My exchange year took me to Denmark in 2001. As most exchange students will agree, it was probably one of the best years of my life. I cannot isolate anything specific about my exchange experience that made it as memorable as it is; it was reather the entire package: traveling alone at such an early age, living with a completely new family, new siblings, new school, a completely different country and meeting other exchange students, etc.

I lived on the Danish island called Fyn with the family Anderson. So my exchange year presented me with another mother, father, an older sister and brother and two dogs. I attended a school called Vestfyns Gymnasium which was completely different to my South African schooling in terms of the way it was run, school attire and regulations, etc. Upon arrival in Denmark alone I encountered my first experience of culture shock. For one, there were infinite numbers of bicycles, and secondly, I felt like I was the only “black” person around which took some getting used to. The first three months of my life in Denmark, at times, were very challenging because of language, cultural and racial barriers. However, as I grew more accustomed to this foreign way of life and learnt the Danish language, these barriers appeared to disintegrate. Thinking about my Danish life it is obvious that it was not only me being affected by my experiences; my being there, as a South African, deconstructed Danish peoples' notions and stereotypes of South Africa.

Lastly I want to say: I would do it all again if possible.