Ask me anything about Iceland, its history, culture, and modern politics

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Ask/Tell > Ask me anything about Iceland, its history, culture, and modern politics

Laverna: Mar 21, 2013

I was just about to make a "Tell me about studying in Iceland" thread in the Tourism and Travel board when I saw this!

I'm planning on going on an exchange to the University of Iceland at the start of next year so there are a few things I'd love to know, if you (or anyone else!) can answer them for me that would be great.

What is public transport like? I'm a loser and haven't got my license yet, so driving around will be out of the question for me. That hasn't really been a problem here since I live within walking distance of campus. What is Reykjavik like in this regard, are most things within walking distance?

Speaking of which, what is flatting like there? Is it very expensive? I'm not too keen on going into an international dorm of any sort since I don't want to be one of those exchange students who only sticks with the people from my country and doesn't interact with the locals much. I see that happen far too often here (especially with Americans, they tend to come over in pre-arranged hordes) and I'd like to meet a variety of people while I'm over there. What's the best way to meet people outside uni?

Also, I've gathered that alcohol is quite expensive over there. Despite the notorious drinking culture in my country I'm only really a social drinker, and won't mind too much to go without. But I am curious how much it costs for a cheap bottle of vodka.

# ¿ Jul 26, 2013 14:19

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# ¿ Apr 28, 2024 17:33

Laverna: Mar 21, 2013

quote:

To meet people outside of Uni is to find something to get involved with or go out drinking and be gregarious. Concerts, political things, art stuff, the local bar, all offer chances of social interaction but the onus is far more often on you to initiate the social encounter, as most Icelanders aren't as sociable as I am. You could try hanging with goons but honestly I can't vouch for any of the others, Freudian seems ok but Rulesbook is a dick. The others are pretty quiet, so ehh. I could take ya out but unless you enjoy political activism or nerd poo poo you might be bored. Drinking is, of course, always an option.

Where you from btw? Icelanders in general drink pretty much like most of the harder European nations; the Polish, Lithuanian or Latvian peeps I've gotten hammered with were mildly impressed by the Icelandic appetite for vodka.
That said, the absolute cheapest half litre bottle of vodka you could find would still run you up around 34 bucks. Beer is a bit cheaper but mostly you just suffer the prices with stoic silence, or loud complaints about government monopolies.

I'm from New Zealand. :parrot:

I'm not too social myself, so I'm pretty terrified of going the whole time without making any friends at all (I sound paranoid, but it has happened before. To be fair I was 11, but I still count it). I'm hoping to get involved in some things and join some clubs or whatever though!

Gigs and art galleries are the sorts of things I get dragged along to. Whenever I try and think about what kind of social things I actually do I'm stumped. Probably just drinking with friends.
Maybe I should get into some more nerdy kind of stuff. I had a blast playing Dungeons and Dragons for the first time with some friends recently! :v:

(Or a beginners variation of it. I quite like board games and improvisation and such. Is there much in the way of improvisational theatre there?)

quote:

Renting, you mean? Uhhh, let's see, one of the cheaper apartments I know about has 4 people renting, throwing together 250 quid a head? (That's, uh, 415 bucks) I dunno how expensive that is compared to where you at but renting here is fairly expensive? The dorm is a pretty legit choice, if you can get in; poo poo is central as gently caress, in walking distance from most of the city worth visiting.

Hmm, that sounds a bit too expensive for me. (Unless your price is per month, in which case that's not too bad.) I pay about NZ$130 a week for my flat and that's decent. I guess I can try to get into the dorm if the opportunity arises but it doesn't sound like that's a guaranteed thing. What kind of accommodation do the locals and the exchange students who don't make it into the dorm use? Do they usually go flatting or living with parents/host family?

What is food like? You said it's quite expensive to eat out, which sucks for me since I haven't really gotten the hang of just cooking for myself yet.
And local food? I don't mean things like cows head and sharks, I mean stuff like a national fizzy drink or lollies or snacks. I just love exploring the supermarkets in different countries and seeing all the cool and interesting food and products. Any nordic stuff would probably be pretty new to me, since I've never really gone any further north than Germany.
I'm pretty excited to go to IKEA again! We don't have one here and I just find it so cool!

# ¿ Jul 27, 2013 11:22

Laverna: Mar 21, 2013

Deceitful Penguin posted:

(My cousin is visiting our grandmother right now and seeing as he's studying photography..)

That is an adorable dog!

quote:

Ah, a Kiwi. Known a fair bit of those, just expect some people to ask you if you've been to where they shot the LOTR movies and how Icelandic mutton compares a lot.

