Rainy Singapore

Another weeks gone by.

I learned a lot this week, both about myself, and Singapore. School is different than Carolina, and I hope to explain whats different in a little bit. I went to Sentosa this weekend. Instead of going to Indonesia, and for that matter trekking to Malaysia, I have just been staying in Singapore. Im itching to see whats out there, and this past week I began to plan my trips.

Im going to be kinda scattered with this post. To start off I want to talk about differences in the education system. I actually had a Professor go on and on about how the US book based learning is a better way to learn. Im not sure yet. To explain, NUS classes usually dont have textbooks. If they do, they are super cheap, like 20 dollars. Because of this, all readings are either posted on IVLE, (UNC's Blackboard)or like an electronic bulletin board, and/or books or essays that I as a student have to find within the library. They have a section in the library that holds most of the recommended books by the Lecturers for all classes. I simply go into the section find the book, and I have it for two hours. So, really I can either copy the section I need, which is how most people do it here, or read the book in two hours. I have chosen to read it.

This may seem like a lot of extra work. I think it is. But the good part about this system is that I get to read a lot of different material, hear a lot of peoples opinions, and gain good research skills.
Along with these weekly readings, we have project research to do. All in all, any future UNC student on this program, be warned of endless reading. I mean you have a week to do it, and its not like you meet three times a week like at home. So, again which one is better?

I came to the conclusion that with this type learning, teachers expect you to write at a more academic and well research manner. Not to say UNC isnt expecting research and good writing, but UNC has students read a few books and then process that information and analyze it. UNC is more concerned about ideas and analysis, while NUS seems to be more about scholarship and support.

Well see if this hold true...

Now I want to talk about some of the ethnic communities within Singapore. I have been told that when the city (at the time) was run by Stamford Raffles (British Colonial Governor), he want to create different ethnic communities. He placed them on different sides of the river. I may be wrong with that, but it goes along those lines. Above me is Bugis! This is the oldest Mosque in Singapore. Therefore, Bugis is the Muslim community. Here in Singapore, most Malay Singaporeans are Muslim, so Malays usually are the ones featured here. Although Indian and Arab Muslims also have shops and live here. There is a street called Arab St. and that marks the beginning of the Kampong Glam. I hope to celebrate Hari Raya here, and when I do, I will post about it!

This is me at Sri Mariamman Temple in Chinatown
This is Chinatown. I and the guy in the dark blue shirt went in and explored. It was awesome! The Temple is Buddhist, and it was newly constructed.

Finally, Little India...
This is another Hindu Temple. When I went to Little India, it was so packed. There were tons of people there because it was a Sunday. 25% of the 4.5 million people that live in Singapore are migrants. Most on a temporary labor visa. This means that many of the laborers are Indian, Sri Lankan or Bangledeshi. They only have Sundays of, although someones working at every part of the day and night. So, on Sundays everyone comes out for a rest. In India, people say that you usually only see men on the streets. I anticipated this, and it was true. Thousands of men stood together, some holding hands, some with hands around each others necks. These affectionate signs are usually do to the fact that in Indian, mainly Hindu culture, women and men are not allowed to show public affection. Therefore, it is common for men to do this with other men.

I am going to India. Ok, maybe it will be one of those "im going to..." statements, and they actually dont happen. But Im almost 99% sure this will. Im preparing for now, and I cant wait! Its a month away...

Next week, I am suppose to go to Bintan for the day, lets hope it happens and I can report back!

First Week of School

I just finished my first week of school. I really enjoy all of my class. Usually after the first week of school, I am lame and get excited about each class. Seeing whats on the syllabus, and anticipating all the things I will learn, makes me happy. This is weird I know. Oh well! haha

Well, I had this same experience this week. Like I said, I get excited. However, this may or may not last for very long. Usually by week three, Im dreading going to class and doing the reading! I think this semester will be different, and if its not, I'm in trouble. You see, Im taking all major courses. If Im not liking what Im learning, or doing, maybe this major isnt for me. Right now, I feel as though it is 100 percent. Im taking a class on migration which is taught by a leading expert in Southeast Asia. Additionally, this class is co-taught with UBC in Vancouver and UWS in Australia. I have the opportunity to learn from students and professors directly from the regions.

Along with migration, Im taking class that I really enjoy. Im also taking Chinese Level 1. This class will be challenging, however, I definitely think it will be worth it. Most of the student in this class are exchange students. I havent really met that many people yet, simply because I have been busy with things, and its hard for me to just strike up conversations with people from all over. My goal for this week is to meet people. Im in between a rock and a hard place, as I want to make Singaporean friends as they will be here come next semester, unlike the the exchange students. Yet, they are more reserved, and the exchange students are in my boat; they also dont know anyone, and want to meet people.

