Reflection on the Trip

Signing up to go on the trip to Denmark was one of the best decisions I've made in high school.  This experience is one that I'll always remember and I made friends that live in a different country that I know I'll stay in touch with for a lifetime.  If I go visit, I know I'll always have a home there for me and a family to be with.  Traveling to a different country is an amazing experience, but getting to live with a family there makes it an even more amazing and unique experience.  I was completely immersed in the Danish culture.  Not only did I make Danish friends, but I also now have a connection with the Orange students that went and got to know them a lot better.  Also, this was my first time traveling anywhere without my parents and it definitely gave me a lot of independence.  Overall, this trip will always be one of my most special high school memories and was an amazing end to my senior year.  I really think that everyone should have the chance to have this experience.  It's important to learn about different parts of the world because we don't really know how different the world around us is when we live inside our own little bubble.  After this, I definitely hope to travel more and even do a study abroad program during college.  Some of my favorite parts of the trip included going to the soccer game, seeing the World War II bunkers on the beach, exploring Aarhus and the art museum, going to the lake, and exploring Copenhagen.  I went into this trip with an open mind, not really setting any expectations, and it completely blew my mind.

Day Seven

Today was the busiest day yet.  I had to wake up at 5:30 in the morning and go to the train station to go to Copenhagen.  Saying goodbye to Louise and her family was really hard.  They were all so sweet to my and I definitely plan on seeing them again.  It almost feels like I have a second home in Denmark and I hope to one day visit them again and have Louise come and visit me.  I wish that they could've come to Copenhagen with us for the last day.  After a difficult goodbye, the train took off and I tried to nap most of the time so I could be energized for the long day ahead.  When we arrived in Copenhagen, I instantly noticed how drastically different it was from Herning.  Herning is a rural town with a lot of open fields while Copenhagen was like Denmark's version of New York City with stores and large buildings and tons of people everywhere. We first went to a major shopping area to eat lunch and look around in the stores.  Then, we went to Rosenborg Castle which was really interesting because I had never been to a castle before.  The grounds around the castle were beautiful with gardens and different buildings.  Inside one of the buildings we saw different crowns, jewels, swords, and other historic objects.  I really liked looking at these things because I love learning about different parts of history and I find royal families fascinating.  Then, we went into a castle filled with portraits and furniture.  Once we were done, we went on a canal boat tour where we saw various important buildings and spots in Copenhagen.  One of the things Denmark is known for is the author Hans Christian Andersen who wrote several stories, including The Little Mermaid.   There's a statue of The Little Mermaid next to the river which we saw on the tour.  Surprisingly, it was very small and could easily be missed.  After the canal boat tour, we headed towards Tivoli, which was an amusement park with an "around the world" theme.  It actually happened to be Walt Disney's inspiration for Disneyworld and Disneyland.  The park was really cool and different from American amusement parks.  It had pretty buildings and even some animals walking around, like a peacock.  I went on a couple of rides, ate dinner, and went inside an aquarium they had there.  I wish we had an extra day in Copenhagen because there's so much to see and do.  We all headed back to the hotel early that night because we had to wake up at 3:00 in the morning for our flight home.  It was a really fun last day and I loved exploring a new city with my friends.

