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Tuesday afternoon we attended a reception hosted by Iceland's President, Olafur Ragnar Grimsson, which was arranged by a Caltech alumnus who is a former Icelandic Prime Minister. We learned that Iceland is the only country in the world that still maintains the old Scandanavian tradition of patronymy: the adoption of one's father's first given name followed by -sson or -sdottir. Last names are virtually never used - we addressed the President simply as "Olafur". Here Olafur explains a wood carving he received from one of Iceland's respectful craftsmen.