Traditions of the people of Iceland. How to survive in my family. Travel tradition Do not travel without knowing at least a few words in the language of the country you are going to visit

Iceland is one of the most unusual and original countries on our planet. This island state, inhabited by the descendants of the Vikings at the end of the 9th century, is lost in the vastness of the Atlantic Ocean. The isolation and seclusion of the island influenced the customs and traditions of the Icelanders, which are quite rare and unique.

Family traditions

It will be unusual for any foreigner in Iceland to learn that Icelanders do not have surnames. What Europeans are accustomed to understanding as a surname is a patronymic among the inhabitants of the island. Thus, if a person is, for example, Ragnar Olafson, this means that Ragnar is the son of Olaf. However, Icelanders do not like to call each other by their last name. Communication with each other is limited to names.

Culinary traditions

Despite the scarcity of local flora and fauna, due to the harsh northern climate, Iceland's cuisine is extremely diverse. Most vegetables and fruits are imported into the country, but Icelanders grow carrots, cabbage, potatoes and cucumbers and tomatoes on their island. Traditional and popular dishes in the country include sour milk, fried puffins (a type of bird) and their eggs, ox eggs soaked in curdled milk, smoked lamb, salmon marinated in spices, chopped sheep liver and rotten shark meat. Coffee is very popular on the island. When visiting a cafe, you are charged only for the first cup of coffee; all others are free. Travel traditions

Icelanders love the natural beauty of their region. The island's adults have SUVs and small farms or nature cabins outside the city limits. The descendants of the Vikings love to travel. For their voyages, they often choose not other countries or resorts, but the territory of their own country. Annual visits to historical places and natural monuments have become a good tradition.

Folk traditions

There are only two seasons in Iceland - winter and summer. Six months in the country it is day, six months it is night. In order to somehow diversify their lives during long, boring evenings, Icelanders, in addition to various family games, have become addicted to knitting. Currently, in cities this tradition has already become obsolete, but residents of farms, both men and women, enjoy knitting. It was because of this mass passion for knitting, from an ordinary hobby that turned into a national tradition, that the famous Icelandic sweater, called “lopapeysa” or abbreviated “lopi”, appeared. Such things look like warm jumpers or sweaters, decorated at the top and near the throat with national ornaments. For export, such clothes are made from imported wool, since the yarn from the wool of local sheep is very prickly. Due to the fact that sweaters are very warm and practically impermeable to moisture, they are often used as outerwear.

Literary and musical traditions

Icelanders are especially proud of their national traditions in literature and music. Real events from the life of ancestors are passed down from generation to generation and performed to music using national musical instruments. Such instruments are the organ and the harmonium.

In modern music, which is closely related to Scandinavian music, you can clearly hear ethnic tunes characteristic of Icelanders. The country has several musical groups that have received worldwide recognition.

National pride in literary terms is, of course, the winner of the 1955 Nobel Prize in Literature, the Icelandic writer Halldór Lasness. His works, inspired by the plots of the sagas, brought the author worldwide fame.
Holiday Traditions

The main Icelandic holiday is Winter Holiday. His tradition was to wear pants on only one leg and jump barefoot on his bare leg around his own house. The Icelandic Winter Festival is celebrated widely with plenty of food and alcohol at the table. Jumping in the cold in the snow around the house is not prohibited, but it is not mandatory either.

Traditionally, one of the main and beloved holidays has become the New Year. During its celebration, the people of Iceland light bonfires and dance around them, singing merry songs.

After the New Year, the inhabitants of the island celebrate their most traditional holiday called “Yule”. When celebrating it, bonfires are necessarily lit, but in specially designated places, due to the fact that the holiday is dedicated to the goddesses of fate. Yule traditions are very similar to Christmas traditions. Icelanders also decorate the Christmas tree and hide gifts under it.

Icelanders celebrate the first day of summer - Sumardagurin Firsti - on a grand scale. A number of folk beliefs are associated with this pagan festival. Frosts on a holiday night were a good sign. Icelanders believe that the thickness of ice on water will be the same as the thickness of cream on milk throughout the year.

In celebration of the first day of summer, Iceland celebrates the first day of winter. During its celebration, Icelanders organize various competitions and organize many festivals.

The main public holidays are the country's Independence Day, celebrated on December 1, the Day of the Head of State and the Day of the Proclamation of the Icelandic Republic.

Icelanders are no strangers to celebrating some internationally recognized holidays, such as St. Nicholas Day, Catholic Christmas, Valentine's Day and Lutheran Easter.
Other traditions

Icelanders are extremely punctual. When making an appointment, it is better to arrive on time or even a little earlier. Being late to meetings is considered bad manners.

