I am so excited to be in Iceland for my first-ever trip abroad! The views have been so beautiful, and I?m excited to learn from a country that does sustainability so well. We have visited the Golden Circle, the Iceland NASDAQ, a tomato greenhouse run by geothermal energy, the beautiful Harpa Concert Hall, delicious cafes and restaurants, a geothermal power plant, and some national parks, and it has only been the first week!
So far, the biggest difference in culture between America and Iceland is the way Icelanders don?t care about things as intensely as Americans do. They are known for their easygoingness. The name of one of their museums is ?871 +/- 2? because it is hard to specify the year when Iceland was first discovered. They think it is somewhere around 871, so that is what they named the Iceland Museum, no biggie. Harpa Concert Hall, one of Iceland?s most beautiful architectural feats, was built during a period when Iceland was swimming in debt. This was seen as an act of defiance at the time by other countries, but they did not care. Now, Harpa is used for all sorts of big events and concerts, including a European summit conference that actually took place while we were in town. Finally, all twenty of us were in a coffee shop, but the line took up the whole first floor. They asked some of us to wait upstairs instead of staying there, stressing out the employees. We did, no questions asked, but this was so profound to me. If it was an American company, like Starbucks, they would have a ?customer is always right? mentality, and the workers would move as fast as they could, probably more stressed, to take care of us. This cafe seemed to value the employee?s sanity more. So what if they might lose a few customers?
This idea plays into sustainability a bit, too. The tomato greenhouse in Iceland certainly could export its produce to other countries and profit more. However, they know that doing so would increase their carbon footprint. When an American company would only focus on what they could gain from expanding their business, this Icelandic company didn?t think doing so was in their best interest. These are some of my early takeaways from the trip so far, but I am so excited to learn more!
