Nine Whitman students returned from Copenhagen, Denmark, this past weekend after spending a week with host families and exploring the quaint culture of the European country.

This year’s third annual trip was led and chaperoned by photography teacher Mike Seymour and assistant principal Brandi Heckert.

Each morning students attended Nørre Gymnasium, the host school, with their Danish host sisters or brothers. Danish students, from ages 16-19, all brought laptops to school, and had different classes each day. The school system was very flexible in comparison to Whitman, senior Isabel Gomez said.

“The school was very relaxed,” junior Alison Cantwell said. “Everything was laid back, sometimes classes were cancelled, and they had flexible schedules like in college. They also get paid to go to school once a month, which I was really jealous of.”

Aside from visiting the school, students spent time at various landmarks and tourist sites, such as museums, the downtown area, amusement parks, malls and the U.S. Embassy.

Students were immersed in the European style of living in Denmark.

Seymour said that one of his favorite aspects of the trip was the Danes’ use of transportation.

“The bike culture was especially mind-boggling,” Seymour said. “You would see women dressed up in heels, dresses and beautiful wool coats biking to work at seven in the morning, in the rain while it’s 35 degrees out. I saw men in suits riding, people going out to dinner at night. They all take bikes instead of cars.”

At Nørre, most of the classes are taught in Danish, aside from English and choice language classes. The host school and families’ English skills, however, provided less of a language barrier for the visiting students.

“It was surprising, my host person and I clicked right off the bat,” Gomez said. “The kids were all very easy to talk to since they’ve been speaking English since third grade. We all spoke in English, and I learned some Danish words while we taught them some American phrases.”

The exchange group  would also hang out with the host students after school and go to dinner together, or shop at popular stores such as H&M. The Danish students will be visiting Washington, D.C. this April to complete the exchange program, mostly staying with the same students they hosted.

“It was great, really just a blast,” Gomez said. “It was an opportunity for me to experience a new country as well as different people and make incredible friendships that I know are going to last.”

Whitman students as well as Seymour and Heckert all stayed with different host families. Students would meet at Nørre in the morning.

“I would go again in a heartbeat,” Seymour said.  “I love the people, the food, the architecture, the Danish design. Our host family, whom Ms. Heckert and I stayed with were the nicest people in the world. They were both assistant principals, they had a gorgeous family, a beautiful home and were so gracious. It was just awesome, a really great experience.”