It is also considered bad form to use the word “peasant” in communication, in any language. It is generally considered offensive. In Icelandic it was replaced by the word "farmer". Settlements that are customary on the European continent to be called a village or hamlet are here called a farm. On the island, according to its inhabitants, there are generally only two types of settlements - urban settlements and farming settlements.

When invited to visit, it is customary to give the hosts any gift, even a purely symbolic one. Icelanders are very welcoming and hospitable.

The more you travel, the more useful experiences you gain. You begin to understand the mistakes you made before and can correct them without much effort. This allows you to save money, get rid of unnecessary worries and travel much more conveniently. Develop all these habits to make every trip enjoyable.

Create a list of things you need

If you make a list of everything you need in advance, it will be more convenient for you to pack your suitcase and you will not forget anything. Experienced travelers always make lists - they are convenient for packing before leaving and putting things away before returning home.

If your friends or family have already been to the place you're going to, they will be able to suggest where to eat, what museum to go to, and what public transportation to take. People close to you know you well, so they will be able to give advice that is suitable for you personally and which has been tested in their own experience.

Get ready in advance

You should be in the habit of packing at least a day before your trip, ideally even earlier. If you're packing slowly throughout the week before you leave, you can put things in your bag as you remember them. This way you are less likely to forget something. Don't wait until the last moment, otherwise you will start your journey with stress and may forget about something.

Make multiple copies of important documents

You should carry copies of your ID and insurance with you, and leave your itinerary with relatives or friends. If you lose something, they will send you the necessary copies. The original documents should be kept in the hotel safe, and only copies should be carried with you, this is much more convenient and safer.

Always carry a water bottle with you

Carry a water bottle with you everywhere so you can easily fill it up and drink it during the flight and throughout your trip. You never know if you will be able to buy water at any time, so having a bottle will be very convenient for you.

Always charge your devices

Take adapters and chargers with you wherever you go. If there is an outlet where you are sitting down for lunch, be sure to use it. Charge all your devices overnight while you sleep so you have a full battery in the morning that will last as long as possible. In this case, you will not have to face any inconvenience.

Try to get everywhere early

Go to the airport early. Arrive early at the train station. Don't be late for the restaurant where you have a reservation. If you're in an unfamiliar country, you never know what the problem will be, so the best solution is to leave early to anticipate problems. This is especially true when traveling by plane. Avoid being late to avoid getting into trouble.

Don't keep your money in sight

You shouldn't show off your money openly, no matter if you're in your hometown or traveling. Keep money on you, but out of sight, and never put anything valuable in your back pocket - this is the easiest place for a thief to steal something.

Download maps to use them without the Internet

You can download in advance the parts of the map that you will especially need, so that you can use them even when you do not have wireless Internet. You will be able to navigate around the city at any time, even if you find yourself in a completely unfamiliar country for the first time.

Take photos of important parts

Take a photo with your hotel address, your itinerary, your tickets, parking space, departure confirmation numbers, receipts, hotel room. Don't rely solely on your memory. There's a good chance you'll be glad you have these helpful photos on your phone.

Remember when your passport is expired

If your documents become invalid soon, you may have a problem. In many countries, you cannot travel if your passport has three or six months left until its expiration date. Be sure to keep an eye on this and update documents on time.

Learn to take a minimum of things

Try not to overload your bags, take a minimum of things - only what you really need. Try to limit yourself to one bag - this will make it much more convenient for you to move around, and you won’t have to worry about your luggage.

I'll start with the hottest season, when my family and I go on an unforgettable vacation. In July, when it’s hot outside, you always want to swim in a clean, cool lake, barbecue, or just be in nature, watching the beautiful landscapes of mountains and forests. Therefore, in order to fully immerse myself in such an atmosphere, my family chose a wonderful destination - the Chelyabinsk Lakes. For several years now, we have been happy to go to recreation centers in the Chelyabinsk region. Chelyabinsk lakes are famous for their cleanliness. I will tell you about the most popular of them, where our family vacations.

This is Lake Uvildy. If you dream of relaxing on a clean, sandy beach, spending the night in a cozy house on the lake, then you can safely come here. Some tourists, for example, like us, live not in houses, but in tents. This is one of my favorite traditions on our trip. You completely surrender to nature, as if you were sleeping in the open air, and this is probably the most unforgettable thing. In the evenings I like to admire the azure sunset and the calmness of the lake. An interesting feature of the lake is the many islands scattered throughout it. Dad and his friends go to one of these islands in the morning to fish. Then you get a very tasty soup. Also, if you are a fishing enthusiast, then in some places there are special bridges for fishing. Well, of course, if you come there on weekends, you can go to a beach party. A DJ arrives with his team and the dancing lasts almost until the morning. We rest there for 3 to 5 days. And always, when we return home, we remember the funny moments, and there are a lot of them.

