AThe Miami News Miami, Florida Wednesday, July 05, 1972 - Page 29
No Language Barrier in Iceland: Today's Heartburn by Herb Rau
Reykjavik, Iceland — For Americans, the Icelandic language is an impossibility. There are 33 letters in the alphabet, the language is similar to Danish (which is also an impossibility to American tourists), and even the popular historian Sigurdur Magnusson of Icelandic Airlines comments: “It is singular that the Icelanders should have kept alive a tongue whose fundamental significance among Scandinavian nations is equivalent to that of Greek and Latin among others.” … Fortunately, most Icelanders either speak or understand English, so an American tourist will find no language barrier here. Even the 6 p.m. news on radio is broadcast in English, via flawlessly-accented commentators … But Iceland, with its mere 200,000 inhabitants, is an odd little independent nation. Warmed by the Gulf Stream, its summers are mild … One TV station broadcasts from 7 to 11 p.m., except on Thursdays when it's dark, and for an entire month in the summer when its staff vacations … There are no nightclubs, but several dancing places.
Five Tabloid Newspapers
Troops are permitted off base on Wednesdays and incidentally, Wednesday nights are “dry nights” in Iceland. Sale of Whiskey on those nights is prohibited. Coincidentally, of course … There are five daily newspapers here, all tabloid, with the “Morgunbladid,” the morning paper, having the largest circulation even though it's a right wing paper in a liberal government … The government has said it would like to dissolve the NATO base here, but recently renewed its contract … There's some anti-American feeling (if you ask outright), based on U.S. involvement in Vietnam ([those Anti-American along with racist sentiments went much farther back than Vietnam! Decades, espoused by Soviet underground and the government itself, in Iceland]). But the only outward sign I detected was the name “NIXON” painted in red on a white building, with the “X” in Nixon depicted as a sw*st!ka …
Chess is a Big Deal Here
The current world title chess tournament controversy may be the biggest thing to hit Iceland since Leif Ericsson. Boris Spassky, the Russian champ, is lionized and he loves it. Bobby Fischer, the young American contender, held out for more loot … ([Considering the decades of abusive Anti-American and racist atmosphere, Bobby Fischer should've held out for 5 x the loot. No amount of money is worth the Soviet hornet's nest thrust upon him.])
No Language Barrier in Iceland 05 Jul 1972, Wed The Miami News (Miami, Florida) Newspapers.com
