Grayson County High School’s first exchange student, Hans Asmyhr, came back to Leitchfield and visited with friends this past weekend before traveling to New York to participate in the United Nations General Assembly.

Asmyhr, who is a member of parliament in Norway, spoke highly of Leitchfield and the memories he took from his senior year at GCHS. He graduated from high school in 1988.

“It was one of the greatest years of my life,” Asmyhr remembered. “I always try to stop by when traveling in the United States. This place is kind of home for me. It is fun to come back and meet people, and see how things are going.”

Asmyhr was just re-elected to a second four-year term in parliament on September 14. He and other government leaders will represent their countries for four weeks in New York at the general assembly.

Norway’s main focus going into these meetings will be to go over major climate changes, cover traditional peace issues, address the state of Afghanistan and speak on international security issues.

Asmyhr talked about the difference in serving as a member of Norway government, compared to in the U.S.

Norway has a constitutional government that is led by a prime minister. He is the majority in parliament when it comes to elections. Below him are 169 members from 19 different districts.

The population of Norway is five million people.

Asmyhr was elected to a district just outside of the capital, Oslow, which has a population of 500,000.

Several members of parliament are elected to serve in one district. In Asmyhr’s district there are 16 members.

“We can share the work,” he said. “I come from a country like the U.S. We live quite like the Americans do. Going into my last term I focused on better policies for entrepreneurs and business. I will continue focusing on that for the next four years.”

Asmyhr felt his experiences in Grayson County laid part of the groundwork for what he has become today.

“It was one of the best years in my life so far,” Asmyhr mentioned. “It was very interesting to come to a new country, and see how people were living. The memories I took with me from Grayson County will be with me for the rest of my life.”

Asmyhr also shared his thoughts on U.S. President Barack Obama.

“He has to show what he can do,” Asmyhr said. “Obama is a very good speaker. I listened to this past week, but I am afraid that he can be in a little too many headlines. To do something as a politician you have to dive deep into the policies. The problem with Congress now doesn’t look very well. He is a very popular man abroad though. He has a good standing in Europe.”