Exchange rate: Denmark and Wyoming are very different

Emilie Thorup Jensen is a 16-year-old exchange student from Denmark. Thorup said she wanted to try something new and get away from Denmark, so she came to America and is attending Newcastle High School.
Sara Whipple serves as the exchange coordinator and the Whipples are Thorup’s host family. 
“Last year was our first-year hosting, and we decided we wanted to do it again. When we saw her (Emilie’s) application, we thought she’d be a great fit for our family,” Whipple said.   
For Thorup, the school system is different. Newcastle, for example, has an elementary school, a middle school and a high school. In Denmark, she  said, there isn’t an “elementary, middle and high.” 
School spirit is also different. 
The change takes getting used to, but Thorup said she feels welcomed.
“It’s been a little difficult,” she said. “All the people and students have been so sweet and helpful. I like how friendly and welcoming people are.”
Her favorite hobbies are horseback riding and show jumping. 
In Denmark, Thorup played a game called handball. Handball is played between two opposing teams of either seven or 11 players who try to throw or hit an inflatable ball into a goal at either end of a rectangular playing area while preventing their opponent from doing the same.
Thorup is now playing volleyball at NHS and is thinking about playing basketball and soccer. Although it has been difficult to learn volleyball, she said she enjoys it.
During her time in Newcastle, Thorup said, she hopes to become a more open person and expand her knowledge of other things.
Her classes include English, American government, personal finance, PE, woodworking, pro-start and an internship at the elementary school. Thorup said she likes internship and PE the best. She loves being with people and loves to see what the first graders are like here. She also likes the movement and activity in PE.
The Whipples have taken Thorup to Reptile Gardens and out to eat some American food. Her first meal in the U.S. was a hibachi grill. 
“It was fun,” she said. “I’ve never seen anything like that.” 
Her favorite food is sushi, and she loves American breakfasts.
Because Thorup started to play volleyball right away, there has been little time to do much else, but she and her host family hope to go skiing, something very familiar to Thorup.
Whipple likes watching her only child, Isaac, tease and play with Thorup, who has a younger brother back home. 
“It’s been really fun watching Isaac interact with somebody else,” she said.