Coda Mix, a senior at Frankfort High, told us about her year as a Rotary International exchange student in Greenland.
 
Jointly sponsored by the Frankfort and Benzie Sunrise Rotary Clubs, Coda spent the 2015-2016 school year with three host families in Nuuk, Greenland.  Although it is the capital and largest city in Greenland, Nuuk has a population of only 15,000.  Three-quarters of the Greenland is covered with a permanent ice sheet, and with a population of about 50,000 it is the least densely populated country in the world.  Two languages are generally spoken there, Danish and Greenlandic.
 
Because there are few connecting thoroughfares in Greenland, Coda spent almost all of her time in Nuuk.  But this turned out to be a good thing; she was welcomed with open arms and was able to spends lots of time bonding and learning Danish from her hosts and new friends.  She did enjoy a two-week Euro-Tour of France, Monaco and numerous other European countries.
 
Coda credits her experience as an exchange student for making her more open, mature and independent.  As was apparent, she now loves giving presentations about her year abroad.  Following a video that she produced Coda deftly fielded questions from an interested audience.  Among the things she misses about Greenland are the northern lights that she saw almost every night.  When asked if there was concern in Greenland about global warning, Coda said that with the ice melting, seal hunters in the north and east are losing their way of life. With everyone active and no fast foods there is very little obesity in Greenland  (Coda herself lost over 40 pounds while she was there). 
 
Coda provides another reason to embrace Rotary's international exchange student program!