The Icelandic Canadian Club of

N E W S L E T T E R

June 2019 LI:vi

Iceland Independence Day will be celebrated on Monday, June 17, 2019, 6 p.m. onwards Scandinavian Centre, 6540 Thomas Street, Burnaby, BC

This is a Family Event. There is fun for the kids and lots of room for them to run around while you visit. There will be Hot Dogs, sinnep, remoulaði, steiktur laukur. Hangikjöt sandwiches, coffee, kleinur, goodies, and a singalong.

Please let us know if you are coming—e-mail [email protected] or phone 604-970-1680. Everyone is welcome. We look forward to seeing you all.

Scandinavian Midsummer Festival 6540 Thomas Street, Burnaby, BC, Gates open at 10 a.m. June 22—23, 2019, Day Pass $10. Free admission for kids under 16. Free parking all weekend.

THROUGHOUT THE WEEKEND There are a number of activities going on that you can enjoy during the Midsummer Festival. Among them are two almost full days of live music with the a number of individual artists, groups and choirs. There will be performances by the Scandinavian Dancers and the Vikings in the Viking Village, including songs, games and a real Viking raid – beware of the Norse! At the Midsummer Marketplace, you find over 50 vendors with shopping kiosks with lots of exciting products and crafts. There will be cultural displays, kids’ activities, a troll forest, carnival games and a vintage Volvo car show by the Volvo Club of B.C.

For the Midsummer beginner – there are two very popular events during the festival that you may not want to miss! The raising of the Midsummer Pole with dance around takes place on Saturday afternoon. The popular and crazy Finnish wife carrying contest takes place on Sunday. There will a Paavo Nurmi Run again on Saturday morning.

Also there is lots of Food: Salmon BBQ, Smørrebrød (Danish open- face sandwiches), Swedish Meatballs, Hot Dogs, Waffles, Coffee, Pastries and Beer Garden.

Check out the program: https://scandinavianmidsummerfestival.com/program/

The Knotty Trolls have added some new magic this year–Saga Portraits: Become Your Legend! Photographic portraits in Viking-inspired costumes. Book your photo session at our table in the tent. Follow us on Instagram @sagaportraits instagram.com/sagaportraits/

1 Our 2019 Icelandic princess is Samantha Stanley, 24, from Maple Ridge. She is the eldest of three children of Dan & Terry Stanley, with her Icelandic heritage through her Mother’s side. Samantha is a graduate of the Blanche MacDonald Centre, majoring in Fashion Merchandising. She currently works in customer support at the Vancouver headquarters of Indochino, the world’s largest online retailer of custom men’s suits. Samantha enjoys going to and performing in theatre, hiking, reading, travelling, and volunteering. She was very involved with the Canadian charity WE (formerly “Free the Children”) raising funds, awareness, and participating in their renown “WE Days”. She is especially proud of having assisted in the building of a school in the Maasi Mara in Kenya. Samantha is eagerly anticipating her first trip to Iceland in May of 2020.

Tour Group From Iceland—Sunday, September 8th, 2019, 3 p.m.

Once again Anna Björg and Halldór Árnason are going to be tour-guides on a bus-tour for 50 of their Icelandic friends. They will start the tour in Edmonton and end it in Vancouver. They arrive in Vancouver on Sunday, September 8th in the afternoon after visiting Vancouver Island and will arrive at the Scandinavian Community Centre at 3:00 p.m.

They would like to meet people of Icelandic descendants and the members of The Icelandic Canadian Club of British Columbia on Sunday like last year. The Icelandic Club has booked the Scandinavian Centre for Sunday, September 8th. Refreshments will be available. Mark your calendars to arrive at the Centre around 2:30 p.m. We had such a good time last year that we look forward to seeing you there for a fun afternoon.

