From far away it may seem that Iceland is a country full of ice and chilly weather and Eskimos live there but the fact is totally different from this misconception. The Icelanders are very contemporary and yet very conservative when it comes of following and preserving their traditions. It is said that some of their traditions are prevailing from twelfth century. If it is so, then it must be said that Icelanders have continued and kept their traditions alive in a very nice manner.
Traditions in calling and greetings: people of Iceland call each other by their first name and even in telephone and other directories people are listed by their first name and not by the surname. People of Iceland greet each other with a kiss on each other’s cheek on meetings. Only two persons i.e. the honorable president and the honorably chief bishop of Iceland are addressed formally.
Traditions while visiting somewhere: it is a very sweet tradition in Iceland that guests are accommodated in homes rather than hotels or restaurants as seen in many countries. The other tradition widely followed here is that people often remove their shoes before entering the house.
Traditions in dressing and seating: dressing is very normal and casual until it is said to dress formally. All formal parties’ ends before midnight but this time can be extended depending on the size of the occasion. At formal events seating for guests are arranged in international format. The seat of guest of honor is on the right side of the hostess if guest of honor is male and if guest of honor is female then she is seated on the right side of the host.
Traditions for gifts: a very common tradition is that to take a bouquet of flowers or gift when going to an Icelandic home for the first time. It is also seen that if someone forgets this tradition then he will send a bouquet or a small gift, the other day with a thanksgiving greeting card. It is usual to bring gifts to attend birthday parties, wedding parties, at Christmas parties. At the time of birth, gifts are given to newborn child.
Tipping: as per rule of government of Iceland, tipping is strictly prohibited in Iceland, especially to taxi drivers, in hotels and restaurants and to tour guides. But their is no restriction on offering tip to fishing guide
Traditions in dining: cooking and food of Iceland is almost alike the other bigger countries of Europe but the essence and love are totally Icelandic. Raw material used for cooking is extremely natural. Many types of freshwater fish and sea fish are used as food product. Very widely used meat are of lamb, pork, beef and poultry includes chicken, turkey, geese and some names like ptarmigan. There is no scope of growing vegetation because of extremely cool weather but still vegetables are grown their in warm houses which are warmed by the heat of geo-thermally heated water. Traditional Icelandic food includes smoked lamb, singed sheep, meat soup and some vegetarian also. Dried fish and cured shark are another two traditional foods but they are more used like appetizers. Whipped cream with blue berries is the most popular dessert of Iceland. All types of beers, hard drinks and soft drinks are made in Iceland but wine is all imported from neighboring countries.
Author Bio:
Dagur Jonsson is the editor of Iceland Guest, a website specializing in tourist information for travelers to Iceland. For more information visit www.icelandguest.com
Saturday, September 29, 2007
Health and education in Iceland
Although Iceland’s population can be counted on fingers, but when it comes to their standard of living, it is among the best in the world. Not only in overall living but they have maintained a very high priority for their education and health related issues. Let’s review the condition of education and health of Iceland and its people.
EDUCATION
Iceland has kept the level of its education very high. At present literacy there can be compared to some very developed countries of the world. It is the case of 1907, that it was made mandatory for children below 14 years of age to attend the schools. Then in 1946, this age limit was extended to 16 years. Beyond 16 years, there is a provision of high schools or specialized schools. The basic principle of Icelandic mode of providing education is that everyone should be given equal opportunities to attend schools and acquire education. Points like sexual difference, financial condition, their location, and religion, any type of physical or mental disability or cultural or social background are not considered as hindrances in somebody’s path to get an education.
The reason why Icelandic mode of education is world class because they know that to compete with the ever advancing world, they need to provide their children, a world class training and facilities. By the rule of government of Iceland, everyone comes under the law of taking free education in primary, upper-secondary and at university level. Because the policies of the government are made in such a way that it encourages the founding of any private school, that’s why many private institutions are working to build on the school system. Otherwise the education system in Iceland is traditionally an organized public sector. In 1998, a new school education policy was launched here in Iceland which aimed at providing the students of Iceland with the education which is best in the world. The reason behind launching this policy was to create a very efficient and very flexible system for school education which focuses on the needs and requirements of the modern day world.
