We met at 8am for breakfast. Once again, the YFU volunteers made a wonderful and very large meal - lots of fruit, breads, eggs, yogurt, and cereal. I spoke with Casper Danielsen (my Danish opposite, namewise) for a while. I learned a good bit about Denmark's school, work, and tax system. All school, including college is FREE FOR EVERYONE. The schools are very good, too. In Denmark, to paraphrase a popular U.S. misconception, you can "make it" if you work hard enough. You can pursue an academic or trade track. Actually, I lied - they are not free. As Casper corrected us: "They are not free, you get paid to go to school." This is true, by the way. The government pays for your education, and pays you at the same time, as Casper put it, "so you can focus on your studies." What a concept!
Denmark also has universal and good health care for all citizens. Also, families get a stipend every three months for each child that they have. Casper said that he and his wife get a check from the government every 3 months for about US $900. This is regardless of income level. The Danes are very proud of their welfare system - "welfare" is most decidedly no a dirty political word here. In addition to this, all full-time employees get a mandatory (by national law) 5 weeks vacation per year. They often have the option to work during those 5 weeks, but are not compelled to. If you lose your job, the unemployment benefits are very, very good (and of course you still have healthcare). I read that somewhere around 80% of workers are unionized in Denmark. All of this adds up to an environment that is horrible for busines.., wait, actually, Forbes Magazine has rated Denmark as one of the top places to do business in the world.
Anyway, after breakfast we cleaned the house and boarded the bus to head to the region of Thy (pronounced "Too"), which is in the far northwest corner of Denmark near the North Sea. The 2.5 hour bus ride was very nice, and we spoke a good bit with Michael, the YFU volunteer who is escorting us on this part of the trip.
We all got dropped off at the train station in Hurup, Thy to meet our host families. It was much colder here than in Tommerup, but still very pleasant. Our luggage had not yet arrived at this point. I met up with Ebbe, my host father, to head to his house about 10 minutes away. Ebbe and his wife Lis live on a 20 acre wheat farm. The property and surrounding area is beautiful - full of lush, gently rolling landscapes with smallish houses and cottages. And wind turbines. Lots and lots of wind turbines.
We had a nice dinner at home, then went to the Danish National Park near the North Sea, on the west coast. Along the way, we probably saw 40 windmills of all sizes (from a few kW to around a MW). The wind blows pretty constantly from the North Sea to the west (it blows from west to east). As you can sort of see in the last image below, the trees "lean" to the east because of this. I will post a better picture later.
The last part of the evening, the luggage finally arrived, right around 9pm. Needless to say, the students were very excited. All of them came to pick the luggage up. A good way to end the day.
Denmark also has universal and good health care for all citizens. Also, families get a stipend every three months for each child that they have. Casper said that he and his wife get a check from the government every 3 months for about US $900. This is regardless of income level. The Danes are very proud of their welfare system - "welfare" is most decidedly no a dirty political word here. In addition to this, all full-time employees get a mandatory (by national law) 5 weeks vacation per year. They often have the option to work during those 5 weeks, but are not compelled to. If you lose your job, the unemployment benefits are very, very good (and of course you still have healthcare). I read that somewhere around 80% of workers are unionized in Denmark. All of this adds up to an environment that is horrible for busines.., wait, actually, Forbes Magazine has rated Denmark as one of the top places to do business in the world.
Anyway, after breakfast we cleaned the house and boarded the bus to head to the region of Thy (pronounced "Too"), which is in the far northwest corner of Denmark near the North Sea. The 2.5 hour bus ride was very nice, and we spoke a good bit with Michael, the YFU volunteer who is escorting us on this part of the trip.
We all got dropped off at the train station in Hurup, Thy to meet our host families. It was much colder here than in Tommerup, but still very pleasant. Our luggage had not yet arrived at this point. I met up with Ebbe, my host father, to head to his house about 10 minutes away. Ebbe and his wife Lis live on a 20 acre wheat farm. The property and surrounding area is beautiful - full of lush, gently rolling landscapes with smallish houses and cottages. And wind turbines. Lots and lots of wind turbines.
We had a nice dinner at home, then went to the Danish National Park near the North Sea, on the west coast. Along the way, we probably saw 40 windmills of all sizes (from a few kW to around a MW). The wind blows pretty constantly from the North Sea to the west (it blows from west to east). As you can sort of see in the last image below, the trees "lean" to the east because of this. I will post a better picture later.
The last part of the evening, the luggage finally arrived, right around 9pm. Needless to say, the students were very excited. All of them came to pick the luggage up. A good way to end the day.