I'm really homesick today. It's not that I have some family I miss or anything like that... I dont know what it is really. I was 12ish when I left with my mom and we moved to Canada. That's where everything happened.. I dunno .. maybe its because it wasnt as bad back home.. was still pretty bad but not as bad.

The Icelandic anthem


Icelandic lyrics:

Ó, guð vors lands. Ó, lands vors guð.
Vér lofum þitt heilaga, heilaga nafn.
Úr sólkerfum himnanna hnýta þér krans
þínir herskarar, tímanna safn.
Fyrir þér er einn dagur sem þúsund ár,
og þúsund ár dagur, ei meir;
eitt eilífðar smáblóm með titrandi tár,
sem tilbiður guð sinn og deyr.

Íslands þúsund ár,
Íslands þúsund ár!
eitt eilífðar smáblóm með titrandi tár,
sem tilbiður guð sinn og deyr.

Translated lyrics:

Oh, God of our country. Oh, our country's God.
We worship Thy name in its wonder sublime.
The suns of the heavens are set in Thy crown
By Thy legions, the ages of time.
With Thee is each day as a thousand years,
Each thousand of years, but a day,
Eternity's flower, with its homage of tears,
That reverently passes away.

Iceland's thousand years,
Iceland's thousand years!
Eternity's flower, with its homage of tears,
That reverently passes away.
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The English translation is already in this video. but here is the Icelandic


Ísland er land þitt, og ávallt þú geymir
Ísland í huga þér, hvar sem þú ferð.
Ísland er landið sem ungan þig dreymir,
Ísland í vonanna birtu þú sérð,
Ísland í sumarsins algræna skrúði,
Ísland með blikandi norðljósa traf.
Ísland að feðranna afrekum hlúði,
Ísland er foldin, sem lífið þér gaf.

Íslensk er þjóðin sem arfinn þinn geymir
Íslensk er tunga þín skýr eins og gull.
Íslensk er sú lind,sem um æðar þér streymir.
Íslensk er vonin, af bjartsýni full.
Íslensk er vornóttin, albjört sem dagur,
Íslensk er lundin með karlmennskuþor.
Íslensk er vísan, hinn íslenski bragur.
Íslensk er trúin á frelsisins vor.

Ísland er land þitt, því aldrei skal gleyma
Íslandi helgar þú krafta og starf
Íslenska þjóð, þér er ætlað að geyma
íslenska tungu, hinn dýrasta arf.
Ísland sé blessað um aldanna raðir,
íslenska moldin, er lífið þér gaf.
Ísland sé falið þér, eilífi faðir.
Ísland sé frjálst, meðan sól gyllir haf.
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Icelandic folk songs, these songs are sung by most people, we learn these songs in kindergarden.

This song is about ravens, Lot of ravens in our old stories, and also in the country


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This song is about farm animals.


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We have lots of old christmas songs, not going to put that all here.. just wanna put one from when i was a kid.. its a new song but i really liked it



Christmas in Iceland is a little different then North America. For starters we have 13 Santa Clauses, called "Jólasveinar" basically means Jule Lads. They live far up in the mountains with their human father and their hag mother, They also have a large black cat, Christmas Cat.

Grýla is their mother, She is mean to children, and goes to town and collects children into her sack that didnt get any new clothes for christmas. She takes them home to their liar and boils and eats them. The Christmas cat goes on his own hunt too. After children that are naughty.









The old Jule Lads, wore wool sweaters and wool pants, they were dirty. tricksom and thiefs, They each have names that reflects their personality. They would go to town and tease kids and steal food. The Jule Lads and their mother and cat were used to scare children into being good.






Now adays they have soften up a bit and instead of stealing and scaring children each one comes to town 13 days before christmas, one at a time. Children leave their shoe out in the window and if they have been good they get a reward, if they have been bad they get a potatoe.

There is no raindeers, no sleigh. Our santas our skinny (mostly) and still pretty dirty.. seeing as they walk all the way from the mountains lol.

24th is the big day, 6PM christmas officially start. 6pm the national radio station rings in the selected christmas church bells and the mass starts. We eat at 6. Traditionally we light a Angel Clock, its hard to explain what that is lol.. After supper we open the presents. Our santa clauses dont put any under the tree, everything under the tree is from family and friends. Whatever is in your shoe on the morning of christmas eve is from the 13th Santaclause.

So yeah... its a little different...

New Years day/eve is also a bit different but mostly because everyone in Iceland is allowed to buy fireworks and theres hundereds of thousands shooting up in the air at midnight in the city.

some tourist video.





anyways... I just felt homesick tonight.. its already 3am.. I started writing this thing like 3 hours ago.. just got busy in youtube..

I dont actually expect anyone to read or view any of this thing.. its mostly just me being stupid.
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Thanks for sharing this. Its really nice to see... well read about the culture of other countries.

I'm sorry your feeling homesick.

Marc,

I appreciate you sharing this too. One of my favorite books/movies as a kid was Journey to the Centre of the Earth. The story began in Iceland and it was so cool! I'd love to visit there some day.

Jim

Iceland looks very beautiful.. a bit like England.. all green n rocky...


im homesick too.. im always homesick.. its been almost a year now n theres not a day that i dont wish i could just go home.. n i cant even say nothing bad happened there..

i think when ure a kid n u grow up somewhere.. u just got this sense of belonging.. everybody knows u.. u kno everybody.. everyone speaks the same way...u kno every single stone or tree on ur street... i dont think u can go exploring the same way once ur older than 6..hehe

i miss that feeling.. i miss my road... i miss the tyne n the beach..

now i think ppl can tell i dont belong just by looking at me.. they for sure can tell as soon as i start speaking... thats y i dont speak at all if i can avoid it

even in chat i get frustrated when ppl dont understand me n i feel like i need a translator even tho we all speak english

i miss home... i miss the traditions too.. i cried cuz i missed bonfire night...

i really just wanna go home



*sighs*

now im gonna be stuck on youtube all day..lol

Hey Marcus.

Thanks for sharing your feelings. I know the feelings of homesickness.

I really enjoyed seeing the images of your home country.

I am going back "home" for Thanksgiving. My moms place is NOT really my home but she lives in the same town I grew up in. My

I will be going to Minot and other parts of North Dakota in the US. NOT as pretty a place as far as scenery but my former home.

Peace,
DJ

Iceland is the only place in the world where you can walk on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, and watch with fascination as North America and Europe move farther away from each other right before your eyes!*

* - ...at a rate of about 2.5cm/year.

great post Marc!

Santas n their family look scary tho