“Great things are not done by impulse, but by a series of small things brought together”
Vincent Van Gogh
We believe that by taking positive actions every day, our volunteers make a significant contribution to the communities they are working in and achieve the important mission of Uniting the Planet. We would love to celebrate the positive contribution of our volunteers by starting our new blog series #VolunteerHighlight, where we will present stories about our Short and Long-term volunteers abroad and share their experiences.
Our first #VolunteerHighlight is Isabella Hedly, who graduated from her high school in June and began her six month volunteer abroad journey in Denmark at the beginning of August. Isabella decided to dedicate her time volunteering at a local school in Stouby. United Planet Team reached out to Isabella and asked her about her volunteer experience and life in Denmark so far:
My day to day life in Denmark starts out with eating breakfast with my host family before we all head out for the day. I then walk to work every day and arrive early enough to make myself a hot chocolate before school starts. Every morning we start out the day with a song where the whole school gathers together and sings traditional Danish songs. Most days I spend the first two hours with the first graders before I have a break with the other teachers where we eat bread and cake before going back to class. Then, I go back to the first graders where we do mathematics, physical education or Danish for two hours. After that it is time for lunch, where I eat my lunch that I brought from home, usually pasta. Then I go back to the first graders where we finish out the day with English, Danish, mathematics or religion. I am also in charge of finding new songs and activities for the teachers to use when teaching English. 
After school ends I walk back home where I get to enjoy a little bit of alone time before the rest of my host family gets home. Once my host family gets home we spend some time together or I go for a walk while my host family goes to swimming. Every night we have dinner together as a family before my youngest host sisters go to bed. I sometimes then play cards with my host family before I head my own way for the night.
The culture in Denmark is not too different from that in the United States. The main difference that I have noticed from the United States is that people here seem to be much more reserved; a good example of this would be everyone on the bus puts in headphones and no one talks to each other whereas in the United States people talk to strangers on the bus. I have also noticed though that some of the slight differences in culture here can be seen in the fact that people do not wear colorful clothing, instead its mainly black, and everyone wears the same clothing. People here also have the same haircuts and hair colors, blonde and straight across, everyone has the same brand of baby stroller, and the kids all eat the same food for lunch. All of this culminates in a culture that is focused on conformity. While similar languages, styles of clothing, hair colors, and celebrations are shared between the United States and Denmark, the difference is the culture in Denmark is focused on conformity…
If you want to learn more about Isabella’s journey in Denmark, read her amazing blog where she shares her exciting stories as a United Planet volunteer
Join us and learn more about volunteering in Denmark
ABOUT UNITED PLANET
United Planet is a non-profit organization with a mission to create a global community, one relationship at a time. Established in 2001, United Planet offers volunteer abroad, virtual internships, internships abroad, gap year volunteering, and global virtual exchange in more than 40 countries.
