So I have officially been home for a month and am finally getting back into the swing of things. As I look back on my time in Singapore, I realized that that was without a doubt the best part of my college experience thus far. I learned so many lessons during my journey, some that did not become apparent until I got back to the US. I also made so many wonderful friends and learned about not only the world, but myself as well.
The best thing about being home is being able to see my friends and family. Video chatting, calls, and text messages are all great forms of communication but there is nothing like being with your loved ones face to face. I really learned to be grateful for my family, friends, and other support systems because without them this past semester would not have been as meaningful. Small things like driving everywhere, large varieties of "Western food", school spirit, organized sporting events, being a student employee, and people welcoming me home with open arms make being home absolutely amazing.
The thing I miss the most about Singapore is Singlish. Singlish is the combination of Singaporean languages and English. Thinking about Singlish makes me remember the wide variety of people that I met during my time in Singapore. It was not uncommon to spark up a conversation with a complete stranger while waiting in a queue to find out that they are from another exciting country! Meeting people from all over the world and being able to share stories and cultural exchanges is an absolutely priceless experience. I also miss the food from Singapore. I was exposed to so many different types of Asian foods. Some of my favorites include Kaya toast, Vietnamese pho, mee goreng,, Indian prata milk tea, and chicken rice, dim sum, and Malay Hot Pot. I also miss fresh fruit juice being available on demand. Being home, however, has made me take a hard look at the food that we eat and the portions in which we eat them and it keeps me motivated to eat smaller portions and more balanced meals. I picked up great skills and habits while studying abroad.
One skill I took away from studying abroad was patience. During the course of the semester there were a few frustrating experiences. Things like waiting in long queues, people not understanding my accent, being slightly homesick, or adjusting to a cultural norm that differs from home sometimes got frustrating. Those frustrations pale in comparison big picture; in life, there will be frustrations. There will be obstacles and what matters most is how I choose to tackle them and how I let them affect me. Communication is another skill that was enhanced during my experience. When I mention communication I mean it in so many ways. I learned to better express myself using nonverbal communication, as well as take nonverbal cues better. I improved my public speaking skills by having to give so many presentations during the semester as well as speaking engagements since I got back. I also learned the value of communicating with people that you meet even after you are no longer with them. My friends that I made during the semester in Singapore are invaluable and saying good bye to them was so hard. Instead, we said see you later and vowed to all stay in touch until we met again. It is kind of funny now, when we text or video chat because of the time differences. I'll be saying good morning and another friend will be headed to bed; its the little things like that are so valuable. Nurturing relationships is important but it has never been as important to me as it is now.
I would recommend for anyone to study abroad, even if they can not make it for an entire semester. What better way to learn about the world than to go see it with your own two eyes? My semester in Singapore was a life changing experience and I would not trade it for the world but it certainly is good to be home.
Jasmine in Singapore
Bye, Singapore. Until Next Time.
I am flooded with emotions as I sit
through this extremely long plane ride, which signifies the end of my study
abroad experience. It is hard to believe
that my time in Southeast Asia has come to an end and that there are so many
people that have become a part of my life that I may never see again. I am just
so grateful for having such an experience that makes saying goodbye so hard. It
is funny that on this plane ride there is not much to do and it provides me
with the perfect time to reflect on the past four months of my life. Having the
opportunity to study abroad has allowed me grow in ways I did not expect it to
and I am extremely grateful for it. This past semester has made me hardier,
more patient, more reflective, grateful, humble, and wiser. I am not the same
person I was when I left America. As I think back to my hectic, surprising and
emotion-filled first day in Asia it reminds me that life tends to go in full
circle, with my last day in Asia also being relatively hectic, slightly
surprising, and emotion-filled but for different reasons.
To try to fully recap my study
abroad experience in this short piece is a taxing task but I will do my best.
After a few months of preparation and lots of emotional goodbyes, I set off on
August 5th to spend the next four months of my life studying in
Singapore. Leaving America, I was quite the inexperienced traveler, not quite
sure what to expect, not sure of the level of autonomy I would need to live on
my own, not particularly familiar with life too far outside of my comfort zone,
and not as mature as I find myself to be now. What I did have going for me was
that I came into the experience excited, open minded, and prepared to grow as
much as I could from this humbling adventure.
Upon arriving in Singapore I found
myself amidst many other exchange students who were excited, experiencing
culture shock, but also very eager to immerse ourselves a new culture. During
the first few weeks I found it very easy to make lots of acquaintances, a nice
handful of which went on to become important characters in this chapter of my
life’s story. There is so much to be told about other cultures that I would
have never have learned if I had not bothered to make friends that are from
different parts of the world. One of the main cultures I got to learn about was
Chinese, from my roommate Vivian. We would talk for hours on end about our
cultures, views of the world, and the future. I made quite a few friends that
are from different parts of Asia and learned about their various types of food,
languages, generally collectivistic cultures, and the things they place value
on while also being able to reciprocate it. The friends I made from Europe,
Africa, and Australia were also very memorable and I thoroughly enjoyed
learning about the different aspects of culture that are present in other
cultures of the world.