- Info from Norman Eyford

Icelandic Summer Camp, July 27-August 2, 2019

This year there are 55 spots open for campers to have the experience of a lifetime! Ages 5-17 in different categories, near Gimli, MB. Call 1-204-485-5455 to book or get the registration form at their website at: icelandiccamp.com

Hőfn Icelandic Harbour The Garden Area 2020 Harrison Drive, Vancouver, BC V5P 2P6 Assisted Living & Affordable Housing

The facility is only 10 years old, open and bright; very inviting—a friendly and caring place for Seniors. We have been providing care for Seniors since 1947. Find us at: [email protected] or 604-321-3812

2 June 2019 Snorri West 2019

Karítas, Oddrún, Natalía and Guðbjörg are arriving in Vancouver on June 25th to begin their Snorri West adventure!

While they’re in Vancouver, they’ll visit Grouse Mountain, Stanley Park, the Museum of Anthropology, Whistler, Granville Island, Steveston as well as have an evening to meet relatives. They’ll be walking, bicycling, boating, a little hiking and lots of sightseeing. Busy, and so much fun!

If you’re interested in joining any of their activities, please do let me know - they’re here to meet Icelandic . ** On June 28 , there is a ‘Meet and Greet’ from 7-10 p.m., at the Scandinavian Centre—Everyone is welcome.

Thank you to those who have volunteered their time as well as those who have generously donated. The Snorri experience is that much more fun because of you!

Blair Lockhart [email protected], 778.628.5872

The four Snorri West participants arrive in Vancouver on June 25th and will be travelling the West Coast until July 21st when they depart for Iceland. If you would like to contact them anytime during their trip, please contact a member of the Icelandic club or community in your area. The following is their itinerary:

Iceland – Vancouver, BC June 25- July 3 Blaine, Washington July 3 – July 5 Point Roberts, WA July 5 – July 7 Nanaimo, BC July 7 – July 9 Victoria, BC July 9 – July 13 Port Angeles, WA July 13 – July 15 Seattle, WA July 15 – July 21 To Iceland July 21

In Blaine, The four visitors will visit a working cattle and horse farm, enjoy Independence Day celebrations, tour the original Icelandic church, and enjoy a potluck. In Point Roberts they will hang out at the beach and in the evening are invited to a Hawaiian style luau.

In Nanaimo, they will watch the Dragon Boat races, have a potluck dinner, will take the short ferry to Protection Island and lunch at the Dingy Dock Pub, barbecue in the evening and lastly drive to the Wild Play Centre and have an opportunity to go on a zip line.

In Victoria, they will tour the city and will be wined and dined. Then to Port Angeles with dinner on the beach, then kayak and hike to Marymere Falls and travel to Hurricane Ridge.

In Seattle they will take a city tour, visit the Nordic Museum, kayak and canoe, visit the Farmers’ Market, visit Mount Rainier, take an airplane ride, and picnic at a winery with cousins. Then it is home to Iceland.

3 June 2019 Attendees from BC at the Icelandic National League Convention are: From Left to right: Margaret Bjarnason Amirault, Norman Eyford, Peggy Fridriksdottir, Odinn Helgason, Jana Helgason, Heather Alda Ireland, Kristjana Einarsdottir, Fred Bjarnason from the Victoria Club, Inga Henrikson, Lois Turner, Holly Ralph, Ken Johnson and Gerri McDonald. Missing are: Loren Gudbjartsson, Lisa Sigurgeirson Maxx, Terry Stanley and Gail Hnatiuk.

The INL Convention 2019 The convention was special because it was the 100th Anniversary of the Icelandic National League (INL). The president of Iceland and his wife were in attendance. Everyone was in a very cheerful mood throughout. The speeches were interesting, as were the sale tables filled with Icelandic wares, the Auction, as it always is, was appealing, the food was good – what more can you ask? – and the people attending were cheery, friendly and interesting.

