Ina's story
Ina Zubaite 19, from Lithuania, staying at Rønde Højskole, studying among other things Danish and Journalism:
Ina didn’t know what to expect from a Danish Folk High School. Numerous wonderful experiences later, she’s finally getting a hang of the “bird language”
Before coming to Denmark I didn’t have any serious expectations. I just wanted to spend five months taking a break from my country, job, studies, family etc. I didn’t know exactly what I was going to find in Denmark. I only thought: “Okay, if I get something useful out of this, then great. If I don’t, I will still enjoy a good time in an interesting country”.
So finally, after a 36-hour trip from Lithuania with no sleep, I saw the place where I was going to spend five months. I was really surprised by how lovely a place it is. A small and very beautiful town on the hill near the see, and attractive interesting buildings, which reminded me of a castle. A nice and cosy garden. And…only one question in my head: “Where am I and what I am going to do here?!”
One of my first impressions after meeting others students was: “Oh my God, is this a language of birds, or what?!” It was very difficult because at first I couldn’t understand anything and had to ask other people to translate for me. I was depending on others and it made me crazy. But it was amazing how kind and helpful everybody was.
Everything with the language was hard and difficult only for the first two weeks. Later it became normal to hear people talking in a very strange language, and I began to understand some of it.
Just imagine
And of course we have had a lot of interesting lessons and great activities at school. So it was a wonderful possibility to try out new things and improve various skills. Just imagine: you come to the glass art classroom without any idea how to make something and you go out with a nice vase which you’ve made and coloured yourself. It’s an unbelievable feeling.
Also the “Survival trip”, the skiing trip to Norway’s mountains, physical activities, lots of parties, games, cooking together with other students… All this gave me lots of new impressions and also helped me to improve my Danish language. Each day I could understand more and more, so I didn’t have to ask somebody to translate things for me all the time. This was an important improvement, because it’s not a very good feeling when you need somebody’s help all the time.
Stronger inside
There was one thing that I worried about before coming to Denmark: I was afraid that the Danish people would not want to accept me. I’d heard a lot of opinions of the Danes: that they are cold and closed-up people who don’t like foreigners, so I was so afraid to find out that it could be true. But of course, it wasn’t. People in Denmark are very nice and I quickly made Danish friends. And now, when my stay here is nearly finished I can say with my hand on my heart, that I learned a lot of useful things while being here, so it wasn’t only a holiday in an interesting country. I have got many new skills and improved the old ones, and I even feel that my personality has changed. For the better, of course. I have met a lot of nice people and I know that it will be very sad to leave them all. Not only the Danish people, but also about other foreign students from different countries whom I became very close to. I hope to keep these contacts even when I come back to Lithuania and to one day meet my friends again.
I feel that I became stronger inside and I am sure that it will help me in the future. I still don’t know what I am going to do when I come back, but the school has helped me to find out something which is equally important: What I do not want to do.
What do Anna, Liia and Mikk say about their stay at Rønde Højskole