To begin with, my first impressions of Iceland have been incredible, to say the least. The country is absolutely beautiful from the breathtaking waterfalls to the insane volcanoes. The city of Reykjavik is pretty much the only major city on this island and is relatively small compared to other capital cities in Europe. The downtown area is small but awesome since it has hundreds of years of history within the downtown streets. Besides that, we have gone on two business trips as of today and I?ve enjoyed learning about how Icelanders conduct business. In contrast to the U.S., Iceland has a culture that puts the community over individuals first. This is evident through their geothermal energy system here, everyone gets a cheap supply of energy that works efficiently. Due to the Icelandic culture having a community-first mentality, the entire city feels safe and close to each other. For instance, on my second day here, I was sitting in the lobby when I saw a group of 4 children no older than 10 walking unaccompanied by an adult on the sidewalk. The next day I ended up asking our tour guide Chris if this was common here and he said ?Oh yes, In fact, it is common to see mothers leave their babies in strollers outside coffee shops?. The locals don?t have to worry about their children?s safety in a downtown area and I think that is a huge difference between Iceland and the States. Also, another difference I noticed with the culture here compared to the States was the emphasis on sustainability. Everyone here recycles their trash, uses less power, and watches their carbon footprint a lot more than we do back at home. Sustainability is built into Iceland?s culture and we could definitely take some advice from the way Icelanders live.
