The beginning of a long, long year

A display at the Odense Blomsterfest
(flower festival)

Only a week ago, I arrived in the small but extremely beautiful country of Denmark as an exchange student through Rotary. Being an Indian, I almost immediately felt the contrast between the two countries. Back home, I spoke to everyone in English, but I realized that learning Danish is a necessity to stay in Denmark just a couple of days after I arrived. On my first day of school, I faced the shock of not understanding a thing. Everyone spoke in Danish and all the textbooks and lessons were conducting in the same language. There were going to be no other exchange students studying in that school so I was left to try and understand as much as I could during each class. Luckily, I have an amazing host family. They do their best to try and teach me as much Danish as possible before my Danish classes start.
                                                                                                                                 
Another contrasting feature is that I was used to seeing many tall buildings and skyscrapers but here, people had only one or two floor houses. Even my school is of only two levels. There are vast spans of land on either side of the road and people have extremely large gardens that people would die for in Mumbai.

I currently live in a small town in the island of Fyn so it's really quiet here... way too quiet. Coming from Mumbai, I am used to having a certain level of noise in the background. I am also used to seeing many more people on the streets, here I see one or two people when I walk to the bus stop each morning.

It is so different here, compared to Mumbai. But all of this is a part and parcel of being an exchange student; in fact, it is the exact reason why people decide to take part in exchange programs. You don't have it easy - you have chosen the difficult path so you have to live it.

Exchange between India and Denmark

Difficulties faced by exchange students in the beginning of the exchange year

1. English is not the first language in a lot of countries - There is no escaping learning a new language.

2. Living with people you have never met before - It's obviously difficult to start living with a family that you have never met before but you have to remember that they are also having someone they don't know living in their house.

3. New lifestyle - The food is different. The clothes are different. The dining table etiquettes are different. Everything is different.

Of course, there are other small problems, like finding new friends or getting used to a new house but the main problems are up there.

All I can say, right now, is that when they say Denmark is one of the happiest countries in the world, I can see the reason why. It's going to be an amazing experience here, and a long, long year...