When I was driving home from the airport with my new American family I was tired but very excited and hot. I felt a bit sick after a long flight, not enough sleep, and saying goodbye to my life in Denmark, but I knew that this was what I had waited for for so long. 

I now started to actually realize the fact that I was in America, and I would be here for a whole year, which was just as exciting as I thought.  

One of the first things I realized was how hot it is here compared to Denmark, but also that people are very friendly. An airport man said, “How are you?,” and I thought, “Thank you so much for asking.” People do not really ask in Denmark, and they seldom say, “Excuse me.”  

Another thing that also shocked me was how loud the toilets are when you flush them. I am right there, do they need to be so loud? Everything is also way bigger here: cars, houses, Target.

When being open minded and saying hello to people most welcome me and say, “That’s so cool.” 

I heard about the Rotary Youth Exchange Program through my grandfather, and thought, “When can I leave?” I thought living in another country for a year, getting better at English, meeting new people, and getting a second family in the U.S. sounded amazing. I could have a chance at a once-in-a-lifetime experience by “living the American dream.” 

The process of becoming an exchange student is long and a bit stressful with applications, interviews, immunizations, papers, documents, and visa. There is a lot of waiting time, but it is definitely worth it. I remember when I was told my location, and how I screamed with excitement. 

Something that was really hard was saying goodbye to my friends and family. I had a weird feeling when I said, “See you in a year.” At that moment at the airport, I realized that my exchange was happening right now, which was a crazy feeling. 

I am finally here and I absolutely love it. Most things are different, but I am slowly getting used to it. I love the fact that I will spend the next 10 months here.

High school here is great but a lot different from Denmark. Back home, I usually have my classes with the same people in the same classroom except for science and PE. There are about 450 students in my high school in Denmark, so Starr’s Mill is pretty big and I see new people all the time. 

My first day of school was a little bit confusing when I had to find my way around. I could not find my classes without constantly looking on a map. I had never experienced “the pledge” before, which was different but cool. 

I feel like most students are helpful and friendly. I feel like I am getting to meet and talk to a lot of new people, but honestly it is difficult to remember everyone’s names. This has helped me to feel welcome even though I come into their lives as “the new girl.”  

It was also different calling my teachers Mr. and Ms./Mrs., because I usually call them by their first name in Denmark. 

I really like all my teachers. They are all supportive and understanding, because I go to school in my second language and not Danish. I do feel like my English has improved since I got here and it is easier to follow along in my classes besides the southern accents. 

I like that I do get time in class to do the assignments that I have to turn in. In Denmark, I usually have to do my assignments at home. I take a lot of electives, because I do not get academic credits for being here, so I do not get tons of homework, which is really great.

Another thing is the restroom pass rule. If I have to use the restroom here I have to get a pass, which I fully understand. Most teachers just let me go in Denmark. 

The yellow American school bus is quite iconic, so I was very excited to ride it the first time. It was cool, but hot and jumpy. 

Tests. Wow. American teachers like to give tests. Let me just leave it like that. 

I really like that sports are a part of school here. The people of one’s team will be at the school, which makes it easier to know people around. Sports are separated from schools in Denmark although we do have a class where we do different kinds of sports. 

Besides all the differences I do really like being here. I feel like I am starting to get a routine and a feeling of American high school.

Halloween is an American holiday, which is spreading around the world. As an Danish exchange student in the United States, this was my first “real” Halloween experience. 

Halloween has started coming to Denmark, but I never went trick and treating, so on Halloween night I went to Highgrove to get the full experience.  

I was impressed by how the kids dressed up and even their parents would have outfits that might even match. Some high schoolers even dressed up with their cool and even scary costumes. 

I liked the family-friendly costumes with princesses, superheroes, fairies, etc. but the people who dressed up as clowns or were wearing fake blood were really cool as well. 

Everyone was really nice when they went out trick-or-treating. Kids were yelling “Happy Halloween” and a lot of people asked me how my first American Halloween was going, which made me feel very welcome.

