Hi, my name is Anastasiia, and I’m happy to introduce to you the results of my project. I’ve been an ESC volunteer at Eisbjerghus Efterskole for 11 months, school year 2022-23.
It’s been an exciting, enriching and equally tough journey through Danish culture where I could be a part of the efterskole community consisting of 120 teenage students in their 9th and 10th grade, as well as the passionate teachers.
It’s also been the months of rain, spending whole days in school, activities preparation and Danish at breakfast. No surprise, many things have turned upside down. The duties that I thought might be the most boring in the beginning (good night rounds anyone?) actually appeared to be the most fun; and the duties that I was so confident in actually appeared to need lots of adjustments to the local culture.
I’m so interested in the way we meet different cultures every day, both offline and casually scrolling through TikTok, how we react to that, what we consider ‘ours’ and ‘theirs’, and how our identity is built. When a volunteer comes to a school like this for a full immersion just for a year, what are the experiences the students can get? And the school itself?
Moreover, what is the basis for understanding other cultures? I believe it can be a lot of fun to challenge ourselves into introspecting our beliefs and prejudices. I also think our own identity has to stand on a strong footing for us to be able to enjoy others. That’s why when I was thinking about the solidarity project idea, I had two options: I either wanted to show my own culture in a deeper way, or I could let them reunite with their own first. I chose the latter.
And that’s how we managed to celebrate the viking-themed day!
The plan was easy: put up a very visible poster, announce the dress code, come all prepared in facepaint looking like a Goddess (one of), divide students into five groups so that they can have: four activity rotations, a nice filling meal, and a proud catwalk in the end.
During the introduction, each group has received a plan for every time slot, e.g.
- Group 1: Archery
- Group 2: Runes Workshop + Fortune Telling Box
- Group 3: Face Painting + Hair Braiding
- Group 4: Headbands Workshop + Samurai Game
- Group 5: Viking Games Tournament (Chess, Spears, Hringdu)
And then the fun began!
As it was one of the last school days of the sunny June (plus, when did the students ever miss the chance to wrap up themselves in all kinds of interesting fashion choices?), it was especially nice to get active and creative. The viking chess, tattooing each other in traditional ornaments, making unique accessories and many more activities all proved to get them tired in a good way by the end of the day (and me too, with them!)
Connecting to the roots worked not only on the students, but on me two – I was lucky to get an awesome traditional ring to my collection, and maybe just maybe my Ukrainian soul has been 1% Viking-diluted by that.
In the end of the day, great memories for all of us. And some might have taken longer showers than usual…
Of course, this day was one of many when we were having fun building a community together. The classes, sports, hyggeligt evenings, bright and stressful exchanges all contributed to the general picture and shaped our personalities. But isn’t it nice to enjoy each other’s company one last time!
ESC Solidarity Projects 