Canoeing, hiking and rock climbing weren't among the things Ulrich Witt, a Danish student who just turned 15, expected to learn during his eight-week exchange at Sussex School.
But his stay with three different families let him experience those sports. Rock climbing is his favorite, he said.
"Denmark is totally flat," he said during a recent interview. "The highest point is 500 feet."
Another sport, football, has him a little puzzled. "It takes an hour to play 15 minutes," he said. "I'm used to playing soccer."
Soccer games go for 45 minutes with no breaks. Games for younger players last 35 minutes and lengthen, as the players grow, to the 45-minute sessions, he explained.
Witt became an exchange student after his teacher, Yvonne Haakonsson, told her class about her exchange trip to Sussex in 1998. She and Sussex teacher Jennie Bucher had swapped jobs for three months.
Witt will return to his home in Skanderborg on Oct. 16.
He's not eager to leave, he said. One reason is the plane ride of 15 to 17 hours. He also wants to experience a little more of America.
"I'd like to be here for Halloween, but ...," he said.
He'll return to the ninth grade, having spent his time here during a period in Denmark that is like a fall vacation, he explained.
He'll have to put in a little extra work on his German, which he started studying in the seventh grade, but he should be ahead in English, which he started in the fourth grade.
"It will be easier to catch up on English," said Bucher. "He has really improved since he came here.
"I have noticed more slang creeping into your English," she told him.
After graduation from ninth grade, Witt will attend a three-year business school. Most students chose an interim school that will allow them to decide on something else later on. A third choice is a technical school where students learn to cook or become carpenters, for example.
When asked to compare America and Denmark, Witt noted the differences in costs for braces and broken arms, and other dental and health care expenses. But Bucher pointed out the amount of taxes Danish people pay: up to a high 57 percent.
Other differences? Denims here cost $30; in Denmark, $75. Attendance at the university in Denmark is paid for. Driver's licenses, cars and gasoline cost more in Denmark. Pollution? "I don't notice it," he said.
He is also a little bemused by the Sussex students who can't quite pronounce his name. He settles for the American version of "uhl-rick" but says it is pronounced "ool-rik." His hometown, with a population between 15,000 and 20,000, is pronounced "scan-a-borg."
Sussex has not yet sent an exchange student to Denmark. Most exchanges, said teacher Jen Ellis, are with juniors and seniors in high school.
"The difference (between Danish and Sussex students) is that they don't speak Danish," she said of the Sussex students.
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