Free University Berlin has a department for Korean Studies. Photo provided by Kim Yoon-jin.
When I was 21 years old, I studied in Free University Berlin (FU) for two semesters. I decided to study in Berlin because this city is not only the capital of Germany but also one of the beloved cities in Europe for young people. Berlin has a lot of universities: Free University Berlin, Humboldt University Berlin, Technical Univeristy of Berlin, etc. However for me, Free University Berlin was the most attractive univerisity among them.
Free University Berlin was established in 1948 and located in the southwest part of the city. Originally, there was already a university in Berlin: Humboldt University Berlin (HUB). However, after the World War II, Berlin was divided into two parts; east and west Berlin. HUB was located in East Berlin at that time.
Thus, many professors who came to West Berlin took the central place for the establishment of this university. Today, this university is chosen as one of the universities which are called as the Ivy league in Germany.
There are many reasons why a lot of students want to study in this university. First, it is very interesting that the university has a campus for each department and every campus which I saw has distinctive atmosphere.
Especially, human science and social science departments show a steady rising tendency. For example, in 2009, human science in this university was ranked No. 1 in “QS World University Rankings” in Germany In addition, there is a huge modern library only for human science. It looks like a real brain of human and has so many various books that every student wants to study in this building! Second, this university has much more classes which are only for exchange students than any other universities. Besides, it also has lots of seminars, which are specialized in the city of Berlin. Through these many seminars, I could also improve my knowledge about the history and culture of Berlin.
Frankly speaking, I am very active at every moment. But before I went to Berlin, I was also worried, because I had never felt lonely before. However, since I started my exchange student life, I realized that my fear was groundless. I can speak the reason without hesitation that this university has a strength which a few universities have; it has a department for Korean Studies, which is very famous throughout Germany.
Thanks to this, I could make new German friends who are studying this major relatively quickly. These new friends could be both a German teacher and a Korean student. I was always with my friends and experienced new culture. Thanks  to this realationship, my German became much better and better. Meanwhile, I was also proud of my country because my friends always said that Korean seems very beautiful. In addition, another thing that attracted me was that there were also some Korean exchange students in this university. As these students became like a family to me, I could have a really good time deciding on my future career.
Life as an exchange student was one of my precious time. This time could be nourishing for my dream, while I set my goal. If there is anyone who hesitates about the exchange student, I confidently recommend other Ewha students to enjoy and experience their exchange student life in FU Berlin. I cannot promise that your concerns will be all gone right away, but I can promise that you can have broader view and mind, which can help you move on to the next step.

*Kim Yoon-jin (German, 4) studied at Free University Berlin as an exchange student.

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