SURPRISING cultural differences between ICELAND and AMERICA 

6:11 Drinking at 15 is pretty common in the US too. It's just not legal.

America is a big place. California is completely different that South Dakota which is completely different than Florida. Lots of different things to see here.

I was watching this by myself and gasped out loud very dramatically when I heard the 10 months maternity leave!

You must have been in LA. There is no limit in showers or water usage unless it happens to be a period of drought like LA/AZ/Vegas

icelandic youtuber: "drinking age in iceland is very early and we party hard" german/irish 15 year olds: "doubt it"

This is so interesting. I'm from Germany and I love learn about the life in another country's.

I love Iceland. I was there in 1987 and there again in 1995. A beautiful country. Some harsh winters, as I can recall, but a beautiful summer!

LA isn't a good representation of the USA.

When I had my daughter (MIchigan, USA), I was only afforded 4 weeks unpaid maternity leave. Even while that was happening, my coworkers were calling me about work. I had to go back because after the 4 weeks, my husband & I couldn’t pay our bills without me working. It was emotionally & psychologically devastating to have to leave my very small baby with people at only 1 month old 😭

I’m from TX and have had a job since I was 16. You can even start at 15 at some restaurants.

Back in the 1980s when I was a teenager, most kids I knew had a job by the time they were 15-16, and I went to kind of a rich kid school. You almost never saw an adult working at a McDonalds or a movie theater unless they were the manager.

If we all showered together, I would DEMAND smaller food portions. 😂

Honking is awesome. You wake up people that are driving but looking at Facebook. Its cathartic, its rude, its the best thing about driving in America. I honk and scream to at least 5 people every day. Love it!

Wisconsin person accidentally bumps into someone......"Ope, let me squeeze right past ya!!"

This was fascinating. I feel like we have so many accents in the US just because we're such a big country. Iceland and most European countries are so much smaller than we are. Though as I'm writing this, I realize that the UK has different accents and they're not very big.

Im from Hawaii. Hawaii is a part of the U.S. and Its so cool cause your culture and mine have a ton in common even though we could be consider American. We also do things differently here in the islands...like not wearing shoes in our homes.

"People from the US say sorry or excuse me over everything!" You should come to Canada then... lol

Iceland: Nudity isn't as big of a deal here in Iceland. We have open showers, open locker rooms, we all shower together in a huge locker room and we just don't care. Being naked in front of strangers in locker rooms is not a big deal here in Iceland, like at all. America: [Faints in shock]

That was very interesting. I think you got the stereo types rather well. Of course it is generalized. Many people think of the larger cities when they think of US culture and really it does vary depending on where you go. But for the most part I felt that was a fair assessment. Very enjoyable video.

You are a great spokesmen for Iceland. You are smart, knowledgeable, and very sweet. Thank you for your informative and interesting vids.

Here in Chicago IL, we have an annual festival, "A Taste of Iceland" where Icelandic chefs, musicians and authors come out to the city. Last year, we had the chef Gunnar Karl Gíslason who was from the Michelin starred restaurant "Dill" in Reykjavik. The food was mind-blowing. But what I really loved was that even though it was a five-course meal you didn't leave feeling stuffed. The portion sizes, as you pointed out were small enough that the whole dinner was satisfying but not bloating. Although I have to admit, there was a dessert that featured skyr, rhubarb ice cream and graham crumble that I really could have had more of ;)

USA: basically anyone can have guns Hrafna, closing her laptop harder than normally: wow that was very aggressive

no grocery bags: what do you use for trash baskets in the rooms, bathrooms and kitchen?

It figures you'd use a NYC video for the honking horns 😂. They're actually soothing after awhile. It's the sirens and air horns that can wake you up !

In mediterranean europe, everybody's honking all the time too, I think it disrupts the traffic and is unnecessary -Finn

I am Swedish living in the US and I see a lot of differences too . Have this fantastic book and have really learned a lot . Thank you ❤️

It was very interesting to learn about Icelandic culture. Thank you, Hrafna, for the information.

I always wanted to go to Iceland. My great great grand father and his brother (my mother's side) came to America from Iceland around 1870's-1880's. My great Aunt wrote a book in the early 1970's about Icelanders in America. Have a great day and thanks for the information ao if I ever do get to go I know what to expect in Iceland.

