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Daniel Spray
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2008-09 Outbound to
Denmark
Hometown:
St. Petersburg, Florida
School: St.
Petersburg Collegiate High School, St. Petersburg, Florida
Sponsor:
Wesley Chapel Rotary Club, District 6950, Florida
Host: Haderslev
Hertug Hans Rotary Club, District 1460, Denmark
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Bio
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| July 30 Journal - "I
can’t even wrap my mind around the fact that this year of preparation has
finally come to an end. My dream is no longer a dream—it’s a reality." |
| August 6 Journal - "So
far, in my 3 days of living in Denmark, my host family has been amazing!
They involve me in all of their family activities and already, I feel as if
I am a part of their family." |
| September 3 Journal -
"Imagine walking into a class of 29 girls and 1 boy not knowing a word of
their language! Whatever scenario is playing out in your head now, that’s
how I felt times 10!" |
| October 5 Journal - "At
school, all the girls are very helpful in teaching me Danish. They will
spend however long it takes teaching me how to say something until I get it
correct!" |
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Daniel's Bio
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Hello
everyone,
My name is Daniel Spray and I live in St. Petersburg,
Florida. I currently attend St. Petersburg Collegiate High School. I just
turned 17 and am excited to have my 18th birthday in a foreign country! I
was born in Lewes, Delaware and moved to Florida when I was 7 years old.
I have a few hobbies, some of which include: reading and
learning American Sign Language. Other things that I really enjoy doing
include spending time with my friends, who mean the world to me, and being
very spontaneous! Working is something that really takes up much of my life
because I am paying for this exchange with my own money, so I have to do a
lot… and I mean a lot… of working!
Although I do not know which country I am going to, I know
that whichever one it turns out to be, I will have the time of my life! I
have always loved learning foreign languages, so this opportunity has
intrigued me very much.
I just want to thank everyone who has made this
opportunity possible, namely Rotary and my parents. However, without the
support of family and friends, I don’t think I would have the guts to do
this. I know that I am about to embark on a journey I will never forget and
I can’t wait to share it with each and every one of you! |
July 30 Journal
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Hallo alle,
August 2nd, 2008. The day my life will change is looming
ever nearer. I have so much I want to do, but with so little time to do it
in. I find myself thinking of nothing but leaving for Denmark. There is so
much preparing that goes into getting ready for a journey of this nature
that sometimes it just seems like too much, but I know that in two days, I
will begin to reap the benefits.
I have so many emotions running through my head all at the
same time—it’s like a huge tidal wave! First and foremost of these emotions
is excitement and anticipation. Ever since I found out my departure date, I
have been counting down the days and marking them off on my calendar. 152
days, 151 days…40 days, 39 days… and now today, 2 days! It’s absolutely
incomprehensible. I can’t even wrap my mind around the fact that this year
of preparation has finally come to an end. My dream is no longer a
dream—it’s a reality. I’m actually doing this! But this excitement and
anticipation leads to stress. “What happens if I miss my flight?” “Will my
host family like me?” “What happens when I don’t know how to say something?”
I know I just need to calm down and relax, but in the midst of saying my
goodbyes to everyone I know, I feel like I am saying goodbye to everything I
know, too. And in a way I am.
Everyone keeps telling me to have and great time, enjoy
every minute of it, etc…and then they throw in the part about “Oh yeah, by
the way, don’t change a bit!” Seriously now! What do they want me to do,
just live in a little observatory bubble while I am over there? I guess they
are the type of people who would never make it as an exchange student.
That’s a reason I want to go on this journey—I want to change; I want to be
a better person; I want to become bicultural.
Anyway, enough of my rambling on! =) I look forward to
keeping all of you informed about my adventures in the land of Denmark!
Also, I want to say TUSIND TAK (a thousand thanks) to Rotary for allowing me
to spend my year in Denmark. Because of you, my life will be forever
changed.
Hej! Hej!
Daniel =) |
August 6 Journal
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Well, this is my first journal for my exchange year. I want to
start off by thanking Rotary from the bottom of my heart for making this
life-changing dream come true. I am truly enjoying every minute of it!
So far, in my 3 days of living in Denmark, my host family
has been amazing! They are the most genuine people I have met. Anything I
need, they will help me get it. They involve me in all of their family
activities and already, I feel as if I am a part of their family.
On Monday morning at 11:00 (only 8 hours after arriving,
mind you!), my host brother, Mathias, knocks on my bedroom door to wake me
up to meet his two friends Benjamin and
Jeppe. Jeppe will be arriving in Weston for his exchange year on the
10th of August. After we got acquainted, they very nonchalantly told me that
we were going to Germany… to go shopping?!? That right there threw me off!
