McKenzie Bolin

2011-12 Outbound to Denmark

Hometown: Ponte Vedra, Florida

School: Nease High School

Sponsor: St. Johns Rotary Club, District 6970, Florida

Host: Nørre Snede Rotary Club in District1450 Denmark

McKenzie's Bio

International Baccalaureate, or “I.B.” as most people call it, is an amazing program that I am very thankful to be a part of. It has taught me to always try my best and instilled in me how important work ethic is. The most important thing it has given me, though, is my love of learning new things and embracing other people’s opinions. This will be very helpful to me next year, when I will be constantly reminding myself that nothing is strange or weird, it’s just “different”.

I have lived in Florida my whole life, and I haven’t even lived outside of the Jacksonville area. I live at home, in Ponte Vedra, with my mom, my younger brother who is in 8th grade, and my maternal grandparents. My parents are divorced, but luckily for me, my dad lives close by, so I get to visit him on the weekends. I also have 4 dogs and 1 cat, which I count as a part of my family.

Some of my interests include volunteering, church, traveling, animals, lacrosse, and acting. I am in 3 clubs at my school: Best Buddies Club, Conservation Club, and Cultural Diversity Club. I also volunteer at the Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens and at my church as a pre-school teacher on Sundays. This year, I started playing on my schools girls lacrosse team. I love it, because not only to I get to spend my time having fun with some friends doing something good for ourselves, but I also get to show off my school spirit. I have been acting for a few years now, and since I started, I have had small roles on T.V., a movie, and in multiple plays. I hope to someday become a zoo veterinarian as my career.

For as long as I can remember, I have always wanted to do foreign exchange. No, I am not saying that as an expression, because my mom tells me that in first or second grade I asked if I could live in another country. From the moment I heard about Rotary Youth Exchange, I knew it was made for me! I am a very independent person and have always wanted to take an adventure on my own, so RYE was the perfect program. I am very excited to try many new things, foods, and cultural activities in Denmark.

I could not be more excited about going to Denmark! It still seems unbelievable that a year from now I will be living in Denmark, speaking Danish, and living like a Dane. I am sure it will be one of the best years of my life, and a great opportunity to experience another culture first-hand.

So many thoughts have been rushing through my head since I got the phone call about going having Denmark as my future host country…. I keep asking myself things like what my family and friends will be like, what my new home will look like, what I will do each day, and many more random thoughts and questions! It is so amazing to know that in a few short months, I will have all these questions answered!

I will never be able to thank Rotary enough for this amazing opportunity that will certainly be one of the best years of my life.
 

Thursday, November 17, 2011

Just over 2 weeks ago, I celebrated my 3 month mark of being in Denmark, which I suppose means I should write a journal again!

My life has been crazy since I got here. So much has happened since I wrote last. Not only have I done so many different things, but I’ve experienced so many different emotions, met so many amazing people, learned more than I ever imagined (not just Danish, but about myself and the world as well), and changed as a person.

I have had an amazing time here, but that goes without saying I have also had some hard times. I knew that this year would be hard and would test me, but I will admit I was surprised at how hard it was and in what ways. I honestly didn’t expect to get homesick (which luckily I wasn’t ever too homesick and I never wished to go home, but I have had some days where I’ve missed my mom and dad), and I think I also didn’t realize how exhausting this exchange process can be! I think only exchange students understand what I mean when I say that I never knew it was possible to experience so many different emotions at once (sadness, joy, excitement, pride, disappointment, frustration, and pure happiness, along with other emotions I couldn’t even describe).

One really fun thing I experienced was visiting Copenhagen! My first host family took me to Copenhagen and Roskilde for 3 days and it was a great trip. During my fall holiday, they decided to take me to visit the country capitol (which is something I can’t say I’ve even done in the USA, my home country). The trip was really nice and it was great to see things I have only seen pictures before now. While there we toured castles, saw the harbor, saw churches older than the USA (well actually almost everything we saw was older than the USA which I found fascinating), and of course, visited the little mermaid statue. We also saw the changing of the guard at the Queens castle, where I had an interesting moment with a guard. After the changing of the guard, I decided to take a picture with one of the guards like many other people. I waited my turn, handed my camera to my host dad, and then stood the respectable distance from the guard… my host dad motioned for me to get closer to the guard. Once I tried to inch closer, the guard gave me a very angry look and then shooed me away. Normally I find it easy to make friends, but I guess for some reason he didn’t like me!

My favorite part about visiting Copenhagen was when I realized that I feel partly Danish. While there I felt the same way that I would expect to feel if I visited DC. I felt like a tourist since I don’t live in Copenhagen, but I didn’t feel like a foreigner. It is very hard to explain, but it was a feeling I really liked having!

Another fun thing I’ve done here was go to a national get together for the inbounds! I loved being able to catch up with some of my really good friends. I got to see the 2 other students from Florida, my oldies (the students who come in January- mostly from Australia and New Zealand), and all of the other exchange students! We spent the entire weekend catching up and bonding. We also had a crazy costume party which was a blast! I guess anytime you put a ton of excited exchange students together, blast Danish, American, Spanish, and Brazilian music, you’re bound to have a good time! That night no one slept, because we partied all night long.

