WELCOME LETTER, TEAM WINTER 2025 (W25) - UPDATED NOV 1st, 2024
Welcome to Multi-District Denmark
Welcome letter to Inbounds W25 (also available in pdf via this link)
Multi-District Denmark looks forward to welcoming you to your new home for a year, TEAM W25 (Winter 2025), with a planned arrival at a Danish airport between the 13th and 19th of January 2025; it must be the airport listed on the Host Guarantee Form (GF) from your Host Club & Host district.
Below is some important general information we ask you to study carefully.
First, we want to let you know that we have high expectations of you.
Our Rotary colleagues in your country, who are sponsoring you, have found you suited to becoming a Rotary exchange student. Being a Rotary exchange student means having an excellent experience with your host family, club, School, and friends. This way, you will help promote Rotary Youth Exchange, as your host family, club, and School will want to continue participating in the program. As an ambassador for your country, you may contribute to mutual cultural understanding and peace.
Please remember this throughout your stay in Denmark.
When you receive an email with a link to this webpage, you should already be able to log into the Danish YEP database and update your profile with data (home address, etc.). If not, please contact your Host District.
A link to download your host guarantee form (GF) should be sent separately, but you can download it from your profile in the YEP database - in the folder "documents" when your host district has uploaded it to the database.
ARRIVAL:
All exchange students to Denmark must arrive in Denmark between the 13th and 19th of January 2025
Final Destination in Denmark: [Will be stated on your Host Guarantee Form]
The acceptance letter or the guarantee form also include information about your arrival at the airport (Destination Airport in the host country). Your departure at the end of the Exchange must be from the same airport.
Make your flight reservations in due time. A travel agent may assist you with the most convenient route to your final destination.
When you arrive at your final destination in Denmark, please wear your Rotary jacket when leaving the airplane. This will enable us to recognize you as a Rotary Exchange Student. When you have passed the baggage claim area and the customs authorities, the Host club representative and host family will meet you.
If your final destination is NOT Copenhagen, but Copenhagen is your first airport in Denmark, you will need a connecting flight to your destination airport (a domestic airport). All domestic flights depart from Copenhagen Airport. See more at www.cph.dk
Whenever possible, make sure your luggage has been checked through to the final destination airport. In most cases, customs clearance will take place at your final destination.
You must log in to the database and supply information about your travel itinerary under Travel Plan by January 6, 2025. Ensure your host club (counsellor) is also informed about your arrival.
ENTRY INTO DENMARK:
You will need a one-year residence permit from January 13, 2025, to January 12, 2026. You must start applying for the residence permit before you arrive in Denmark; if possible, you can also complete it, but that depends on your country.
We will send you a guideline on how to apply shortly. Do not start the process until Rotary Denmark has initiated it correctly (you may risk paying extra fees if you do!).
If a residence permit is granted after you travel, you will arrive on a 3-month tourist visa - and get biometrics done after arrival. If so, you should have a temporary return flight within these three months. In some Schengen entry points (e.g. Germany), you might get rejected if your return date is not booked or after the expiration of your tourist visa. Usually, documentation of the submitted application for a residence permit and the Rotary Guarantee Form will solve the problem - but only sometimes!
Important — if you come from a country that is not "visa-free" to Denmark, you must have a residence permit before arrival. More information will be sent separately.
INSURANCE:
We will inform you about insurance on the website. See https://www.rotary.dk/insurance
Students from the USA, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand will carry their insurance (if they do not choose to purchase Danish insurance, which is usually cheaper and more well-suited for the Danish welfare system that you become part of during your stay); see the website above for the Danish insurance option.
All other students must obtain Danish Rotary insurance from Europæiske ERV (Rotary certified), tailored to Danish conditions. The price is DKR 5.400 or approximately 620 EUR (as of August 2024, and may be adjusted slightly).
Be sure to agree with your host counsellor on how to pay for this after arrival in Denmark (preferably without bringing cash, as cash is used only in limited ways in Denmark now).
