Sandi Gatt (Denmark 2006) Reflects on her Exchange

Fri 19 Sep 2008

Sandi Gatt went on exchange to Denmark for a year in 2006. She now reflects back on her experiences from the past and how she is eagerly anticipating her return visit to Denmark during the summer holidays.

"As soon as I left Denmark, I knew I would one day return. What could only be described as an adventure exceeding my wildest imaginations (and expectations), my year exchange to Denmark was an experience that has changed my view of the world forever. It’s been said before, and will be said a million times again, but the benefits of my Danish escapade, continue to spur my belief that today the world really is your oyster.

And so sparks the relevancy of my coming summer. A lifes worth of savings to be spent on two months of travel; a visit back to my second home, and the absence of an Australian summer I will not regret. Almost two years ago I was on a plane back to Australia, overwhelmed with excitement, with relief and anticipation. My exchange had not been easy, in fact it had been an almost defeating challenge, despite what personal turmoil I had experienced prior.

Homesickness; is not the word. It belongs to grade four camps (although admittedly back in those days I was quite happy to be away from the family). No, I would say that my experience was practically indescribable, my journey was an emotional rollercoaster which from sun up to sun down (which in the winter was only a few hours) never ceased its operations.

In many of the blogs you read about travel, the readers are given ‘sugar coated’ accounts of the many joys of the exchange - the endless holiday, the countless ‘first times’ and memories never to be forgotten - and undeniably these moments are infinite. However, just as real are the ‘hard times’- the unexpected obstacles and those nagging reminders of your old distant life, when the uncertainty and occasionally tragic aspects of reality intrude. Nevertheless, the tears, the frustration, the occasional loneliness and feelings of defeat post honeymoon period are now pallid irrelevancies of the past. Only the wonders, the friendships, the sights , sounds, experiences, and lessons remain, held perfectly, vividly in my heart in the hundreds of photographs that liven-up my bedroom, in my diary entries “I could live here forever" and in my constant unavoidable connections to my experience.

Whether I’m impressing people with my um.. ‘flawless’ Danish skills, relating my experiences to another traveller, having a Danish friend to stay with me for a month, meeting up with Australian friends I met overseas or (today) getting a friend request from my host sister on facebook, my exchange experience continues today. I was young when I went, 14 on departure, and now looking back I can recognize how young I was to spend a year away from everything I knew. But every challenge, every tear, was worth what invaluable moments and lessons I gained, and earnestly I would recommend this experience to anyone and everyone.

Realise that life anywhere in the world is still life, with ups and downs of great extremes, but remember that dismissing this opportunity would be a far greater loss than any of the difficulties you may experience. As far as length goes, a year is a really long time, but any less would have been too short for me.

And this only touches on the surface."

Sandi Gatt

See Sandi talk about her experience in Denmark in her student video located here.