Christmas is almost here. As in any country Christmas is a big deal. And stressful. Already our calendar is booked beyond what seems do-able. Apart from all the Christmas parties there is also all the activities we need to do ... and have fun doing it!
My sewing project is almost done. I finished the calendar for her a long time ago and my sons is done too. My daughters is in danger of not getting done. I am working day and night to get it done - it is not looking good. My husband knows how important it is to my daughter and me that is gets done before December 1st. so for the first time ever he volunteered himself and her to wrap the gifts that go on the calendar so I could sew. Last night was the wrap Christmas calendar gifts night. My husband wrapped the ones for our son and she wrapped 24 little gifts for her host sister. I will post pictures once all of them are done and full of presents.
I love the extra pair of hands. I don't expect her to work all the time but when she helps out to make stressful times a bit less stressful it is just wonderful to have an exchange student. So reason number 8 to have an exchange student.
Thursday, November 29, 2012
Thursday, November 8, 2012
Parenting
I don't know what exactly I expected when we signed up for an exchange student. The thing I most surprised about it the parenting involved.
Like reminding her that she needs to do her homework, keeping track of her schedule and reminding her when there is something she has to do, waking her up in the morning when she slept in ... again. At this point (3 months into her stay) I sort of figured that some things I don't need to say anymore.
One of my friends says that her son is always just landed - meaning that everything comes as a bit as a surprise to him. She is the same in some ways. The learning curve is a surprise too - after (wrongly) assuming that the bus would come at a certain time one would think one would check next time?
I didn't expect to parent like this not at this age!
Like reminding her that she needs to do her homework, keeping track of her schedule and reminding her when there is something she has to do, waking her up in the morning when she slept in ... again. At this point (3 months into her stay) I sort of figured that some things I don't need to say anymore.
One of my friends says that her son is always just landed - meaning that everything comes as a bit as a surprise to him. She is the same in some ways. The learning curve is a surprise too - after (wrongly) assuming that the bus would come at a certain time one would think one would check next time?
I didn't expect to parent like this not at this age!
Friday, November 2, 2012
School
How important is school during exchange? I was brought up on the notion that school is a priviledge and it is always important to do well in school.
During my year in Muskegon I was bored beyond belief. Being a senior in high school in the states is just not the same level as being a student in second year in a danish high school. Very quickly I realized just how little I had to do and still maintain a GPA over 3.5. I didn't have much trouble with the language nor the academic level that was taught so I could pretty much slack off in most classes. The only two classes where I couldn't slack was my hostmothers class (British lit) and Calculus. My hostmother knew that I could do better and required that I did as much as possible and calculus was actually at the same level as at home (and I would be able to use it at home).
By not even trying too hard I still managed to land in the top 10 in my class.
The story for my student is however very different. Not only is almost everything done in a different language but the level is also college level for her and she needs the credits to able to skip junior year at home and still graduate with her classmates at home.
Another thing she has to learn is that school is different than in the states (I know stating the obvious). But here we learn and understand but there they memorize and forget ... well somethings sticks ...
We were talking about the American election the other day and she was baffled about how much we care about who ends up in the whitehouse. And she was aslo baffled about how much everybody here knows about politics. That reminded me of the standard answer to my questions about different issues in Muskegon; "I don't know - we haven't covered that in school yet."
I remember my second year in the danish highschool - it was tough! And I did a lot of homework. She says she does her homework and the only class she has real troubles in is in physics but I don't see her studying that much ... and does it matter if she doesn't?
During my year in Muskegon I was bored beyond belief. Being a senior in high school in the states is just not the same level as being a student in second year in a danish high school. Very quickly I realized just how little I had to do and still maintain a GPA over 3.5. I didn't have much trouble with the language nor the academic level that was taught so I could pretty much slack off in most classes. The only two classes where I couldn't slack was my hostmothers class (British lit) and Calculus. My hostmother knew that I could do better and required that I did as much as possible and calculus was actually at the same level as at home (and I would be able to use it at home).
By not even trying too hard I still managed to land in the top 10 in my class.
The story for my student is however very different. Not only is almost everything done in a different language but the level is also college level for her and she needs the credits to able to skip junior year at home and still graduate with her classmates at home.
Another thing she has to learn is that school is different than in the states (I know stating the obvious). But here we learn and understand but there they memorize and forget ... well somethings sticks ...
We were talking about the American election the other day and she was baffled about how much we care about who ends up in the whitehouse. And she was aslo baffled about how much everybody here knows about politics. That reminded me of the standard answer to my questions about different issues in Muskegon; "I don't know - we haven't covered that in school yet."
I remember my second year in the danish highschool - it was tough! And I did a lot of homework. She says she does her homework and the only class she has real troubles in is in physics but I don't see her studying that much ... and does it matter if she doesn't?
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