To say the
education system in Singapore was interesting was an understatement. I found
some similarities between Nanyang Technological University and Central Michigan
University and some profound differences. NTU was recognizably similar as a
university in that the teachers here also seem to truly care about student’s
success, lectures are held a couple of times per week for each class along with
office hours, extracurricular activities are available, and students are hard
working. The main differences I found were in the idea of tutorials, final
examination procedures, and being able to monitor your grades. Tutorials at NTU
are held once a week for each course, allowing a TA to help recap and provide
additional addition to supplement each lecture. Final examinations lasted three
weeks and were administered by a group of invigilators in a testing room
instead of lecture halls. And grades were not accessible for the most part
during the semester. While Blackboard had the space for you to monitor grades,
most professors did not seem to stay updated with grades throughout the
semester. You were just expected to do your absolute best on every assignment
and hope you are doing well. Also, grades are administered on a curve and your
grade depends on how well you do in comparison to your classmates. Classes were
not too difficult but the culture of classes was much different than what I am
used to.
With
Singapore being a multicultural society, it was not difficult to find people of
different cultural backgrounds living and working in harmony. Singaporeans also
pride themselves on being global citizens and open to learning about cultures
outside of their own. Living in Singapore I was mainly exposed to Chinese,
Indian, and Malay culture. I was able to partake in holiday celebrations such
as Deepavali, Mid Autumn festival during this semester and it has been a nice
gateway into learning about other Southeast Asian cultures. In addition to the immersion of Asian culture
through people and food in Singapore, I had the opportunity to travel on short
trips to Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, and Philippines and learn heaps
about those cultures as well. Seeing the ways of life for people in other
countries has given me a greater appreciation for diversity. As the world
becomes even more diverse, it is important to appreciate and learn about other
cultures. People from different cultures seem to have different, but equally
valid ways of looking at the world. I also learned about concepts that do not
even exist or are rare in my culture are common in others such as Singaporean kiasu, Japanese hokikimori, and the idea of enemyships.
I
would encourage everyone to take on experiences where they will be exposed to
diversity and multiculturalism; it can truly alter the way you look at the
world. I think all students should study abroad. My advice would be to choose a
country or region that you find particularly interesting, be open to
experiences, talk to locals and set goals for your time studying abroad.
This
semester has made an impact on the way I will take on CMU when I come back.
This semester has allowed me to become a much stronger student. By having to
compete for grades, I really had to step my studying up and really stay on top
of it. Since I did not know how well I was doing or how well others were doing
I had to do my absolute best. During finals weeks I studied from dawn to dusk
in preparation for exams and it really paid off. I had never spent that much
time studying in my life but it is nice to know that my limits are much further
than I though.
Being
abroad will also have an impact on my life in general. Living on my own has
allowed me to gain practical skills that I can use in everyday life. One of the
most obvious is traveling. I have learned how to find and navigate the various
types of transportation that I had absolutely no experience with before. I also
had to truly budget during this time. I had to monitor how much I was spending
on food, entertainment, travel, souvenirs, and personal items because I had a
set amount of money to live off of during the semester abroad. My communication
skills have improved greatly as a result of this semester. I was required to
give presentations for all classes at some point in the semester, I had to
effectively learn to understand the various accents that were thrown at me on a
daily basis, and I needed to be able to effectively communicate to people that
did not speak English using nonverbal communication. My desire and ability to
maintain interpersonal relationships has also been enhanced as a result of
being abroad. Not only did I have to focus on relationships that were forming
here in Singapore, I had to actively nurture relationships with friends and
family back home. It is certainly not easy to keep up with people that you
would normally run into during daily activities from such a long distance.
All in all,
this study abroad experience has certainly been one that I will never forget.
It has been lots of fun, exciting, and filled with joy while sometimes being
sad, confusing, and lonely. It has
caused me to completely leave my comfort zone, become a better communicator,
world traveler, and global citizen. This has given me a more open-minded view
of the world while also realizing that anything is possible with faith,
passion, and hard work. I am sad that this chapter of my life is coming to an
end but that only gives room for the next chapter to begin. The plane trip is
coming to an end and we will be reaching America shortly. I am looking forward
to being greeted with lots of love from my family and friends as I step off the
plane and turn the page to start a new chapter of my life. Zai jian!
