Aidan's Exchange to University of Oldenburg | Germany
The draw of Oldenburg was that it was the only university
that said it had a course similar enough to the degree I was studying that I
could get credit for Australian units there.
Oldenburg was an amazing university, old buildings, an
fantastic library settled into the middle of a lovely lively and progressive
city full of wonderful bike paths and open minded people. The classes, while no
more demanding on time than the Australian equivalent, were extremely far from
the course I was studying back home. (Although in some cases this was hardly
surprising; i.e. the German language course for foreigners.)
The city of Oldenburg itself is full of busses and trains,
and access to both the city and to the country as a whole is extremely
convenient. In the city proper a bike, with the correct lights and a good lock,
will do wonders for your social life. Being on a fairly tight budget while there
meant that eating out was a rare occasion indeed, but this doesn't mean that a
student's budget is completely restrictive. Beer and other social lubricants
are cheap in most places and twice so in the student bars. The younger locals'
willingness to chat in English made the city feel extremely warm to
Australians.
The city and study was like nothing else but by far the
standout of spending a year in Germany was in spring. A great time of year to find an opportunity to pack panniers on
the side of a couple of push bikes and explore the hundreds of bike trails that
loop through the countryside, all of
which were conveniently connected by train for when our legs finally made
themselves heard over the sensory overload of the lush green of European
forests.
The most difficult
part of the exchange was the realisation, partway through my first semester of
study, that few, if any, of my courses would be credited towards my degree when
I returned to Murdoch University. In fact,
this was a huge stress and made the decision about whether to stay another six
months incredibly challenging. While I
opted for the experience over the academic results, this has severely derailed
my academic trajectory.
While on exchange I lived in student housing in a twelve-way
shared dorm with communal kitchen and lounge. I sourced this accommodation from
Oldenburg university student services which, without any German, is quite the
trick. I would highly recommend getting this finalised before landing. It was
quite nice being in a share of such size for the social aspect, while still
having a fair amount of privacy.
There were heaps of opportunities to travel in the year
abroad. As I mentioned earlier, there was amazing in-country travels in the
spring and summer along wonderful bike paths between country towns. In the mid
semester gaps there were also opportunities to take advantage of a Eurail
ticket, a backpack and an attitude of exploration, leading to hiking the fjords
of Norway along the edge of a glacier and to the iconic Trolltunga. The squat
palace in the heart of Avignon in the south of France was another highlight of
the trip, only outdone by the locally made breads and pastries.
I would advise someone considering exchange to ensure they
have locked down unit-to-unit credits before embarking, particularly if they
plan to commit to a year-long exchange.
I would also recommend you engage in the social activity of the
international student groups while abroad (it's nice to talk to native English
speakers sometimes!).
- Aidan studied abroad at University of Oldenburg in Germany
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