Can you take seriously a country called "Iceland"?

How do you like Iceland is a documentary about Iceland and its culture. It has interviewed 37 foreigners from 9 nations that have all lived in Iceland for a while. It's the greatest movie ever and I will give you some samples and statements of it. They really express the true Iceland!

"What is to be expected other than shamefulness of people who live in boundless freedom, without the restrictions of consciousness or external discipline; of people who dwell for the most part in deserts or out at sea, with nobody keeping an eye on them." – quote by the Mayor of Hamburg in 1743 -

Impressions from Reykjavik:
"People seem to be living in sheds, it’s the shed capital of the world"
"I think there is only one beautiful building"
"In Iceland, there is some terrible architecture. Terrible! You have to cope with the cold, you have to cope with the rain, you have to cope with the long dark days and nights. And then the architects dont help the situation. So shoot all the Icelandic architects, I'd say.”
"It didn't feel as alien as I thought it would. It almost felt more western than London in a strange sort of way."

Religion:
"Travel through some real wilderness and in the middle of nowhere there’d be a church."
"I have yet to find a religious Icelander."
"I think this is a country that still quietly practises pagan rituals."

Icelandic mentality:
"They don't feel like being at the edge of the world, they belive it to be the centre of the world."
"There is a craziness that all Icelanders have."
"You often read of Icelanders that they are special. Different. Sometimes in a good way, sometimes in a bad way. But even if it's the bad way it's a way that we embrace because it's an Icelander. They are not aweful, terrible or strange; they are just special."
"Every person is a personality. That is very characteristic for Icelanders. They are terribly individuals, in all respect I mean."
"You really have to feel ordinary if you come to Iceland because every one there is involved in something creative: arts, music, design."
"They wont be told!"
"I dont find Icelandic people polite. No "please" or "thank you"."


Icelandic driving:
"The worst trait is the poor level of driving. It's almost like italy."
"You come from a population where everybody rode into town on a horse, they hitched it to the rail and went shopping. So now you are doing the exactly same thing with the cars. Nobody takes any notice of parking meters or nobody parks in the car park you just park on the side of the road. But the hilarious thing is definitely if you get two cars coming in opposite directions and they know each other.... then they stop and chat! Imagine that in the middle of London – people would go mad!"

Icelandic language:
"It sounds like people are attacking each other."
"I hate listening to icelandic radio, it gives me a headache."
"It sounds like a language that would have been spoken in lord of the rings."

Icelandic drinking:
"Getting out of the bar at 5am on a Saturday morning, it's not a pretty sight and I don't know how many Icelanders actually experienced it. But it is - it is shocking! It really is shocking!"
"All over the country people drink from Friday till Sunday. The students don't call it fösturdagur (friday) they call it floskudagur (bottle day)."
"Nobody is dancing or talking with the girls. And when finally the men start talking to the girls they are too drunk. It is very, very strange. I'm sure it's very good for foreigners because all those beautiful women are there and nobody is talking to them so it's an open field for them."

Alcohol prices:
"We met 8 or 9 people when we got there and went straight into a bar. And I bought the first round. Nobody else bought a round... it cost me something like 80 pounds. I thought something must be wrong! But it wasn't. So i waited for somebody else to offer a beer, but nobody did and then i went... ahhh!"
"Normally you drink to wake up in some ways but here you think that sometimes people drink to go to sleep."

Travelling around:
"I made the mistake of hitch hiking around Iceland because you don't get many cars. And then I got picked up by a fisherman and he said: "You're gonna have to drive because I'm drunk and I hadn't seen anyone for a good few hours and then I'm in a jeep with a drunk fisherman. It was kinda odd but very entertaining."

Icelandic men:
"Icelandic men are extremely gentle, extremely polite, extremely civilised which is not something you would associate with vikings."
"They all think that they are stong and menly but they are actually very conscious the way they dress I'm sure they spend lots of time in front of a mirror."

Icelandic style:
"Everyone knows each other – you always meet people you know, so you have to keep your image 24h a day."
"Icelandic people they are the biggest spenders I've ever seen on fashion."

My favourite quote:
"Iceland is alright. A bit cold, maybe. But we’re really optimistic about Global Warming."