General Discussion Thread

[JoB]

here's a list of things they've called me in the absence of a name tag:

Now that's a job for Þ and Đ shaped confetti if I've ever seen one!

(Use a clear-plastic-casing type name tag, put a pinch of confetti between transparent front and the actual name tag, and write "Hello, my name is: (please shake well before reading it out aloud)" on the latter.)

[viola]

Now that's a job for Þ and Đ shaped confetti if I've ever seen one!

(Use a clear-plastic-casing type name tag, put a pinch of confetti between transparent front and the actual name tag, and write "Hello, my name is: (please shake well before reading it out aloud)" on the latter.)

Considering they're both consonants that would work well for the Czech language Although I don't think Czech has dental fricatives, voiced or unvoiced.

[Laufey]

yeah this video is much less chaotic than a 1000 person breakfast buffet
also hilarious
I understand what you mean :// it's like places are being turned into tourist kitsch and it's sad
when I was in iceland for two weeks in... 2005? we drove around the country and camped in tents and stuff it was amazing. I remember collecting thyme for tea and thyme tea is my favourite now because of that

The bigger problem is that tourists actively destroy the nature here because they just don't care. They dig rocks out of the ground to create more vörður (huge piles of rocks), recently a group cut huge patches of moss and lichen out of the ground to use as insulation for their tent (lichen that takes decades to grow back), they drive offroad which is illegal and causes severe damage, destroy and litter the Snæfellsnes nature park, camp wherever, even in places where it's forbidden, poop everywhere (my biggest wtf - do these people do their business number 2 on the side of the road back home as well?). They're like geese: some amount is ok but this many is way too much. Can't wait for people to get bored of Iceland already.

...my apologies, that did sound really negative and I'm not against people visiting Iceland as such. I only wish they'd not deliberately wreck this place up...

[viola]

The bigger problem is that tourists actively destroy the nature here because they just don't care. They dig rocks out of the ground to create more vörður (huge piles of rocks), recently a group cut huge patches of moss and lichen out of the ground to use as insulation for their tent (lichen that takes decades to grow back), they drive offroad which is illegal and causes severe damage, destroy and litter the Snæfellsnes nature park, camp wherever, even in places where it's forbidden, poop everywhere (my biggest wtf - do these people do their business number 2 on the side of the road back home as well?). They're like geese: some amount is ok but this many is way too much. Can't wait for people to get bored of Iceland already.

...my apologies, that did sound really negative and I'm not against people visiting Iceland as such. I only wish they'd not deliberately wreck this place up...

I agree with you about the nature stuff. That really goes for anywhere, but especially Iceland. There's so much undeveloped land and it's so close to the city. In the US you have to drive a bit to get out of the cities and find nature, so it's less likely that the tourists are going to find it unless they're specifically looking for it. In Canada it's a bit more like Iceland. But in Iceland everything is so close so it's really easy for city people to just drive for an hour and wind up all alone with no one else around in the middle of moss and hills. I think the feeling of isolation in these areas might encourage people to do stupid things because they feel like no one will ever see it.

One crazy tourist story from my time in Iceland:
My friend and I were sitting at the beach chatting and there were several Icelandic families there with small children and we said hi to them. As we were leaving, a tour group (from China by the sound of the language) showed up and they went up to this family and wanted to hold their baby and take pictures with it. They were like "oh my god Icelandic baby! Let's pose with it".

[Fimbulvarg]

Fimby how do you even know that video exists??

Waddya meeean - I dunno, I just do.

The bigger problem is that tourists actively destroy the nature here because they just don't care. They dig rocks out of the ground to create more vörður (huge piles of rocks), recently a group cut huge patches of moss and lichen out of the ground to use as insulation for their tent (lichen that takes decades to grow back), they drive offroad which is illegal and causes severe damage, destroy and litter the Snæfellsnes nature park, camp wherever, even in places where it's forbidden, poop everywhere (my biggest wtf - do these people do their business number 2 on the side of the road back home as well?). They're like geese: some amount is ok but this many is way too much. Can't wait for people to get bored of Iceland already.

...my apologies, that did sound really negative and I'm not against people visiting Iceland as such. I only wish they'd not deliberately wreck this place up...