Day Six

Today was my last day with Louise and I’m not ready to say goodbye to her tomorrow.  Back at home, amazing friendships aren’t formed so quickly, but after just under a week with Louise, she feels like my sister.  Louise and her family were so unbelievably kind to me.  Even though I was halfway around the world, they really made me feel like I was at home.  It’s funny that even though we live so far away from each other in very different countries, Louise and I found a lot in common and are extremely similar.  She’s like the Danish version of me!  I also really love Katy’s host, Helena, who happens to be Louise’s best friend.  Katy and I joke that Louise and Helena are the Danish version of us.  The four of us decided that Louise and Helena have to come visit us in the states this summer.  Honestly, the best part of this trip was making two amazing friends that I know will be in my life forever.  I’ve never had any experiences like this before where I stayed in the home of someone from another country and was completely immersed in their culture.  I think it’s something that everyone should do as it gives you a completely different perspective of the world and allows you to make lifelong friendships that are so incredibly unique.  The day began with me going to Herning Gymnasium where I attended a variety of classes.  My first class was social studies where we split up into groups and just got to talk with a group of younger Danish students that will be coming to Orange in two years from now.  Then, I had English where the Orange students gave presentations on the American dream and what our dreams are.  We also did a project where we wrote a blog post on a topic that was designated to us; mine was the difference between Herning Gymnasium and Orange High School.  Lastly, I had another English class in which we read and acted out a scene from Macbeth.  Later that night, we all returned to the school for a pot luck dinner which consisted of popular Danish dishes.  I wanted to be adventurous so I tried nearly everything and it was all really amazing.  Once we were done with dinner, Louise, Katy, Helena, a few others, and I went to this lake to walk around.  It was beautiful because the sun was setting right over the water so we took a ton of pictures.  Then we made a quick trip to McDonald's to get ice cream and this McDonald's was way nicer than any one I have ever seen.  While we were eating, Louise and Helena taught us some Danish words and phrases which was fun to learn.  When I got home, Louise’s mom surprised me with an adorable photo collage of pictures she took of me and Louise and a sweatshirt with the name of the city she lives in on it.  It was so sweet and thoughtful, just like everything else the family has done for me.  It’ll be very hard to say goodbye tomorrow to such amazing people, but I definitely plan on seeing them again in the near future.  

Day Five

Today we ventured out of Herning and into Aarhus.  When we arrived, we walked throughout the university and the city, which looked a lot different from Herning.  The city was full of colorful, short apartments that were all smushed together.  Our first stop in the city was at ARoS Aarhus Mueseum of Modern Art.  The museum consisted of modern art and I thought it was absolutely fantastic.  We saw a huge sculpture called The Boy that looked so realistic, it was crazy.  We also saw an exhibit by artist Wes Lang who is from New York City.  Prior to today I had never heard of him before, but his artwork was absolutely amazing and unlike anything I had ever seen.  Unlike art where you have to interpret what the author meant, his paintings and drawings had writing scrawled over them that explained what he was thinking.  His art took me deep into his mind and I thought it was brilliant.  Lastly, we went to the top of the museum which had a circular hallway with windows colored like the rainbow.  It was fun to look down on the city from up there and take pictures.  After we were done looking through the museum, we walked downtown to get lunch and shop.  We arrived back at Herning around 4:30 and met up with our hosts.  Louise and I went to the movies with Katy, Helena, Alayanna, and Simone and watched Noah, which was in English with Danish subtitles.  I learned that they don’t dub the voices for American movies in Denmark, they just use subtitles instead.  When we got home, Louise and I rehearsed a scene from Macbeth aloud as part of her English homework. 