I have already switched host families for the first time! I will have 4 families this year, so I will spend about 3 months with each family. I had met with my new family before I moved and I already loved them. My host parents are so sweet and so is my host brother (19) and they’re adorable dog! Even before I moved in, I knew they would be a great family for me, but for some reason, I was so nervous when the time came to move. I guess at that time, I had already put so much hope into them and was afraid that maybe after I moved in something would change and I wouldn’t feel the same way. I was also afraid of having to re-adjust to a new family, especially since I was just beginning to become comfortable here. Luckily, once my new host parents came to pick me up, all of my nerves calmed and within hours of living with them I already felt like a member of the family! I love my new host family and am so happy and thankful they are hosting me!

My Danish is improving step by step. It is hard, but I get better every day. I can understand most of what people say (given that they are willing to not say it at the speed of light!), but responding is still hard. I guess the best way to describe how I feel when I speak Danish is by comparing it to when a puppy barks. Anyone who has ever had a new puppy knows the reaction they have the first time they bark. At first, the puppy doesn’t know barking is possible, and then it hears other dogs bark and is curious. Then one day, the puppy will bark. Not knowing what just happened and given it’s their first time it feels strange, but over time, barking becomes less and less strange to them… I know this may seem confusing, but that is the best way I can explain how I feel speaking Danish. It is weird at first, but it is becoming more and more natural. My Danish has actually improved so much that I have already started dreaming and thinking in Danish. I had one very short dream in Danish a few weeks ago, as well as frequent moments of realization that my thoughts are occasionally in Danish.

Although my Danish is improving, it definitely isn’t perfect yet, as I have been reminded through some moments of misunderstanding! One day, my first host mom and I went to an outdoor market our town has every year. At the market they sell everything from animals to toys and books. That evening, my host dad asked my host mom what we saw that day. My host mom listed many different things, one of which being “kattekillinger” (which means kittens). I recognized “katte” as cats, but didn’t recognize “killinger” and thought that my host mom just said that we saw cats being killed! I guess my face showed my shock because my host parents asked what was wrong. I then explained that I had no idea people were killing cats, so they had to explain that it was kittens, not cats being killed.
Just 2 weeks ago while watching TV with my new host family I had another misunderstanding that lead to a funny store and a little embarrassment. While watching TV, the words “Sneen falder i 4 dage” (The snow falls in 4 days). I immediately got excited as my host family just watched and laughed! It turns out that the phrase was talking about the Juleøl (Christmas beer), not real snow… And by the way I have yet to see any snow here, but I’m hoping it will come soon! I guess one thing I have learned this year is to laugh at myself. I have realized that I am bound to mess up the language and with the culture and the best way to get through it is with a big smile and a laugh.

Although I may have some moments of confusion or misunderstanding, I am very proud of how much my Danish has improved. Before I came here, my understanding of Danish was horrible and I am now able to express myself and understand quite a lot. My accent and pronunciation is still horrible, but it is getting better. I even gave a full (20 minutes long) presentation to my Rotary club in Danish just 2 weeks ago. I was very nervous before (which is something that normally doesn’t happen but I guess the pressure of speaking that much Danish scared me), but it wound up going great! I loved being able to show off my new language skills and thank my host club for all they’ve done!

While I was presenting in Danish, I realized that just a year ago I was being told by Mrs. Roderick and Mrs. Cameron that I could be presenting in another language! At the time I honestly thought they were crazy to think I’d be able to speak another language in such a short amount of time, but (as always), they were right! I still can’t believe that just a year ago I was contemplating the possibilities of becoming an exchange student. Going to the Rotary presentation was the most life changing thing imaginable and I am so fortunate to have this opportunity!

Some other things I’ve done:
•Toured a cookie factory! In my future town, there is the Royal Dansk butter cookies factory, where a Rotarian in my club just happens to work! Knowing how much I love their cookies, she offered to take me on a tour. It was really interesting and a great experience.
•Gone to a district get together in Ry, a nearby town. We canoed 5km and hiked about 6-7 km (mostly uphill). Although they made us sweat all of our Rotary weight off (which by the way- Rotary weight is real, much to my dismay), we all had a great time getting to know each other. We also got a good laugh when we learned how to dance a Danish folk dance.
•Seen the “bogman” of Denmark in a museum in Silkeborg.
•Visited tons of museums!
•Gone with my club president, his wife, and my friend/ my clubs future outbound to my club president’s Somerhus (summerhouse) for a weekend.
•Gone to a Wafande concert with my French class where we won a rapping competition.
•Visited Kolding with my new host parents. Just last weekend we went into the town which is only an hour away from where we live. First we went to the GIANT mall there (as we drove up my host mom and I both got excited as we saw it!). After a few hours of shopping, we went to “Kolding huset” (The Kolding house- it is a Castle originally built in the 1200’s that has been burnt down and rebuilt since). It was nice because it was my first real outing with my new family and it was good to just spend a day with them (plus touring a castle is always fun!).
•Gone to a handball game! I can now call myself a handball fan!

The past 3 months have been crazy and I have been on an emotional roller coaster, but it has been the most rewarding experience of my life! I never imagined my life would be like this, but I love it! I love feeling like a Dane and speaking Danish. Rotary has given me an amazing experience and although my time here is limited, I will not waste it. I have already done and learned so much, and I know that will continue.

Thank you Rotary for giving me this opportunity and for all of your ongoing support! Thanks to my family and friends in Florida and here in Denmark, because without you I never would survive this year or had this chance. Much love from Denmark!

Me with my "friend" who didn't like me too much!	The Little Mermaid statue and I! It was like my Danish dream come true!	My French class and me along with Wafande	In the courtyard of Kolding huset slot.