It would be interesting to get an Icelander's impressions of a place like Omaha, NE (in the Midwest). It is fairly different from the coasts in many ways, like honking.

We drink...they just arrest us for it and strangely enough i keep a gun in my truck but that's Texas.

Hrafna I love your video's they are very exciting. Myself & my family follow your video's . We will be coming soon to Iceland & have fun . Thanks

I think this video for the most part was spot on about the differences.

I am from Chile and Iceland sounds so different and cool 😍

will you ever do a video on icelandic literature?

I've gotta say I'm impressed. I find your culture amazing! You have things I wish we had in the US.

Tap water is free in virtually all restaurants in the US. (It's just most would much rather you pay for the grossly overpriced bottled water so the will try to push that on you instead) Also the water conservation thing is only really adhered to in desert areas during a drought and even then has no affect on your shower time or the availability of hot water. The later is only limited by the capacity of your hot water heater.

i actually feel like in my experience living in the US, teenagers work earlier and work a lot more than teenagers in europe. obviously its a generalization and it might be different in iceland. however, i had plenty of friends that started work at ~14

There are a lot of similarities between Iceland and Ireland, my home country. I used to get a quarterly magazine in the mail called Iceland review, (it's all online now). Love your videos, keep up the good work. :)

Had a friend who visited Iceland, time of his life! Big fan of Bjork and wow are you beautiful ❤️. Love to visit one day.

Extremely pretty and very intelligent. What a catch!!!! Must be the clean water and air in your country!!! Thanx for the lesson

Love this video and I’m from Pennsylvania and I feel like most houses here come with carpet and the younger people prefer wood floors. When we move we’re going to take out the carpets. But some places are carpeted because of the age of the home; older people tend to prefer carpets, and your less likely to trip on carpets. Just personally I think it’s definitely a age thing.

"small food servings" Hafthor Bjornasson would like a word.

I LOVED this video! Super interesting :) Just a bit of clarification (as someone who lives in New York City): the honking is really more a form of communication than it is angry driving. It's just NYC drivers' way of making sure everyone knows where they are or if they are turning!

history buffs like me love what you say. I want to hear about culture and people then and now!

9:25 “Americans say sorry for everything” Me (a New Yorker): :l

Here in Phoenix AZ, it is too hot to wear shoes all the time lol and we like Tile because it's easier to clean. But I will say Iceland seems beautiful, and a culture that matches my personality lol. Thank you for sharing these comparisons =)

When I moved to the U.S. from Iceland I was accidentally very rude to a lot of people because I called everyone by their first name and I didn't realize until years later lol

Many high school kids have jobs. It's very common. It's often seen in movies - McDonalds. fast food, delivery, etc.

Iceland has many similarities to Canada, Im from Newfoundland

4:23 Yup, vaccuum cleaners & hard wood floor cleaners are a big industry in the U.S.

For the record, carpets generally make walking more comfortable in the house because it’s softer than hardwood or tile and they also help keep your feet from turning into toesicles in the winter because they insulate better than hard floors do

Hrafna is so interesting and informative about different cultures. I could also become mesmerized looking into her beautiful eyes.

Kids start work in the United States early at 14-16yo too

About the languages... In Iceland, there are ~ 363k people. In my small suburb of about ~120k, people are speaking over 60 different languages. In my city, with millions of people, they speak more. It is practical to have one common language. Kids in high school have to add another, but you still learn basic words in SO many languages.

Thank You. That was an education. Please keep well and safe. Icelandic people seem to be very nice

You are effortlessly charming. The 'honking' thing is because many time people become aggressive when they drive and they honk their horn out of frustration with other drivers and not so much for safety reasons. You are spot on though, it really doesn't accomplish anything other than to make the situation worse.

It would be very interesting to make a video comparison between Iceland and Denmark. I lived in Denmark for one year and I know there are many similarities, but I'm sure there are also some differences 😊

Iceland sounds so chill and nice, almost want to move there tbh

My son is 18 and is spending his 4th year (would have been his 5th year but COVID) working at Scout Camp for the summer in Michigan. He also did rowing his first two years, sophomore year he left the house at 4am to do this)! Otherwise an hour each way to get to one of the hardest high schools in the region where he graduated with an honors diploma with a 4.22/4.0 cumulative average. So, he started working at 14, and worked long hours and finished Eagle Scout as well (which only 4% of US scouts do). This has been great for him because camp counselors at scout camp are teachers and they are well trained. He wants to go into an academic career and this experience of living off on his own for four summers doing his own laundry etc has really helped him grow a lot. So, lots of kids in the US do work. I certainly did and paid much of my private school tuition myself starting work at 12.

