The tradition of the Danish folk high school has its roots in the era of enlightenment; the basic idea was born in the head of Nikolaj Frederik Severin Grundtvig. The founding father’s vision was to create a joyful and amusing atmosphere while learning and living together.
Though the schools had to change with time all in all they still stick to the original conception: the folk high school should be a stage in the lifelong learning process – providing an ideal surrounding for studying together regardless of personal, educational or any kind of background at all.
Little did I know about this tradition back in Hungary – as countries apart from the Scandinavians are not that familiar with this term, but still many students or adventurous young men take the opportunity to study in Denmark. Thanks to the Cirius scholarship I had the chance to spend two semesters in two different folk high schools and experience the ‘hojskole feeling’. So what is that actually?
To summarize it, for me it meant four and six months (under progress) of living together with nice people in a nice environment and spending the time mostly learning about me myself – as this stimulating little trip far away from my home and friends gave me the greatest time to spend on looking for myself.
First I spent four months in an ‘ungdomshojskole’ – a folk high school for youngsters, most of them under 18. The school was one of those old, traditional institutions that are far out in the countryside in order to strengthen the relationship between students – as there was barely anything else to do after classes than spend the time with each other. I didn’t know exactly what I was signing up for. Although the official website gives a useful description of what one might expect, there are so many schools to pick from that it’s impossible to describe all of them individually. But I don’t regret going there at all as I experienced a lot of different subjects from sea kayaking to body language and communication and had a brief encounter with Danish culture itself. Which apart from the new friends I made was the biggest experience for me.
But some isn’t that lucky – as subjects differ from school to school, the usage of English as well. We respected that English and foreign students always came in second place but a fellow Hungarian attending another school complained about the disadvantages he had because of the level of English, teachers spoke. He felt he missed a lot as the translation of the lessons weren’t sufficient. Some even have to leave due to bad experiences – so did one of my current fellow students at Performers House.
But I have to admit that choosing Performers House for the second semester turned out to be a brilliant idea. This school represents the new generation of folk high school – as it is in the middle of Silkeborg and as courses are held in English. No one could complain that’s for sure!
All in all my lifetime experience so far was spending a year in Denmark in folk high schools. I made new friends – both foreign and Hungarian, I experienced and learnt new things, I met other cultures and after all I spent a year abroad on my own! For today what is that if not a dream coming true?
