Folkehøgskole.

This year I am spending a year studying Norwegain language and culture at a Folkehøgskole. It is located in Søgne a small town on the southern coast of Norway.

So I guess most people will wonder what Folkehøgskole is.

Basically people go there when they have finished high school and are not sure what to do with them selves. You choose a main subject to study over the course of the year. At my Folkehøgskole they have art, photography, outdoor education, rhythmic jazz, tourism and a Norwegian course for international students. I am doing the Norwegian course. Then you also choose some other classes to take once a week, for example Spanish, Russian, line dance, salsa, barista training ect. This year they don't have a Spanish teacher so two of the other international students and I are taking the class. Can't wait! We plan to teach language, culture and do some Spanish cooking.

Folkehøgskole is kind of like being in Big Brother. You watch as people who have never met before interact. You watch them become friends, become couples, become enemies. It is also a bit like being at boarding school because you live in dorms of 2 people, eat all your meals together and have classes together. And it's unlike boarding school because there are no grades, and you have a lot of freedom. All the students are over 18, so the teachers don't have to take responsibility for out safety.

We eat SO much food at Folkehøgskole! Breakfast at 8am, lunch at 11.30am, dinner at 2.45pm and supper at 8pm. Then there is the coffee problem. I am going to return to Australia a complete caffeine addict. There is always a pot of freshly brewed coffee sitting on the counter, so I end up drinking about 6 cups a day. INSANE.

Students are not allowed to drink alcohol or store alcohol on school premises. So on Saturday everyone went to the supermarket, bought beer and hid it in the forrest. Then after dinner, we collected our beers from behind the trees and walked for about 20 minutes through the forrest to a girl guide hut. Thirty of us dragged all the wooden benches together, into a massive line and sat by the lake drinking our beer. Pretty fun and very random.

I'll keep you updated. With 107 students living together there is bound to be some interesting stories to tell.