Meeting on May 24, 2017

Emma Nissen, our club-sponsored exchange student for the 2016-2007 academic year gave a presentation on her country and reflections upon her year of experiences in the United States and in Healdsburg.

 

She gave us some demographics of Denmark. Denmark has 5 million inhabitants. As a nation, it is over 1,000 years old. It is governed by a monarchy which is mainly titular and a parliament that is usually divided into two factions, although there are nine recognized political parties in Denmark. Denmark is also the home of Hans Christian Anderson, author of world-renowned fairytales for children.

 

Denmark leads the world in wind power industry. They are also the home to LEGOS. One of the largest manufacturers of diabetic drugs and other products, Novo Nordisk is headquartered in Denmark. Recent years have seen a burgeoning of Danish gastronomy and architecture. The minimum wage for workers in Denmark is set by industry and the type of work one does. For the most part, Danish people enjoy their existence.

 

Denmark is a country with many social programs. There is a relatively high tax rate. The spread between the rich and poor is not as wide as it is in America and there is a strong safety net allowing everybody access to good education and excellent healthcare. Students typically go to school for nine years of elementary school, finishing at approximately age 15 or 16. They can go on to two years of "high school" which is basically college preparatory work and then go on to higher education beyond that.

 

At school she was on the tennis and swim teams and enjoyed the camaraderie of athletics. She traveled rather extensively in the western United States spending time in the mountain skiing, going to Orcas Island in Washington state, and spending time in Hawaii with other Rotary youth exchange programs from District 5130.

 

Emma give a special thanks to the host families with whom she has stayed for the past year, as well as to the club for allowing her to have this experience.