Iceland is a large volcanic island in the North Atlantic Ocean, close to the Arctic circle. Its area is ca. 103,000 square kilometres. This is quite a lot of land considering that it is populated by small numbers of about 260,000 people, and that 130-140,000 of these people live in around the capital city, Reykjavik. All our towns are built on the coast. The middle of Iceland is mostly deserts and glaciers with many active volcanoes, but it is very beautiful. We speak Icelandic, but we also learn Danish and English in school. Our climate is relatively mild and wet in the south but much colder up north. The winters here are very cold and the summers are reasonable, they are not very warm. The weather is very unpredictable it varies from day to day, hour by hour. One day it might be warm and sunny and the next it will snow. On average over Iceland the temperature hangs at about 10 degrees Celsius below 0.
My name is Halldora and I am 15 years old. I live in Reykjavik with my mother and my two sisters, but most of my family lives here as well. As a child I lived in North-America and England and went to school there, but I always spent my summer and Christmas vacations in Iceland. This winter I have been in school here in Reykjavík.
It is quite difficult to live here as a teenager if you are not accepted. To be accepted you have to wear the right clothes, have the right attitude, know the right people etc. Being fashionable is everything. There is a lot of teenage drinking, smoking and drugs. Under age sex is also very common. This is probably because teenagers here start working early which means they have their own money, and parents can’t really control what kids do with the money they earn. Kids grow up quicker here than in most places. But this could also be due to the lack of discipline both at home and at school. Kids here basically get away with anything. You address the teachers by their first name. You can eat and talk in the classroom during lessons, but of course this varies from school to school.
National sports here in Iceland are handball, basketball and football. We have come quite far in sports. To show this The World Championship in Handball is being held in Iceland in May of this year.
The main activities in Iceland are fishing and sheep farming. Half of the land is cultivated. We export fish all around the world: to Japan, Europe, America etc. Our fish is expensive because it is fresh, not polluted. We also export fish oils, mutton, wool and ponies. The Icelandic pony is a lovely creature with a mild manner and can walk in five different ways.
Houses in Iceland are very well built, they can withstand earthquakes. The houses are also very warm due to cold weather. Hot water from the ground is used to heat the houses. In Reykjavik all our water comes from the round which means we always have clean, pure water from our taps. The water is also used to make electricity. We don’t use coal which means less pollution because there is no burning of fossil fuels. There is hardly any industrial work here. That is maybe one of the things you notice when you come here; no smoke rising from big chimneys. We get a strong wind from the North Pole which makes Iceland colder but it also means no air pollution like in England. The only real polluters are the cars, and there is a lot of them about. Icelanders love their cars.
It wasn’t that long ago that we used to be really poor. We didn’t own anything and we couldn’t do anything. For example my great grandmother lived in a mud house most of her life. This was when the Danish ruled over Iceland. Now, we have the oldest parliament in the world. It is called Albingi. Our government is republic. We gained independence from Denmark in 1944.
Kids are quite safe here, there is a low crime rate. Kids play outside till about 10-11 p.m. Especially in the summer when the days are really long and it is bright 24 hours a day. In the winters it gets dark about 4 p.m. and the days get much more shorter.
A traditional Icelandic meal would consist of a lot of fish, meat, potatoes and vegetables. There is also a lot of bread eaten, there are a vast amount of bakeries in Iceland. Kids here drink a lot of coca cola and eat a lot of sweets. Iceland has the most coca cola consumption in the world, in relation to the population of course.
Tourism here is increasing a great deal. There is a lot of interest in The New Year. Tourists like to come and look at the fire works on New Years Eve. There is really nothing like it. We have bonfires everywhere and the sky is full of colours and sparkling sounds. The atmosphere is brilliant. Tourists who come during the summer travel a lot across the country, camping.
There are loads of things happening in Reykjavik. There are coffee houses, cinemas, theatres, discos, bars etc. The cinemas here are really big and fancy and comfortable. They are also expensive. All places that sell alcohol have an age limit of 21. You have to be 21 to go to discos, bars and clubs and stuff. There is one place in Reykjavik which is for 15 years old and older. It is a disco and there is no alcohol served. But many teenagers have fake I.D.’s so that they can get into other clubs. Going out to eat is very expensive here but there is still a lot of people who do it. Icelanders are always out on the town and on weekends the streets are full of people.
Equal rights is a very big issue here in Iceland. Women are treated the same way as men. Woman are very independent and take pride in their sex. They often even educate themselves more than men. The president of Iceland is a woman and has been in office for many many years and is greatly respected, her name is Vigdis Finnbogadottir.
06.06.1995
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