I have spent a lot of time in my room this week. Yes, also lame, and embarrasing, however, its for good reason. One is I have a ton of reading. Everyone here is already active into school and its only the first week. Everywhere I go people are studying. Im trying to keep up, so Im reading and go over my material. Im not sure what to expect, but never before have I had to start this early. The second reason is because transportation adds up here. Trekking around the island is fun, but Im here for a year and I dont want to run out of money come two months in!

I said I would write each week, so here I am. But to be honest, Im a little homesick. Its weird because if you asked my friends last year, they would tell you I talk about leaving all the time. I have always wanted to move and see the world. Yet, now that Im in transition, getting myself acclimated and all, I found I miss Carolina. Hmmm... funny!

I want to post some pictures, as most of the people viewing this blog will only look at my pictures! haha. So below are pictures of where I live. I live at Prince George's Park Residence. This is where the Carolina-NUS summer program stays. I live on the 7th floor in a Type A room. This means I have Air-Con and my own bathroom. The majority of the rooms here dont have Aid-Con nor a bathroom. Im lucky! So, here you go...

I live in the central block, at the top and to the right.

This is the market at PGP. They sell food, toiletries, and school supplies. But, they only take cash, like most places on campus.
This is the view from my elevator lobby. You can see the port and the ocean. The ocean here is mostly filled with fishing, industrial, and tourist boats. There is mostly industrial buildings and infrastructure around the coast, so it isnt always the prettiest view. Yet its still cool to see the water! Just on the other side of most of the islands out in front is Indonesia. The Straight of Malacca that starts about where this picture shows is the most pirated waters in the World.
This is an example of what I am talking about.

Next week, hopefully Ill have good news. As I am headed to Pulau Bintan, an Indonesian island. Hope everyone has a great week. And I think Carlona starts this week, have fun at fall fest!

Happy National Day, Singapore!

Today is Singapore's National Day. Its the equivalent to America's Independence day or July 4th. This afternoon I will be going to a friend's house to watch the National Day performance on their TV. I, however, had the privilege to go to the National Day Preview last Saturday. In this blog, I hope to explain what occurred during that exciting National day preview and inform everyone about some of my past week.

To begin, National Day is a lot bigger here. Or maybe its because the country is so much smaller than the US that I have noticed its scale. Everywhere I look there is a Singaporean Flag and posted stating "Happy Birthday Singapore!" In my neighborhood back at home, some people put up flags like that in Singapore. There was even an effort to put an American flag at the beginning of everyone's driveway. Yet I rarely see that many flags. Although the 4th of July is important back at home, people celebrate it on more of a local scale. There is not as much nationalism and to some extent pride for American heritage as it seems here. There maybe many reasons for this: the age of the country, the size of the country, the scale of a nationalist campaign from the government, or maybe the people and the culture itself. I have tried to think about why in the US not as many people care to watch the Washington DC July 4th celebration. As our national capitol, I would think the performance and the fireworks would have every American watching their televisions.

My conclusions on this subject is that Americans are different than Singaporeans in celebration of their independence day because of location. Bostonians watch the Boston Pops, Washington DC residents have a parade by the White House, and Huntersville, NC residents go out on Lake Norman. Because of the pure size, Americans celebrate at a local level. Yes, some may travel to see family or friends, but everyone doesnt travel to their capitol or to see one large Governmental performance downtown.

As Singaporeans have a unique way to celebrating their country's heritage, they also celebrate National day within their own communities. Today, when I go to a local community, however, all the Singaporeans I will be with will be watching the one and only National Day celebration on their TVs. They may celebrate it on a local scale, but it is greatly affected by a National campaign. The parade encouraged Singaporeans to be creative, unique, and cooperative. I think that this can be good in the sense that it seems to encourage development and progress. Each year Singaporeans have something new to hear from their government on National Day; its not like the US independence day, in which US citizens simple remember the past. I dont know which one I prefer. So, with all this said, I want to show you all pictures of the ceremony.

Just for background, National Day only occurs once a year, but the Government's stadium, built on water, cannot fit all 4.5 million people. So they have previews which allows for more people to participate, and the actors, singers and the like, to practice.

This is me waiting for it to start. I went along with my friend George, who is Singaporean. Also, THANK YOU Nadiah for the tickets!!!!