The Annual General Meeting was the best one in 20 years because there was a dispute on the floor regarding a motion being made. love to debate and they are quite frank. The discussion regarded splitting the INL into two factions: the Canadian one and the USA one. The basic reason was being unable to attract Charity Status from either the Canadian government or the American government if the INL remained an ‘International’ organization. Therefore, the proposal to split the INL caused much discussion including the statement: ‘Why are we divorcing?’ However, there is to be a central organization which they both belong to and which would be similar to large organization such as the Shriners and union organizations who have societies and institutions in both countries yet have a central core. A vote, with every vote counted, followed with the proposal of the executive being passed. Yes, it was a good convention! - Editor

COMING EVENTS June 17, 6 pm onwards Iceland’s Independence Day Scandinavian Centre June 22-23, 10 am Scandinavian Midsummer Festival Scandinavian Centre

4 June 2019 Icelandic Films at The Cinematheque Theatre, June 13-June 28

1131 Howe St, Vancouver, BC V6Z 2K8, (604) 688-8202. The 194 seat theatre is located in Vancouver’s West End, between Burrard & Granville Streets; cross-streets: Helmcken and Davie Streets.

From the Cinematheque Theatre: ‘It is our pleasure to announce that Icelandic Cinema will be screening at The Cinematheque in June! The series, Wayward Heroes: A Survey of Modern Icelandic Cinema is curated by writer and TIFF Programmer Steve Gravestock, and includes classic and contemporary titles. Check this website for total details: http://thecinematheque.ca/wayward-heroes-a-survey-of-modern-icelandic-cinema

June 13 Opening Night and Reception, 6 pm Films June 13 Children of Nature 7:00 pm Jar City 9:00 pm June 14 Under the Glacier 6:30 pm As in Heaven 8:15 pm June 15 Under the Glacier 4:30 pm Jar City 6:30 pm When the Raven Flies 8:20 pm June 16 When the Raven Flies 4:00 pm As in Heaven 6:30 pm Nói Albinói 8:50 pm Favorites: Rams & Children of Nature June 17 Nói Albinói 6:30 pm Children of Nature 8:20 pm June 23 Golden Sands 6:30 pm The Icelandic Dream 8:30 pm June 27 The Icelandic Dream 6:30 pm Life in a Fishbowl 8:20 pm June 28 Rams 6:30 pm Life in a Fishbowl 8:20 pm

In May 2015, the usually jaundiced industry audiences at Cannes were surprised and invigorated by Rams, a drama set in a remote rural area of Iceland and directed by the effectively unknown Grímur Hákonarson, which went on to win the top prize in the festival’s prestigious Un Certain Regard section. For many, Rams was a revelation, and one that naturally invited a bewildered question: How is it that a remotely located nation of 300,000 people — a country where sheep outnumber humans three to one, and which in its peak years of film production made only ten fiction features — could produce such a remarkable piece of cinema?

As with many such discoveries, however, this one was hardly unforeseeable, not least because it was only the crest of a wave. In the months and years immediately preceding and following Rams’ Cannes triumph, films by Icelandic directors such as Dagur Kári, Rúnar Rúnarsson, Hlynur Pálmason and Ísold Uggadóttir picked up prizes at major festivals around the world, while Baltasar Kormákur, who had previously established himself as a successful transnational filmmaker by directing films in his native country as well as helming Hollywood fare, scored a major international success with his ten-part television series Trapped, which sold all over the world after debuting at TIFF.

In my new monograph A History of Icelandic Film, to be published this year, I set out to chart the course of Icelandic cinema from the silent era to the present day, as the largely sporadic production from the 1920s to the 1970s gave way to the “Icelandic Spring” of the ’80s, the international inroads made in the ’90s by Fridrik Thór Fridriksson (the modern godfather of Icelandic cinema), the emergence of the scruffy hipster films that culminated in the worldwide success of Kormákur’s 101 Reykjavík, and the remarkable growth and diversity in Icelandic film production that we have seen in the first two decades of the new century. The ten films in this series — ranging from magic-realist fables to bloody Viking epics, sardonic deadpan comedies to hard-boiled Nordic noirs — offer a snapshot survey of that remarkable evolution from the ’80s to today.

Written by: Steve Gravestock who is a Senior Canadian and International Programmer, TIFF, and author of A History of Icelandic Film (Toronto International Film Festival, 2019). He has been programming Nordic films for TIFF since 1999 and Canadian feature films for TIFF since 2003.

