{"id":1767,"date":"2012-02-08T18:19:41","date_gmt":"2012-02-08T18:19:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.studyabroad101.com\/?p=1767"},"modified":"2012-02-08T18:19:41","modified_gmt":"2012-02-08T18:19:41","slug":"alex-singapore","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.studyabroad101.com\/blog\/2012\/02\/alex-singapore\/","title":{"rendered":"Alex in Singapore: A Chance to Explore a Love of Asia"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>I chose to study abroad because I wanted adventure. Living in Montreal, with my parents, my entire life made me realize I needed my independence. What better way to experience independence than to study abroad? And with a generous scholarship from my school that covered my tuition and most of my living expenses, there was nothing stopping me.<\/p>\n

A traditional Balinese barong dance (Right)<\/address>\n
Delicious Balinese food! (Below)
\n<\/address>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

I was also interested in Asian culture and love Asian food, I decided to go to\u00a0Asia and\u00a0experience it myself.\u00a0Although I’ve been an overachiever all my life and academically driven,\u00a0I didn\u2019t have nearly enough guts to learn an entire Asian language, having watched many people close to me struggle to master Mandarin, and desired a moderate rather than an extreme culture shock. Singapore seemed like the best option to do that, as National University of Singapore holds its classes in English. Finally, since Singapore is at the confluence of three major Asian cultures, Chinese, Malay, and Indian, I felt like I was hitting three birds with one stone.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Another pleasant bonus about Singapore was my proximity to my boyfriend\u2019s family.\u00a0Joseph, my boyfriend, was born and raised in Singapore and was able to join me for my first month to show me the ropes. He did an excellent job of that, and his parents were even so kind as to send us on a trip to the beautiful island of Bali. When we weren\u2019t in Bali, Sentosa, or Malaysia, we were warmly hosted by Joe\u2019s parents, who are possibly the kindest, most giving people I have ever met.<\/p>\n

Joe\u2019s family and I at the Merlion in Sentosa,<\/span><\/address>\n
where we spent a wonderful weekend at <\/address>\n
Siloso Beach from Jan 1-2.<\/address>\n

 <\/p>\n

For me, Singapore is a chance to explore my interests aside from my major, physiology. The physiology program at McGill is very specific, so there wasn\u2019t much wiggle room when choosing courses at NUS to count as equivalents. This meant that I was only allowed to take courses for my minor or electives. And that\u2019s exactly what I did.<\/p>\n

For my theatre minor, I\u2019m taking EN3229: Shakespeare in His Time and Ours. For my Social Studies of Medicine minor, I\u2019m taking SC3214: Sociology of the Life Course and Ageing. As electives, I\u2019m exploring my interests in evolutionary biology, adolescent psychology, and journalism, taking LSM4253: Behavioural Biology, PL3244: Adolescent Psychology and NM3211: Media Reporting and Editing.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

<\/address>\n
<\/address>\n
<\/address>\n
<\/address>\n
<\/address>\n
<\/address>\n
<\/address>\n
<\/address>\n
<\/address>\n
Because the campus is so darn huge, we are driven around in these shuttle busses, which come often…. except when you\u2019re late for your next class at the opposite end of campus!<\/address>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I live in U-Town, which just opened in Fall 2011. It\u2019s a student paradise, complete with a convenience store, several good restaurants, a coffeeshop, residences, and even classrooms!<\/address>\n

 <\/p>\n

The accomodations are okay. For all those who plan on studying at NUS, do NOT ask for an Air-Conditioned room! I know this sounds totally counter-intuitive, but the non-A\/C ones have a fan, and the extra-cost associated with A\/C is not for A\/C. It\u2019s for the POSSIBILITY of having A\/C….for six additional<\/em> dollars a day (on top of the extra money I\u2019m already paying for the POSSIBILITY of having A\/C)!<\/p>\n

I look forward to updating you on my time in Singapore. So far I\u2019m loving the weather – I don\u2019t think I\u2019ll ever get tired of it! Being in Singapore made me realize that I want to live in a milder climate than Montreal because I can really do without our harsh winters.<\/p>\n

Here’s some of the highlights so far:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Joe and I at the King\u2019s Palace in Ubud, Bali<\/address>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Joe and I with some friends at his parent\u2019s restaurant, Jerry\u2019s BBQ and Grill<\/address>\n
(which is beyond delicious, by the way!)<\/address>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

A restaurant we went to on the way back from Ubud, with rice paddies as far as the eye can see.<\/address>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Joe and I enjoying iced kachung and otak otak in Jahore Bahru, Malaysia<\/address>\n

 <\/p>\n

Submitted by Alex, Abroad101 Global Ambassador in Singapore.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I chose to study abroad because I wanted adventure. Living in Montreal, with my parents, my entire life made me realize I needed my independence. What better way to experience independence than to study abroad? And with a generous scholarship from my school that covered my tuition and most of my living expenses, there was […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_ppma_block_editor_authors":""},"categories":[11,21],"tags":[],"ppma_author":[682],"class_list":["post-1767","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-global-ambassador","category-stories-from-abroad","author-pwpadmin"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t