All I could think of was “Wouldn’t that be like an American going to Canada
to shop, when we have perfectly good stores in the States?” But once they
explained to me that we are so close to the German border and everything in
Germany is cheaper, it all made more sense. That made for a very interesting
day, nonetheless—barely speaking Danish and then being sent to Germany—can
you say “Sensory Overload!!” After we got back from Germany, Benjamin and
Jeppe stayed to eat dinner with our family. Then there was the fodbald game,
or as we say it in English: SOCCER!! Our team, SønderjyskE (and yes, the “E”
is supposed to be capitalized) is the lowest paid team in Denmark and they
played København FC, they highest paid team in Denmark. I have never seen
anything like that before. Now I understand where the term “hooligan” comes
from! Luckily for us, they tied 1-1 and nobody got hurt after the match!
After the match, Mathias, Benjamin, Jeppe and I all stayed
up until 2AM talking and playing games—they have become my best friends over
here!
Tuesday, Jeppe’s family threw a going away party for him
and Mathias and I went. That was a lot of fun because I got to see how the
Danish teenagers interacted with each other. There was not much difference
from the American way, but there were some slight variations. At that party,
I was able to make some very good friends that really want to help me with
my Danish.
And today, my host father and I went to the Haderslev
Kommune to register me for an insurance card that I need to have to go to
school. After that, we went to a store to buy our dinner ingredients, but
when we walked in, all I saw were aisles of shoes and clothes on the right
and electronics on the left hand side. However, in the back, there was the
food section. My host father told me that they have two main stores like
this that everyone uses. They are both owned, not by big-wig millionaires,
but the consumers themselves. And while it caught me off guard that you
could buy anything and everything you needed in one store, it also boggled
my host fathers mind that we have all different stores in the States! But as
everyone over here loves to say: “Americans do everything opposite of the
rest of the world!”
So, for now, this concludes my first journal. I have had
so much fun these past few days and I am looking forward to having many more
exciting adventures!
Vi ses og mojn!
Daniel :] |
September 3 Journal
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Ok, now where to start? I know everyone at home is breathing a
sigh of relief to finally see my journal is up! Yes, I finally got around to it.
There has been so much going on that I have had to start and stop and restart
this journal so many times. As a pre-journal note, I would like to say that in
the month that I have been here, I have already started to forget some of my
English vocabulary and it freaks me out every time I can’t think of such a
simple word, and yet it makes me happy too, knowing that I am becoming better in
the language! So, I am apologizing now for any stupid mistakes in my grammar!
I believe that the last time I wrote, I was in my first
week here! HA—that seems like forever and a day ago. As of today (September
3rd), I have been here for 1 month! I have now started school, which is a
big joke! Imagine, if you can, walking into a class of 29 girls and 1 boy
not knowing a word of their language! Yeah, well whatever scenario is
playing out in your head now, that’s how I felt times 10! I have gotten used
to my class now and am actually having a great time. Granted, with 29 girls,
there are A LOT of hormones involved! J My
schedule is a very good one. I am in the second year (there are 3 years in
the high school) with an intensive focus on Spanish and English. My classes
change everyday. On Mondays I have Psychology, Danish, Biology and English.
Tuesdays, I have English, Gym, Biology, and History. Wednesdays are
Religion, History, Ancient Greek History, and Spanish. Thursdays I have
Ancient Greek History, Chemistry, and Danish. And on Fridays, I have
Religion, English, Spanish and Psychology. Now, on Tuesdays and Thursdays, I
get to miss my last 2 classes because I have to go and attend a language
school down in the center of town. Those classes are some of the most
helpful classes I could possibly take. I have learned so much since I have
started there!
Now, my favorite part of the year (so far)! INTROCAMP!!
That is our week-long camp in Bjerringbro (northern Denmark) where all 108
exchange students come together to socialize, go on outings, and create
lifelong friendships. Oh, and I think we were supposed to learn some Danish
while we were there! J And we did! Everyday
that week, we had some 5 hours of Danish lessons and then 2 of the days, we
went out on excursions of Viborg and Århus. Let me tell you—I had the time
of my life just walking around these towns with my new found friends. On the
3rd day and the last day, we all met outside in the soccer field for
bonfires. Now, when you typically go to bonfires, the highlight is usually
making S’mores or roasting marshmallows, right? PSYCH! In Denmark, we make
bread on a stick, which is SOOOO Danish because Danes eat bread with
absolutely everything! A meal is not complete if there are not 2 loaves of
bread on the table. Half of my body weight is now probably made up of pure
dough! After we had to come home I talked to a lot of the other exchange
students and we all just wanted to go back for another week of spending time
with each other! J
If you would like, I could now give you a brief glimpse
into what the near future holds for me in the beautiful country of Denmark.