EMERGENCY FUND:
We expect you to bring 2000 DKR (approximately 270 EUR) to hand over to your host counsellor for him/her to place in an emergency fund. This fund can be used in case of unexpected expenses. When you use money from the emergency fund, the fund must be topped up to 2000 DKK again.
When you leave Denmark, you will get the emergency fund back after settling the balance.
Please coordinate this with your host counsellor.
SCHOOL:
You have been accepted at a Danish school [School will be stated in your host Guarantee Form]
Your host club has chosen a school suitable for your age. This will be either a "Folkeskole," a "Gymnasium," or a "Business School." The 10th grade of the "Folkeskole" will have students under 16, and students of the "Gymnasium" and Business School will be between 16 and 19.
In the "Gymnasium" and the "Folkeskole", you may be taught English, German, French, Math, Science, World History, Biology, etc. School uniforms are not generally used in Danish Schools.
You must attend School and participate in activities – your residence permit is a "study permit" – and Rotary requires this. Absence without a valid reason is not accepted.
Piercing and tattooing are prohibited when you are a Rotary Exchange Student in Denmark. If you already have piercings, you are requested to remove them before you arrive in Denmark. Please discuss this with your Host Counsellor.
VISITS BY PARENTS OR OTHER FAMILY MEMBERS:
Multi-District Denmark strongly discourages visits by your parents or other family members. It is your exchange experience, and having visits from your parents may trigger homesickness or have other adverse effects. Besides, it interrupts your life here and is not an accepted reason for absence from school.
It is the policy of Multi-District Denmark not to accept visits during holidays, where host families often have other plans, or in the last month of the stay (as you need this time to end your time here and say goodbye to everyone).
In any case, visits require prior written approval from both the host club counsellor and the host district's Exchange chair.
On the other hand, we encourage you and your family to visit a year or two after you add your Exchange.
INTRO CAMP:
After your arrival, we look forward to welcoming you to an Intro Camp, which will take place in Odense from the 1st to the 2nd of February.
The Intro Camp is our Inbound Orientation, and it is mandatory for all students coming to Denmark to participate. You will meet a team of committed teachers who will prepare you for many of the challenges you will face during your year in Denmark. You will also be introduced to the Danish lifestyle, culture, and language, which will be most helpful when you set out on your life in Danish families and Schools.
Multi-District Denmark pays for the Intro Camp, which is free of charge for you.
EURO BUS TOUR:
Multi-District Denmark offers our inbound exchange students an optional EURO BUS TOUR 2025. For three weeks in May / June 2025, this tour takes you to Berlin, Prague, Vienna, Nice, and many other exciting European places.
The EURO BUS TOUR does not require further permission.
Rotary in Denmark will not pay the cost of the tour, which is approximately DKK 20,000 + pocket money . You will receive more information about the trip, registration will be available from December 2024, and payment must be made to ensure your place. General details from earlier trips can be seen at https://www.rotary.dk/yep/euro-bus-tour-2019 (where details about the 2025 trip will also become available once settled).
COMMUNICATION
The easiest way to contact anyone in your host district is to send an email. Email addresses are available in letters and on the Youth Exchange Registration System (called the "database") daily. Remember to write your YEP number and name whenever you write to us. The MD Denmark YEO officers' emails can be found at https://www.rotary.dk/yep/rduledelse.
There is also a Correspondence tab in the database, where you can write to your counsellor, and they can write to you. You will get a notification in your email when there is a new message in Correspondence. NOTE: This does not send notifications to Rotarians due to a system error, so please also send an email.
Other means, such as Phone, WhatsApp, FaceTime, and text messages, can be used to communicate with host family, friends, and others.
ADDITIONAL RULES AND GUIDELINES
Your host district will send you a document: Additional Rules and Guidelines - that stipulates rules to guide you while you are an exchange student within this district. The application's declaration only partially covers these rules. You must read and sign with your parents and promptly return to the host district.
We welcome you to your "once-in-a-lifetime" stay in Denmark!
Yours in Rotary
Henrik tams Gildberg
Chair Long Term