Hello from Singapore!
It has been a little over a month since my arrival here in Singapore. And I thought yeah why not let me write my blog on National University of Singapore. So here it goes!
My name is Jing Goh, and I am a sophomore at the Foster School of Business. I have chosen National University of Singapore because of its proximity to Malaysia, where I was born and where I will return to after graduating from UW. Since I will be returning to Malaysia, I thought it would really help me to build a network here in South East Asia and at the same time learn more about this region in general. And now I will tell you what I know about Singapore and NUS thus far.
Contrary to what little I knew about Singapore, it actually doesn’t rain much here. The weather is hot and humid in general. My dorm room, like most other dorm rooms on campus, offer only a ceiling fan, which only helps that much in cooling down the room. It is cooler in the hallways, so people usually leave their doors opened to let some air in. The individual floors are not co-eds but the buildings are. There are plenty of opportunities to meet other people in your dorm (or outside your dorm) as students here are very outgoing and friendly to newcomers, and there are a lot of student organized events.
Course load wise, most students here are taking 5 classes, even those on exchange. But I am taking only 3 classes because I figured if NUS really is harder than UW, I should not overload myself and instead try to do the best I can while taking the minimum required credits. I am currently taking BECON300, FIN350, and ACC225. My classes consist of a weekly 2 hour lecture and a quiz section, both meeting once a week. The professors and tutors (as they call the T.A.’s) here speak Singlish, even in lectures. Maybe some professors do have an American accents but the professors and tutors I have, don’t. Except for my Econ professor, who studied in America before and has an American accent. Sometimes the accent detracts me somewhat from paying attention in class, but it is bearable overall.
Food wise, breakfast and Dinner are included in the room & board fees at my dorm and lunch is usually settled at the faculty canteens (faculty here means schools. eg. Business Faculty = Business School). Food here is much cheaper than in the U.S. but they are mostly Chinese food. If you want a change of taste, it is not hard to find cheap & good food here at all because Singapore is best known for its food, as all other Asian countries are!
It seems to me that students here spend a lot of their time studying and doing extracurricular activities (they are very very active here). Of course, they party. The exchange students do, too. And there are always planned trips to Bali or other countries posted on the exchange student facebook group.
I myself have toured around Singapore and Malaysia a little. And I just came back from a week-long trip in Cambodia and Thailand! I shall write on a blog on travelling around SE Asia next time!
If you have any questions regarding exchange to NUS or Singapore in general, feel free to ask for my contact info from Ms. Andrea Gomes. I will be more than willing to answer your questions to the best of my knowledge =D !
