Intro Week; Aros, Danish, and More Exchange Students

In Denmark, exchange students are kind of celebrated. Rotary seems to try to take care of you, including making sure you have the tools to survive in the country. Because of this, exchange students are sent to an introduction week. During the intro week, exchange students are sent to a school where they eat, live, breathe the Danish culture, and get to know other students.

Getting to know the other exchange students was a really essential part of exchange because they were like your safety net. When you felt homesick, needed someone to talk to, or needed help with a situation and didn't feel like you could talk to your hosts or counselor, you still had your peers.

We spent quite a bit of time in Danish classrooms where counselors taught us the basics of the Danish language, and a basic vocabulary to help us get along. Students were also expected to enjoy various assigned activities such as gym time, pool time, choir, and more.

My roommate and I had such a great time being roomies! But because her English wasn't great, and  my Spanish had dwindled, there was a lack of communication. I actually spent a bunch of time with Kate and some of the students from her city, but we did promise each other that we would see each other after

During the week, all the exchangers got on a bus and went to Viborg, where we visited a cathedral. Afterwards, we walked around the city exploring the different places. Kate and I bought scarves and then ended up at a park where we splashed each other in the fountain (I'm sure the Danes that were walking by thought that we were crazy). When it was time to go back to the meeting place, we got lost and the bus had to come and pick us up.

In the latter part of the week, we were driven to Aarhus where we went to Aros, an art museum. The most famous piece of art in the museum is called "Boy." It's a gigantic, life-like statue of a crouched young boy. When you're looking at it, it's almost like he's going to move, but then you realize that if he moved he'd break the building because he's huuuuuuuge.

We didn't get lost in Aarhus, but we did enjoy roaming the streets, especially because it was "Festuge" or Party Week. It was kind of like a city-wide party with sanctioned activities all around.

On our last night in Bjerringbro, we held a huge party and all the students danced and danced and danced. I think my favorite part of that night was when I did one of my friends' make-up and one of the Brasilian guys saw her and they didn't separate all night. She felt great and was so exhilarated. I was so happy.

As always, the goodbyes the following day was full of laughs and hugs and tears and promises of visiting one another. I took the train home, called Annette, and she and I drove home and I prepared myself for school the following day.

Unfortunately, because I had gone to introweek, I'd missed a crucial get-together with my classmates. I was a bit apprehensive of the following day, knowing that they'd spent a weekend together enjoying and getting to know each other.

Dear Outbounds..

As a Rebound, I've become a member of anything that involves exchange students. One of the groups that I've joined on Facebook is called "Dear Host Parents..." The group consists of both students and parents who write their experiences via a letter to either their "parents" or "child."

Lately, I've been reading about bad experiences and it makes me sad because my experiences with all my hosts were so great! I enjoyed being an exchange student and all my families still tell me they would love for me to visit and miss me, but at the same time, I know that not all students enjoy their year.

Honestly, there are always going to be exchange students who don't like where they get sent, but for the most part most do enjoy the places that become their home.

It's not that students aren't grateful for being chosen to become an ambassador for their country, sometimes they don't understand what's coming to them. The culture shock and their failed expectations are a huge let-down and bear on their "fun" for the year.

When I interviewed incoming exchange students for Rotary, two of the key questions I asked were, "What if you're not sent to where you want to go?" and, "What will you miss most while you are on exchange?"

Another thing that I loved doing as a rebound was going to the get-togethers and assessing the outbounds and seeing which personalities would work best in which country. I would get together with my fellow rebounds and say, I think so-and-so would do really well in Denmark because of this.. And each rebound would go around and say which outbounds would do well in the country they were hosted.

I live in Alaska, and I've only ever met two exchange students who have said they wanted to come to Alaska. All the other exchange students who enjoyed being sent to Alaska told that they had no expectations and they expected to be sent anywhere. But they also told me that they were glad they were sent to Alaska because it was so different from what they thought it would be.

 

The job of an exchange student isn't to come in with expectations, but to accept their new culture, family(es), and language. It's okay to have a few expectations, but having large expectations will just change your outlook on your exchange. I understand that there will be problems along the way, but if they can't be solved with a conversation, there are always going to be counselors who will take care of them for you.

Becoming an exchange student was one of the hardest yet most exhilarating experiences I've had and these three rules helped me throughout my exchange year:

1. Expect nothing

2. Say yes to everything

3. Don't compromise your integrity or values 

 

The third one I added later, because I didn't know I was doing it, I just did what made me feel good and that's all that mattered to me. I had to have long conversations with a close friend and Social Scientist before she told me that my decisions on exchange were due to my integrity and my love of upholding values.

So all you incoming exchange students, I wish you well, and hope that enjoy your expectation free year!