But our travels do not end there; in August we go on vacation to the city of Sol-Iletsk, rich in its salt lakes. I consider this a great vacation, as we combine business with pleasure. For several years in a row, we have been going on a useful vacation to one of the most unusual resorts, which is considered the main health resort in Russia. The road to the resort lasts almost the whole day. 1300 kilometers behind us and we are there. It seemed that just in the morning, at the beginning of our journey, the whole sky was covered with clouds, and it was a chilly day, and after a thousand kilometers you get out of the car and the temperature outside is already below +40. One of the most popular resorts in Russia is almost no different from the resorts on the Black Sea, of course, except for the absence of the sea itself. We travel as “savages” as a family and rent a comfortable cottage, although in Sol-Iletsk there is a sanatorium that is famous throughout the country. The resort has a well-developed infrastructure, plenty of entertainment for children, excursions, zoos, and water slides. But still the most interesting thing, attracting more than a million guests annually, is a group of salt lakes. The most popular is water and mud therapy. The feelings after such procedures cannot be expressed in words. Afterwards, the skin becomes smooth and soft, but this is not all the wonders of such mud therapy. The composition of the mud includes various gases, iron sulfide, sodium and potassium, as well as substances that have a bactericidal effect. My favorite lake is Lake Razval.

Its bottom is completely covered with salt, so it is impossible to drown in it, this is another plus for those who cannot swim. You need to lie in the lake calmly, because if water gets into your eyes, it can corrode the membrane of your eye. Lakes tone the body, have a regulating effect on the central nervous system, and improve metabolism. The impressions after such a vacation are unforgettable; in just a few days we improved our health for the whole year ahead. And, of course, I am looking forward to meeting Sol-Iletsk again.

This is how our summer holidays go, and in winter we go to the thermal springs of the city of Tyumen. Our family visited three such springs, and the Avan Country Club was our favorite. We spend two days there. There is a cozy small hotel next to the pool. “Avan” is famous for its real thermal spring. The water temperature in its pool does not drop below 45 degrees Celsius. When there are severe winter frosts outside, we warm ourselves in the open air at the spring. It’s an indescribable feeling when you go out into a forty-degree frost in a swimsuit, and rather run into a hot spring, giving your body a powerful charge of nutrients. You don’t even want to leave such a pool.

Also at the country club you can warm up in the Finnish sauna, have massage treatments, play billiards and even go to the gym to work out. While adults relax in the spring, children can have fun in the playroom. The thermal spring water has a high level of mineralization. The water contains sodium chlorides, bromine, and iodine. Mineral water has a positive effect on problems with the supporting apparatus, problems with blood vessels and the heart, as well as the nervous system.

I like such traditions, I love spending time with my family, and also for health benefits. I hope we will continue to travel like this in the future, because we love it very much. And, of course, we will not stop there, and will visit many more different places in our vast Motherland.

When going on a trip, you definitely need to take care of a minimum set of knowledge about the country in which you are going to spend your long-awaited vacation.

After all, abroad, even a seemingly insignificant little thing can seriously offend a local resident.

Especially a lot in the matter of eating. We will tell you about some foreign traditions that you definitely need to know and remember so as not to offend anyone in a foreign country.

The morals and customs behind the Great Wall of China, as well as the ability to eat with chopsticks, evoke admiration among many, mixed with horror and delight at the same time.

Indeed, the ability to eat with chopsticks is worth thoroughly learning. And the first thing you need to do is figure out what you can’t do with them.

You cannot place chopsticks vertically on a plate of food - this is how food is served only to the dead, and if you do not want to experience the wrath of otherworldly forces and those around you, then never do this.

Never point your chopsticks at other people, and it doesn’t matter whether you hold them in your hands or put them on the table. Of course, one must recognize as an art the ability to place chopsticks so that they do not point at any person at the table, but for the reputation of a well-mannered person it is worth trying.

You should also not hit the cup with chopsticks or use the reverse side.

If you absolutely cannot eat with chopsticks, try eating... with a spoon. Keep in mind that in Thailand, eating with a fork is considered a pretty serious offense.

It is clear that in tourist areas, well-trained staff are trained to turn a blind eye to such violations of etiquette, however, when going to visit Thai friends or to a restaurant located outside the tourist routes, eat only with chopsticks or a spoon.