June 2019 5 My First Summer in – from the diary of Guđmundur Jónsson Translated from Icelandic

I came to the city of, ____, on July 8, 1888 on the lighter and better. There was a water tank there and two steamship Norwegian and from there arrived in Winnipeg of us took turns pumping. on the 12th of July, 1888. We were about 350 Icelanders in the group that my family was with and many Scottish The new men were getting $1.75 a day and I just got $1.25 immigrants. The ones that were with me were my wife, a day. The other guys said to go and ask the boss for more Margrét, our son 10 weeks old, my mother Helga pay but the boss said if I didn’t like it, I could go. He was Finnsdóttir, my father-in-law Bjarni Jónsson and Julianna not a very nice man and judging by the way he treated his his daughter and we settled on MacFarlane Street and wife who had two young children and looked as though Point Douglas Street in Winnipeg and were very she was pregnant, although she had a maid, she had 14 uncomfortable mostly because the heat and the flies and men to feed and look after the house. She was Russian we all felt rather ill after the long trip, especially the baby. and a very good worker. He was christened by Pastor Jón Bjarnason. The baby lived 15 days after we arrived in Winnipeg and was buried in There was a little spring beside the river where we got the Brookside Cemetery. very good water. It was very good in the heat. The boss was often at the water spring when it was the hottest and Bjarni, my father-in-law, wanted to get a cow so we would was cooling his head with water and had wet have enough milk, so we bought a cow in partnership for handkerchiefs on his head when it was hot. Then one $22. At this time it was suggested that we move out to morning I asked the boss for my timetable at work and he Thingveller, Nylundur(?) to get work on the railroad and didn’t want me to go but the Icelanders said I could get also if we found land that we liked the look of, we would my pay even though I didn’t have my timetable. When the pick out the land for a farm. pay car came along they were right, I could get it from the paymaster when he came. I said goodbye to my Icelandic I went down west with quite a number of other men. We friends and walked up the track with my bundle of clothes, were going to work on the railroad or take a homestead. past Langenburg. We went on a train to Langenburg. We were received and they had a party for us by Icelanders that were already In the evening I came to a farmhouse and asked if I could there to receive us. Later that day we were arranging the stay overnight and they refused. I asked them if they people as to where to go, most of the women and children would sell me some bread and at last they brought me went out to the farms and some of the men went to work some bread for 10 cents. These people were German and for farmers and some went out to work on the railroad. could understand Danish, then I continued west. When evening came, I started walking, I got very sleepy but Ingimundur Olafsson and I were sent to work on the couldn’t see any house along the road. section in Millwood. Millwood is in the Assiniboine River Valley about 15 miles east of Langenburg. The valley is There were some small bushes here and there by the about ½ mile in width and the river had dug the valley road, the sky clouded over and I could hear thunder and right down to the clay. There was a sawmill right by the very soon the wind came up and all of a sudden the rain river. Two section gangs were in Millwood and six men came down. I ran to one of the buses and pushed my way from the United States. We didn’t like the boss or the into it and covered myself with the Icelandic spread, then work there and felt that the heat was unbearable some the wind came up more and all of a sudden an animal days. On one hot day we both got sick from sunstroke, our pushed his way into the bushes too. I had a pistol from heads just swelled up. We couldn’t work the day after Iceland with six shots in it, I shot four shots, the animal that, the day after I felt better but Ingimundur got worse jumped out of the bushes and didn’t bother me. I think it and he was sent west to Thingvellar. was a wolf.

