Why are the strings on my guitar so high up?!?

so i borrowed a guitar from a friend to learn how to play, i think its an estabon vintage model (i dont really know all i know is that its HUGE for me atleast) anyway i started learning how to play the chromatic scale from a set of DVD's the same friend also let me borrow to learn how to play, i thought that it was really difficult to press down the strings, but i assumed that that was just because i hadnt developed callouses yet. then i noticed on the dvd that the guys strings weren't as ridiculously high of the fret board as mine were...so why are my guitar strings so high up?!