By Kat
First of all, I apologize for the lateness of this post. I have been very busy showing Majken my home and have been extremely tired since I got home.
Topic: how you’re treated as an American exchange student
While in Denmark, I found that I was treated differently as an exchange student. It was pretty obvious that I would be treated differently than I am at home in the US, but this was a different reception than I had ever experienced. I have seen other countries as a tourist with my family, with my classmates and teachers, and with a group of people I had never met , but being on exchange is a very different situation altogether
As a tourist with a large group, you only see what the schedule has outlined. Though this provides experiences you may not have had traveling alone or with family, schedules leave very little room for adjustment or time to explore as you wish.
As someone who lives in a town that receives a lot of tourists in the summer, I don’t always love having them around. I understand that they are an important part of our economy, but on the other hand, they are quite irritating.
On my exchange I never felt like an obnoxious tourist, even when I was out and about without my host family. They were full of fun facts about every place we visited. I learned so much about the Danish culture from my host family that I may not have learned while seeing the country on my own or with a tourist group.
I’ve experienced a similar reception only one other time. This was when I was in Costa Rica volunteering in a rural area on a cultural reserve. MY fellow volunteers and I felt more like members of the community than tourists. What made the difference was that for counselor was a native of the area. He had the trust of the community and therefor they trusted us, the Americans. We truly felt like part of the community as we played soccer in the mud and danced around with the local children.
Everyone seems to be trying to travel like a local. The phrase in itself is a bit contradictory if you think about it;however, there seem to be about a million articles online about just how to do it. The one tip they are missing is to be with a local. It makes all the difference when you aren’t surrounded by tourists or wandering around looking lost and confused. If you look like a local you’re treated like one.
I was treated like a friend or family member while on exchange. When I was with Majken’s friends or friends of the family, I felt at ease just like I was with friends back home. As an exchange student, the feeling of being out of place goes away almost completely, which is all that you an ask for. One thing that separated me from a group at any time was the language, but even then, people were very kind in trying to speak English around me.
Politics were another part of being an American that I felt separated me. I was often asked about our current political situation, which I answered honestly. I always felt the need to disclose my stance on many issues because I didn’t want to be grouped with the less favorable side of our current political situation. America is currently pretty messed up politically, in my opinion, and it is kind of uncomfortable to be talking about politics with people in another country simply because it is kind of embarrassing that things have gotten too out of hand in so many ways for the United States. Its hard not to talk about it, really. In fact, I found myself realizing, even more than I already had, how awful our country must seem right now. (I hope to write a political comparison of Denmark to the US soon)
Overall, I found that I was never very worried about being the American on the street, but sometimes a bit nervous to be the American in the room.
Home Away From Hood 