If you don’t want to part with your fork, then try the following method: use a fork to put food on a spoon, and then put it in your mouth.

Middle East and

In some countries in this region, it is illegal to eat with your left hand. If in Thailand they can simply look at you sideways for your fork, then in this case the ban is mandatory.

Here it is believed that the right hand is given to a person to saturate and touch the beautiful. While the left hand is intended for hygiene needs and other not very pleasant things.

Honor national traditions abroad so as not to offend anyone. Photo zane&inzane

Remember the famous phrase from the movie “Hello, I’m your aunt!” When asked who will pour the tea, Kalyagin replies: “Who else if not me, the eldest lady present here.”

Know that in Korea it’s exactly the same: no matter how many people sit at one table, until the oldest person present touches the food, no one will eat.

This rule even applies to twins and other people born at the same time. If there is no way to understand who is older by days, then minutes count.

The same rule applies to feeding young children in the same family: the oldest child is fed first.

We emphasize that it is very impolite in Italy to ask the waiter or the person who invited you to visit him to serve grated Parmesan cheese with a fish dish.

Of course, they won’t drive you away because of this, but they will draw appropriate conclusions.

Alaska, and almost at the North Pole

Where there is snow, cold and permafrost, morals and decency become simpler in direct proportion to the temperature outside the window.

Some indigenous peoples of the northern lands consider the usual... fart to be a sign of gratitude for a good dinner and a romantic meeting. This is how you can simply and uncomplicatedly say thank you for so many things.

Different countries

The same thing does not always have the same meaning in different countries. In India and Japan, for example, it is very important to leave the plate empty so that the owner of the house sees that you are grateful for the food and thereby (by emptying the dishes) says thank you to him. In China, on the contrary, a clean plate will tell those gathered that you are a greedy person who cannot fill his stomach. They will readily attribute to you poverty, illness and lack of proper upbringing.

Never finish your coffee or tea in a Bedouin village, otherwise you risk drinking it for the rest of your life and getting an upset stomach and arrhythmia. Drinking a drink here means you're asking for more. What to do if you don't want to drink anymore? Extend your hand with the empty cup towards the person with the teapot and shake it lightly. This means “thank you very much, everything was very tasty, but I don’t want more.”

As you can see, all these rules are not that complicated. So, if on a trip abroad you do not want to offend or even anger the natives, then try to remember at least the basic local traditions.

Travel traditions in the Eastern world

Since modern tourism concentrates primarily on European countries and partly on North America, tourism research is usually characterized by Eurocentrism. However, contacts between the Christian and Muslim worlds, which have already been discussed, also influenced the formation of cultural traditions, including travel traditions. In addition, the religious pilgrimages of the East are larger in scale than similar phenomena in the Western world. Along with Jerusalem, Rome, Santiago de Compostella, Canterbury, Loreto, the centers of attraction for both religious and educational tourism have been and remain the Islamic, Buddhist and Hindu shrines of the East: Mecca and Medina, the temples of Benares, the sacred river Ganges (Ganga), Buddhist temples and monasteries in Tibet, India, China, Southeast Asia, etc.

The Rigveda, the oldest written monument of the Indo-Aryans (XI-X centuries BC), the inhabitants of India who came from the north-west, tells in poetic form, in particular, about the sacred place where the waters of the Ganges and Jamna. According to the Rig Veda, bathing at the confluence of these rivers ensures heavenly bliss and that those who voluntarily die there will gain immortality. This is the first mention of Prayag (modern Allahabad), the largest religious center of ancient and modern Hinduism, where since the 7th century. Hundreds of thousands of pilgrims gather each year in late January and early February, and every twelve years (the great Kumbhamela) the celebration attracts millions of people and is probably the most crowded pilgrimage in the world.

In the II century. BC The Great Silk Road developed from China to the Mediterranean, along which for a millennium not only traders moved, but also missionaries - Buddhist monks, who, according to archaeological monuments, visited Syria, Egypt, Libya and Greece.

Worth mentioning is the journey of the Chinese monk Xuan Jiang to India in the first half of the 7th century for Buddhist sutras. His “Notes on the Western Countries during the Great Tang Dynasty” includes the first description of religious holidays in Prayag with a gathering of almost half a million believers. The celebration in those days was held once every five years and lasted a total of 75 days. Both Hindus and Buddhists and members of various religious sects made sacrifices and participated in rituals.

From Xuan Jiang's notes we learn, in particular, about mass religious suicides based on the belief that those who die in sacred waters during the celebration will gain immortality (the law prohibiting religious suicides was adopted only at the beginning of the last century).