Three weeks later, I again got sick from sunstroke and About after an hour later it cleared up, I was very wet became quite sick and got shivers and the boss poured because the blanket didn’t hold water. I slept a little after cold water over my head and I felt better after that. It was that and woke up very cold. I started crawling out of the so hot that sometimes we worked on the railroad after bush and was so stiff I couldn’t stand up. The sun was supper and on Sundays. After that four Icelanders came coming up and everything was icy. I had a very hard time and I was very happy to see them. The work became much (Continued on page 8)

6 June 2019

From Iceland Review Online–May 2019 Compiled by Iceland Review, Monitor & Reykjavik Grapevine Editorial Staffs

Given Name “Woman” Rejected by 74 years of age was 36,844, of Another local favourite is Mix, a very Naming Committee 192,232 total individuals employed. sweet carbonated mix of pineapple and Elín Eddudóttir’s request to adopt Though immigrants accounted for orange flavours. Last but not least, Kona as her second name was nearly one fifth of the labour market there’s Orka, probably one of the rejected by the Icelandic Naming in the first quarter of 2019, they unhealthiest soft drinks you can find in Committee, RÚV reports. It is not the account for only 12.7% of the Iceland. It’s a mix of ginseng, guarana, first time the name, which simply population. Since the first quarter of caffeine, and sugar, and tastes a bit like means “woman” in Icelandic, has been 2013, the proportion of immigrants Mountain Dew. rejected by the committee. Elín says among those employed has grown in Rejoice! The Laundromat Café Is the committee’s reasoning behind the all regions of the country. The ratio Reopening decision was unclear and she has was highest in the Southwest and the The beloved Reykjavík Laundromat requested further explanation. Westfjords in the first quarter of this Café just announced via signs in their In 2014, she read an interview with year, while it was lowest in the window that they will be reopening Kristbjörg Kristjánsdóttir, who said the Northwest. shortly. For those who have been dying Naming Committee had twice rejected See you later, baby to have a beer and wash their clothes at her request to adopt the name For many years, Iceland was one of the same time, this is a momentous “Kona.” the European countries with the occasion. So, I requested it but didn’t get it,” highest fertility rate, a trend that For those new to the city: Laundromat Elín stated. “I won’t abide by that and reversed in 2016. Since then, the Café was once upon a time the only have sent the Naming Committee a country has had the second-lowest place you could go to get your laundry response.” fertility rate in the European Union. done while enjoying lunch and letting The Icelandic Naming Committee Iceland is not alone among Western your kids play in the rec room. The maintains an official register of countries when it comes to dropping venture proved successful at first, to the approved Icelandic names and numbers of births. As more women point where there were plans to expand, governs the introduction of new prioritize education and work, the but those aims fell through. names into the register. All names average age of first-time mothers The Laundromat Café was a Reykjavík given in Iceland must be approved by rises. Today, Icelandic women have institution, but the increasingly high cost the committee, whose value is widely their first child on average at 27, five of renting in the city centre created debated in Iceland. The Icelandic years later than they did in 1980. additional pressure. This would lead to parliament has repeatedly discussed While women’s changing societal role the place disastrously closing in dissolving the committee and is an obvious factor in this drop, February 2018 after seven years of slackening naming laws. Iceland’s ever-rising cost of living may business. With their return, finally, you The Icelandic Naming Committee be another. can have some wine and wash your dirty has approved two new names for underwear at the same time. Of course, girls, RÚV reports. Icelandic women What soft drinks are popular in you could do that alone at home, but may now legally bear the names Ínes Iceland? being public is so much better, right? and Rökkurdís (literally ‘Twilight You will be able to find most —————— Nymph’), both of which were deemed international soft drinks in Iceland, News heard at the INL convention: to correctly decline, conform to like Coca Cola, Pepsi, Red Bull, Sprite, One third of the lava that has flowed on Icelandic spelling conventions, and Mountain Dew, 7 Up, Dr Pepper, Burn, earth in recorded history has come from meet the rest of the committee’s rules and Fanta. Pepsi is one of the most Iceland (Heritage Museum, Gimli). for acceptable names. popular drinks, and Icelanders especially like Pepsi Max. Iceland It should be a good year for Immigrant Proportion Grows Within produces a couple of its own soft tourism. Lonely Planet named the Icelandic Labour Market drinks: Malt, Appelsín, Mix, and Orka. Canadian province one of its top 10 Immigrants were on average 19.2% of Malt has a caramel and liquorice taste regional travel destinations for 2019. the total number of employed in and contains an alcohol percentage of TravelLemming gave Manitoba its Iceland in the first quarter of 2019, 1% ABV, which is not nearly enough to Judge’s Top Choice award for 2019 in according to newly-released data from get you tipsy. Appelsín is Iceland’s . Airbnb named the city Statistics Iceland. The number of very own version of Fanta, a sweet of Winnipeg as one of the top 19 places employed immigrants between 16 and orange soda, much loved by locals. to visit in 2019. 7 June 2019 SCANDINAVIAN CENTRE (Continued from page 6 - Guđmundur Jónsson) Website: www.scandinaviancentre.org (for more details) walking on the railroad because everything was so E-mail: [email protected], Telephone: 604-294-2777 slippery. By noon I was getting warmer and saw a house beside the road and went there and they were Icelandic June 12 (Wed) - Scandinavian Business .Club Dinner. 6-7 pm: and there was Ingimundur Olafsson, he was still sick. Networking and socializing hour, 7–8:15 pm Dinner, Early Bird The people wanted me to stay during the day but I was Price,: Member $35; Non-member $40; Regular Price: Member so restless and hot after eating there I went walking on $45; Non-member $50 www.sbc-bc.ca Do join us for this fun. the railroad. I was told by the railway gang that the place I was wanting to go to was about 20 miles further June 14 (Fri) - 12 noon—Scandinavian Seniors Lunch, $3 if you west. When the sun lowered I felt much better, not as bring a plate of sandwiches, cakes or cookies to share, OR $8 if hot and about 8:00 p.m. I found the railroad section you prefer not to bring food. Contact: Tor Olufsen (604) crew and quite a few Icelanders were on the crew and 294‑0749 or by [email protected] greeted me. They right away arranged board and room