Thanks for the heads up! I'll make sure I visit lots of LOTR spots and eat as much mutton as I can before I leave.
I'll be sure to ask them about Game of Thrones in return. Think they're still going to be filming that there in 2014?

quote:

No, that's per month, although finding an apartment can be a bit of a hassle. Almost all of the exchange students I knew were at the dorms, with only the younger ones back in high school having host parents. Renting wouldn't be impossible but you'd probs need some assistance or roomies to make it possible. The dorms are really your best bet.

Ah, that's good! I'm so used to the rent-per-week thing.
I'll probably see if the uni helps with finding accommodation. If I can find a decent flat then that would be a great. But the dorms definitely sound like they have their pros too.
It's a shame you guys don't have google street view though!

quote:

There are, what, 3 different candy companies and 2 soda bottling ones? There is a lot of that stuff, but the only one I really miss is the pineapple/mango soda. Icelanders take their foreign food seriously too, so there's plenty of variety considering how small it is. Hell, I still miss the great Thai noodles I got back home. There's decent variety and most of the food is good.

How is the price of sushi? I know that in continental Europe it's insanely expensive. Here it's not cheap, but compared to over there it's cheap as chips. I love sushi and I always cry a little inside when I see one piece of nigiri for 4CHF.

quote:

Let the record state that FreudianSlippers is a holder of the right opinions in Politics, a good taste in avatars and in video-games. I just don't know him or his character personally, so I'd be leery of pushing any Kiwis on him, as kiwis are a fuzzy burden to bear. That said he is undoubtedly a man of honour and humility who would be happy to take you out drinking, ne?

I have decided to do A Smart Thing and start saving up a fund now specifically for going out drinking! No more will future me be doomed to be the person who sits alone in my flat/dorm typing on forums instead of out drinking.
Although, that's what I'm doing right now even though I have a bottle of wine within sight of me... For shame, me.

# ¿ Jul 29, 2013 23:35

Laverna: Mar 21, 2013

Deceitful Penguin posted:

This is wise. Everyone likes a man that brings the vodka.

They won't like me then.

Are there any courses (in English) at the University of Iceland that you'd recommend? Having done them or having heard of them, or even just ones with supposedly great lecturers?

What are the entertainment options for students? Cinema? Theatre?
Or how about things on more of a student budget?
Museums and touristy things are all nice and good, but what kind of things would you recommend for someone who's going to be there a few months rather than a few days? (Although I guess I don't get out that much, so I could probably stretch the museums out for a whole semester. I love museums!)
Any nice cafes? I don't really drink coffee (my wallet is grateful) but I like to sit around in cafes and restaurants sometimes.

TV channels! What are they like? I haven't watched any since our tv system upgraded and my tv became useless but I do like exploring the channels in other countries.

How many are there and are any in english?

Thinking of questions to ask I've realised that the things that are important to me are so small... I'm sure there are more important things I should be asking about a country I've never been to.

Are there going to be any cool festival events or public holidays between January and June?

# ¿ Aug 3, 2013 14:11

Laverna: Mar 21, 2013

GiantAmazonianOtter posted:

Deceitful Penguin, I am visiting Reykjavik between Christmas and New Year by myself. Will you take me out drinking in your fine country?

Aw, if only it were a few days later I could have also joined you!

Deceitful Penguin posted:

What, exactly, are you coming here to study? At most, a UG is able to take on 40 units, with the max possible being 8 or so 5 unit courses. My education has been in the humanities and in social sciences, with my specific department having been Philosophy, East Asian Studies and Japanese in the humanities and Anthropology in the Social sciences. I can recommend you a fair few classes in those departments but especially as an exchange student you are somewhat constrained in what classes you can pick.
In the humanities, most classes were in Icelandic unless someone wasn't fluent in it, in which case it was taught in English. Almost all the primary reading was in English or available in English; while in the Social Sciences classes on the UG level were mostly in Icelandic with English material being studied. It all depends on what you are going to be doing here, however.
Yes.

Ah, sorry! I'm a humanities student but I'll hopefully just have interest papers left to do at that point. Well, what I mean by "hopefully" is that the University of Iceland doesn't cater to my major, so if I fail any of my papers this semester then I won't be able to go. (Or.... will have to do an extra semester!)

I don't know any Icelandic and if my attempt to learn French last year was anything to go by then I'm not so great at learning languages. :P Especially not well enough to study in, so I think I'll have to stick to English only courses.

