First Week of School!

Hi all,

Let me just first of all establish how inconvenient some things have been. It took me over an hour to check in to the hostel that I am living in because of disorganized the management office was. Additionally, I spent hours with IT at NUS because I was trying to register for tutorials online. However, as a study abroad student I am not allowed to do that. Instead I have to do it in person at different departments on only certain days and times. Well duh, how silly of me to assume I, as some random study abroad student, would be able to register for tutorials online. Yeesh.

That aside my first week of school has been pretty good. I am going to break it down here:

My living arrangements:

Its not too bad. The hostel is located in Commonwealth which is an area fairly close to NUS. The neighborhood is excellent though. It is conveniently located to a supermarket, shops and many eating places (called hawker stalls).

My roommates:

I really like them. There are four of us living in this apartment. Francesca is from Italy and is studying at the NUS Business School. She is VERY talkative, but a very nice and outgoing person. My roommate, Patti, is awesome too. She is a US citizen (but of Thai ethnicity) and studies at the University of Scranton. For those of who you know her, Patti is sort of like Michelle Harran. She is really cool and by implication I am a complete dork in comparison. Patti today asked me, "so you are going to a club for ladies night right?" And I was like, "Err...?" Last, but definitely not least, Christine is a graduate student at the NUS Business school. She is actually a Hopkins MBA student in DC! Interesting right? So it seems no matter how hard I try, and no matter how far I go, I can never escape Hopkins. :) Ha ha ha, no need to be offended, I just do comedy with you!

My classes:

I have two three hour classes every Tuesday. Every Tuesday. We will see how this goes. I have had all my classes except Indonesian. I like all of them and my professors are fantastic. I might change my history course though. I was talking to one history graduate student from NUS (I played badminton with her and some other history graduate students) and she said that there are better professors and better courses than the one I am taking now. So I might consider a different history course called "The Making of Modern Malaysia" rather than "The History of Myanmar". I am so conflicted!!! If anyone wants to recommend me a course over the other in your posts, go for it!

NUS students:

To be honest I have been so busy running around and going to and fro from one room to another that I really have not had time to meet as many NUS students as I would have liked. But, as you know, you can't just hang out and have your own private conversation with someone during a lecture. But I met this very nice individual from Malaysia, Ailing, who is in my Chinese class. We are not only Chinese study buddies but like best friends now. The history graduate student that I mentioned earlier is from Chengdu, China and I feel like we are buddies as well. I have also been practicing some Chinese with her which is always helpful. Overall, the NUS students I have talked to are all very nice and are genuinely interested in you.

The other American students:

Forgettable.

The Hopkins Reaction:

I found this trend to be very amusing. But every NUS student that I have talked to so far tells me that you need to work hard at NUS. In response to this I say, "yes, definitely, but I got to Johns Hopkins..." they immediately interrupt me with, "Johns Hopkins? You will have no problem here at NUS then!" Isn't that just hilarious?! It is actually internationally known how hard working Hopkins students are! Just blows my mind.

My commute:

I have different commuting schedules. One for the morning, one for the afternoon/evening. In the morning I take about a 7.37 minute walk to the Commonwealth MRT station (the MRT is Singapore's equivalent of a subway/metro) and take bus 198 to the sports field stop at NUS. Then I take the NUS shuttle bus D to the Central Library and walk up the never ending stairs to the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. In the evening I take the bus 95 to Buona Vista MRT station then from there go to the Commonwealth MRT station. Its not a long commute at all, maybe around 15 minutes. Big change from just walking across the quad and one street to Uni One.

The library:

Is very niiice. I like. Can't believe I actually mean that. But my room is so tiny that I have very little desk space. To the library I go. They also have a Chinese library! Woah!

Another thing about the NUS library. You can't just waltz into the library and position yourself at a computer desk to get on with your electronic duties. You need to "reserve" a computer at this one station, pick which computer you want, then go and use it. During busy hours the computer will automatically log you off after an hour. No exceptions. Also, I will not be wasting anytime walking to the library after I finish classes because it is right next to the Arts Faculty. Excellent. I do not want any impediments to my library excursions.

Food:

Iz a dericous! Food is damn cheap too. I have to eat out every meal because the management office decided to give us a stove burner that doesn't work, but also because it is more cost effective to eat out than to buy groceries. Its the complete opposite in the US. There is also a lot of variety so I can't complain about that. I am spending about 6-8 Singapore dollars a day on eating out. That's like 4-6 US dollars. That's it.

Campus food:

Ditto.

Laundry:

I need to hang my clothes outside to dry them. That's how it is rolled in Southeast Asia.

Weather:

No surprises there, but my god it is hot! Is everyone surviving there on the East coast? I heard about some intense snowing.

Til next time! Oh and make sure to scroll down until you get to the "Culture of Southeast Asia" to read that post! I have not figured how to format everything yet.

Best,

Kavanaugh