What is UGM like

By Mirela Suciu, s24
Hamburg University, and
University of New England

The first time I heard about exchange programs to UGM was at Hamburg University, while I studied Indonesian there. However, I was slightly deterred by stories from former exchange students, who had to organise everything themselves, from visas, to enrolment and finding accommodation. They encountered various difficulties and had no contact person in Yogya. This is why I was very relieved to hear of ACICIS whilst continuing my Indonesian studies at the University of New England in Armidale, NSW. I was very impressed with the organisation before arriving in Indonesia and during the orientation sessions.

The university structure itself at UGM was, like every Australian student said, very different from universities in Australia. However, UGM had a variety of similarities with my former university in Hamburg. Universities in Germany vary greatly in terms of structure and organisation depending on the university's size and degrees offered. Overall for a new student, UGM was just as chaotic and difficult to understand as Hamburg University. Therefore I was already accustomed to having more than 4 subjects with less workload, varying expectations and assessment methods per subject.

Furthermore, while I was at Hamburg University, the university's administration had not been computerised and was therefore still very dependent on paper work. Having to run around different booths in every single faculty at UGM to obtain the correct signatures for enrolment reminded me of Hamburg, where we had to do the same only at the end of the semester to collect our 'slips' from each unit coordinator saying that we had met the unit requirements. Lecture times that vary and do not correspond in the different faculties were also familiar to me.

Political activism and discussion did occur at UGM, which especially at UNE in Armidale is virtually non-existent. Nevertheless, it was generally conducted on a basic level, with few innovative directions. As in Hamburg, students met at UGM after lectures and in the evenings on campus to talk, make music, sing or do other activities. The main difference between Hamburg and UGM in those activities was of course, that there was rarely any alcohol involved at UGM.

Comparing my university experiences in Germany, Australia and Indonesia was extremely interesting for me and surprising, as I did not expect to find as many similarities between UGM and Hamburg University. It can be clearly understood that Indonesia's university system has originally been derived from the Dutch university system, which is similar to any European continental university system. It was therefore of great interest to me to observe a similar university in such a different culture.

Because Indonesia as a whole has great differences to any 'Western' nation, I doubt that my general cultural experiences were any different to the ones experienced by Australians. I always felt comfortable and happy with ACICIS, and as I am living in Australia, did not feel a divide between me and other Australians. We all had similar experiences, problems and surprises in our daily lives in Yogya. However, having experienced a similar university system to the one at UGM beforehand did not make it easier for me to find my way around and understand easily, how things worked. Despite a similar dis-organisation, Indonesia's unique and different culture made it an entirely new experience again!