especially geothermics.
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