Icelandic Climate

The Icelandic Climate is quite varying, as we experienced while being there. In one day, the weather can shift from being sunny, to snowy, to rainy, to cold, to quite warm. Because it is an island, the country experiences cold oceanic weather but is warmer than would be expected for its location due to the North Atlantic current which is also helped by the Irminger current. The island is also crossed by the polar circle which causes daylight for most of the day and night during the summer months. This is referred to as "the midnight sun". While short bursts of weather are frequent in Iceland, thunderstorms are very rare. If they do occur, it is most common in the late summer months where the temperatures are averagely in the upper sixties to mid-seventies in degrees fahrenheit. Being in Iceland, we saw all types of weather, mostly rain, which left us chilled to the bone even though it was in the mid-thirties to low-forties which was warmer than it was in the United States at the time. We also saw very high winds which caused it to seem as though it were raining horizontally. Hoods and umbrellas were quite useless.

Naeturvaktin, Iceland's Most Popular TV Show

Naeturvaktin, or The Night Shift, is part of a trilogy, its sequels being The Day Shift, and The Prison Shift. It first aired in 2007 and won an Edda award for Best TV Series. Bjarnfreddarson was a movie created as a conclusion to the trilogy which was nominated for 11 Edda awards and was watched by over twenty percent of the Icelandic population. The show revolves around the lives of three patrol station employees on Laugavegur in Reykjavik, Georg, Olafur, and Daniel. Georg, being the boss orders the other employers to do many insane things throughout the series which is why the show is so popular. An adaptation of the show is in the works for the American industry in which to producers are working together to rework the characters and make the show a success in this country as well!

Icelandic Phallological Museum

The Phallological Museum, or Penis Museum, in Reykjavik, Iceland hold the largest collection of penises and penile parts in the world. It has 280 pieces from 93 different animal species and even supposedly including parts form Icelandic elves and trolls! The museum states that because Icelandic folklore describes these elves and trolls as invisible, these penises cannot be seen. In 2011 the museum received its first human penis; however,the removal went incorrectly and the penis became a grayish shriveled mass in which the museum is now searching for a better one. 
The museum was started by Sigurður Hjartarson who developed an interest in penises after receiving a cattle whip made from a bull's penis. It is now run by his son, Hjörtur Gísli Sigurðsson. The museum also includes crafts such as lampshades made from the scrotums of bulls. The museum is a huge tourist attraction and even has had a Canadian documentary made about it titled "The Final Member". More information can be found at http://www.phallus.is/en/. 

Landmannalaugar

Landmannalaugar is a region near Hekla, one of Iceland's volcanoes, located in the southern region of Iceland's highlands. It is very popular amongst tourists, hikers, and photographers because of the large lava fields and multicolored rhyolite mountains. These mountains display colors like pink, green, blue, yellow, purple, brown, white, and black. Rhyolite is an igneous, volcanic rock that varies in texture. This region is most popular during the summer months because the main road through the area is closed at that time. Hikes vary from one hour to four hours and even up to three to four days hiking the Hekla volcano. There are also geothermal hot springs in the area which are very popular as well. Other activities include Icelandic horse back riding and Arctic Char fishing, a type of cold-water fish. During the summer, when this area is very popular, the Mountain Mall is open. The Mountain Mall is an eco-friendly American school bus from the '70s that sells groceries and objects useful for camping.

Icelandic Stereotypes Dissolved

There are quite a few stereotypes about Iceland that actually are not true. One for example, if that people think that because it is named Iceland, that the country is extremely freezing and covered in ice and snow. This is not true, however. For it's location, Iceland is actually rather warm with mild winters. This is because of the North Atlantic Current. Average temperatures usually do not drop lower than a few degrees Celsius, or around 37.4 degrees Fahrenheit. There is also a lot of land that has almost no snow on it with a lot of green, moss, grass, etc. Another stereotype is wondering if Iceland is clothed in complete darkness in the winter. This is also not true. In December, the sun rises around 11:30 AM and sets around 3:30 PM. In the summer time, it is light almost 24 hours a day, however, it does get a bit  darker in the afternoons. Many people think the all Icelanders look alike with blonde hair and blue eyes and while several may, this is not a constant. Icelanders can all have different physical features just as people in other countries do. People may also stereotype that after the economic crisis in Iceland, people are much more savvy and stingy with spending their money. This may be true in some instances, but overall, there is not a huge difference in socio-economic classes in Iceland in general. This is seen often in Nordic countries. While there are rich and poor, the rich are not living frivolously in giant homes and the poor are not confined to "low-income" areas.

Media in Iceland

Media in Iceland is quite vast despite the small size of the country. RUV is the most popular television station in Iceland. It started out as a radio broadcast in the 1930s and became a television broadcast in 1966. Most of it's funding comes from advertising but also partly from a license fee which includes a commitment to promote the language and history of Iceland. Stod 2, or Channel 2, is a popular private network that shows mostly American programs but also many original Icelandic programs. After the economic "crash" in 2008, Icelandic advertising companies, especially those of television commercials, had to find inexpensive ways of creating commercials that would still sell their products. Ras 1 and Ras 2 are the most popular radio stations. The most popular newspaper in Iceland is Frettabladid and is distributed to homes for free, something that does not happen in the United States. In Iceland, there is complete freedom of speech for all broadcasting which means that there are no speech restrictions on television and much less "parental discretion" is advised. There are also no restrictions on the internet by the government.  Social media is also huge in Iceland and over 80% of people over thirteen use Facebook. Below is a link to an article on Icelandic advertising and how it has evolved lately. It includes great examples of television commercials.

http://beakstreetbugle.com/articles/view/240/advertising-industry-in-iceland-sigtryggur-magnason

Homosexuality in Iceland

In 2009 in Iceland, when Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir became the first openly gay Prime Minister, the marriage law was almost immediately amended to be between two people, officially making gay marriage legal. Prohibition laws against sexual orientation discrimination have been in place since 1996. Same sex couples have also had equal rights in adoption and other child services since 2006. In 2012, laws were passed that required the University Hospital of Iceland to dedicate and entire department to diagnosing gender dysphoria and to gender reassignment surgery in which case, people can legally change their name, gender, social security number and ID. Gay pride parades are held every August. It is very clear that Iceland, as the country is in almost everything, is way ahead of other countries with making the LGBT community feel completely equal. The laws of Iceland are very progressive especially in comparison to countries like the United States in which gay marriage laws are just starting to come around yet only in certain states.