The biggest thing I’ve learned about the culture is that it’s much more socially progressive than the US. Especially considering that I was warned about the “whiteness” of the country, but when I landed, I was struck by the amount of diversity amongst advertisement and people that I simply wasn’t prepared for.
When talking to my host mom’s cousin, we had quite a deep conversation regarding the racial issues in Iceland, especially in the western part of the country which is less developed and has a smaller tourist country, and while there was a bit of a language barrier, I gained huge insight of the local opinion on the issue.
On the flipside, on a less serious topic the architecture is so wild to me!
Like there are no overhanging roofs, even though its basically raining al the time, which is wild. and the windows open in a wild way, they are usually rectangular and only a portion of the over all window. I haven’t had a chance to ask about it, but its something that still strikes me as odd. and there is virtually no Air conditioning in this country which is simply wrong. It is cold, yes, BUT when I first got here my hostel room had a massive east-facing window so every day it was sweltering by the time for bed, and the window was a 1/16th of the total window size.