Home for the Holidays
28 November
The unfortunate part about being on exchange fall semester
is that you miss important holidays like Thanksgiving! The good thing is that
you will be home for Christmas! Time spent with family laughing, singing,
feasting, and celebrating is like priceless. Another good thing is that we will
get to have a Thanksgiving here! A few other American exchange students decided
that we should go out to eat for Thanksgiving and we will even invite a few
Singaporeans and other exchange students. I am very excited to see how this
goes. I am also excited spend time to teach my friends about the Thanksgiving
traditions that my family does and learning about how other families around the
States celebrate this holiday. Cheers!
Finals Week
November 26
This week is the first week of exams! I do not think I have
ever been more tired from studying. When I say this past week I have been
studying from sun up to sun down there is no exaggeration. (But, on the other
hand, the sun starts going down at 6:30pm.) The exam period is three weeks long
and for some reason ¾ of my exams were scheduled for the first Monday, Tuesday,
and Wednesday of the exam period. It is nice to get them over with but that
much exam stress is not good. After having taken a couple of exams, I have to
say the exam system is much stricter than at CMU. First, exams are not
administered in the lecture hall, they are administered in the several
gymnasiums around campus and individual desks are places in perfect rows to
seat about 300 students at a time. Instead of your professor and the teaching
assistants administering the test, there is a team of “invigilators” that come
in to administer the test. Another thing I was surprised by was that none of
the invigilators spoke during the exam, there was a prerecorded voice over a
loudspeaker reminding us that cheating was wrong, alerting us to when we could
start the test, telling us when to stop writing, once again warning us about
the repercussions of cheating, and randomly telling us to remain quiet until we
are dismissed from the hall. I must say, the whole examination system was quite
intimidating and if I had not prepared so much, the process may have made me
too nervous to do well. All in all, I think I have been doing well on exams and
it makes me excited to get the last ones out of the way. Once finals are over we
will reward ourselves with a final trip before heading home to our respective
countries!
Is this work in Chinese? Literally. |
Two words: Finals Week |
The Final Countdown
November 24
In exactly 17 days I will be going through US Customs and
Border Protection to make my grand entrance back to the United States. What a
thought! I still cannot believe how long it has been since I have been home but
I will definitely be glad to be home.
In addition to happiness, I expect to have a wide range of
emotions upon returning to the US. I talked to a few people that have studied
abroad as well as looked up information on people’s reactions after their time
abroad. Many people experience what you call reverse culture shock. That is,
upon returning to the States one may need to readjust emotionally and
psychologically to living in the US. Many people report feeling surprise,
disorient, as though it is different than how they left it, a longing to return
abroad, and a wide range of other emotions. One thing that I noticed at the end
of each person’s account or story is that there is no place like home and they
were glad to be back. I am sure the
adjustment will be just fine.
I am looking forward to coming home as I have developed a
slight case of homesickness and everything seems to remind me of home. I have
began to miss the food, the loudness, the hugs and, of course, my loved ones.
My feeling are torn between sadness as the days dwindle down in a country that
has become a second home and the excitement of counting down the time until you
arrive home!
Jurong Point trying Cronuts [Croissant Donuts] |
Jasmine, Bryan, Mr. Kant, and Nay Oo from Management |
Group Projects |
Viet Nam
Traveling to Vietnam
This past weekend I had the opportunity to travel to Saigon,
Vietnam. I actually arrived back in Singapore this morning in time to grab
breakfast, have a quick chat with my roommate and head to class. I thoroughly
enjoyed my time in Vietnam not only because it was beautiful, but because of
the cultural experience. We went on a day tour of the Cu Chi tunnels and
learned all about the American war. We Americans call it the Vietnam War,
Vietnamese call it the American war. Our tour guide happens to have fought in
the war and was fighting on behalf of the North. America was fighting on behalf
of the South, which made the tour awkward at times. He showed us his wound from
being shot by Americans during the war. It was interesting to hear about this
war from an alternate perspective. He was very respectful for the most part
considering the circumstances and mentioned that he nor the Vietnamese hold
grudges against any countries that were involved in the war; they would like to
move forward. I could tell that not many Americans took this tour (there were
four of us out of the 30 tourists) because at the end of the tour they play a
video in which they refer to Americans as the enemy and things of that nature.
We had a chance to climb through the tunnels that the Vietnamese lived in and
slept in during the war, they were about three feet high; a very tight fit. We
got to experience the real Vietnam and try great food. Overall it was a great
trip and one of the more memorable experiences of my time here.
Non la (leaf hats) |
In Saigon, everyone is a cyclist! |
Sleeping Buddha |
US Army Tank from the American War (Vietnam War) |
When In Vietnam You Must Try Coffee |
And pho |
Mekong River |
Notre Dame Cathedral |
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)