CAMILA PHAN

I’ve recently returned from a trip to America. America has always been a country that I’ve wanted to visit, so when I got the opportunity to participate in a Design Thinking Summit in Charlotte, North Carolina I had to go! The summit lasted five days (Monday till Friday), however we got so lucky to extend our trip to 12 whole days. I went with five of my fellow classmates, Alexander, Felix, Janet, Laura and Rebecca, and our beloved English teacher Ruth.

Lake house (3^rd to 5^th April)

Our journey to the States began on Friday 3^rd. I was super excited, so I did not have any trouble getting up early in the morning to head off. We took the train from Odense to Copenhagen, the flight from Copenhagen to London and further on to Charlotte.

In Charlotte Airport we were greeted by Ruth’s American friends whose lake house was where we were going to stay over the weekend. We were all very hungry, so the first place they took us was Five Guys - an American fast food chain who offers burgers, hot dogs, and grilled sandwiches. Super American and, in my opinion, much better than McDonald’s. After that we drove to the country side to listen to some real American mountain music. Every Friday, local people would come together and play live music for themselves and for visitors. I must say that the music was quite unusual, but unique, and it was a pleasure to listen to. After a long day, we finally arrived to the lake house. It was amazing. It had its own movie theatre, pool table, popcorn machine and a very exciting Japanese toilet.

The next morning, we had homemade biscuits and gravy for breakfast. Biscuits and gravy is a popular breakfast dish in the US, especially in the South, so it was something that we had to try. It was very delicious. The air outside was a bit chilly, but the sun was out and the sky was clear. A perfect day for canoeing, kayaking and paddle boarding. Perhaps a bit too cold for a swim... unfortunately (for him, funny for the rest of us) Alexander fell in the lake whilst standing on the paddle board. We also went for a little walk.

Later that day we drove to Lexington, North Carolina. Lexington is a super small town, but with many great local shops such as a candy factory, a donut bakery, and antique shops. On our drive to Lexington we passed a Taco Bell - another famous American fast food chain (this one I had been really excited about).

In the evening, we ate at a local barbeque restaurant for dinner, and watched the film “Taken” in the lake house’s mini theatre before going to bed. At one point we were disturbed by this freaky animal with sooo many legs!! Luckily, Janet was brave enough to take it outside.

"Er det en mus??"

Sunday was our last day at the lake house. Super sad, but Sunday was also the day we met with our host families for the first time! Before meeting them though, we drove up to Morrow Mountain State Park for a little sight of its view.

Providence Day School (3^rd to 12^th March)

Monday 6^th was our first day at Providence Day School. We had all settled down with our own host families and were ready to start the week. We had to stay at host families until the end of the week, so during the week we went to classes with our host, participated in the Design Thinking Summit, and did a number of school activities. I, for example, went to ‘Young Life’ which is a Christian club for young people that is held every Monday at different students’ houses. They sing songs, play games, say a pray, and sometimes go out for a snack. I also helped with their SOS-program (Students of Service) twice where I went fishing with children and prepared shelter in the school’s hall for homeless people.

Providence Day School is a private school and is one of the nation’s finest pre-collegiate faculties. It is a global school and has its own Global Studies Diploma Program which allowed students in grades 9-12 to choose a curriculum and set of experiences that lead to a second Global Studies diploma. It was students from this program whom we worked with as well with students from Nigeria.

We started the Design Thinking Summit with a funny game. Not one of those ‘sit in a circle and remember my name’ kind of game, but a more ‘comfort zone exceeding’ game to break the ice and start on a fresh. This method was not only funny, but also extremely powerful. We worked alongside with six American students and six Nigerian students, and every day during that week we learned one or more methods on how to work, design and develop together in a better way.

“My idea is good, but not as good as our idea."

During the week, we worked with design thinking, student democracy and student leadership. At the end of the week, every school group had to present a prototype of a project that they would like to start at their school. Our group would like to establish Tietgen Charity at our school (more info coming out soon!). We also had the amazing opportunity to visit Bank of America and see most of the executive floors which was so exciting.

Saturday, the people in charge of the Design Thinking Summit had prepared a barbeque for us all. Such a lovely idea, and the afternoon was spent with barbeque and outdoor games. After the barbeque, a few of us continued to stay outside to play soccer and other activities.

Atlanta (12^th to 15^th)

Sunday was sadly the day where we had to say goodbye to our host families. Luckily, we were not heading back to Denmark just yet, but we were in fact on our way to Atlanta, Georgia. In Atlanta, we stayed at Atlanta Marriot Marquis Hotel. We stayed on the 18^th floor, so we had quite the view.

Our first stop in Atlanta was the CNN Center where we had a guided behind-the-scenes tour of their studios. After that we walked to World of Coca Cola. This was a really cool experience. The first thing we received when we walked into the building was a coke and inside the World of Coca Cola we tried soda from all around the world.

Last but not least, we went to Georgia Aquarium. We saw dauphins, jelly fish and got to touch a shark!

Back at the hotel, we had a quick swim in the hotel's pool before heading out for dinner.

On the day we had to head back to Denmark (Tuesday) we also had a quick visit to The Martin Luther King Jr. Center and drove through Oakland Cemetery.

We flew from Atlanta Airport in Tuesday evening (after waiting for hourssssss) and arrived in Denmark Wednesday afternoon.

My trip to the USA had been an amazing trip with good experiences, funny memories, and truly wonderful people!

Som nogle af jer måske ved fløj jeg tilbage til Danmark i lørdags. Jeg havde været i England i præcis 297 dage hvor jeg havde gode dage både inde og ude. Jeg kan ikke tro at det har været så lang tid siden at jeg først kom til England og mængden af begivenheder jeg har oplevet derhenne – halloween, jul, nytår, påske, og fødselsdage, inkluderende min egen 17 års fødselsdag tilbage i februar.

Den første dag tilbage i Danmark tilbragte jeg derhjemme sammen med min familie. Jeg formåede også at pakke alt i min bagage ud hvilket var alletiders. Om aftenen var det meningen at jeg skulle ud og spise sammen med en veninde, men i stedet kom jeg til min søsters hjem (for at se hendes nye stue) og blev overrasket der af flere venner og veninder. Det var simpelthen så rart af dem at komme og velkomme mig tilbage og også super at komme ajour med dem alle.

Siden da har jeg bare mødes op med venner – havde en familie middag, tog ud og bowle, besøgte min gamle skole, og pakkede for en anden tur som nærmer sig.

// As some of you may know I flew back to Denmark last Saturday. I had been in England for exactly 297 days where I had many great days in and out. I cannot believe it has been so long since I first got to England and the amount of events that I had had there - Halloween, Christmas, New Year, Easter and birthdays, including my own 17^th birthday back in February.

The first day back I spent at home with my family. I also managed to unpack all my stuff which was great. In the evening I was supposed to go out for dinner with a friend, but instead I went to by sister’s house (to see her new living room) and got surprised by even more friends there. It was so nice of them to come and welcome me back and also great to catch up with them all.

Since then I’ve just been meeting up with friends - had a family dinner, went bowling, visited my old school, and packed for another trip which is coming up very soon.