Day Four

Today I experienced what a typical school day at Herning Gymnasium is like.  Louise and I arrived at school at 8:05 and went to the auditorium where us Orange students were introduced to some of the Danish students.  Each Orange student stood up on a chair one at a time while their Danish host introduced them.  Next, we broke into three groups where we presented powerpoints about American culture to some of the Danish students.  Katy, Ian, and I did our presentation on American government, which I think is probably an interesting topic for the Danish students to learn about because our government is very different from theirs.  Louise told me that she enjoyed our presentation and she hadn’t known much about American government beforehand.  In Herning Gymnasium, each of the three grades have around 300 students.  They are allowed to pick a course of study and then are separated into smaller classes of students who have all chosen the same course.  Louise and all of the other Danish students in the program are in the language program.  After our presentations, we attended our first class: Spanish.  For the majority of the class, the teacher spoke to us in Spanish.  I noticed that this class, along with the ones I later attended, was very interactive.  She spoke shortly about Mexicans immigrating into the United States, the topic they are currently studying, and then had the students do activities, involving reading a poem and answering questions as well as writing a poem, for the rest of the class.  Once Spanish class was finished, we headed to the auditorium for an assembly.  They have these assemblies usually once a week in order to inform their students on upcoming events and give them other important information.  At the beginning of every assembly, the students stand up and sing songs together.  During the assembly, we were introduced to the school, then, a band at the school played a song for us, which I thought was really awesome.  After the assembly, we went to our next class which was geography.  The teacher taught in English so we could understand the lesson.  Much like Spanish class, this class was very interactive.  She spoke to the students shortly and then had them make a powerpoint which they later presented to the class.  Then, after eating a quick lunch, we headed to a Chinese class.  The class was taught in both Danish and Chinese so it was difficult to understand what was going on, but Louise and Helena explained the different words they were learning.  This class involved a lot of speaking as the teacher would present different words and have the class practice saying them out loud as well as having the students come up in front of the class and perform some sort of Chinese dialogue.  According to Louise, the students aren’t given many tests in their classes.  I really liked the way the school ran.  I think it’s helpful and more interesting to do interactive activities that involving applying what you’re learning in class.  In Orange, I feel like classes are more centered around listening to a teacher speak while taking notes and taking several tests and quizzes to show what we’ve learned.  I think doing interactive activities helps people learn better and apply what they’ve learned rather than being forced to memorize information for tests, only to forget it later on.  They seemed to have a lot of freedom, also, which I think is important considering after high school we’ll either be going to college or having to be independent.  After the school day, Helena, Katy, and I went to the mall to get a snack in a restaurant called Café Fry, which I had gone to Saturday also.  Then I tried my first Danish ice cream.  Their ice cream is a lot creamier and they put this really sugary topping on it that I really liked.  Once we were done at the mall, we met up with Louise and headed to the beach.  It was pretty cold and rainy and windy so it made being on the beach a little uncomfortable, but it was still a cool experience.  My favorite part about the beach was seeing the bunkers from World War II.  It was amazing to think about how so many of them were constructed.  We climbed inside them and took tons of pictures, so despite the weather, it was a really interesting experience.

Day Three

Today we woke up early to go to Legoland, an amusement park in Billund with a Lego theme.  It was pretty chilly outside, shockingly seemingly colder than the unpleasant Ohio weather, so I had to dress in layers.  A lot of people at Legoland were walking their dogs throughout the park, which was unusual to see as that typically wouldn’t be allowed in American amusement parks.  The first attraction we went to was the haunted house which had just opened this year.  I’ve always been very afraid of haunted houses so I was shaking while I was waiting in line.  When we got in, we saw that instead of people jumping out at you in costume, there were just Lego Halloween-like sculptures.  It wasn’t at all what I was expecting and it was hilarious.  There was a room that was filled with mirrors and you had to find your way through it which was really fun, and there was a ride that took you up very high and dropped you.  After the haunted house, we headed over to a water ride where you sit in a raft a float down a river and then plunge down a huge hill at the end.  It was freezing outside and I didn’t want to get soaking wet, but everyone convinced me to go on the ride so I did.  Katy and I ended up getting drenched and we had to dry ourselves off in the hand dryers in the bathroom.  Although maybe it was a bad idea to do a water ride in such cold weather, it was still a funny experience thinking back on it.  Afterwards, we warmed ourselves up by drinking hot chocolate.  Then we went on a rollercoaster and watched penguins.  For lunch we ate at a buffet that had all-you-can-eat pizza, pasta, and salad which was an amazing meal since I love Italian food.  After lunch, we went to this attraction where you create your own ride with a personalized sequence of flips, twists, and turns.  I had never seen anything like this before and I thought it was extremely cool.  We had so much fun that we went on it twice, it was definitely my favorite part of the amusement park.  Finally, we exited the park and I slept the whole car ride back.  It was a fun and exhausting day!  Later that night I relaxed with my host family, watching a movie and talking.

