More Interesting Things About Iceland

Before we leave the country of Iceland, we'd like to share a few more things we learned about this unique country. The most common building material for houses here is concrete. This makes for a drab appearance as you drive around the city. All the roofs are metal. The reason for the concrete and metal is because of the weather. According to our local tour guide, it rains in Iceland "from all directions". We certainly have experienced some of that during our time here. Most people in Iceland buy rather than rent, which causes a problem for young people who cannot afford to buy. We were told that the politicians are working on that. We noticed that there was a lot of new construction going on in Reykjavik, as they are building many new hotels. They can not keep up with the demand due to increased tourism. Our tour guide said that many Icelanders are still in awe that people actually make Iceland a vacation destination. She said that if you told her when she was growing up that people would come here from all over the world to see the Northern Lights, she would have thought you were crazy. The local people in  Reykjavik do also enjoy the Northern Lights just as tourists do. Our tour guide told us that before going out to view the lights, they check a local website that monitors cloud cover and sun spot activity in order to locate the best viewing areas. They then drive "into the dark" anywhere from 30 to 50 miles from Reykjavik, leaving around 10 p.m., spend a few hours watching the "light show", and then return home at 2 or 3 in the morning. The lights have already been seen here this season as we were told that there was a "northern light" sighting last week. And one last tidbit about this beautiful but in some ways unusual country. Iceland maintains a list of approved names. When an Icelander gives birth, the new child must be named from this list. The list is maintained by the Icelandic Naming Committee, which consists of three people who were appointed by the Minister of Justice. There are 1,712 male names and 1,853 female names on the list. If you would like to name your child by a name that is not on the approved registry, you can submit the name to the Naming Committee for approval. They will review it and then let you know if you are allowed to give your child that particular name. The committee will check the name to see if it is compatible with Icelandic tradition, and they also check for the likelihood that it might cause embarrassment to the person bearing the name. Oh, and you are not allowed to give your child a name that does not match the grammatical gender of the child. All Iceland men bear the surname of their father plus the word "son"; for example, Edward Johnson. The women bear the name of the father plus the Icelandic word for daughter, which is dottir; for example, Harriet Johnsdottir. Therefore a brother and sister will not share the same surname. Because of the oddities of the names in Iceland, the phone book is listed in alphabetical order by first name.