In the Middle Ages, the genre of adventure novel developed in Chinese literature, in which information about real travel and fantastic events associated with the philosophical layers of the narrative were intertwined in a bizarre form. Xuan Jiang's notes about his pilgrimage to India served as the basis for one of the most popular novels of the 16th century. "Journey to the West" by Wu Chang'an.

Arabic scholarship was of particular importance not only for Eastern, but also for European culture. The European Renaissance owes a lot to Arab science and culture, which accumulated in libraries translations of ancient authors that later became the property of Europeans. The cultural and scientific achievements of the Arab world were absorbed by enlightened Christians mainly through Spain, the western tip of the Arab world, where the libraries of Toledo, conquered by Christians in 1085, became a center of attraction for European intellectuals, who at first were primarily translators.

Starting from the 8th - 9th centuries. AD The countries of the Arab world were experiencing a period of cultural and scientific growth, especially noticeable in comparison with Christian medieval Europe. At the court of the heirs of Harun al-Rashid, the most significant sources of geographical information are collected and translated, the nature of which is evidenced by their names: “The Book of the Picture of the Earth” by al-Khwarizmi, which was a reworking of Ptolemy’s “Geography” with the addition of Arabic and Iranian materials; original guidebooks - “Books of Ways and States” (inventory of the routes of merchants and pilgrims, often with the authors’ own observations and descriptions of various kinds of attractions), “Wonders of Countries”, “Wonders of the Earth”, etc.

Evidence of Arab merchants and travelers of the 9th-10th centuries. are the most complete source of information about Eastern Europe and Ancient Rus', in particular. For example, Ibn Fadlan, a merchant who traveled in 921 - 922. as part of the embassy from Baghdad to Volga Bulgaria, he reports the most valuable details about the morals and customs of the Slavic and Scandinavian merchants, which he observed on the way “from the Varangians to the Greeks.” The journey of Ibn Batuta (14th century) was record-breaking in length and duration: having set off as a 20-year-old youth from Tangier (Morocco) on a pilgrimage to Mecca, he traveled throughout the entire inhabited world known to the Arabs. During 24 years of wandering, he visited the shores of the Pacific Ocean, Volga Bulgaria, Mozambique, and Mauritanian Spain. Western Sahara, Arabia. In his essay, he, like Herodotus, provides a wide variety of information about the countries he visited, captivatingly tells legends and entertaining stories. A special place in the essay is occupied by stories about Muslim relics and holy places (Mecca and Medina).

As in Europe, a corresponding network of services is being formed around the religious and trade centers of the East: from trade in relics (for example, in Mecca - rags of the “Kiswah”, the brocade cover of the main Muslim shrine of the Kaaba) to the services of the so-called “bayaderas” (Indian temple dancers). In Muslim countries, caravanserais and pack animals were provided with shelter and food for three days at the expense of the treasury (this is reported, in particular, by Afanasy Nikitin in his “Walking across the Three Seas”). After this period, the traveler had to either pay or move on.

In ancient China and ancient India there was a well-developed and fairly well-maintained network of roads (in China, tea houses were located along the roads, where you could drink tea at a reasonable price, and in India, the roads were lined with trees to protect travelers from the sun). It is interesting that in China, when laying roads, they thought about how to protect travelers from evil spirits, which, according to traditional Chinese ideas, move only in a straight line (“evil takes the shortest path”). Accordingly, the roads were winding and the paths were confusing - which was more reminiscent of medieval Europe than Ancient Rome.

In some cases, the service system was delivered quite modernly. Thus, in India, during the already mentioned pilgrimage to modern Allahabad, (to the confluence of the sacred rivers), the ritual of ablution has long been led by the so-called pandas, to whom this position is inherited. This organization includes hundreds of families, dividing the whole of India into districts; The richest pandas send their agents to travel and look for new clients. Each new pilgrim is required to enter into a written agreement that on his next visit he will contact his panda exclusively, and he will create detailed documentation for clients. Hundreds of barbers also live at the expense of the pilgrims (in our days, from the entire ritual, which was quite complex in ancient times, three main points remain: bathing, shaving and paying a fee).

In the 19th century, according to a modern Indologist, “the enterprising spirit of Europeans showed itself here”: As a pass to paradise... a tax on pilgrimage was introduced. It is interesting that the measures taken by the English. government (strict rules of movement requiring passage only along certain streets and through certain gates; issuance of documents certifying the right to ablution; the presence of troops in case the crowd tries to break through by force; rules designed to eliminate abuses in the collection of taxes) organically merged with the traditional an order that secular authorities established already in the Middle Ages, as we saw in the example of Christian pilgrimages to the Holy Land.