Next weekend, I am going to Copenhagen (the capital) to go to a concert with
all of the exchange students! I am so excited to see them again! We are
going to go to an amusement park and all that cool stuff! The week after
next, my host dad is running a HUGE marathon in Berlin where we also have a
vacation house, so we will be there for a long weekend then! I am really
looking forward to seeing more of Germany. And, I might even get to go to
Poland to see my BEST FRIEND Katie! That would be
so exciting! Next month is my birthday (October 15th—my 18th, I can’t
believe it!) so my host family is letting me invite some friends over the
week before to celebrate because we are going to be back in Berlin at our
house to have a week during our autumn holiday! I think for now, that is
enough of my boasting! J
I just wanted to take a moment to send out my never-ending
thanks to Rotary for allowing me to come on this journey! I have experienced
so much already just in my first month and I am ready for all the new
challenges that await me in the coming months! Rotary Youth Exchange is the
best program and I am so happy that I have embarked on this adventure! I
would like to also thank my family and friends—here and back home in the
States. I feel as if I already have 2 families and 2 homes! I love Denmark
with everything in me, but I know that I always have all of you back home
waiting for me to return! |
October 5 Journal
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A wise man once said:
“Time flies when you are having fun!” And
that’s what made him wise—for knowing this! I have been here in Denmark (the
most AMAZING country in the world) for two months now, and when I try to sit
back and recollect everything I have done and all the people I have met, it is
absolutely impossible! There has been so much that’s been happening since I last
wrote my journal and I will do my best to get it all down!
I last left off, if I remember correctly with my first few
weeks of school. When I first started, I was totally lost and every little
bit of Danish I thought I knew, well that went out the window! But now, 2
months into it, I have realized that if I pay really close attention, I can
pretty much understand the lecture. Another wise man (or maybe an exchange
student said it!) once said: “The Danish language is like taking a very hot
potato and sticking it in your mouth and trying to talk like that!” Well
I’ll be darned—whoever said that hit the nail right on the head! In Danish,
the language is very guttural and to try and tell the difference between the
letters, is still proving to be my only challenge! We have 3 extra vowels in
our alphabet (æ, ø, and å) and the pronunciation between ø, å, and o is
dependent on how far back in your throat your tongue is! So, in our language
school, we still spend time going over the basic practice of distinguishing
the difference between the 3 letters! At school, all the girls are very
helpful in teaching me Danish. They will spend however long it takes
teaching me how to say something until I get it correct! And, I learn more
Danish from them than I do at our language school; but the school helps,
too!
I know in my last journal that I mentioned that I was
going to Berlin so my dad could run the big marathon and MAN—was that an
amazing experience! My family has an apartment in Berlin and the marathon
went right in front of our window, but we were outside cheering my dad on!
We met him at every 12 kilometers (7.5 miles for all of you who are confused
by the metric system!) and gave him a chocolate bar! But of course we didn’t
run to the next station—NO! We took the underground! That was definitely an
experience! In the marathon, there were 40,000 runners and just imagine with
their family members going to meet them every 12 km too, just how packed the
underground was! They don’t wait for everyone to get on before leaving
either. If the time for the train to leave is 13:11, you better believe that
the doors are closing at 13:10.59! Luckily, they run every 5 minutes,
though! While we were there, I got to meet my host sister who is older,
married and living in Aalborg. Her husband was running the marathon with my
dad. They brought along my host cousin and he actually helped me to learn
many Danish phrases that are very useful! We did a lot of talking that
weekend and he is a really nice kid! I guess I should mention that he is 2
years old, too!! J
Since I have been in Denmark, the culture of the Danes has
been rubbing off onto me and I have noticed changes in my personality. I am
becoming a more carefree person. I am not so uptight if things change
unexpectedly—I just take it as a new adventure and a new chance to
experience something different. I am becoming more open-minded about other
people. Like in American high schools, if there is a kid that sticks out and
is different from the “average” or the “normal” they are either shunned and
never thought of or made fun of constantly. But in Denmark, everyone is
accepted—no matter what they believe in, how they act, where they come from,
whatever! And that is something that I think everyone in the world could
stand to learn.
I have come to the conclusion that making mental notes of
things that I want to put in my journals will never work because as soon as
I think of something new, the old reminder is gone! So, I am going to have
to start carrying around a little notebook so I can jot down any significant
things. I have also realized that merely writing my experiences down does
not even come close to capturing the full effect of the actual event, which
is why if there are any students reading this journal or anyone else’s
journal and are intrigued by what you hear, I encourage you to check out the
RYE program and maybe you can have the same life-changing experiences as all
of us are having each and every day!
So, as always, I want to conclude with thanking Rotary and
all the people that make this opportunity happen year after year! Without
you, my life would not be changing for the better like it is now and I owe
it all to you!
Until next time, I hope all is well in the Sunshine State!
Tusind tak til Rotary! Jeg er kærlig hvert minut jeg er
i Danmark og ikke ville have den anden måde! |
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