Report from Denmark
Posted by Bill Molesworth
Micahel St. Amant exhibited his facility with Danish, which sounded impressive to us. He said he got off the plane there to find his luggage gone and everybody speaking Danish. It was quite the intro. It's a difficult language to learn but he did.
He told us a little about the country - the food took some getting used to. At his first meal he could eat about 1 out of 10 things but there are lots of pastries. The weather is more temperate than here but as it's farther north the winter days are even shorter. He thought High School there was harder than here - somewhere between our High Schools and Universities. People are reserved at first but after you get to know them they are very friendly and nice.
He told us a little about the country - the food took some getting used to. At his first meal he could eat about 1 out of 10 things but there are lots of pastries. The weather is more temperate than here but as it's farther north the winter days are even shorter. He thought High School there was harder than here - somewhere between our High Schools and Universities. People are reserved at first but after you get to know them they are very friendly and nice.
He stayed in a village of about 3,000 people on the west coast, maybe 3 hours from Copenhagen. The Rotary Club there used to be bigger but several people resigned when membership was opened to females.
He discovered (and reported, to his parents' dismay) that social norms are much more relaxed in Denmark. Drinking age is 16 and when he travelled to Copenhagen with a girl from Brazil their hosts there offered them one bed in one room. 'No big deal'. The teachers sell beer after school, presumably for fund raising.
At this point Steve Rastin put a happy buck in because Nancy had declined to come to lunch.
Michael managed to get 3 credits, which must have been difficult with the language barrier. Gym, religion and english.
It took him a while but he got a slide show presentation started. He said there are about 200 exchange students in Denmark.
He went on a class visit to Berlin in October, right after arriving, which he said helped him get to know his fellow students and then later he went on an 8 day 7 country Euro Tour with other Rotary students and had a terrific time. We could see why. None of his pictures showed any guys.
He said night life in Denmark starts at about 11:00 and then 'you get home late'. At this point Steve left for Denmark to bring Cassie back.
Michael said it had been a terrific year and he thanked the Club for supporting the program and giving him the opportunity.
He discovered (and reported, to his parents' dismay) that social norms are much more relaxed in Denmark. Drinking age is 16 and when he travelled to Copenhagen with a girl from Brazil their hosts there offered them one bed in one room. 'No big deal'. The teachers sell beer after school, presumably for fund raising.
At this point Steve Rastin put a happy buck in because Nancy had declined to come to lunch.
Michael managed to get 3 credits, which must have been difficult with the language barrier. Gym, religion and english.
It took him a while but he got a slide show presentation started. He said there are about 200 exchange students in Denmark.
He went on a class visit to Berlin in October, right after arriving, which he said helped him get to know his fellow students and then later he went on an 8 day 7 country Euro Tour with other Rotary students and had a terrific time. We could see why. None of his pictures showed any guys.
He said night life in Denmark starts at about 11:00 and then 'you get home late'. At this point Steve left for Denmark to bring Cassie back.
Michael said it had been a terrific year and he thanked the Club for supporting the program and giving him the opportunity.