Continued from page 1 perfect, but I use irony

Continued from page 1

perfect, but I use irony now and my English is not perfect," Thomas said.

Despite his accent, his English is smooth and understandable. He studied English for five years in Denmark.

Thomas’ grades have been up and down these first few weeks of school.

"It is hard for me sometimes because I have to translate into Danish and then back into English," he said.

That goes for taking tests, too. He has to take them orally because of his broken right arm.

He does not plan to tell his parents about his arm until doctors remove the cast.

i don’t want them to w'orry about it," Thomas said.

Skanderborg is a small town, about the size of Warrenton, he said. Thomas has had very little experience with rural life.

“After his first night here, he asked us what all of the noise was during the night," said Lynne. “He was talking about the crickets and bugs."

Thomas has been further initiated into rural life through chores such as haying, weeding blueberries and cutting grass.

“I like cutting grass with the riding mower because I get to sit and ride," Thomas said.

When Lynne mentioned that he does not like trimming with the push mower, Thomas agreed. “That is too much like work,” he said. “I told you in my letters that I am lazy.”

While Thomas adapts to life in Rappahannock, the Baineses have been adapting to their first exchange student.

"Lee was interested in having an exchange student live with us because he was great friends with a student that was here last year,” Lynne said. “Now he has somebody to be smart-alecky with.”

The family has adjusted to Thomas’ personality and practical jokes, but they are still working on his eating habits.

"He loves cheeseburgers, and when he first got here, that was the only thing he’d eat for a while,” Lynne said.

Thomas’ tastes have expanded to include ham sandwiches, com on the cob and pretzels.

"He has eaten about 20 bags of pretzels since he’s been here,” Rufus said.