Scan Magazine | Special Theme | Nordic Education Special – Danish Højskoler
Ski bums, pianists and movers and shakers Højskolen Østersøen is at the threshold between southern Denmark and the rest of the world, combining sports, languages and international development. By Thomas Bech Hansen | Photos: Højskolen Østersøen
“The whole rucksack.” Annemarie Morris, the principal, has a clear idea of what is in store for students starting at Højskolen Østersøen, the internationally oriented folk high school in Aabenraa close to the Danish-German border. “You get to study, learn languages, discuss and debate international topics and meet people of all different kinds of backgrounds. Plus, you get to put your ability to immediate use in a work environment,” she explains.
Ski bum in Austria International understanding and languages have been priorities at the school 70 | Issue 94 | November 2016
ever since it opened its doors in 1993 after the fall of the Berlin Wall, opening access to 16 million new Germans south of the border. If the classrooms and sports pitches are testing grounds, the outside world plays an equally prominent part in a stay at Højskolen Østersøen. As such, the autumn semester can include, apart from time spent in Aabenraa, a spell as a so-called ski bum in Austria working in sports equipment shops, as a waiter, in hotels or as a skiing instructor. “It becomes an adventure. All the competences and skills you gain at the
school, be it hard physical training, cultural understanding or new languages, you get to try out in practice and have a lot of fun at the same time,” says course administrator Karim Pedersen. The next skiing semester begins in August 2017 and concludes in December, at which time the adventure in Austria starts.
Piano lessons Another of the school’s main themes is culture, unfolded under the Culture Matters programme, which is also available in the spring course. There is also the option to focus on piano and singing lessons, which, according to Morris, are “aimed at the highest possible hobby level”. However, students who fancy themselves as the next virtuoso of the black