YELLOWKNIFE - When a 17-year-old Danish boy filled out a form in hopes of going to Canada, he didn't know where he would end up.

A few months later, word came through that he had been matched up with a family from Yellowknife, a city he had never even heard of.

Emil Madsen, an exchange student from Denmark, says that although the weather here is pretty cold, the friendliness of Yellowknife has won him over. - Christine Grimard/NNSL photo

"I was kind of excited because it was so different," said Emil Madsen, who has been in Yellowknife since last August and will finish the year at Sir John Franklin high school.

Madsen is one of a handful of foreign exchange students in town through AFS Canada, a volunteer-based group that organizes exchanges for students looking to travel abroad.

Madsen is from Ahus, Denmark, a city of 500,000, and he said that Yellowknife is quite different from his hometown. But he has been enjoying his time here, he said.

"The people are very friendly and open," he said "The city just has something about it."

Although the cold weather was a shock for Madsen, he said he's getting acclimated.

"It's OK, you just need to get used to it, I guess," he said.

He has been staying with his host parents Peter Bannon and Jennifer Peyton, as well as his host brother Joseph Bannon and host sister Sarah Bannon.

Madsen is the third exchange student Peyton and Bannon have hosted. They've also sent their son Joseph to Germany on exchange.

"It's quite rewarding for the host family," said Peyton. "It exposes our children to another language and culture."

AFS organizes activities for the students, arranges an additional support family and a counsellor the student can contact at any time.

"You have a lot of support," said Peyton.

Bill Braden, chair of AFS Yellowknife, said hosting an exchange student is a cultural experience for the host family as well as the student.

"This creates fantastic bonds among families that last a lifetime," said Braden.

While AFS receives some contributions and raises some money, it costs about $10,000 to send a student to another country.

The exchange is not necessarily reciprocal, but hosting a student can reduce the cost of sending a student by $2,000.