Welcome to Singapore, My Friends!
By: Eve Churaisin, Foster Undergraduate
It’s been a little over a month and a half since my arrival in Singapore, and it’s been a great once-in-a-lifetime experience. Just to introduce myself, my name is Eve Churaisin, and I am going into my final year at the UW studying Finance and Information Systems. I chose to go to Singapore on exchange because Singapore is an English-speaking country, and it is the fourth largest financial center in the world. I would like to use this as an opportunity to build a network base in Southeast Asia. I am currently studying at the National University of Singapore where I am taking Financial Markets, Macro and International Economics, and Old and New Music in Southeast Asia. It’s already halfway through the semester so midterms are coming up quickly!
The class structure here is quite similar to the UW. There are about 40 people in my Financial Markets class, and exams and group projects primarily make up the final grade. For my Economics and Southeast Asian course, there is a lecture and discussion section since they are both larger classes. Lectures take place only once a week for two hours and discussion section takes place once a week for an hour. Lessons may take place less often, but that just means that more material is covered each session. The material taught in the classes at NUS is more dense and faster paced. Classes here are definitely very competitive, because students here study their hearts off and aim to be at the very top of the competitive pool.
We all know that Singapore is a “fine” country. There is $1000 fine for smoking on the train and a $500 fine for eating and drinking on the train. Durian is not even allowed on the train. Period. Gum has also been forever banned from the country. Even though the government imposes a lot of fines, there is one thing that they haven’t banned yet and that is drinking publicly on the streets. There is a bridge in this one area of Singapore, Clarke Quay, where many locals and foreigners enjoy drinking and enjoying the view of the Singapore River at night. In case you didn’t know, the legal drinking age here is 18. Singapore is known for its exciting nightlife where people enjoy dancing the night off at the clubs until 4am. Not only that, people enjoy wandering the busy streets at night just to go out for a late night meal, or a second dinner, known as “supper.” The exciting nightlife is one major aspect of the Singaporean culture.
Since it’s halfway through the semester, we get a mid-semester week-long break known as Recess Week. This is the time students should spend studying for midterms that are coming up. On the other hand, this is the week that exchange students explore the surrounding countries. Traveling to other countries in Southeast Asia from Singapore is relatively cheap. I will be heading off to the southern part of Thailand with the other exchange students where we will get to relax and enjoy the view of the beautiful beaches.
Until I return from Thailand, bye for now!
