Young and European: Growing up in Reykjavik

DW (English)

Iceland is known for its spectacular landscape. But life here comes with long, dark winters and high living costs. How do young people make it work?

Transcript

00:00Good day, my name is Kristina and I'm 19 and I live in Reykjavík.

00:04This is like the capital of Iceland. Most of the things that happen happen here.

00:09It's kind of my hometown, so I am really lucky to be here.

00:14I'm going to show you a typical day in my life.

00:17Kristina spent seven months in Denmark after high school and, like two of her three siblings,

00:22has now moved back in with her folks in the suburbs.

00:2555% of 18-24 year olds in Iceland live with their parents.

00:31Hi, welcome to my house. Come in.

00:36I haven't quite moved in yet, but I've kind of done my bedroom.

00:40So you guys can see that.

00:42I collect a lot of books and I collect a lot of CDs, or I try to.

00:47But then I also just really like little small cute stuff and trinkets,

00:53but also with a bit of mix of like Catholicism.

00:57Like I have a lot of Mary statues and crosses.

01:02Kristina recently began studying at the University of Iceland, the country's largest.

01:07Today's schedule is light, a morning lecture.

01:10Studying in a country of only 400,000 people means she sees many familiar faces on campus.

01:16You start university and you just see everybody that you know.

01:24I think dating is kind of hard because I feel like everybody kind of knows everyone,

01:28so everybody's business is everyone's business.

01:30So you're like, oh, I can't really date this person privately.

01:33Like, then everybody has to know I'm seeing this person.

01:36Part of her first semester bachelor studies, her native tongue, Icelandic.

01:40The course is a mixture of linguistics and literature of the North Germanic language.

01:45For Kristina and her friends, social life is just as important as studying.

01:49They often meet up on campus in their free time.

01:56This is student at Katlarin.

01:58This is like our bar and also you can get hamburgers here.

02:03But she won't be allowed to buy alcohol until she's 20 years old.

02:07There are some loopholes.

02:10Like, if you're 18 and you like find alcohol, you can drink it, but you can't buy any.

02:17So, you can get around it, but yeah, no, you're not supposed to drink before 20.

02:23Nowhere else in Europe is alcohol as expensive as in Iceland.

02:27The overall cost of living is high, partly because the island is so remote

02:31and almost everything has to be imported.

02:34It is really hard to be independent and moving out because there's like a housing market crisis.

02:45It's expensive to travel.

02:47It's expensive to buy things.

02:49You have to be very like conscious of every spending decision you make.

02:53She has to take a bus to reach her job in the north of the city.

02:57It takes a lot of time. It can be late. There's not a lot of pros to it, but it works for me.

03:06Buses are Iceland's only form of public transit.

03:09A monthly ticket costs more than 11,000 Icelandic kronor, about 75 euros.

03:15Kristina is getting her driver's license. The minimum age is 17 and most of her friends already drive.

03:21Iceland is a car country. In 2023, there were 66 vehicles per 100 inhabitants.

03:28We are going to the swimming pool I work at. Swimming pools are a really big part of Icelandic culture.

03:37It's mandatory for Icelandic people to learn how to swim, so it's accessible to basically everyone.

03:43Most swimming pools are heated with geothermal energy. This makes swimming possible all year round.

03:49I'm a lifeguard. I work in the tower, but I also give people tickets and I give people swimwear if they forgot it.

04:01I clean and I have the general eye for people and watch their safety.

04:06Because even though it's for leisure, it can still get dangerous. You never know what can happen.

04:12One of her tasks is to examine water samples in the pump room.

04:17Most Icelandic students work part-time. Like many others, Kristina had her first holiday job at the age of 13.

04:25At 15, she started working regularly.

04:30You never really get pocket money after you turn like 15, 14. Then it's just your time to manage your own expenses.

04:40Kristina would like to see more of the world, but knows she will miss Iceland.

04:45After living abroad, you're like, oh, but that is kind of my country and that is my place.

04:50And I do kind of belong there. And yeah, I think you just have this sense of belonging.

04:55Thank you so much for coming with me today. Goodbye.

Category

Transcript

Be the first to comment

Recommended