I live in Iceland AMA

[Whynotnowbaby]

As the title says. I’ve lived here for a couple of years now having moved from the U.K.

I was nine when we moved there. My stepfather joined the UN and Iceland was his first posting. This was in the early 70s and I know so much has changed since then. I went to school on the American Air Force base in Keflavik which was an hour away by bus. It was a long day for me, especially in the winter when the sun would only briefly appear on the horizon. The rest of the day passed in darkness but there were so many bookstores to distract ourselves with and the Icelanders were extremely kind and welcoming. They have the most wonderful sagas and are excellent storytellers. I remember the smell of cod drying outside, and blue skies, the sea and brightly coloured houses and lava as far as the eye could see. We used to swim in public outdoor baths with pools ranging from comfortably warm to very hot.

I did a module in Icelandic literature and love the country, one of the places I would consider moving to! How long have you lived in Iceland? And do you pay a lot in taxes?

Have you read Names for the Sea by Sarah Moss? It's an account of a year she spend living and working in Iceland with her young family. She said that it's very difficult to find secondhand goods in Iceland as they prefer to buy everything new.

She said that it's very difficult to find secondhand goods in Iceland as they prefer to buy everything new.

That's nonsense. She just didn't know where to look, I should think.

Although I see that she was there just before and during the crash and I arrived a little bit after the crash, so maybe it wasn't nonsense then! I've heard some crazy things about 2008 culture so I actually can believe that. It's certainly not the case any more, though.

Lucky you!

Do you think you'll stay and become an Icelandic citizen?

Whynotnowbaby I think you're completely right about the immigration process.

It's a lot more hassle for non EU/EEA citizens and really the best time to move to Iceland would have been last year because we had freedom of movement then. I wouldn't have been allowed to stay in Iceland initially without freedom of movement (they'd let me in now) so I'm eternally grateful for it and quite sad the drawbridge has been pulled up for other British citizens. But there are a reasonable amount of immigrants from outside Europe, so of course it can be done.

For non EU/EEA citizens, you have three options. 1. Marry an Icelander. 2. Study in Iceland (this gets you in temporarily, but it's a foot in the door and lots of people never go home again because it's easier to get a job once you're here and can make some connections). 3. Get a job offer, but as OP says, it has to be a skilled position that in theory they couldn't fill with a candidate from the EU/EEA (in reality if they want you then you'll be hired, this requirement is just a hoop for the company to jump through). If you can't speak Icelandic your options are limited, but there are some international companies that don't mind. The immigrants I know that got in via this route work in fields like computer programming, finance and academia.

Do you have an amazing view from your house and if so can you post a pic because I am envious!

ghoststomonsoon I read it before I moved here and it scared me a bit, it sounded a bit bleak and depressing but that hasn’t been my experience at all. I agree that there is plenty of second hand stuff around now, but maybe it’s just the foreigners that buy it. I know several Icelandic families who have bought a new house and immediately stripped our everything (down to floorboards and ceilings) and replaced it all with new things which seems crazy to me as it all costs a fortune here.

We have a riding holiday booked for midjuly so fingers crossed .

I’ve been here nearly two years, taxes are high but my take home pay is similar to what I earned in England for the same job and the returns you get for the taxes seem good (very cheap preschool education, good services etc). Sometimes I feel l would love to stay forever and others I don’t like the idea of being an outsider for the rest of my life. We will take it a year at a time!

You won't always feel like an outsider. Two years is still so early, nobody is fully integrated that soon. I'm a citizen and coming up for a decade here and while I will always consider myself an immigrant (and proud of it) Iceland is 100% my home now. If you can learn the language you'll be set :)

Are your children leikskóli or grunnskóli age? How they are doing with the language?

ilovemydogandmrobama2 ISK is the only legal currency in Iceland. Don't send USD or EUR because they won't be accepted. Last I checked it was classified as an 'exotic currency' by UK banks so make sure to leave plenty of time to get some because they probably won't have it in stock. Really everyone just uses cards here but I guess a 12 year old won't have his own debit card.

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/AMA/3295729-Immigrant-in-Iceland-AMA

This is one I did about 2 years ago under a different name if anybody wants to browse more Iceland related Q&A

I’m going to have a read of that Puffinshop it’s always interesting to see others’ impressions of the same thing. Are you married to an Icelander? I have one in each type of school. Ds is at leikskóla and pretty good at Icelandic now, dd at grúnnskola and struggling much more, mainly because so many people speak to her in English - including most of the others in her class. I’m doing quite well, I now have the confidence to speak to people in Icelandic socially but still need to deal with serious conversations in English, much less confident with writing and I have to really focus to understand what they’re talking about on the radio and dh finds it really hard but he doesn’t work with Icelanders so isn’t hearing it all the time.

They are both really interesting threads. I would love to go to Iceland one day.

What are the men like?! probably you can't answer that as you have a partner. I visited around 3 years ago and just remember meeting/seeing some really strikingly attractive men. Viking-esque, tall, strong features. And really had that laid back attitude you mentioned OP. I'm single now so really must go back!!

There are some gorgeous men and some less so. Quite a lot of them fit the blonde (or sometimes red headed) viking stereotype if that’s your thing!

@PuffinShop - yes, he has a debit card, and fortunately cannot go overdrawn , Just had email from school hat the trip to Iceland has been rescheduled for March 2021, so hopefully will be able to see the Northern Lights?

Is there anything that English-speaking people do accidentally that is considered rude or socially unacceptable in Iceland?

justilou Maybe hundreds of things that they hate me for and I’ve never realised. The one thing I know about is that they hate it if you don’t close the toilet lid before flushing and find it really unhygienic. I completely understand that but I still hate having to lift the lid in a public toilet and never knowing what I might find!

I love Iceland! Only visited once, we had this soup in bread but not sure what bread it was! I was too scared to hire a car and drive around incase we got lost in the dark, I wish I did now though!

We went in November and the Christmas decorations were already up, someone told me this was because it gets so dark people put them up early to brighten their mood, I loved that!

Also another person told me that Iceland has a high rate of anti depressant users as the winter months get so dark and depressing, I'm not sure if that's true ot not though!

I didn't find it depressing at all, I would love to go back one day!

Sorry overuse of the !!! there, it was my last trip abroad so good memories

Fab thread op. I've always wanted to visit Iceland.

Great thread! We visited last year and had a great time. I loved the colourful buildings and I’m so jealous you can buy slices of warm pizza in the supermarket, a bit like Costco here I suppose.

We had two attempts at the Northern Lights with no luck.

Would love to return some day.

I'm sure the dark is not depressing if you're experiencing it for a few weeks on holiday. You might feel differently after 3 months of it while you're living with all your normal responsibilities. On the other hand, you might not - it certainly doesn't bother everyone (wish I was one of them), but I don't think you can really say until you've done at least one full winter, preferably several as some are definitely worse than others. I get through the winter, I function, I feel relatively OK, definitely not clinically depressed. But when it starts getting lighter in February I feel like I'm coming back to life and it's only at that point that I realise how lethargic I've become. It's so hard to get my kids up in the mornings in winter as well, so it clearly affects them too.

There is actually a big debate here about whether the clocks should be changed because we are in the wrong time zone for our longitude and about an hour behind the sun (i.e. the sun is at its highest point at 1 pm, not noon). I am desperate for them to change the time zone to be in line with the sun, which would mean a few more weeks getting up in the light. Lots of other people disagree because they want the extra light when they leave work instead. The sleep experts agree with me!

Anyway, if you liked November you should come back in May, you'll be blown away. November is horrible ;)