Korea University, South Korea

Just a little ways out from the city centre, Korea University is situated in Anam which seems to exist mainly because of the daily plethora of students. The first few weeks have definitely been some of the most stressful but now that things are starting to settle down the University culture has really impressed me.

I arrived a few weeks before the orientation mainly to find some accommodation off campus. It was quite difficult to find legitimate real estate agents but after some intense searching I was able to find something. There is a lot of transport to the University, either by train or bus so it means there are a lot of options for where is best to live. The orientation was great and the campus was breathtaking to see in real life. Everything seemed to be going perfectly until the dreaded subject enrolment problems happened. Despite having numerous backup subjects approved classes get full instantly and then it is a challenge to ask tutors to let you into their class. Unlike UTS, for one subject there is usually only one tutor which teaches that class only once. The classrooms are usually quite large in which the professors enact a more lecture styled lesson but once a subject is full it is impossible to find more spots. As such the subjects I am taking are completely different from what I wanted but at least I have subjects. The classes don’t offer much for engagement, but the content is usually interesting enough, but your experience may vary. Besides from the nightmare that was subject selection, the campus culture and community has been extremely welcoming. The buddy system called KUBA – whilst quite large, enables you to meet both current students and mainly all the other 600+ visiting students. Every Thursday the groups go out for dinner and drinks and I doubt that will get old anytime soon.

Overall, despite some problems the atmosphere and people at Korea University have more than helped me to forget any difficulties I faced.

My top tip  – have two or three backups per subject so you do not have to worry about subject approval.

Nathan Taverniti        
Bachelor of Communications
Korea University 
South Korea

Australian Government New Colombo Plan Mobility Grant recipient.

For more information about the UTS Global Exchange program please visit: www.global-exchange.uts.edu.au