People go all in. I mean ALL in, which I actually did not expect. People had the spiders, skeletons, gravestones, and clowns as props, which was really cool, but the most impressive prop was definitely the fake smoke. This gave an extra touch to the scary factor. 

I went on a golf cart drive in the Highgrove neighborhood, where I could see all of these props. Wow! People do so much and are extremely dedicated, which is really cool, because it is not like that in Denmark. 

Something that surprised me a bit was that nobody dresses up for school. Halloween could have been even more cool if it was a thing to dress up for school, so Halloween was not only at night. 

When the kids came trick-or-treating I thought they would actually say “trick or treat,” but most did not. They usually said “thank you,” and I feel like everyone was really polite to each other. 

 Something that disappointed me a tiny bit was that Halloween was not as scary as I thought it would be, but it was probably because I was in a family neighborhood. There were a few houses where the person handing out the candy was scary and did not say anything and even another house with a clown. 

At about 9 p.m. families started packing up and getting inside, which was earlier than I thought it would be. 

I will definitely take my friends and family from back home back to Peachtree City, so they can experience Halloween. I really liked it. People were more dedicated than I thought they would be.

I have been in the United States for more than five months now, which has led to a lot of questions about the differences between Denmark and here. It is difficult to name all of the differences, but here are some of the most interesting contrasts.

Language

“You speak Dutch, right?” I understand why people might think that because it starts with “d” and sounds familiar, but I speak Danish, which is very different. People have also asked when I learned English. I have had English for a long time in school, because it is mandatory to learn, but really movies and shows helped me a lot. 

Transportation

I know that a lot of the bigger American citizens have great public transportation, but at home we have opportunities all over the country even though you might have to wait for a long time in a smaller town. Also, a lot of Danes bike to work, school, and grocery stores, especially in the cities. 

Politics and taxes

We have a representative democracy and parliamentary system, which means we have a prime minister, Mette Frederiksen. Our taxes depend on our income, and they typically amount to 50%. This sounds like a lot, but Denmark has free education and universal healthcare. 

Government

In Denmark we have a monarchy, which means we have a queen. Queen Dronning Margrethe ll has been on the throne for over 50 years. This is clearly different from here. The queen’s political powers are minimal, but she can sign laws and designate ministers.  

Football vs. fodbold

Sports are really big here. No, extremely big here. A lot of people have a big heart for football and have asked me if it is a thing in Denmark. The biggest sport in Denmark is “fodbold,” a form of soccer. People get really into it during the World Cup and the European championships. 

Weather

I got here on July 31, and it was really hot. The Danish summer can be as hot as here but that would probably mean a heatwave. The typical weather during the winter is rain, snow, wind, darkness and cold. Sometimes we can experience all four seasons in only one day. 

Denmark is a small country in Scandinavia in Europe. Its area is 16,580 sq miles and we have 1,419 islands. Our population is about 5.843 million. Our capital is København (Copenhagen). Greenland and the Faroe Islands are under the Danish kingdom.

Time. The time has gone by so much faster on my exchange than just being at home in Denmark. I have experienced so many new things, met so many people, and I am just living a life in a year. 

When I arrived in Georgia this past summer, I went home with strangers: my new host family. I had previously exchanged emails with them and had a Zoom call, so I felt like I knew them a little bit. I cannot truly describe how it felt to arrive in a new country, meeting the people I was going home to live with. 

Through the exchange program that I am currently doing I will live with three host families. This means that I get three totally different experiences. I am currently living with my second host family after meeting them a few times. 

Now, six months later I have gotten new families across the globe, which I am extremely grateful for. 

With each new transition of host families, we had to get to get to know each other. My parents raised me to be polite, which I truly was in the beginning, but at some point we started making jokes and had these moments and I felt very happy to be here. I would never have had all of this if I never took that flight and got the experience of a lifetime.

