Ga Eun KIM

Student of Kyung Hee University, Korea
Exchange to Flinders University, Australia

Studying on exchange turned my world upside down. It broadened my world, my dreams and almost everything. It wasn’t easy at first because of the totally different languages, atmosphere, cultures, etc between Australia and Korea. I felt like I was Alice in Wonderland. I can still remember how hard it was. I had so many friends back home but I knew no one in this huge country. Now, the phrase “G’day Mate!” can summarize my impression of Australia - Australians are kind and helpful. I had beautiful housemates and met so many nice people. At some point, I met the whole world - Europeans, Americans, Asians, Indians, Africans, and of course Australasians. I had never met such a wide spectrum of people. It made me understand the meaning of ‘global’, even though we had different backgrounds, everybody got along together without any prejudice. It was awesome. It was so much fun!

Studying in Australia was really different from studying at my home university. Speak up a lot, free discussion, and call the professors by their names! I had never called lecturers by their names in Korea. I address them as ‘professor’. When I first heard a professor in Australia was called by his name, I thought something was wrong. I was confused about this cultural practice for quite a long time! It wasn’t easy to get used to a different style of teaching and to study in a second language. It was hard but great. I really enjoyed the way I studied in Australia. It encouraged me to think and understand deeply.

Australia is beautiful, with so many places to visit. I’m from a small country, Korea. Australia’s different time zone and weather were already amazing to me. Storm in Darwin, Sydney fireworks, Great Ocean Road, Adelaide winery, etc - everything was so beautiful. However, the most beautiful thing I’ve seen is Uluru. The trip to the desert was hard: the dry weather made my nose bleed all the time, and I was stinky and sweaty, but Uluru compensated for all these things. It was magnificent, it just overwhelmed me. The color transition of Uluru and the starry skies; I lost my words.

I barely knew Australia before; it was just a country of kangaroos and Tim Tams in my impression. Now I love Australia as much as I love my country Korea. The 6 months I spent there is the most precious time of my life. I studied hard, played hard and did my best at whatever I tried. It made me change a lot and grow a lot. I got this present from Australia. I thank Australia and the Endeavour Australia Cheung Kong Awards for giving me this marvelous opportunity.

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