Hey! Love your videos! Greetings from Mexico ✌🏻

We always take shoes off in my house and I’m American 😂

Thank you! That was interesting comparison. Iceland sounds wonderful, and I did enjoy the one and only visit there in the 1970's when I was in the Navy. Shoes inside are actually a recent city thing. I grew up in the country and we have mud rooms, which is where you take off your shoes before going in the house. That has become less common these days. You are %100 correct about carpets, which became a thing back when we removed our shoes outside.... bare feet on carpet are comfortable but it is much easier to clean a wooden or tile floor. We used to have liquor and drug stores like you describe, and still do in less citified areas, but Walmart and other big retailers have changed all that. Honking is very much a big city thing and considered rude out in the country and small towns. There are people here who feel about weapons like you mentioned, but most of us were raised with weapons and taught early about safety and proper use. It is no big deal to those of us who know how to use and care for weapons, but here you are free to not use them as well. Countries like Spain and Australia that severely restricted gun ownership now, have entire neighborhoods where all the houses have bars on their windows, due to the level of crime. And those countries do have effective police departments, but without the deterrent of not knowing if a home owner is armed or not, criminals break in more frequently. It depends on circumstances. Where I live it is not an issue, and we are armed but keep our weapons out of sight. Your country sounds wonderful, and reminds me that I would like to vacation there someday with my wife. Thank you for sharing that with us. Great book by the way. Tell Gunnar, well done!

USA is huge and pretty diverse culturally most of what you described sounds like west coast/Cali thing. Cool to hear about all the little icelandic quarks and habits though.

90% of these comparisons are REALLY accurate. Ha. Not that I spent a lot of time in Iceland (1 week in Reykjavik). Good job!

Here from America, just to give some clarification on a few points. For kids working, there used to be a lot more kids I believe who worked during high school on up to when they start college. That may have changed for some, but certain parents want to teach their kids the importance of hard work and responsibility with money. Water is easily accessible in most of America, unless you go to really dry States like California where it's limited due to water shortages (lack of rainfall in the year). For the most part, you can take hot showers till the hot water runs out. The gun debate is a hot button issue to be sure. I am of the opinion it is there to ensure that our freedoms are not infringed by an overreaching government. They are dangerous and, aside from what our media portrays, the people who own them legally are well versed in handling and discharging their weapons. If you want to see a startling statistic, look to Chicago where they have the strongest anti gun laws in America. This was very educational. Thank you for putting me onto that book, I need to check that out. Peace.

Okay...Hrafna...YOU ARE FRICKEN GORGEOUS!!! UGH!!! 😍😍🔥🔥

I love it that you have a balcony. It is nice to have a balcony! I am interested in Iceland.

just bought the book, excited to give it a try

Pretty close to Québec life style! I like that! (This is in french quote) in Québec the legal age for alcohol is 18 years old but I started at 15 🤣

I come from West Virginia USA . 1st job at 13 years old--1st full time job at 17 ....Guns are a tool here , Got 1st gun at age 8 and learned to hunt , 1st high powered rifle at age 11 ....trained all my life with it , I am 60 now. Cannot understand life without a firearm....

You are a joy to listen to

Good information about Island, thank you beautiful yang lady, Dino from Sweden 😚

0:43 Another difference: Icelanders pronounce names all at once, such as "GUNNARANDRI". In most other countries there is a small pause between names such as "GUNNAR___ANDRI".

I love that here in iceland almost everyone speak English. I never have problem to talk with anyone and thats just great

Thank you for the education from an Icelandic point of view. I also appreciate your sincerity when explaining the differences i cultures.

I like that fack that you strat working early in your live its great for your development

I love number 3. I wish we have this in Switzerland.

the shoe thing is so relatable to me too!! I'm not Icelandic, but I am a Muslim so that's why!! :)

I laughed so much when you apologized at the end of your video for being agressive!!! You always make a point of either making it clear beforehand that you don't want to cause offense, sometimes to much, or you make it clear that it is light-hearted and fun and not meant to be taken seriously. It wasn't aggressive at all!! I found all your cultural insights very interesting. As a Brit it's interesting seeing how the differences between Iceland and the US about to Iceland and the UK. Many are the same, but not all.

