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Showing posts from February, 2018

Learning Danish as an Exchange Student

The most difficult thing about my exchange so far, has been learning Danish... Before I came, the advice I got from my Norwegian friends was... "Its just like speaking Norwegian, just put a potato in your mouth." The pronunciation of Danish is definitely quite... interesting. Not quite like a potato though, maybe more like a grape. (I'm sorry Danes, just jokes, I love you guys) Putting a small grape down in your throat and trying to push it up again is what it feels like to attempt to make the "R" sound in Danish... I was being taught by a friend of mine to say the color "red" in Danish, "rød". I would try, and she would tell me if I was totally off, close, or correct. Most of the times I would get it, it was purely by accident. She would get so excited, when she said that it was correct, and I laughed and said "yes!" but in my mind I was thinking "How was that any different from before?". After a few times of pra

High School Life in Denmark vs. The US

In Denmark, the school system is very different from the US. The first thing I would like to talk about is morning routines in both countries. In the US, most students in my school, including me, wake up at around 5:30am. Personally, I have around 45 minutes to eat, get ready, and be on the school bus by 6:15 to arrive at around 7:20 to start classes right away. In Denmark, I can wake up at 6:30, bike to the train station, take a short train ride to Tølløse and a few minute walk to my school to arrive at 7:50. Here, I can get a whole hour more of sleep, and on Wednesdays, we start an hour even later! We start classes at around 8:15 in Denmark, so I get about 25 minutes to chat with my friends and get ready for the day to start. It seems much more relaxed, and is way easier to work through than the American morning! Once I finally get to school in the US, I have 4 sections of 90-minute classes and a lunch which is around 25 minutes and is a part of your third-period class. We al

Introductions and Explanations

Hello, I am Maria, I am 15 years old and I am creating this blog to tell about my experiences while studying abroad in Denmark! I am originally from the United States, but now I will be in Denmark for a half year through Greenheart Travel. I will be blogging all about Denmark, being an exchange student, and just my daily happenings. I am currently living in a small town called Store Merløse in Sjælland, which is the eastern section of Denmark. I go to school not too far away from where I live, in Tølløse. In my small town, I stay with a host family consisting of a father, mother, an 11 year old daughter, and a 13 year old son. It really is a pleasant family. We get along wonderfully! We live on a farm with 2 goats, 2 cats, 2 rabbits, and a dog. The animals are all very friendly, and I really enjoy taking part in caring for them. It is similar to how I do it in the states! There, I have even more animals than in Denmark, so it's quite an easy routine for me, haha! Getting used