Beware the dreaded Reykjavík syndrome!
My favourite cartoonist was at it again today in Blaðið. As regular readers may recall, Iceland recently signed a new defense agreement with the US and - literally - only two people in Iceland know what it's about. [And no - that's not the joke, although it's pretty hilarious when you think about it. Or sad. Whichever.]
Here we have the Prime Minister and the Minister for Foreign Affairs - both of whom were in Washington to sign the agreement - gazing at the Donald Rumsfeld scarecrow with the PM saying: "I don't think we should tell the lefties down in the parliament what the new defense agreement is all about, do you?"
Snort.
MEANWHILE, BREAKING NEWS....
mbl.is has a report of a report in the Danish Jyllands-Posten, which claims that 12 Japanese tourists have serious mental breakdowns annually as a result of the rudeness they encounter in Paris. Two of every three recover completely in due course, but one-third suffers from long-term mental illness as a result, or so claims Yousef Mahmoudia, a psychologist at the Hotel-Dieu hospital in Paris.
The report goes on to quote a Danish psychologist, one Herve Benhamou, who says, "Sensitive tourists can break down when their lofty ideas about a particular country are revealed as illusions." He says that such cases are becoming increasingly frequent with added tourism and this has now been given the name "Paris syndrome". Evidently Japanese tourists are especially at risk because they're used to extreme politeness at home, and often receive a shock when confronted with the rudeness of other nations.
Which begs the question why the Iceland Tourist Board has not launched a campaign to warn Japanese tourists of the perils of Reykjavík nightlife on a weekend night. The way I see it it's a fricking time bomb, particularly in view of Japan as an emerging market and all that. I can just see it: Laugavegur littered with Japanese tourists having mental breakdowns en masse every Friday and Saturday night. The Red Cross setting up emergency tents on Lækjartorg square. Rescue helicopters circling overhead. Trauma counselling clinics next to the toilets in Bankastræti Zero. A time bomb, I say!
KINDA LIKE THE TRAUMATIC WEATHER WE'RE HAVING
Today was one of those days that almost had the power to force me into a clammysweatyclankynoisy gym to go running on a treadmill. When it's like that, you know it's serious. I headed out around noon, just after the sun appeared, but it was still around -1 or -2°C with lots of windchill. Ugh! Only true endorphin junkies would go running along the seashore in weather like that - and in the windiest part of Reykjavík, to boot. However I survived to tell the tale and have not ventured outside since and don't plan to. It's going to be a hobbit evening in front of the telly with my knitting [yes!] watching Murphy's Law, which I'm seriously getting into. That Murphy sure has nerves of steel, phwoar!! And has me at the edge of my seat for almost the whole hour-long episode. Current temp 0 degrees and sunrise was at 08.45, sunset at 17.38.
Here we have the Prime Minister and the Minister for Foreign Affairs - both of whom were in Washington to sign the agreement - gazing at the Donald Rumsfeld scarecrow with the PM saying: "I don't think we should tell the lefties down in the parliament what the new defense agreement is all about, do you?"
Snort.
MEANWHILE, BREAKING NEWS....
mbl.is has a report of a report in the Danish Jyllands-Posten, which claims that 12 Japanese tourists have serious mental breakdowns annually as a result of the rudeness they encounter in Paris. Two of every three recover completely in due course, but one-third suffers from long-term mental illness as a result, or so claims Yousef Mahmoudia, a psychologist at the Hotel-Dieu hospital in Paris.
The report goes on to quote a Danish psychologist, one Herve Benhamou, who says, "Sensitive tourists can break down when their lofty ideas about a particular country are revealed as illusions." He says that such cases are becoming increasingly frequent with added tourism and this has now been given the name "Paris syndrome". Evidently Japanese tourists are especially at risk because they're used to extreme politeness at home, and often receive a shock when confronted with the rudeness of other nations.
Which begs the question why the Iceland Tourist Board has not launched a campaign to warn Japanese tourists of the perils of Reykjavík nightlife on a weekend night. The way I see it it's a fricking time bomb, particularly in view of Japan as an emerging market and all that. I can just see it: Laugavegur littered with Japanese tourists having mental breakdowns en masse every Friday and Saturday night. The Red Cross setting up emergency tents on Lækjartorg square. Rescue helicopters circling overhead. Trauma counselling clinics next to the toilets in Bankastræti Zero. A time bomb, I say!
KINDA LIKE THE TRAUMATIC WEATHER WE'RE HAVING
Today was one of those days that almost had the power to force me into a clammysweatyclankynoisy gym to go running on a treadmill. When it's like that, you know it's serious. I headed out around noon, just after the sun appeared, but it was still around -1 or -2°C with lots of windchill. Ugh! Only true endorphin junkies would go running along the seashore in weather like that - and in the windiest part of Reykjavík, to boot. However I survived to tell the tale and have not ventured outside since and don't plan to. It's going to be a hobbit evening in front of the telly with my knitting [yes!] watching Murphy's Law, which I'm seriously getting into. That Murphy sure has nerves of steel, phwoar!! And has me at the edge of my seat for almost the whole hour-long episode. Current temp 0 degrees and sunrise was at 08.45, sunset at 17.38.
posted by Alda at 5:36 PM
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