Day Two

I had a very busy and exciting day on Saturday!  I woke up in the morning and went to Herning Gymnasium to play dodgeball with all of the students in the program.  They split us up into several teams consisting of five players and had a little bit of a different style of playing than we do in America.  Everyone was really competitive and we had a big tournament.  When my team was up, we won our first game and then lost the second two.  The ball they use to play with is a lot harder than the ones we typically use in America so it hurt really badly but I had a lot of fun playing anyways!  Although we got out in the first round, I had a lot of fun watching the other teams compete.  It was also a good opportunity to talk to new people while the games were going on.  Something I really like about this trip is not only meeting the Danish students, but also getting to know some Orange students a lot better.  After the dodgeball tournament, a few of us went to Herning Center, which is their mall.  We ate lunch at a restaurant called Café Fry and I had an amazing quesadilla with nachos and then we shopped in the stores.  Once we were done shopping, we went to watch a professional soccer game.  This was definitely my favorite part of the trip so far.  I had never been to a professional soccer game before this, and soccer definitely isn’t as popular of a sport in America, so it was a really fun experience.  There was a fan section waving flags and leading songs and cheers and the entire crowd cheered non-stop throughout the entire game.  Right before the game started, a huge tarp was passed over the crowd and smoke was blown into the air and everyone jumped and cheered.  Everyone was so spirited which made the game extra exciting.  The team we were rooting for, FC Midtjylland, ended up losing, but it was still a really exciting game!  After the game, Louise and I went back to her house and Katy and her host, Helena, came over.  We all watched 21 Jump Street and ate food and talked, which was relaxing and a lot of fun after such an eventful day.  Even though it was just my second day there, hanging out with the three of them felt so natural and like we had been friends for a long time.  I really love the bonds I’m making with everyone and it’s amazing how quickly I’m becoming such good friends with some of the Danish students.

Day One

After three plane rides, I arrived in Denmark on Friday morning along with the other Orange students.  Although I was completely exhausted from a major lack of sleep, I was beyond excited to meet Louise, her family, and all of the other Danish students.  We all took a bus from the airport to Herning Gymnasium and then took a tour of the school.  Herning Gymnasium is completely different from Orange High School. Students leave their belongings unattended all day and they are never stolen, they're given the freedom to leave class to work on projects, they get 15 minutes between each class, there's beautiful professional artwork in the hallways, and more.  Something I found really shocking is that the students are allowed to smoke on school grounds.  The aspect of their school that I like the most is how the students are trusted and given freedom, which I think is very important when it comes to growing up and being responsible.  Next year I’ll be off in college, yet I still can’t use the bathroom in high school without having to ask a teacher and taking a bathroom pass.  They're given much more freedom and responsibility, which reflect in their personalities as they seem much more mature.  After the tour, we all met up with our hosts and their families.  I was a little nervous to meet Louise at first because the majority of the other students knew each other from when the Denmark students came to Orange, but I wasn’t part of the program at that point so I didn’t know what to expect.  But, as soon as I met Louise and her family, everything was very natural and all of my concerns went away.  Louise and her mom picked me up and took me back to their house.  Houses in Denmark are a lot different from the typical houses in the Orange area.  They’re one story and very snug.  In fact, this house only has a single bathroom and everything was compacted into a single hallway.  They like to be very simple and practical.  Louise’s mom made salad, pork, and french fries for dinner which I thought was all very good.  Initially I was worried about finding things to talk about, but we talked for the entire dinner and we all had a lot of questions for each other.  Then, once we finished dinner, Louise and I headed to an outdoor shopping area because the stores were open later that night (they’re usually only open until six, but that night they were open until nine).  We met up with some of the other students there and went in the different shops.  Although I didn’t buy any clothes, I went into a chocolate store and bought this amazing chocolate with a fluffy, marshmallow-like crème inside of it which is a very popular dessert in Denmark.  After walking around, we went into a really nice café and drank hot chocolate, then went home.  Overall, it was a really great start to my stay in Denmark and I loved getting to know some of the Danish students!