Reflections - Kate
Day One was the first day of the rest of my life. The first day of exchange, it took too long to arrive and it went before I realised it was happening.
A few weeks after Intro camp I had my first Danish Gymnasium Party. I was a little shocked to see the beer truck arriving at school and to see kegs of beer being delivered into our canteen, as they set up the bar... yes they sell beer and cider at school... The party was amazing, they had a Danish DJ come in and turned our canteen into somewhat of a nightclub, and this is an event that happens about 6 times a year!
In the winter holidays, my host father and brother went to Austria skiing, while me and my host mother and grandmother went to southern Denmark and Northern Germany touring, I saw my first castle and a lot of extremely old churches, something that is not out of the ordinary here.
The next few months were spent getting to know my class, going out for lunch and parties. Gradually as the weather got warmer I started to go out more and more, and eventually I wore shorts one day. In May I started my Euro Tour. The most amazing 18 days of my life. We travelled around Europe, visiting Berlin, Prague, Vienna, Venice, Verona, San Remo, Avignon, Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam! I travelled with the most amazing group of people. Day one on the bus, no one really knew each other, but by day 18, the final day on the trip, everyone was crying that it was over. It flew by, the most amazing trip of my life, and it was gone in a blink. There are not even words to describe it.
After Euro tour it was summer holidays. The month of June was exam month for my class, so they were busy studying, while I was going out with the other exchange students, it was also my 18th birthday, which meant I could legally go night clubbing.
In July I went to Skagen with my family for a few weeks to see the most northern point of Denmark Day One was the first day of the rest of my life. The first day of exchange, it took to long to arrive and it went before I realised it was happening. where the two seas meet and crash into each other. There is also a huge area of sand dunes with perfect white sand where we got to run around for a few hours. The beaches on the west coast of Denmark are littered with old German bunkers from the Second World War, which you can explore, albeit a little spooky and scary. I also went on a trip to the island of Samsø, with a member of Rotary and his family. It was amazing to see the island of Samsø and their traditions, Samsø is surrounded by wind turbines and is completely self sufficient for energy and food.
After Samsø, I had to say goodbye to my second host brother who was starting his exchange in Australia, who I hope to see again when I arrive back in Australia. On August 1st, I moved to my third and final family. And that was when I started speaking only Danish, in my previous families it was a mix of English and Danish, but at my last family it was only Danish, which is really good, I have started to understand a lot more and been able to express myself in Danish, which I think was a big worry at the start.
I started back at school in 2 year gymnasium, and now the weather is starting to get colder, and I've started to put more layers on, as the weather forecast has started to have the high of 3 and the low of -3 coming in the next few days.
Exchange has been the best experience of my life, and I would do it again if I could, there isn't one thing I would change. And I think any one should experience it! I have changed and grown so much since I stepped on to the plane a few months ago, and this year had gone by super fast.
Kate
Hosted by:
Rotary Club of Odense, D1460 Denmark
