The kindergarten teachers talked to Sally and me about the problems they have been having with the class. Like I have mentioned earlier, some of the kindergarten boys are simply out of control. The teachers are putting an extra effort into putting an end to the problems by getting parents involved. Thankfully, Spencer is not causing problems, but he is one of the "rest of the students," which means that he is one of the kids who is getting picked on. Ingibjörg said that Spencer is very stoic and rarely cries, so she sometimes does not know when there has been trouble. She wants him to be more proactive in telling the teachers when he has been bullied. It is too bad that a few rotten apples can really spoil the experience for all of the kids, but hopefully the teachers can get this situation under control. Spencer certainly would be happier if these kids did not cause trouble, but he still says that the days are mostly good and that he is enjoying playing with his friends.
The Hraunborg staff is taking a working vacation to New York City the week before Easter, in order to see how preschools are run in the United States. To help defray the costs, they had a bake sale after school today. We bought and scarfed down a very interesting cake-like concoction. Whipped cream with fruit and malted chocolate balls mixed in was sandwiched between upper and lower crusts that were made from wafers of baked meringue. It was mighty tasty! Belying my statement that this was a "bake" sale, we also bought two pairs of wool mittens that one of the teachers had made. The big ticket items were our orders
of large chocolate Easter eggs. I am sure there will be plenty more to say about them in April! We missed a bake sale at Varmaland last night, that was billed as a coffee house. It was intended to raise funds for the 9th grade students to take a field trip to Reykjavík for some reason. Unfortunately, it started about the time we usually put the kids to bed, so we fought it off.
We had a few brief snowstorms today, but it was sunny and cool for the most part. The saying, "when the Sun shines, make hay," definitely applies in Iceland. In my case, though, when the Sun shines, get outside and enjoy it! So, I took advantage of the weather to hike over to Paradísarlaut (paradise hollow; above left) and the Glanni waterfall. It could only have been better if I had been able to cross-country ski the route rather than hike it.
Today was Beer Day in Iceland. As you might guess from the name, this is a holiday Sally and I were definitely interested in celebrating. It turns out the the international temperance movements of the early 20th century also enjoyed some success here and the sale and consumption of alcohol was banned in 1915. The first crack in the absolute prohibition came about in 1921, when the sale of wine was permitted. The reason for this turn-around delights the economist in Sally: Spain was a major export market for Icelandic fish, but they mostly had wine to trade back. Consequently, the ban on the import of wine
directly reduced the export of fish, which adversely affected the economy. Money is important, so the economy won, and an exception was made for wine. A national referendum in 1935 allowed the sale of hard liquor, but the ban on beer with more than 2.25% ABV was maintained to appease the remnants of the temperance movement. Apparently,
the general feeling was that the weak-willed would be more likely to get drunk on cheap, strong beer than on strong wine or hard liquor. In any event, it was not until March 1, 1989 that the prohibition on strong beer finally came to an end.
The parallels between Iceland and the U.S. here are striking, since our national prohibition on alcohol lasted from 1919 until 1933. Also like us, the consequences of the temperance movement can still be seen today in the form of various odd blue laws. For instance, we thought it was strange that all hard liquor in Oregon had to be sold by state-owned liquor stores. However, that is the way it is for all alcohol in Iceland. Consequently, decisions about selection and distribution of alcohol are not determined by the market, but by political appointees. As you might imagine, this can lead to all kinds of odd situations. In the short time we have been here, a wine from the heavy metal band Motörhead and an Icelandic beer called Black Death were rejected. The reason for the former is that the band's name refers to drug use and the reason for the latter is that the slogan, "drink in peace," is printed on the beer's label. Curiously, the only place Black Death can be bought in Iceland is in the duty-free shops in the international airport!
Partially due to these sorts of barriers to entry, the selection of beer and wine here is not particularly better than the selection available in the small town of Gunnison. However, we have managed to find some local beers and European imports that we like and we opened one of them up this evening to celebrate Beer Day. Skáli! (Icelandic for "cheers;" it is pronounced "scowl-y" and may come from the word, "skull," referencing the supposed Viking tradition of drinking beer from the skulls of their victims during raids on the British Isles during the Saga Era.)
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