for me to stay that night. June 15 (Sat) - 8:30 am—ScanSports presents Outrigger Paddling Location: Lotus Sports Club at Barnet Marine Park, 8059 Texaco Dr, Burnaby, BC V5A 3G8, Cost: $10 includes equipment, It’s Vacation Time! instruction and pairing with experienced paddlers. Limited spots available. Registration deadline: Friday, June 7. Contact: Your next newsletter will be in [email protected] for more information and to register. September since we do not publish in July or August.

Have a good summer, everyone! Icelandic Online Club; email: [email protected]

Facebook: www.facebook.com/ CDs or Tapes IcelandicOnlineClub Get acquainted with the language or brush up on your pronunciation with lessons 1 & 2, each one hour long.

The 8-page newsletter is published at the beginning of each Print lessons are included so that you can learn to read month, ten months of the year. A newsletter is not printed in Icelandic as well. July or August. Material is gratefully received by the 20th of each  Canadian Orders: CDs, 2 lesson sets $30 CAD/ USD; month. tapes are also available. Postage & handling included.  US & Foreign Orders: International money order only. Editor & Publisher: Send your cheque or money order made out to:

Margrét Bjarnason Amirault, Tel: 604-688-9082 Icelandic Canadian Club of B.C.

Distribution: Naomi Dyer, Heather Johnson, Nina Jobin

Membership: Norman Eyford Oakridge Lutheran Church ICCBC Mail: 6540 Thomas Street, Burnaby, BC V5B 4P9

Printer: Prism Printing, New Westminster is engaging in a major redevelopment The new worship space is: Redeemer Website of the Icelandic Canadian Club of BC: Lutheran Church, 1499 Laurier Ave., www.icelandicclubbc.ca Vancouver. Sunday worship time 1 pm. Email: [email protected]

Facebook: Facebook.com/icelandicclubbc

Icelandic National League Website: www.inlofna.org Library & Genealogy Icelandic Radio (6 stations): www.xnet.is Books written by Icelanders in English or translation Morgunblaðið: http://mbl.is are available in the Scandinavian library upstairs. Ströndin Internet Radio: www.inlofna.org/SIR Books in Icelandic are located in the Iceland Room.

Honorary Consul General of Iceland for British Columbia, Information regarding the Genealogy Centre can be Glenn Sigurdson, www.glennsigurdson.com obtained from Gerri McDonald, email: [email protected]

8 June 2019