The next couple of pictures are of the ceremony itself. They had dancers and singers performing to music in all four national languages: English, Malay, Tamil, and Chinese. Also, there were boats in Marina bay and planes and sky drivers overhead.
From these picture, the scale of the performance becomes evident. I had a blast! I got a lot of free stuff including NeWater. It is a great invention. Singapore developed the technology to take toilet water and purify it so that it is drinkable. I have been so impressed with the green movement in Singapore. They seem to be very progressive in the effort to save the environment. For example, I went to an event called RAG at NUS yesterday. For this event, different Faculties and Halls competed with parade floats made entirely out of recyclable material. Recycling is a lot more visible here. Although I talked to a Singaporean who said that the mind set to recycle still is not on target. With Singapore's effort though recycling and inspiring national identity, its becomes more understandable how this young country dramatically transformed itself in less than 50 years.

Classes start on Monday, and Im looking forward to all of my geography classes. The people that I have met with the department have been extremely helpful and encouraging. I will hopefully post next week about school. I intend to travel to Kuala Lumpur next weekend, so I will try to post before I leave. Until then...

The Merlion and the Tar Heel meet.

In effort to communicate with all my family and friends, I started this blog to explain, interpret, and educate others about my experience here in Singapore. My blog will be used for all sorts of things. From anecdotes about fun experiences to Geographic ideas and concepts, these writings will hopefully accumulate to a memorable and informative site. I'll also include social activities and a lot about what everyday living is like in Singapore.

With this disclaimer in place, Id like to begin with my plane journey here. Many people tried to scare me, or I guess warn me, about the long flight. Although it was long, I enjoyed every minute. The time went by quick enough; even the nine hour lay over at one stopover. My anticipation on traveling to Singapore created a distraction to leg aching pain and ear congestion!

When I finally got to Hong Kong, I was just so amazed that my dreams of traveling the world were now starting to become reality. It didnt matter that I still had more flying to do. Instead, all I could think about was the fact that I was in Asia. Not the Disneyworld Epcot China, or Animal Kingdom, but the real, legitimate Asia.

To no surprise, my experience in Singapore has been ten fold. I have done so much already, and yet there are endless experiences to come. I have to say that without the help of the UNC-NUS JDP students, and YongMin, I would be clueless on so many things. Truly, I am blessed to know some incredibly generous Singaporeans.

With little sleep from my flight, I then went to my friend Alexius's house. His family was so nice, and very helpful. His house was very nice.

This is the at the MRT (subway station) by Alexius house. It is a market that had a lot of durian. The boxes are filled with a special, and locally adored fruit. Most Westerns as a generalization tend to not like durian; myself being one. My goal is to get use to it and eventually be able to eat it. Durian is very high in protein and caloric levels. So, for right now Im kinda glad I dont particularly enjoy it! haha.

This is a picture of the pond at Alexius house. He is in the background, walking toward me. I was able to recover from my trip at his house, and remarkably did not suffer from much jet lag. Alexius is headed back to UNC for his second year, and I will miss him. He was very friendly to me, and I appreciated all his help.

After I arrived, YongMin met me and Alexius downtown. Here I was able to see what the downtown Singapore was like. My first impression of Kovan, where Alexius lived, was that it had a lot more character and uniqueness than I would have thought. I had read that Singapore was a uberclean, sterile city. Some call it the "McDonalds" of Asia. This does injustice to the heartlands. The term heartlands refers to neighborhoods within the country, each having unique characteristics. However, with all of this said, once we got downtown, I could see why Singapore has gotten this bad rap. Although there are definitely Singaporean traits and icons, the endless underground mall could be in any city. But this made me question, Arent all cities this way? This is something I will have to keep considering. Below of pictures of downtown.

This is a historical governmental building.

This picture shows one of the two statues of Raffles downtown. Across the Singapore River (behind) is the CBD.
This is a picture of the otherside of the Singapore River. The Esplanade is on the left. It is called the Durian sometimes, because it is said to resemble the fruit. I thought most people would call it the Durian, but sadly I was wrong. When I called it that, they kinda made fun of me, and said to just start calling it the Esplanade, haha!
Merlion! Finally, after having its picture on my computer, I have one with it!

There is so much else that I have done since that first day. Too much to place on the post. Over the next couple weeks, I will try to get everything online. I have so many National Day Preview Pictures, that I will post on National Day. Be on the look out...

Along with my post, I encourage anyone looking at this blog to respond. Correct me, encourage me, challenge me! All of these are welcome. Until next time...