When you step into family as a stranger, everything is very different and it takes time to get settled in. The first couple of times I had to go get a snack, make my lunch, or ask to go to the store was weird. But at some point It started to get normal and my new life in America came together pretty quickly, because I felt very comfortable with each of my families. 

Whenever I felt like I had something that made me nervous or scared such as a presentation, my approach currently is, “I flew across the world all by myself, so I can do this.”

There has also been a difference between my first host family and second besides the members. When I first arrived it was more like getting a better grasp of understanding English and arriving in a totally new country. Whereas my second host family experience was more like getting to know them and their routines better. I will be moving in with my third host family soon, which is very exciting but sad to leave my second family. 

Being so far away from my friends and family back home has of course led to some homesickness. Honestly, I thought it would have been a lot worse than it has been, because it has not been a huge problem for me so far. 

Christmas was definitely the hardest because Christmas here is very different. We celebrate Christmas on the evening of December 24 with great food, family, dancing and singing around the Christmas tree and presents. 

When you are “forced” to live with a family you eventually get really close with them and  learning new things about each other everyday is much easier. A host family is more than just hosts for you, well three for me. They are a new family that cares incredibly much about you and you even more for them. I will forever have this bond with them and have a second home right here in Peachtree City, and they will have a cool opportunity to come and visit me in Denmark.

One thing that I was really worried about before I left Denmark was homesickness. 

How hard was it going to be not to see my friends and family for one year? I have had an amazing exchange so far with great host families, friends and experiences, which I think has played a huge part in not feeling as homesick as expected. 

Even though it has been great I am not going to lie there has been some hard times. Christmas was hard for me, because I was so far away from home and Danish traditions. It has been weird, when my whole family or friends have gotten together and obviously I was not there.   

Another thing that triggers homesickness is thinking about how long it is going to be before I see my family and friends again. The first time I realized this was actually in the airport, when we were saying goodbye. 

I have not seen my family and friends for seven months, which is a long time but the time has never gone by faster than it has here. Therefore, it has not felt like that long. 

Before I left I was told to be careful with having too much contact with my family and friends back home and to be present here in Georgia and not always being on my phone to FaceTime to prevent homesickness. Despite this advice, I have experienced that FaceTiming, especially my parents, has helped me not to get homesick. 

As a European, I had some assumptions about Americans prior to starting my exchange. I had heard the stereotypes. Americans are fat. Americans are bad at geography. Some stereotypes are partially true and some are not.

I expected sports to be big here, so it did not surprise me that they actually are. I love how a lot of students at the school play different sports and that people in general are passionate about sports all year. Also, some people are very serious about their sport, and I can tell you that it is not just a hobby for them but their actual world.

I had also heard that many Americans, especially outside of the cities, drive their cars a lot. It did not surprise me at all because there is not really a lot of public transportation and everything is farther away. 

I feel people here live a busier life here than in Denmark. Many teenagers have sports or some kind of club after school. Adults work many hours and some people do volunteer work. There is a rush to get to everything.

People outside the U.S. generally think that America is kind of famous for all the fast food restaurants, which is so true. You can honestly barely drive a couple of miles and not see some kind of fast food restaurant. 

Also, something that I have noticed is that some Americans’ manners are not always great at the table – chewing with their mouths open, only using their fork, or talking while eating. 

You might have seen some Tik Toks where Americans answer geography questions about the United States and other countries and are not always great at it. I will say that it is partially true. Though, if someone asked me about a country in Asia I would not be great either. Just for the record, I do not speak Dutch but Danish, and it is not really the same at all. 

“Make America great again.” This is a saying I even heard in Denmark during the 2016 election, because it is kind of big there as well. When it comes to politics, my country is very different from here. I have different thoughts about certain topics than some Americans do when it comes to politics and how the American system is. 

I had heard that America was divided when it comes to race, political beliefs, cultures and so on. It has honestly been interesting to experience how this reality is true. Something I was very surprised to see if it was true was if there is a divide between liberals and conservatives, especially here in the South.

