By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Staff Writer
Last year, Sitka High School student Veronica Gibson lived in Denmark as an exchange student. This year, to complete the cycle, Danish high schooler Nicoline Huse Christensen will be attending Sitka High.
Both Gibson and Christensen are juniors this year, and both have some thoughts on the exchange student experience.
The Rotary Youth Exchange coordinated the exchanges for both students.
Gibson was living in Denmark last school year when she learned that Christensen would be going to Sitka for this school year. The two spent a weekend together in Denmark, before making their separate trips to Alaska.
Gibson said that most Danes speak English, making her time there much easier. Conversely, very few Sitkans speak Danish, but Christensen speaks fluent English. Though Gibson did miss her friends while she was in Europe, she said that within a few months she had settled into her new routine. She said that “at the end you’re like, ‘What? It’s only a year?’”
Nicoline Huse Christensen, left, and Veronica Gibson, hold a Danish flag during fall orientation in Willow, August 10. (Sentinel Photo)
Danish and American high schools have some major differences when it comes to course schedules. While she was living on the Jutland Peninsula in central Denmark, Gibson learned that Danish schools have students follow course paths, with a specific focus. She said that “you pick a path in (Danish) school, and here you can pick different classes you want, different paths. There you pick the music, the math, the science path.”
Christensen added that these paths aren’t restrictive, though. She said that someone could take a humanities focused path, “but if you want to become a doctor, then you can afterwards take some classes to make up for it.”
Though Gibson has by now gained experience in both school systems, Christensen doesn’t start classes here until later this week.
Christensen will be running cross country for the first time ever this fall. She will also play soccer, which she has played in Denmark as well. She likes to spend time outdoors, too, a pursuit for which Sitka is well suited.
Both students had one comment in common. They prefer Danish food. Gibson said that food in Denmark is often “fresher and home cooked.” Christensen added, “In Denmark, you always eat with a knife and fork. You don’t do that so often here.”
She said although she’s been in Alaska for only two and a half weeks, “I really miss Danish food.”
Like many Sitkans, Gibson enjoys hiking, but found that a hike in Denmark was a casual walk “up a sand pile, pretty much, with a few bushes on top.”
Both Gibson and Christensen are excited about the hiking opportunities in Sitka. In addition to their preference for Danish food, Gibson and Christensen agree on the outdoor attractions of Sitka. Coming from pan-flat Denmark, Christensen said, “I love that you can always see the mountains.”