Hello from Nova Scotia Canada! Would love to see Iceland someday. You'd love Nova Scotia I met a man from Denmark who said that Nova Scotia reminded him alot of home

Anyone else here after watching Fire Saga?

I'm from the Midwest. There is no quota nor limit on water lol

regarding honking the car horn - I agree with you. Only honk when absolutely necessary! However, nothing infuriates me more than someone looking at their cell phone while sopped at the traffic light and then the light turns and they don't pay attention. I give them one second to wake up and then I honk. Especially at a left turn signal because they are timed very short.

Honking is much more of a regional thing. NYC in particular has a honking issue, but I don't hear many honks in NC, even during the morning rush.

Thank you for acknowledging the cultural differences between US states haha. We really are all very different. Even our stereotypes change by region.

When you talked about water i remembered that here in my country water is owned by private companies and its the only county that has this in the whole world. Water is private and it is expensive. Its ridiculous.

Thanks for all of your videos! Very interesting! I have a geologist friend who travels to Iceland often to see the geology. He is also a fellow amateur radio operator.

New York City is known for the cars honking. Most other places don't do it that much. I can't even remember what my hotel sounds like. I may have used it 3 times and was shocked at the sound every time.

Nice video! It’s hard to make generalizations about the USA. It’s too big of a country. It’s basically 51 countries and each region, state, and city have their own customs.

Very true about the US having guns and part of our culture. I'm typing this as I look at my wifes gun on her bedside table and my rifle standing next to my side of the bed. Never really thought of guns as being a big deal as I grew up around them. My dad used to walk down main street in Skiatook Oklahoma as a 10 year old with his .22 rifle slung on his shoulder

Water in the US varies, based on location within that large country. Water maybe provided by a city service or public utility, a private well, or a cistern.

Oh god! your so lovely and havethe nicest soul I've ever saw before

I love your observations. My mom told me that when she was a child, there was a sudden and massive marketing push to install “wall to wall” carpets. Nearly every beautiful American hardwood floor was subsequently covered over. Home renovators today almost universally renew the hardwood floors. Marketing has influenced American society. I always found it annoying. After visiting Iceland and other parts of the world, I began studying multiple languages so I could be up to the word standards for communication. I love how Icelandic feels and sounds to speak but it wasn’t necessary to speak it while visiting Iceland. I bought some hand made socks, a sweater and some beanies all made of wool and I understand how nice it is to wear them around the house without shoes. Thanks again to marketing, almost all of the clothing available here is made in China. Chinese socks don’t handle being worn without shoes very well. I recommend stopping in Iceland if you’re traveling to Europe for the first time because it feels like an extension or a close relative to the US but it’s actually geographically and culturally part of Europe. All the while, Iceland is completely unique from the rest of the world and you can pick your level of culture shock, drink the finest water on Earth straight from the tap and the see the world from a mind altering angle.

The reaction to seeing a person with a gun LOL 😂

If you ever find yourself in Indiana and want to work on getting over your fear of guns, let me know. I've had a gun since I was about 10 yrs old (almost 1/2 a century). I'm a former police officer & current firearms instructor. They are nothing to fear as long as you treat them with respect & know how to use them properly. I appreciate your videos! Lots of good info. Thank you!!

good information on cultural differences.

“Who are you honking at?!” 😆😆

“Honking” portrayed in movies is not realistic of our culture. Used to add drama. Accessibility to alcohol can vary by state. But, many states do have beer & wine available in grocery stores.

Regarding water - It depends on where you live. In Colorado which is semi-arid, water for irrigation can be a problem, but water for consumption or laundry is usually not a problem. Some places you will get water at the restaurant without asking and in other places you may have to ask, but there is no charge. Colorado has very good tasting water as it comes from mountain snow.

Hrafna, you may enjoy using the metallic element GALLIUM for the making/practicing/quick casting of prototype jewelry pieces?..... Gallium becomes liquid/moldible slurry @ 86 degrees F-dont know what temp that is in wrong/sinister handed Celsius...;)....Silver in color....30$ U.S Pesos or so for 50 grams... Fun @ hot soup eating parties too, if one acquires a spoon &/or gallium fork mold for casting purposes! "HEY!?~Where'd the end of my spoon go?!"...;)