Danish student welcomed to town

A NEW exchange student from Denmark was welcomed into the community last week as part of the Rotary Club’s Youth Exchange program.

Freja Dahl will spend one year in Bendigo while she studies at Girton Grammar and lives with local host families.

Director of Youth Services at Rotary Club of Bendigo Dr Michael Pearson said the exchange program can be a positive experience for both students and hosting communities.

For host families, Dr Pearson said one of the benefits was being able to learn from a young person from a different country.

As for students, he said they grow in confidence as well as in their English speaking ability.

“The students get the chance to meet Australian students and sometimes they even get to do a bit of language teaching,” said Dr Pearson.

Freja, whose father is also Rotarian, said that she her first impression of Australia had been positive.

“It’s very nice and all the houses are very pretty, and there are some very big cultural differences,” she said.

“You drive on the other side of the road and things like that.”

On her first day at Girton, Freja said she wore a school uniform for the first time in her life.

“It was special,” she said, “it was nice because everyone is wearing the same so you can’t really judge anyone for anything.”

Freja also said she is looking forward to improving her English and seeing how people live on the other side of the world.