In our first episode Iceland News talks to Carrie Simmons. She’s a Canadian of Icelandic descent and she’ll be returning to Iceland for the first time this summer to run in the Reykjavik marathon. We find out what it’s like to grow up in Canada with such a background and her trips to Gimli, Manitoba, as a youngster (home to the largest concentration of people of Icelandic ancestry outside Iceland).

Iceland News spoke to residents of Icelandic descent living in London, Ontario, Canada. This is part one of a multi-part series telling their stories.

INEWS: I’m listening to Icelandic folk music… it’s a song called Draumalandith… in English… that’s dreamland… and it’s the favorite song for one London resident of Icelandic-descent. Here I am in her suburban home… listening to Draumalandith… listening to her story of maintaining her heritage.

Ardath: My name is Ardath Valdise-Finnbogason-Hill, which is a mouthful and always has been for people who have met me for …

This is a short radio piece introducing the Silver Lining charity. It’s a charity set up in the wake of the Icelandic financial crisis of October 2008. It’s headed by two ex-pat Icelanders who live in Los Angeles, California. Veigar Margeirsson is an Icelandic composer who has created music for many Hollywood movies including Batman Begins, Ironman and The Da Vinci Code. His partner, Sirry Jonasdottir, is the charity operations manager. They took the time to speak with me at length about what Silver Lining is and what its …

LISTEN TO THE ICELAND NEWS INTERVIEW BELOW

Powered by Podbean.com

For two British ex-pats, living in Iceland is a place of extremes whatever the time of year.
The summer nights are long where light continues to stream in through the windows at midnight. Then, in winter, it’s the complete opposite.
“You get to midday and you’ve still not woken up because there is no sunlight,” says 22-year-old Sam Webb. “It’s bizarre.”
Webb and his fiancée, Rhiannon Brown, 19, have been living in Gunnarsholt, Iceland, since October 2008. They arrived in the country after Webb was …