In 1984, Sarah Montgomery, who was studying Scandinavian Studies, spent a year at Valdres Folk High School in Norway. It was an opportunity to study nature and outdoor life and succeed in her life’s ambition to dig and sleep in a snow hole – TWICE! Image Study abroad experience Destination: Valdres Folk High School, Norway Year: 1984-85 Why did you choose your destination? I did Scandinavian Studies at university, with Norwegian as my main language, and so I had to spend a year at a university or folk high school. I was originally also studying German but after a month, two of my classmates persuaded me to drop the German so I could spend a full year in Norway. They'd already been to Folk High School, and sold me the idea in about 5 minutes. There was a small paper brochure with a short paragraph and a photo of each school (I think there were about 40 or 50), and I was not very subtly directed towards two potential options. A photo of snow-clad wooden buildings and the opportunity to study 'nature and outdoor life' was enough to win me over... Sarah's Norwegian experience Being thrown together with 90 young Norwegians from all over the country in a sort of state boarding school, it was mind-blowing to be suddenly surrounded by so many diverse accents and dialects. But I loved it from the moment I arrived. It was a steep learning curve trying to keep up with people born with skis on their feet, but I happily trailed in the wake of 6 classmates who became close buddies on foot, on ski and by boat, following the seasons of the year and exploring the landscape. Sarah's life ambition, dig and sleep in a snow hole - TWICE! We learned all the practical stuff about how to plan a route and provisions for a three-day tour, spot an avalanche prone slope and, my life's ambition, dig and sleep in a snow hole - TWICE! But we also learned about environmental issues and respecting nature, wrote poetry and sketched in the mountains, and made our own rucksacks and gaiters from leather and canvas. Outside my main course, I felted slippers for myself and my granny, wove scarves from beautiful Norwegian wool, and learned to make beeswax candles and paper decorations. We had weekly classes where I learned to cook everyday Norwegian dishes, and had choir twice a week which was brilliant for language skills and learning about the culture. We also we celebrated every festive occasion, and I developed a deep love for waffles and cardamom buns. A Norwegian knitting nightmare! The only resounding failure was my attempt to learn to knit. (Norwegians are amazing knitters.) My lovely roommate supported my painstaking efforts over many months (one sleeve knitted four times) until I had something vaguely resembling a jumper. While I was making it, I dropped a needle ting-ting-ting down the banked stairs in the school's main hall, meaning that the welcome distraction of knitting during the rather boring daily assembly was henceforth banned. Two weeks after I finished it, I accidentally threw my jumper into the washing machine with a load of other clothes, and it came out doll-sized and was never to be worn again. Travelling abroad pre-internet I had absolutely no idea what to expect when I went on my year abroad, and I can't remember having any kind of pre-departure briefing, just a short letter by post confirming I'd been accepted and telling me when to arrive. Sometimes I think it was great to go without the internet though - everything was a discovery. I had a great aunt who is still an inspiration to me today, long after her death, and she was very enthusiastic about my plans as she was a great traveller and had been to Norway in the 1950s. That helped give me confidence, as my parents were not well off and I had barely been abroad. Learning to 'live like a Norwegian' While I was in Norway, I shared a room with a girl called Kari who became my best buddy, and was the best person ever to teach me about how to 'live like a Norwegian'. We spent Easter at her family's holiday cabin in the north of Norway, and later she came to stay with my family in the north of Scotland. I couldn't have wished for a kinder person to teach me about her country and its culture and traditions. Paying it forward Since that year I have worked in the Czech Republic, Italy and the USA, and have been on short work trips to Germany, France, Spain and Armenia. Going from rural Scotland to spending a year immersed in a different country definitely gave me the curiosity and the confidence to do all these things, and to feel at ease meeting people from all backgrounds and cultures in a personal or professional setting. It also made me very aware of what it is like to be a 'foreigner' and what kind of sustained support and understanding is needed. For this reason I felt I would have the skills to host a mother and daughter under the Homes for Ukraine scheme. This has been a rewarding experience for the past year, and a chance to repay some of what Kari gave me all those years ago. Current Opportunities Find out about funding for study and work abroad via the Turing Scheme. Turing funding Read about all our current and future opportunities available: Student opportunities Read other students' study and work abroad stories Student stories This article was published on 2024-06-24