I feel that global warming is something that more people talk about back in Denmark than here. You might have heard about this global warming thing. Either way U.S. emissions of carbon dioxide in 2020 was 4,713 million metric tons as the second largest. 

I do realize that there are a lot of people here compared to Denmark’s nearly 5.9 million population. I really do not feel like this has been talked about enough, or how to have more green energy like some of Denmark’s solutions.     

Some people have told me that America is actually kind of like Europe, because the East Coast is so different compared to the West Coast. I see that point, though America is actually one country with the same government and Europe is multiple countries in one continent.  

I was not sure what to expect about going to an American high school, but one thing I now know for sure is that it is not like “High School Musical.” People are not randomly singing and there is little free time here, unlike the movies portray it. 

Teenagers act differently than adults here and I say that as an exchange student. Adults are very interested and excited for me and to know what it is like back home, whereas I feel like teenagers are not as fascinated. I love when people in general ask me questions about my experience. 

Something I love about the people here is when they ask me, “How do y’all do it over there?” To be honest some people do not understand that I am from another country. Thus, most people are very interested in my experience here and are generally very nice even to strangers or a foreigner like me. 

It might sound like I had many generalizations, but I really enjoy being here. It has been so entertaining to have all these experiences that I can take back to Denmark and tell everyone about.

English is a language that is used in most of the world. Only 5.8 million people speak Danish like I do. It is therefore essential to be able to communicate in another language such as English. 

Learning English was a challenge in the beginning. It is mandatory to learn English in all schools in Denmark. I do not think I learned a whole lot in the beginning, because I only had a few classes a week. Being a nine-year-old and still being confused by Danish grammar did not help trying to learn an entirely new language.

My teachers would always focus on grammar, but I feel like getting to learn the basics and practicing speaking a little bit helps more. Something that helped me a lot was watching English shows and movies with Danish subtitles. I learned more words and the correct pronunciation while I was entertained. 

Once I went to 9th grade, things changed. I started speaking English a lot more in classes and being graded for it. When I had my first oral exam, I was very nervous because I had to speak for about five minutes. Ever since that I have improved my English a lot. 

I did different things to prepare myself to go on my exchange like starting to try to think in English, watch shows and movies, and speak English with my family. I will say that after only a couple of weeks here in the States I felt a lot more comfortable speaking English. 

English has some difficult grammar rules that are hard to understand, but other than that, in general it has been easy to learn. It simply takes time and practice. On the other hand, the Danish language is difficult and different, which is why it is quite fun to have Americans pronounce Danish words.

Languages are cool, and people get easily impressed. It is so funny to speak Danish in front of them because they have no idea of what I am saying. If you want to travel, the locals will be so impressed if you speak their language. 

Something that is difficult to explain is when I speak to someone in Danish and then switch to English. It is like I am using a totally different part of my brain.

People have asked me if I am fluent. It depends on the definition of being fluent in a language. Dictionary.com says fluency is “being able to speak and write quickly or easily in a given language.” I can definitely do that. Some of the tricky things are understanding specific brands, sayings, and reading difficult articles.

Living abroad has definitely helped with my English. It might sound scary to move to another country and speak another language, because it kind of is. Even though my English was good from the beginning, I was still challenged sometimes. 

At this point, I think in English a lot and I even started to dream in English after a couple of weeks. 

Moving across the world might bring some challenges, but the impacts it has had on my language and my Danish accent is amazing. It is a great opportunity to see things differently and increase my respect for bilingual people.

In Denmark, sports as well as clubs have no relation to the schools. Therefore, coming here was a big challenge for me, but it turned out to be a good one. 

Something that might sound crazy for some is that my credits from Starr’s Mill do not get transferred back to Denmark. Some might think that I have wasted  a whole year, but I believe that I have experienced a life in a year. 

Since school works differently here I have had more opportunities to try new things. I have been a part of both the cross country team and the track and field team. Even though I am not the best athlete in the whole world, I wanted to challenge myself. 