HEALTH
Just like education, health care services of Iceland are considered one of the best in the world. All citizens of Iceland have equal opportunities to have the benefit of medical services to maintain their mental and physical health. A law from government of Iceland ensures that no one should be deprived from health care services on the basis of sex, religion, beliefs, nationality, rank and color of skin or any other attributes. Major part of Icelandic health service is financed by government and this financing is made on the base of taxes or 85% and 15% is fees for the service conducted.
The country of Iceland is divided in health care regions and every region has its own health care centre. In some parts of Iceland, these health care centers run in collaboration with the local community hospital. These centers fulfill the services of treating, general care, examining, nursing and some social services like family planning, maternity services, health care for children and health care in schools. Various types of hospitals such as specialized training hospitals, general hospital and community hospitals are there in Iceland. The specialized hospitals perform serious and complicate surgeries with efficiency because the staff is very qualified and the performance is very professional. Average life of females is 83 years and it is 79 years for males and this is highest in the world. Infant mortality rate is 3 per 1000 births which is lowest in the world.
Author Bio:
Dagur Jonsson is the editor of Iceland Guest, a website specializing in tourist information for travelers to Iceland. For more information visit www.icelandguest.com
EDUCATION
Iceland has kept the level of its education very high. At present literacy there can be compared to some very developed countries of the world. It is the case of 1907, that it was made mandatory for children below 14 years of age to attend the schools. Then in 1946, this age limit was extended to 16 years. Beyond 16 years, there is a provision of high schools or specialized schools. The basic principle of Icelandic mode of providing education is that everyone should be given equal opportunities to attend schools and acquire education. Points like sexual difference, financial condition, their location, and religion, any type of physical or mental disability or cultural or social background are not considered as hindrances in somebody’s path to get an education.
The reason why Icelandic mode of education is world class because they know that to compete with the ever advancing world, they need to provide their children, a world class training and facilities. By the rule of government of Iceland, everyone comes under the law of taking free education in primary, upper-secondary and at university level. Because the policies of the government are made in such a way that it encourages the founding of any private school, that’s why many private institutions are working to build on the school system. Otherwise the education system in Iceland is traditionally an organized public sector. In 1998, a new school education policy was launched here in Iceland which aimed at providing the students of Iceland with the education which is best in the world. The reason behind launching this policy was to create a very efficient and very flexible system for school education which focuses on the needs and requirements of the modern day world.
HEALTH
Just like education, health care services of Iceland are considered one of the best in the world. All citizens of Iceland have equal opportunities to have the benefit of medical services to maintain their mental and physical health. A law from government of Iceland ensures that no one should be deprived from health care services on the basis of sex, religion, beliefs, nationality, rank and color of skin or any other attributes. Major part of Icelandic health service is financed by government and this financing is made on the base of taxes or 85% and 15% is fees for the service conducted.
The country of Iceland is divided in health care regions and every region has its own health care centre. In some parts of Iceland, these health care centers run in collaboration with the local community hospital. These centers fulfill the services of treating, general care, examining, nursing and some social services like family planning, maternity services, health care for children and health care in schools. Various types of hospitals such as specialized training hospitals, general hospital and community hospitals are there in Iceland. The specialized hospitals perform serious and complicate surgeries with efficiency because the staff is very qualified and the performance is very professional. Average life of females is 83 years and it is 79 years for males and this is highest in the world. Infant mortality rate is 3 per 1000 births which is lowest in the world.
Author Bio:
Dagur Jonsson is the editor of Iceland Guest, a website specializing in tourist information for travelers to Iceland. For more information visit www.icelandguest.com
Iceland – a country with a great cuisine
For ages, Iceland has stayed unaffected by time and because of this fact, ninety percent of food of Iceland is very closely connected with nature and its components. Now tourists coming to Iceland are more interested in Icelandic food rather than volcanoes and other wonders of the nature. The people of Iceland also leave no stone unturned just to see that no tourist or visitor leaves Iceland without tasting and appreciating the food available here.
This is probably the reason why there are number of restaurants that are determined to provide quality food to the visitors. Most of these Iceland’s restaurants are serving the specialty of Iceland i.e. fresh seafood, fresh meat food from animals that are brought up naturally. Infact, all restaurants and hotels in entire Iceland continuously offers all types of food products that are made here. They never allow quality to be an issue and other reason why the quality is superb is because the atmosphere here is very clean with no water or air pollution at all. It is said that Iceland’s lamb meat is best in the world because the sheep here are free to roam on mountains and grow up very naturally. The government of Iceland has issued strict regulation regarding all meat products and the use of hormones to enhance the quality is strictly liable to be punished.
