Karen Hansen

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Karen Marie Kingo Hansen

2005-06 Inbound from Denmark

Date of Birth: May 9, 1988

Hometown: Middelfart, Denmark

Sponsor: Middelfart Rotary Club, District 1460, Denmark

Host: Gainesville Sunrise Rotary Club, District 6970, Florida USA
School: Gainesville High School

Bio

September 24 Journal and Pictures - "My first school day was kind of confusing, but I didn’t come too late to any of my classes and I didn’t embarrass myself, so I’m happy!"

February 6 Journal and Pictures - "I had so much fun at soccer, and I made some good friends. But it will also be nice to take it easy for a little while, just hang out and not have practice everyday."

Karen's Bio

Hey… My name is Karen Marie Kingo Hansen; I am 17 years old and an exchange student from Middelfart, Denmark.

I arrived July 23rd and have new been here for almost a month, the time has just flied away! I have already experienced a lot of exciting things, I have among other things been to Kennedy Space Center, where I saw the take-off.

I became an exchange student because I wanted new challenges and a lot of great experiences, which I’m sure I will have. I also wanted to improve my English, which will be useful when I return to Denmark.

I’m looking forward to meeting a lot of new friends and experiences this year.

September 24 Journal and Pictures

My adventure started 23 July when I left Denmark, I didn’t really know what I was going into and I didn’t really know if it was the right decision for me. But I left Denmark open-minded and excited to see and experience the United States of America.

Since I arrived I have been very busy, and I have experienced so much I haven’t missed Denmark at all. Of course I miss small things, when I think about it. But I’m very happy to be here. I have experienced so much, met so many new people and I’m very grateful for all the things Rotary has done for me.

I went to the Kennedy Space Center to see the shuttle take off, and I went to Silver Springs with four other Rotary exchange students. I also went to Dekle Beach out at the Gulf coast with my host family. And I went to Rotary inbound orientation weekend, where I met all the other exchange students. I also went to a Gator game, Gators vs. Cowboys, we won and it was a lot of fun. All of it has been a lot of fun, and I really appreciate that I got the opportunity to be an exchange student.

August 15th I started at Gainesville High School, which I enjoy very much. GHS is a very big school with a lot of students and exchange students. The American high school is very different, so my first school day was kind of confusing, but I didn’t come too late to any of my classes and I didn’t embarrass myself, so I’m happy! I also started to do conditioning because I want to be on GHS’s soccer team, it is a lot of fun and there are a lot of nice girls, but it is also hard work. I got a lot of very good classes; I have Biology, French, Drafting (architecture), English, Humanities and American History. I’m very happy for all of my classes and enjoy the American high school.

The American culture is great, it isn’t just one culture, it’s a lot of different cultures put together as one. It isn’t just one kind of music you listen to, some listen to country, some to rap, but here is space for everyone. Another great thing about the US is the price differences; everything is so much cheaper over here, every girls dream.

I have been enjoying my stay here in the United States very much, and look forward to all the experiences, which are coming up. I want to thank Rotary and all the people who have made this possible, and I want them to know that I’m very happy to be here and grateful for their good work.

Karen

February 6 Journal and Pictures

Hey Everybody.

I want to start with apologizing for that I haven’t written a journal earlier, but everything has just gone by so fast. I can’t believe that I already have been here a half year.

Last autumn was probably the most exciting autumn in my whole life; I experienced new traditions like Halloween and Thanksgiving. Both traditions are admirable, at Thanksgiving the whole family get together and celebrate and at Halloween children go trick or treat, aren’t that neat, no wait it’s better, I love it. And then there was Homecoming, which was a nice experience, very different from Danish school parties, but a good experience and unfortunately only for once in a lifetime.

In the start of December we had our trip to Disneyworld, what a trip. I think it’s one of the trips everybody has written about, so I will make it short. It was great, we met a lot of new people from all over the world, and of course we saw Disneyworld, and wow it’s huge and a lot of fun. Thank you, Rotary.

Christmas was also a totally new experience, and at the same time I had the opportunity to go visit my friend in New Mexico. My friend, Leslie was an exchange student in Denmark, where she lived with me and my family. So I went to New Mexico over the Christmas holidays, and it was an amazing trip. I’m so grateful that I got to see Leslie and her family again and I got to see her home and her country. It’s for sure another world over there. It a desert! But it’s absolutely beautiful over there. I went to Carlsbad Caverns, it’s really pretty and I had never been in a cave of that size before so it was a very exciting experience. I also went to Roswell, and it's for sure that they are absolutely crazy, but still there have to something about it because its unbelievable how many people who believes in UFO’s and aliens. Roswell is something for itself; the streetlights are formed as aliens! And then I went to Santa Fe for a couple of days, and it’s definitely a city I would like to visit again. It was right after Christmas, so they still had all the luminaries. And downtown they have a square where a lot of Indians sit and sell their jewelry, which is very beautiful and handmade. We also went to a couple of churches, the oldest church in America and some others, but that was definitely also a nice experience.

Unfortunately I didn’t have time to plan rides to Jacksonville for New Years Eve, so I stayed here in Gainesville. I spent New Years Eve with Laura, Ondrej, Sarah a German Exchange student and some American friends. We had a great time with a lot of fun the American way.

Else not much have been going on here, but still so much that I have been too busy to write some more journals. I just finished soccer; it was a kind of sad. I had so much fun at soccer, and I made some good friends. But it will also be nice to take it easy for a little while, just hang out and not have practice everyday. But I will definitely miss it.

I also just got home from Sea Camp, it was great. But I already miss y’all, I can’t wait to see all you guys again. Sea Camp was really fun and I got to see a totally different part of Florida. I especially liked the trip to Key West, I liked the city a lot, it is so different and beautiful in its own way. So I think that was all I had to tell. So another time, thank you, Rotary for this once in a lifetime experience, I really appreciate it.

Bye,