OK, let’s give it a shot:
1. Very, very little (at least in the “Capital area” surrounding Reykjavík). My lifelong obsession with U.S. culture has made me abnormally proficient in the English language as Icelanders go, but almost everyone here has at least a decent grasp on it (I can confirm that it's a compulsory subject in school). Most people speak with a thick accent that I couldn’t replicate if I tried (I go more for this weird, faux-American thing that probably sounds way worse), but as far as I can tell it’s totally intelligible to outsiders. Wow, this sure is making me sound like a pompous jackass! Anyway, moving on…
2. Oh, man. I’m not gonna be much help here since I don’t really have a frame of reference for anything. Like, I can tell you which grocery stores to shop at – there’s a chain called “Bónus” and another one called “Krónan”, both of which are way, way cheaper than, say, “10/11” and “Hagkaup” (the latter two are open 24/7, though). But I can’t really compare American prices, nor do I know anything about hotel or tour costs. Here’s what I can tell you: At the current exchange rate, a meal for one at a restaurant would probably cost somewhere between $15 and $50 (1700–6000 ISK) provided it’s not super-fancy. Iceland’s got some heckin’ clean tap water so there’s no real need to buy bottled water unless you’re going for a long nature hike or somesuch. Food’s generally pretty cheap at the aforementioned grocery stores; you can probably get supplies for at least a few days for about 15,000 ISK (currently a little over $130). Also, there’s no sales tax, so you only have to pay the list price of each item. (Sidenote: Alcohol isn’t sold in grocery stores; only bars, restaurants and liquor stores.)
3. I’m… really not an outgoing person (not exactly proud of it) so I can’t really tell you for certain what the general vibe is. People in and around Reykjavík are used to tourists and I’ve personally never seen anybody outright harass anyone. I’ve definitely encountered some mild, behind-the-back generalizing xenophobia towards Americans; some Icelanders do seem to equate most Americans with the portion that fervently supports ol’ Drumpfy-boy (I loathe him so). At the same time, though, U.S. culture is deeply entrenched in Icelandic society. Bottom line is, most people are at least totally cool with Americans on an individual level.
Lil’ safety tip: There’s a disturbing tendency for tourists to wander off and die when visiting glaciers and other natural phenomena. Definitely stay with the tour group if you’re gonna go anywhere like that.
That singer's fantastic!
(TERRIFYING PEDANTRY INCOMING: Also, she's Faroese.
I don't really know how to point that out without coming across as a useless, horrible, no good pedant but it's an easy mistake; Icelandic and Faroese are closely related and extremely similar. Same goes for the landscape if this video's anything to go by.)
1. Very, very little (at least in the “Capital area” surrounding Reykjavík). My lifelong obsession with U.S. culture has made me abnormally proficient in the English language as Icelanders go, but almost everyone here has at least a decent grasp on it (I can confirm that it's a compulsory subject in school). Most people speak with a thick accent that I couldn’t replicate if I tried (I go more for this weird, faux-American thing that probably sounds way worse), but as far as I can tell it’s totally intelligible to outsiders. Wow, this sure is making me sound like a pompous jackass! Anyway, moving on…
2. Oh, man. I’m not gonna be much help here since I don’t really have a frame of reference for anything. Like, I can tell you which grocery stores to shop at – there’s a chain called “Bónus” and another one called “Krónan”, both of which are way, way cheaper than, say, “10/11” and “Hagkaup” (the latter two are open 24/7, though). But I can’t really compare American prices, nor do I know anything about hotel or tour costs. Here’s what I can tell you: At the current exchange rate, a meal for one at a restaurant would probably cost somewhere between $15 and $50 (1700–6000 ISK) provided it’s not super-fancy. Iceland’s got some heckin’ clean tap water so there’s no real need to buy bottled water unless you’re going for a long nature hike or somesuch. Food’s generally pretty cheap at the aforementioned grocery stores; you can probably get supplies for at least a few days for about 15,000 ISK (currently a little over $130). Also, there’s no sales tax, so you only have to pay the list price of each item. (Sidenote: Alcohol isn’t sold in grocery stores; only bars, restaurants and liquor stores.)
3. I’m… really not an outgoing person (not exactly proud of it) so I can’t really tell you for certain what the general vibe is. People in and around Reykjavík are used to tourists and I’ve personally never seen anybody outright harass anyone. I’ve definitely encountered some mild, behind-the-back generalizing xenophobia towards Americans; some Icelanders do seem to equate most Americans with the portion that fervently supports ol’ Drumpfy-boy (I loathe him so). At the same time, though, U.S. culture is deeply entrenched in Icelandic society. Bottom line is, most people are at least totally cool with Americans on an individual level.
Lil’ safety tip: There’s a disturbing tendency for tourists to wander off and die when visiting glaciers and other natural phenomena. Definitely stay with the tour group if you’re gonna go anywhere like that.
That singer's fantastic!
(TERRIFYING PEDANTRY INCOMING: Also, she's Faroese.
I don't really know how to point that out without coming across as a useless, horrible, no good pedant but it's an easy mistake; Icelandic and Faroese are closely related and extremely similar. Same goes for the landscape if this video's anything to go by.)