Faroese people should hug more

”People here are lovely. But it immediately struck me as rather odd that Faroese people don’t greet one another with hugs. That’s not what I’m used to.”

A new language, a new culture and an entirely new environment is what 15-year-old Duygo Odabasi encountered when she somewhat unexpectedly ended up in the Faroes as an exchange student in September last year.

”I knew nothing about the Faroes because I originally planned to go to Denmark. So it was a weird feeling at first,” she explains in near-fluent Faroese.

”But now I’m really happy that I ended up in the Faroes.”

Language not a problem

She says she has enjoyed her time as a student at Tórshavn’s Glasir college.

“I really like how the teachers and students work together here,” she says.

She has only been in the Faroes for seven months, yet she speaks and understands the Faroese language quite well.

“Everyone has spoken to me in Faroese, and if I didn’t understand them, they would explain in English. This has worked out really well for me,” says Duygo, who will return to Turkey in July.

Listen to an interview (in Faroese) with Duygo here.

More Faroese News in English.