What’s it like to grow up in Reykjavík, Iceland? | Young and European

Hello, my name is Kristiana and I'm 19 and I live in Reykjavik. This is like the capital of Iceland. Most of the things that happen, happen here. It's kind of my hometown, so I am really lucky to be here. Iceland is known for its spectacular natural surroundings, community spirit and a robust social system. But its winters are long, dark and cold, and the cost of living in Reykjavik is high. What's life like here for young people? I'm going to show you a typical day in my life. Hi, welcome to my house, come in. This is my living room, but I'm really, really hungry, so I'm going to make breakfast. I want to make something quick. I'm going to make flatkakur, which is like translated to flatbread. I don't really know what it's made of, but it's just like a type of bread and it's really good. I don't think there is like a stereotypical Icelandic breakfast, maybe back in like the older days, maybe then we would have like skir, but today I think people would just have like coffee and cereal or toast or something. Kristina spent seven months in Denmark after high school, and like two of her three siblings, has now moved back in with her folks in the suburbs. 55% of 18 to 24-year-olds in Iceland live with their parents. If you want, you can go to my room, it's downstairs. I'm quite moved in yet, but I've kind of done my bedroom, so you guys can see that. I collect a lot of books and I collect a lot of CDs, or I try to, but then I'm also just really like like little small cute stuff and trinkets, but also with a bit of mix of like Catholicism, like I have a lot of Mary statues and crosses. Having just like a really cozy room and a place that you want to hang out with, I think that's really important to have a nice and chill bedroom in the cold, cold winters. Kristina recently began studying at the University of Iceland, the country's largest. Today's schedule is light. A morning lecture. Studying in a country of only 400,000 people means she sees many familiar faces on campus. You start university and you just see everybody that you know. I think dating is kind of hard because I feel like everybody kind of knows everyone, so everybody's business is everyone's business, so you're like, oh I can't really date this person privately, like then everybody has to know I'm seeing this person. Part of her first semester bachelor studies, her native tongue Icelandic. The course is a mixture of linguistics and literature of the North Germanic language. For Kristina and her friends, social life is just as important as studying. They often meet up on campus in their free time. This is Studentarkallarenn, this is like our bar and also you can get hamburgers here. But she won't be allowed to buy alcohol until she is 20 years old. There are some loopholes, like if you're 18 and you like find alcohol you can drink it, but you can't buy any, so you can get around it, but yeah no, you're not supposed to drink before 20. Nowhere else in Europe is alcohol as expensive as in Iceland. The overall cost of living is high, partly because the island is so remote and almost everything has to be imported. Most I try to bring packed lunch because I want to save money, but when I forget I like to buy the soup here because it's kind of inexpensive and you can also use like your student ID to get discounts, so it's super nice when you're hungry after studying. Public higher education is tuition free, administrative fees are low, Kristina doesn't know yet what she wants to do professionally. Her prospects are good, youth unemployment is just under eight percent. Kristina was born and raised in Reykjavik. One problem for young people is that the cost of living has been rising faster than income for years. It is really hard to be independent and moving out because of there's like a housing market crisis, it's expensive to travel, it's expensive to buy things, you have to be very like conscious of every spending decision you make. We're here at Legaver, which is the main shopping road downtown in Iceland. I guess my favorites would be the thrift shops and my cafe. So this is Makka cafe and this is where I work and I'm gonna go inside. Kristina started working part-time at her favorite cafe two years ago when she was still in high school. Today she's just stopping by for a cappuccino. This is the oldest cafe in Iceland with a coffee machine. It's been working since, it's been here since 1958 and the design hasn't changed since its opening. She has to take a bus to reach her second job in the north of the city. It takes a lot of time, it can be late, there's not a lot of pros to it, but it works for me, I've gotten used to it. It's an issue for other people but I can deal with it. Buses are Iceland's only form of public transit. A monthly ticket costs more than 11,000 Icelandic krona, about 90 US dollars. I don't really like sitting over there, it's good like not in the back, not in the front, in the middle, that's the best. Kristina is getting her driver's license. The minimum age is 17 and most of her friends already drive. Iceland is a car country. In 2023 there were 66 vehicles per 100 inhabitants. We are going to the swimming pool I work at. Swimming pools are a really big part of Icelandic culture. It's mandatory for Icelandic people to learn how to swim so it's accessible to basically everyone. Most swimming pools are heated with geothermal energy, this makes swimming possible all year round. I'm a lifeguard, I work in the tower but I also give people tickets and I give people swimwear if they forgot it, I clean and I have a general eye for people and watch their safety because even though it's for leisure it can still get dangerous, you never know what can happen. One of her tasks is to examine water samples in the pump room. Most Icelandic students work part-time. Like many others, Kristina had her first holiday job at the age of 13. At 15 she started working regularly. You just kind of transition into it at such a young age, it's just kind of a mindset now that oh I have to have a job, I have to make my own earning, you never really get pocket money after you turn like 15, 14, then it's just your time to manage your own expenses. Kristina would like to see more of the world but knows she will miss Iceland. After living abroad you're like oh but that is kind of my country and that is my place and I do kind of belong there and yeah I think you just have the sense of belonging. So that was it with my shift and now it's time for me to go home and study. Thank you so much for coming with me today, goodbye!