I've heard that Iceland is a pretty safe place crime-wise, but I'd still like to hear what your opinion is on how safe it is for a woman to walk around alone at night in Reykjavik. I've never had any problems here but it's always something that people seem to bring up when talking about other countries.

# ¿ Aug 10, 2013 12:34

Laverna: Mar 21, 2013

Hey!
So I'm still going to Iceland at the start of next year. For a while I'd thought I'd completely hosed up my study visa but I think it should be all fine.

Before I leave New Zealand I thought it would be good to ask, are there any things in Iceland that are quite expensive compared to, say, mainland Europe that I should take with me rather than buying there? Things like general necessities that might get a bit dear.

I still haven't got accommodation sorted, but apparently they'll let us know about it around early December or so, so I hopefully won't end up living on the streets. If I do get an option what are some good districts that I should look out for that would be within walking distance of the university?

Wow, I'm really onto it with this whole going on exchange thing.
At least I've already booked my flights!
Oh, wait...

# ¿ Nov 14, 2013 05:17

Laverna: Mar 21, 2013

Deceitful Penguin posted:

Thank Christ I check my bookmarks every now and then, because I thought this had fallen into the archives!
(Didn't I promise to go drinking with someone? And to help you pick classes? Did you already pick them?)

Uhhh, to answer your question: The two things I think of right away are booze and luxury chocolates. You may not be too much into the latter but the former is really, really expensive in Iceland and as a foreign exchange student you may want to be prepared for the inevitable moment you are kidnapped by Icelanders taking you to a party. (I have done this twice now, personally)

The rules about booze aren't that complicated, but uh, here goes:
"1 litre of stong alcohol and 1 liters af wine and 6 liters of beer or
3 liters of wine and 6 liters of beer or
1 liter of strong alcohol and 9 liters of beer or
1,5 liters of wine and 9 liters of beer or
12 liters of beer.

"Wine" is anything less than 21% that isn't beer and everything over that is strong alcohol. Or you can try and smuggle in more if you think you can get away with it, they don't usually search foreigners and if it's just another liter of strong poo poo it might slide. Try and bring something from New Zealand too, so people can go: "Ohhhh, is that from New Zealand? Was it brewed by Hobbits?"

As for where to stay, if you do not get student accommodations, which are the most convenient, anything around there will be fine. Quite frankly almost anywhere in the Major Metropolitan area works though, because bus route 1 goes right next to the Uni and you can get a student card that will last you throughout the year or a 3 month one if you're only staying for the semester. Finding an apartment can be tricky, but if you're really in trouble I might check around for you. My contact with the foreign student thing at the Uni is back too so I can talk to her again, if need be.

And don't worry about the flight, the only thing you lose out on not getting it early is, possibly, a lot of money. Find a cheap flight to the mainland, where doesn't matter too much and fly from there to Iceland is my advice. My flight to Japan was from Frankfurt, so I'm guessing it works fairly well the other way around. (You are from New Zealand, right? That's almost the same, right? )

Good thing you checked them then!
Drinking sounds great, as for classes I think I've already picked them but I can't actually remember what ones I picked. Probably some mythology or history related ones because they sounded the most interesting. Hopefully I've got it written down somewhere.

Luckily I already have my flight to the mainland booked, so I just need to get my Zurich-Reykjavik flight. Which looks like it'll cost me around 600 euros.
(And in Switzerland I will be able to stock up on luxury chocolates, although I don't know how the booze prices there compare to New Zealand.)

I'm still waiting to hear about accommodation, but hopefully that will all go smoothly.

By the sounds of it Iceland isn't really a place that would have dingy student flats, but I'm still a bit nervous about signing a lease without even getting to see the place!

What kind of cellphone companies are there over there? Would it be worth it getting an Icelandic SIM card for my phone and which would be the best one to get?
Also, do you have the same power plugs/sockets as Europe or different ones?

Speaking of weather, what should I be expecting weather-wise for Iceland in the middle of winter?

# ¿ Nov 21, 2013 01:03

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# ¿ Apr 28, 2024 17:33

Laverna: Mar 21, 2013

So I've got accommodation and I think it might possibly be near the centre of town or the good part or something, but not knowing a thing about this city I don't actually have a clue in the slightest. It's in the area near the Hallgrimskirkja, is that a good area or am I gonna get shivved walking home from uni at 4 in the afternoon?

Should I also send an email? Although I guess I'm gonna be there a while so no hurry. I should probably focus on packing instead.

# ¿ Jan 1, 2014 09:22

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Ask/Tell > Ask me anything about Iceland, its history, culture, and modern politics