I am not going to lie, it was both physically and mentally challenging. Being new is hard. Being a new foreign exchange student made it even harder. Though the beginning was pretty tough, once I quickly made friends it made the whole experience easier. It has taught me so much more than just being in my normal surroundings back home ever could.

My life here has been a lot busier than I was used to, which has been different. There are always practices, events, and club meetings. It took time to adapt. But now I love it, and the thought of going home is extremely hard to think about. 

Being a part of two of the school’s teams was harsh in the beginning when everything was completely new. I quickly adapted and started to enjoy it. I loved the team and even the school spirit that sports exhibit, which is very American as I usually say. People would cheer, support, encourage, and help each other. 

I was also a part of the Interact Club, where I got to know new people and experience an American club, which in fact is not really like the movies. 

Importantly, I have been a part of The Prowler. I remember before I left Denmark I had to look at what classes that I wanted to take and I saw journalism. I was very excited because it is one of my dreams. We only have one elective per year in Denmark and they are not as interesting as here. 

The Prowler has of course taught me journalism skills, but so much more than that. It is a room full of passionate and supportive people and a very encouraging adviser. Room 703 is a room full of different kinds of people and yet one newspaper. 

Even though it is very different here it has taught me so much more than I ever imagined. Being challenged is how you learn. It is how you figure out who you really are or who you want to become. Being in a different country is a great example of that.

When I told people that I’m an exchange student I have gotten different responses. Some people have said, “That is awesome” or “How do you like it so far?” Other have asked, “Why would you do that?” This has been one of the best years of my life so far.

On Rotary Youth Exchange’s website an exchange is described as “Students learn a new language, discover another culture, and truly become global citizens.” Some do not have the full picture of what an actual exchange year is. I hope my experience will inspire others.

After being away from home for a year I have so many feelings about going home. At this point it has been extremely long since I have seen my family and friends, which is hard. At the same time, I absolutely love it here and I have so many people who I do not want to leave. 

To go back to the question “Why would you do it?” First of all, I have learned so much more than any of my peers back in Denmark. Second, I got a totally new start because no one knew who I really was. Third, why in the world would you not?

Exchange is not just an opportunity to find out who you are, but is an opportunity to actually become that better version of yourself. 

I have learned so much about myself. I have become more positive, spontaneous, persevering, independent, and outgoing. I have learned to solve problems on my own, my fluency in English has improved, and I have gained a better understanding of cultural differences, while developing life skills and learning how to tolerate the Georgia heat.   

In the beginning it is terrifying but so exciting at the same time. Now it is almost over and time has never flown by as fast as it has here. Being in an exchange is not just a year full of new and amazing experiences. It truly is “a life in a year.”

A downside about my year is that it does not count academically. Some people are very judgmental. When I say that to some people they ask, “Why would you do it?” I simply say “Why not?” It is one year that you will benefit from for the rest of your life. So what does one year behind your peers really mean?

The exchange is not just about cultural experience for me but a dream that I followed and accomplished. If you have a dream you want to do and experience then just follow it and make it come true. It will be one of the best years of your life.

 Though I have never been as happy as I have been here, my exchange has also been like a double-edged sword. It is very hard once in a while. Being away from home for so long is not easy, but at the same time I have just gotten a new home here. 

The exchange is not for everyone. But if you have had the slightest thought about doing it, it truly is a sign for you to do it. Only people who have done an exchange fully understand how it is. I have learned how to interact with total strangers and develop new friendships around the world. 

What is next for me? I still have two years of high school left, because our school system is different. Afterwards, I want to take a gap year and travel and come back here to visit. Then, I want to go to university for journalism. I already pursued a huge dream of mine, so I definitely believe that I can do more. 

Just writing about going home is hard. I have gotten a second home full of people who love me. They will always be a part of my life, and I will always be a part of theirs. Even though life will go on, I will always have these memories. I can never thank enough everyone who has influenced my year.

Tak for alting!