Tor Benson has 21 things to love about inimitable Iceland. OSU students can find their own this summer by attending the Iceland: Civilization and Sustainability program.
1) Every McDonalds in Iceland closed
2) Highest number of books published and sold per capita — with one in ten Icelanders writing a book in their lifetime.
3) 21 HOURS of daylight in Reykjavik and 23 in northern Iceland on the
longest day of the year.
4) Northern Lights (aurora borealis )-in the winter
5) Blue Lagoon
6) Three Miss World titleholders call Iceland home
7) Two multi-time winners of “World’s Strongest Man”
8) All Icelanders speak Icelandic, Danish, and English fluently
9) According The Human Development Index Iceland is the most gender-equal country in the world
10) No standing army- “Our only army is the Salvation Army”
11) Northern-most capital in the world
12) Life expectancy of 81, which is three years longer than the US.
13) 70% of Iceland’s energy comes from renewable resources-80% of
Icelandic homes are geothermal heated
14) Three Hydrogen-powered buses in Reykjavik and public hydrogen filling stations
15) Telephone book lists by first name
16) Iceland has a list of 1500 names that people must choose from to
name their children-or petition the government to approve a name.
17) A variety of dairy products including Skyr- sorta like thick
yogurt only much better, and flavored yogurt that they put on cereal.
18) Nightclubs are open until 6 A.M.
19) Europe’s largest glacier covers 8% of Iceland, and glaciers cover
a total of 11%
20) You can’t pass fifth grade until you can swim
21) Licorice-Iceland’s unofficial candy