Iceland is the proud manufacturer of a big range of cheese and other milk products and the reason behind this is the abundant supply of milk. As per records, more than eighty types of cheese are made here and some of them are famous worldwide. Infact, some of these renowned cheeses have won international awards. Names of some famous cheese are:
» Skyr [it is something which is not totally yoghurt and not totally German quark]
» Mysa
Fishes caught by Icelandic fisherman from untouched water of North Atlantic have proved to the world that no fish from elsewhere in the world is tastier than them. For thousands of years, fish has been the main itinerary of Icelandic feast and because of its non-stop supply; one can enjoy the taste of fresh caught fish any time of the year. Haddock cod, plaice, halibut, herring and shrimps makes the course of Icelandic dine complete. Poultry is also the main part of Icelandic food and the poultry business is also flourishing here. Birds that are tamed and used as food, out of which the most are chicken, duck and turkey. A very special type of geese is also tamed and used extensively as a food product. Because of the fact that Iceland is situated in extreme north of European continent and also due to its cool weathers it’s very hard to grow vegetables but still many green vegetables and fruits can be seen here in Iceland’s food menu. The different thing is that all these vegetation is done under the geo-thermally heated arenas.
Traditional food of Iceland called thorramature is also very popular but the point is that its availability is restricted from January to March. It is basically a range of preserved foods which includes smoked and salted lamb, seared sheep heads, dried fish, smoked salmon, cured shark and many other objects. Bread includes deep fried paper like bread and rye pancakes.
Author Bio:
Dagur Jonsson is the editor of Iceland Guest, a website specializing in tourist information for travelers to Iceland. For more information visit www.icelandguest.com
This is probably the reason why there are number of restaurants that are determined to provide quality food to the visitors. Most of these Iceland’s restaurants are serving the specialty of Iceland i.e. fresh seafood, fresh meat food from animals that are brought up naturally. Infact, all restaurants and hotels in entire Iceland continuously offers all types of food products that are made here. They never allow quality to be an issue and other reason why the quality is superb is because the atmosphere here is very clean with no water or air pollution at all. It is said that Iceland’s lamb meat is best in the world because the sheep here are free to roam on mountains and grow up very naturally. The government of Iceland has issued strict regulation regarding all meat products and the use of hormones to enhance the quality is strictly liable to be punished.
Iceland is the proud manufacturer of a big range of cheese and other milk products and the reason behind this is the abundant supply of milk. As per records, more than eighty types of cheese are made here and some of them are famous worldwide. Infact, some of these renowned cheeses have won international awards. Names of some famous cheese are:
» Skyr [it is something which is not totally yoghurt and not totally German quark]
» Mysa
Fishes caught by Icelandic fisherman from untouched water of North Atlantic have proved to the world that no fish from elsewhere in the world is tastier than them. For thousands of years, fish has been the main itinerary of Icelandic feast and because of its non-stop supply; one can enjoy the taste of fresh caught fish any time of the year. Haddock cod, plaice, halibut, herring and shrimps makes the course of Icelandic dine complete. Poultry is also the main part of Icelandic food and the poultry business is also flourishing here. Birds that are tamed and used as food, out of which the most are chicken, duck and turkey. A very special type of geese is also tamed and used extensively as a food product. Because of the fact that Iceland is situated in extreme north of European continent and also due to its cool weathers it’s very hard to grow vegetables but still many green vegetables and fruits can be seen here in Iceland’s food menu. The different thing is that all these vegetation is done under the geo-thermally heated arenas.
Traditional food of Iceland called thorramature is also very popular but the point is that its availability is restricted from January to March. It is basically a range of preserved foods which includes smoked and salted lamb, seared sheep heads, dried fish, smoked salmon, cured shark and many other objects. Bread includes deep fried paper like bread and rye pancakes.
Author Bio:
Dagur Jonsson is the editor of Iceland Guest, a website specializing in tourist information for travelers to Iceland. For more information visit www.icelandguest.com
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