SINGAPORE - Nanyang Technological University (NTU)
Fall 2016 Exchange
Mathematics,
HCO
Applied
Math/Biology
Option
–
3A
For my exchange, I got placed at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, one of the two major universities Singapore has. I decided to do my exchange to be in Asia because I wanted to get to know a completely different culture. Singapore was the “easiest” choice for that since everybody there speaks English, but the country is still heavily influenced by its Chinese and Malay inhabitants.
By coincidence, my coop placement prior to my exchange was also in Singapore, so I got to live there for almost 8 months.
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I spent 2 weeks just hiking through New Zealand and was stunned by how beautiful the country is. Definitely somewhere I want to go back to |
This gave me a lot of time to explore South East Asia and get experience Singaporean culture. At my work place were also a few other coops from Waterloo. This simplified my transition into Singaporean life and made it easier to travel. Through my work, I met some Singaporean and Chinese friends whom I stayed in touch with during my exchange. I also joined a few clubs on campus, as well as their international buddies program to meet more locals.
Classes were run in almost the same way as here at Waterloo. I took two Math courses that had weekly tutorials (but no assignments) as well as a bio course with a lab component and a language course. The only major difference was that the term at NTU starts and ends a month earlier than at Waterloo. Fortunately, my employer was very accommodating by letting me leave work a month earlier so I could start the term on time. This also meant that, after I had finished my exams, I had extra time to travel before heading back.
Singapore was the perfect base to explore South East Asia, which was the reason I had wanted to go an exchange in the first place. Many budget airlines fly directly from Singapore to the surrounding countries. I was able to travel to Thailand, Vietnam (twice), China (3 times), Cambodia, South Korea, Malaysia, Myanmar, Australia and New Zealand.
Any of these trips were amazing and allowed me to get to know each culture (and especially their food!!). There was one month where I was in a different country every single weekend. Being able to see these countries, learn about their culture and discover their local cuisine was the best part of my exchange.
| Any of these trips were amazing and allowed me to get to know each culture (and especially their food!!). There was one month where I was in a different country every single weekend. Being able to see these countries, learn about their culture and discover their local cuisine was the best part of my exchange. |
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One of the best meals I had: Kimchi stew with a bunch of side dishes while travelling to Korea. |
Each country was so unique and different from Western countries and almost no day went by without me seeing something new.
After 8 months of travelling and living in Singapore, I still feel like I have not seen enough and just want to go back and explore more!
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Probably one of the most beautiful sunsets I have ever seen (Myanmar). | The highlight of my Vietnam trip: riding on a motorcycle through Hanoi. |
| A typical tourist photo of the Marina Bay Sands, Singapore’s flag ship hotel |
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One thing to keep in mind about Singapore is that the cost of living is quite high. As a Waterloo exchange student, you can request for a place in one of the on-campus residences to avoid higher rental prices off campus (although spots are not guaranteed), but everything else is still costly. The weather in Singapore is also something to consider: it is very humid and temperatures are above 30 degrees every single day. Singapore does not have seasons (apart from rainy and even more rainy, and hot and even more hot). By the end of my time, especially because I was there for almost 8 months, the weather was draining on me.
| This is a picture from a little hike we took to get up to a giant Buddha on a hill in Thailand. |
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If I were to give just one advice it would be to stay open-minded. Don’t hesitate to try new things, go to a different country or ask questions if something is new to you. I tried to do and explore as much as I could because who knows if I will ever get the chance to come back (even though I hope I will because there is still so much I have yet to see!)