Iceland in the 80s by Terri Rimmer - originally published by Associated Content, 2008

Known for its beautiful country, snow-capped mountains, green, grassy pastures, and grazing sheep, Iceland has gotten a little Americanized since the 80s.

My sister, Cindy attended the University of Innsbruck in the summer of 1985 to earn school credits. Her Icelandic boyfriend, Kari, who went to school with her at Jacksonville University went along with her and they stayed with some of his family who still lived in that country.

"I had a good time in Iceland but it was so different than home," said Cindy. "It felt weird to not be able to read the paper or understand anyone easily."

Cindy and Kari stayed with his Aunt Edda in a "real neat old house." Also there were Kari's dad Beyngeir and sisters Una and Aia.

"They ate all kinds of fish there ( a lot) and lamb and potatoes," Cindy said. "I was never sure what anything was going to taste like. Fashion was very 'New-wavish' And only three hours of TV came on there per day."

There were a few old American movies once in a while.

"They had the best cheese there - and chocolate," Cindy stated.

June 17 is Iceland's Independence Day so she and Kari went to a party downtown and parade.

"This band tried to play 'I'm just a Gigolo' but pronounced the 'g' in gigolo like the 'g' in giggle. It was pretty funny," Cindy said. "I also missed seeing a McDonald's and American magazines."

"It had really been an experience to see where Kari was from," said Cindy. "One of his old friends, Jakob played in a rock band. Over the weekend we rode in their bus to where they were going to play. Just us and eight Icelandic musicians. We really had fun."

They also went to where the last volcanoes erupted and to an old folk museum. Cindy explored some on her own and even went shopping downtown. They had little shops and an open market. The bakery was fantastic, Cindy reported.

"It stayed light there 24 hours a day so no matter what time we came home the sun was shining," she said. "The discos were pretty good there but everything was very expensive. There were no fast foodrestaurants."

When Cindy and Kari were at Jakob's his mom served them sheep's head.

"I recovered from the shock since I also discovered at the time Icelandic lobster," Cindy said.

Cindy and Kari left for Austria June 28 to attend the university there for that summer.

"I was really looking forward to Innsbruck," she said.

After they got to Luxembourg, they rented a car and drove around Germany for a few days.

Classes started on the 30th.

Cindy came home with lots of pictures.

The postcards were different too that she would mail me. Not just one square like ones in the U.S., but a six-fold pictorial you unfolded like a mini-map of dazzling landscapes, waterfalls, ponies, volcanoes, tourist attractions, sunsets, city views, countryscapes, pool scenes, ducks, and snow.©