I think this is the case in a lot of places. I know some people working in the tourism industry. They've built up a large register of national stereotypes that are far from flattering. I think most tourists are responsible and humble towards the host country, but bring in large volumes of them and you're bound to have more than enough trashlings mixed in with the rest.

What annoys me though is how the tourism industry ruins cultural and natural heritage. Take a visit to the Hanseatic office in Bergen for instance - they've set up souvenir shops in the actual UNESCO-protected buildings. Not to mention the pyramids in Egypt - totally commercialised.

[Laufey]

One crazy tourist story from my time in Iceland:
My friend and I were sitting at the beach chatting and there were several Icelandic families there with small children and we said hi to them. As we were leaving, a tour group (from China by the sound of the language) showed up and they went up to this family and wanted to hold their baby and take pictures with it. They were like "oh my god Icelandic baby! Let's pose with it".

When we lived in Sudan my mom apparently had occasional trouble because people saw me - tiny blond kid (I used to have white-blond hair as a kid) - and just randomly picked me up to hug me, or gave me fruit or candy. They didn't mean anything bad of course but it stressed my mum out a good bit, especially since she was trying to make sure I wouldn't eat anything that would make me ill. That failed though, and even more spectacularly than she ever knew, since the cook we had actively sneaked me candy too and I knew enough to eat it in secret.

What annoys me though is how the tourism industry ruins cultural and natural heritage. Take a visit to the Hanseatic office in Bergen for instance - they've set up souvenir shops in the actual UNESCO-protected buildings. Not to mention the pyramids in Egypt - totally commercialised.

Yeah... the sheer amount of hotels being built downtown Reykjavík at the moment is insane. Old houses and even trees are torn up to make room for them, and before anyone wonders about the trees we seriously don't have many here and some are even protected - which btw does not seem to mean anything if someone wants to build a hotel in their place instead. I'm just waiting for the day when people get bored with Iceland and the hotel owners find they now have a dozen empty hotels in their hands.

[viola]

What annoys me though is how the tourism industry ruins cultural and natural heritage. Take a visit to the Hanseatic office in Bergen for instance - they've set up souvenir shops in the actual UNESCO-protected buildings. Not to mention the pyramids in Egypt - totally commercialised.

Same with the shrines in Japan. There are little gift shops right next to and even inside some of them.

[JoB]

I think the feeling of isolation in these areas might encourage people to do stupid things because they feel like no one will ever see it.

Meh, I cannot confirm that after doing another long-distance car trip lately. Picture several rest stops with (male) people taking a tinkle into the bushes in plain sight, the toilet hut 10-15m behind their backs. (And no, not the chemical-warfare-level-of-nonmaintenance type.)

Those types need their neighbor who'll keep reminding them of their conduct in public for a decade or two watching to mind their manners.

[KicknRun]

*loud and angry screeching*

[Mélusine]

It's official : I have the mother who is unable to be happy to receive a postcard from my trip and only grouse about the fact she doesn't knew I was going outside the country -__-

[starfallz]

It's official : I have the mother who is unable to be happy to receive a postcard from my trip and only grouse about the fact she doesn't knew I was going outside the country -__-

Aww. *pat pats*

[viola]

*loud and angry screeching*

Awww Kick me too :/

It's official : I have the mother who is unable to be happy to receive a postcard from my trip and only grouse about the fact she doesn't knew I was going outside the country -__-

*hugs*

[Haiz]

im about to go to bed
but
i just realized that in the "attachments and other options" (where the link to the reaction hoard is!) there's a 'don't use smileys' option

which means
I CAN DO THIS:
???????????????????????????????????????????????????????

im so happy

[Curry]

im about to go to bed
but
i just realized that in the "attachments and other options" (where the link to the reaction hoard is!) there's a 'don't use smileys' option

which means
I CAN DO THIS:
???????????????????????????????????????????????????????

im so happy

[curry intensifies] >83c

[Mélusine]

Aww. *pat pats*

*hugs*

Thank. I accept both, *pat pats* and *hugs* (Now, try to forget this stupid reaction and go to bed, Mélu.)