Oliver Kunz

Oliver Kunz is one of the first exchange students from Oldenburg University in northern Germany. The agreement between the two universities came after one of Oliver’s Physics professors had been a guest lecturer at Otago. Oliver’s course required him to spend his fifth semester abroad, and rather than stay in Europe, Oliver decided to try for New Zealand, and the University of Otago — and the exchange programme was started.

Now Oliver’s a convert to Kiwi life. ‘Once you start to travel and go to university abroad you really start to like it,’ he says. ‘It’s more relaxed here than Germany. It’s not only university but it’s the whole lifestyle. People are more open. I love it. The surroundings are great for walking and being outside, and the people are really friendly. We even had dinner with our lecturer — that wouldn’t happen in Germany.’

Oliver appreciates lectures lasting 50 minutes instead of 90 in Germany, where he says it is hard to maintain concentration. And he prefers Otago’s internal assessment system. ‘I enjoy it more because there’s less stress on the examination at the end and you can work hard through the semester. The workload is more distributed.’

Oliver’s flatting with an international group. ‘It’s so nice because there’s always someone there when you want to have a chat. It’s really a lot of fun.

As the best endorsement, Oliver plans to return for postgraduate study. ‘After my BSc in Germany I would like to come back to study at Otago.’