I already knew that I wanted to go abroad for one semester before I started the Master, but where - I was not sure. As the decision was made in winter, I knew that I would prefer a warmer place, but also a good University. Then I went to the information event for exchange where different students talked about their experiences abroad and the information about Singapore and NUS made me extremely enthusiastic: pictures of tropical fruits and places, stories about travels and tasty food in combination with one of the best Universities in Asia with high investments in research…On top of all: English as national language, I could not wish for more.

Via our exchange coordinator, I got in contact with another student of Biomedicine who has spent one semester at NUS and to whom I could direct all my questions. NUS has a very well organized application procedure which results in an application for the “student pass”, a kind of Visa. We also received a list of relevant contacts, in case we encounter any problems during the procedure. The main problem I faced was that my German passport was mistaken for a Dutch one because of the German nationality “Deutsch” which is seemingly to close to "Dutch".  Convincing the responsible of my real nationality took a couple of weeks and delayed my application for the student pass and accommodation. In the end however, everything was still organized on time.

For Singapore itself it is not needed to get any special vaccinations. Yet, when you go travel around Asia there are a couple of destinations where vaccinations are recommended.

The registration at the University look place two weeks before course start. This gave sufficient time to do some sight-seeing, meeting other students and finding the way around campus. During the registration we also registered for the “student pass”, so we had to bring pass-fotos and a couple of documents. It was all well instructed before arriving. About two weeks later, we could then pick up our ID-card/student pass.

In the first weeks NUS had organized a couple of events for new coming students, such as a Singaporean Night during which you could get to know a bit of Singaporean culture. It was set up like a small fare with several stands that had each a different topic. My favorite was a stand full of tropical fruits that you could try, but also one with sweets/pastries was quite exotic. At another place, you could get a henna-tattoo and the next had traditional clothes for trying and taking funny pictures. Also a desk with information about the main sights of Singapore was present.

For international students there was a welcoming lecture to help us finding our way around Singapore. We learned some phrases of “singlish”, the most import Do’s and Dont’s and that some rules (such as no flip-flops on campus) are not being followed by anyone.

I used the first weeks mainly to meet people, visit the sights of Singapore, hang out at the beach and explore the night-life.

The main cost in Singapore is housing. Even my small corridor room on campus I paid around 4000 SEK per month, but I’ll get back to that in the section about accommodation.

Otherwise costs are lower than in Sweden. Especially food from the food-markets is extremely cheap, so I have not cooked a single time during my exchange semester. For S$ 3 (15 SEK) you can already get a delicious meal. Shopping for clothes and shoes is a dream! You have all options of all brands in all price-classes you would wish for. The European brands will be a little more expensive, though. (There is one H&M in Singapore which is extremely popular!)

Night-life can get quite expensive, especially if you like to have some drinks…but we are used to that from Sweden. I think prices for alcohol are quite similar in Singapore and Sweden. Also entrance to the clubs can be high, especially on weekends, but there are options of getting in for free if you are early, or if you subscribed on a guest-list (f. ex. at Avalon). The amazing roof-top bar at the Marina Bay Sands “KU DÉ TA” is free on Wednesdays (just the drinks are super expensive).

Another cost you have to count on is the public transportation. There is no monthly pass or student reduction or anything alike. The system is like a pre-paid card (called EZlink) that you recharge on the machines and then always pay according to how far you travel.

As mentioned before, housing is expensive. The cheapest option is probably to stay on campus. The new part called University Town (UTown) is a great place to live with everything you need (and more): food-court, Starbucks, study places, restaurants, grassland for pick-nicks/games, small super-market, free swimming-pool, …(http://utown.nus.edu.sg/). It was build quite recently and its architecture is quite impressive.

There are also lots of activities and of course other students, so it is the best place to socialize. There are options to stay in 6-room apartments at Graduate-College or single corridor rooms at different Residences. For prices check: http://nus.edu.sg/osa/has/undergraduate/hostel-rates

Already while applying to NUS they ask you if you would like to apply for accommodation on campus and you can give your preferences. Try to be as early as possible, because there is not enough space for everybody.

The official language of Singapore is English and of course all courses are tought in English which is a big advantage. Still, there are many lecturers from Asia and other parts of the world that might have a strong accent. In the streets and markets you will hear a lot of mandarin and “Singlish” which might take a bit of time to get used to, if you would like to get prepared beforehand study the dictionary:

http://www.talkingcock.com/html/lexec.php?op=LexView&lexicon=lexicon&alpha=A&page=1

The sports and recreation program at NUS is huge (http://nus.edu.sg/osa/src)! There are many sport facilities (mostly for free), sport-associations, and other groups of students with common cultural or social interests. They organize also many lectures and work-shops for NUS students, but I never took the time to go. However, I went a couple of times to the center for the Arts where students perform theater, dance and music for free or external artists come for shows to very low prices (http://www.nus.edu.sg/cfa/programmes/index.php). I would very much recommend going, if you look for some culture. The center for arts also manages a number of performing/producing groups of students in dance, theater/film, music and visual arts. I participated in two dance groups: the NUS dance ensemble and dance synergy, which were both two very engaged dancing groups with good teachers and regular classes.

Another organization organizing a lot of events for students is SingaporeUNI (http://singaporeuni.com/). Mainly internationals participate in these events for parties and trips in and around Singapore. They do for example (beach-) parties, trips to Kuala Lumpur, diving-certificate trips to Tioman (Malysia), trips to Batam or Bintan (Indonesia), a tour for the National day of Singapore, and more.

The time abroad gave me a lot of new insights, not only concerning my studies, but importantly about different aspects of life. I experienced it as highly inspiring to live in such a different environment with new culture, climate and people.

I met a lot of new people with diverse cultural backgrounds from all over the world. Many of these people had very different values and goals for life which made me reflect about my own views. All these impressions will shape my actions and thoughts now and in the future. I took a lot memories, stories, knowledge, and ideas back home with me.

Also professionally, I think I will profit from my exchange experience. I might cooperate with people I met in the laboratory in Singapore and it is an advantage to have learned the optogenetic techniques in a state-of-the-art laboratory as the A-STAR laboratory.

Overall, a very valuable experience!