MOST AWESOME LETTER:
to: the girl eds….
yer fussing about a asian tourist hotel in niceland? errrr,. iceland?
Hotelling is a national dream there; well, past formenting the
revoultion in the cafe. (managing it)
empires forever, eh?. attached is a post you might like. from my blog.
oh, and I’m 98,000 wds into a novel, almost done the rough draft.
(sf, action adventure) will be missing a few months yet
I miss my soak.
packrat
Dear packrat,
We’re not exactly sure who you are sending this to as there’s no girl called “eds” working at this office. But in any case, we thank you for your letter! We’re really not sure what to say either, but you should treat yourself to a nice bubble bath when you finish your sf. action fiction novel!
Hey guys,
Just wanted to share with you a letter I sent to Tollhúsið after Pósturinn asked me for details on a delivery I got from the UK… I know it’s probably a waste of time, but if we all did the same at least they’d understand a lot of people out there is sick and tired of their practices.
Oh well, have a great weekend Y’ALL 🙂
Góðan dag,
I received a letter from Pósturinn today asking me to share the purchase details of an item I ordered from the British company The Book Depository.
Before I show you the order confirmation I’d like to say that the way Pósturinn and Tollhúsið operate regarding international deliveries is closer to the practices of a military dictatorship than those of a Western democracy. I don’t know who you people think you are going through people’s mail invading their privacy and desperately trying to make some profit you have done nothing to deserve.
I’d also like to let you know how ridiculous (and possibly illegal) it is that I’m asked to pay not just the customs fees but a fee to Pósturinn, whose job, as far as I know, is precisely to deliver mail to the tax-payer.
Here’s the order confirmation for the item I’ve purchased, and by the way, I’m still saving money shopping online. So have a nice day going through people’s mail!
Antón
Dear Antón,
People seem to be so irate with the Tollstjóri these days. We just got a phone call from someone who was so livid, steam was coming from her ears. She gifted her mother a pair of hiking boots and Tollstjóri harassed her about it not being a gift because it wasn’t wrapped in fancy Christmas paper. Oh she was livid. She told us that she’s going to go have pancakes with the president and give him a piece of her mind…
Anyways, thanks for sharing your letter. We feel your pain and so does the person who gifted her mom hiking boots.
Dear Grapevine,
I married an Icelander and moved to Reykjavik from the UK a few months ago. I really like it here and love the culture and history of the place. It’s very chilled and looks pretty too, unlike UK cities. But the one problem I’m having with Icelandic people is that they are too ready to talk in English with me. I know they are trying to be helpful but I want to integrate as much as possible as my future and the future of any kids I have will probably be in Iceland. I’m struggling to pick up the language because whenever I try to practice it with any locals, they change to English almost immediately. I didn’t realise just how bilingual Iceland was until I moved here. I know you get lots of tourists and influence from English speaking countries, but I think there’s too much of a comfort zone for foreigners to not have to bother to speak Icelandic. I know that I personally would push myself a lot harder to learn the language if I knew that is how I would HAVE to communicate to do some things. But I think native Icelanders being so comfortable speaking English makes it easy for the foreign settler to be lazy. On the other hand, tourists who are only visiting the country for short periods of time benefit hugely from being able to communicate with Icelandic people, so I guess I understand. It can just be a bit frustrating some times. I have been told by some Icelanders that the only way to really integrate and break down social barriers is to be able to communicate with them in their native tongue. Do you think this is true? What are your thoughts on this?
Regards,
Steve Whiting
Dear Steve Whiting,
We’ll let you in on a little secret: Icelanders love wery much to show off their English skills. And they are pretty good at it, except they mix up their ‘v’ and ‘w’ sounds all the time. Yes, in Iceland this fine publication is known as The Grapewine.
They may be trying to be helpful, too. And at least they’re not like the French who will sternly feign English incompetency when you try to order a baguette at your local boulangerie.
In any case, there’s only one thing to do about this. Keep speaking your Icelandic. And don’t give up.
—
THE MOST AWESOME GRAPEVINE AIRWAVES CONTEST YET! WINNERS!
HERE ARE THE WINNERS IN OUR AWESOME GRAPEVINE AIRWAVES AWESOME CONTEST FROM LAST MONTH! READ THEIR STORIES AT WWW.AIRWAVES.GRAPEVINE.IS STARTING THIS MONDAY.
1st place: Davíð Arnar Baldursson,
who sometimes mistakes women for guitar cases.
Davíð can visit our office as of Monday 07/11 to reclaim: A giftcard to the awesome Fontana Spa for two, an Icelandic gourmet feast at Tapas bar for two, a trip to Yoko Ono’s Peace Tower from Elding Whale Watching, a goodie bag from Kimi Records, a goodie bag from Record Records, a fancy Grapevine tee, a fancy Grapevine sticker, etc.
2nd place: Sunna Ósk Guðmundsdóttir,
for her delightfully liberal attitude towards one night stands.
Sunna can visit our office as of Monday 07/11 to reclaim: A giftcard to the awesome Fontana Spa for two, a goodie bag from Kimi Records, a goodie bag from Record Records, a fancy Grapevine tee, a fancy Grapevine sticker, etc.
3rd place: Júlía Tómasdóttir, for falling on her face in front of that guy from the band Hurts.
Júlía can visit our office as of Monday 07/11 to reclaim: A giftcard to the awesome Fontana Spa for two, a goodie bag from Kimi Records, a goodie bag from Record Records, a fancy grapevine tee, a fancy Grapevine sticker, etc.
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