Julia Kunter
Winter Term 2007
University of Waterloo, Canada
Introduction
My name is Julia Kunter and I am studying English and Geography
(“Lehramt”) at the University of Klagenfurt. As I love travelling around and as
everyone advises you to spend a semester abroad I decided to go for it. I took part in
an excursion to Canada in 2005 and I fell in love with this country immediately.
Therefore, I packed my bags in December 2006 and left Austria to spend a semester
at the University of Waterloo in Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. As some of you
may know, the University of Klagenfurt does not have partner universities in Canada
at all, which made coming here a bit difficult. Thanks to one of my English professors
however, my dream finally came true. I had to overcome some obstacles, like the
TOEFL test and finding someone at the University of Waterloo to help me with the
application process, but it finally worked out.
Waterloo and UW
Kitchener-Waterloo is a twin city in southwest Ontario, about a 45 minutes drive away
from Toronto. Waterloo is the more modern part with two Universities (University of
Waterloo and Wilfrid Laurier University). The University of Waterloo is said to be one
of the most innovative ones in Canada and, in fact, is ranked as the country’s overall
best university in the famous McLean’s Magazine. About 23.729 undergraduate and
3.013 graduate students are enrolled at this rather young university, established in
1957.
My term at the UW started on January 3rd 2007, so I had a lot of time to find
my way round, to buy books for my courses and to explore the campus. I had already
arranged accommodation before coming here, so I did not have to look for an
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Winter Term 2007
apartment anymore. With the help of a friend, I had found a house very close to the
UW campus. My roommates turned out to be the best ones I could have got. I was
really lucky and I still keep contact with them. They were really helpful, as Canadians
generally are, and made it a lot easier for me to settle in.
Not only did I really enjoy living here, university life was really awesome, too!
The courses were a bit more demanding than back home and I had to get used to the
many readings I had to do every week for all my classes, but I have to say that I
learned a lot studying here. All of my professors were really great and extremely
helpful. Their instructions were clear from the beginning on, the course materials
were very well structured and the further readings I had to do, additionally to the
course material, helped me to get an in-depth insight into the individual topics that
were discussed in class. To be honest, I never thought I would enjoy reading for my
classes, and of course there are things that are more fun to do, but I got so much out
of it in the end.
Generally, I would prefer to have the same course system that American and
Canadian universities offer at Austrian universities as well. Students here only take 4
to 5 courses a term. They usually have them twice a week, 1 ½ hours each. In my
opinion, this system allows a more intense examination of the course materials and
gives students the chance to really focus on certain issues. In Austria, students have
to deal with so many different courses at a time that the degree of engagement is
limited. What is more, many professors have teaching assistants (TAs) at Canadian
universities, who students are more than welcome to turn to for questions or
clarifications. Furthermore, professors have to hand in their final exam structure to
the registrar’s office, which has to approve the objectivity and validity of the individual
exam. Therefore, they cannot just impose whatever they want on students, but have
to justify their teaching and testing methods.
Julia Kunter
Winter Term 2007
Money Matters
Unfortunately, studying at a Canadian university is very expensive, especially
for an international student. As the University of Waterloo is not a partner university
of the University of Klagenfurt, I had to pay for tuition fees myself. In the
Undergraduate Program, students have to pay for every course they take. As I took 4
courses, my tuition fees and the books I had to buy for my classes (6) added up to
approximately 4200€. The rent for the house I lived in was about 262€/month. The
living costs were about the same as in Austria (approximately 300-400€/month). I
received the AKZ (Auslandskostenzuschuss) from the University of Klagenfurt, which
was 356€/month (4 months long) and 540€ as a flight subsidy. Therefore, this
semester abroad has cost me (and my parents) a lot of money, but it was definitely
worth it.
General Experiences
Not only did I learn many interesting things also important for my studies at
home, but I really learned for life. The people I met, the experiences I had, everything
contributed to letting me see things differently now. It was the first time in my life I left
home for a longer time and I do not regret it at all. I feel I have developed so much in
the last six months and my stay in Canada has helped me to maturate. What is more,
I had the chance to get in contact with people from so many different cultures.
Canada really is a multicultural society and I loved that. At home, the vast majority of
people are white and Christian, but in Canada, and especially in Kitchener-Waterloo,
there are so many different ethnicities that live and work there. Furthermore, most of
the people here can trace their ancestry back to countries that are not Canada, which
I found really interesting as most of the people I know back home have been
Austrians for generations. My roommates, for example, were of German, Irish,
Julia Kunter
Winter Term 2007
French and Ukrainian origin, although they were all born here in Canada. I love
talking to people from different cultures as they make me question my own life and
things that I have always taken for granted.
Canadian culture, if there really is a single one, is totally different to the
Austrian one. It is funny, because I asked people how they would define Canadian
culture and it seemed that everyone had problems with that as there are so many
different cultures contributing to THE culture in this country. I had the impression
though that the majority is still white and of European descent, although beginning
after the Second World War, immigration policies have loosened up and more
people, especially from Asia, Latin America and Africa have been admitted as well.
This change in demographics can already be seen. What I found typical for
Canadians was their friendliness and politeness and I had the feeling that many of
them liked Europeans a lot. A friend of mine asked me if I ever realized how lucky we
Europeans were, as we could be in so many different countries in no time, whereas
here in Canada, you could drive for hours and hours and still find yourself in the
same province. I never thought about it this way. I guess it is with everything you are
used to; you always take it for granted.
Conclusion
Finally, I can really recommend spending a semester at the University of
Waterloo to everyone. The campus is amazing and so are the courses and
professors. What is more, Waterloo is a really nice city to live in; it is not too big but
not too small either. Canada in general is a really beautiful country, made up of so
many different cultural and scenic facets. Unfortunately, I have just been able to
explore some of its beautiful landscapes, as Canada is just too big to visit all places
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Winter Term 2007
that are worth seeing in such a short time. This is a very good excuse, however, to
come back to this amazing country soon!!!