In my Master's Programme "Health Informatics", we could choose between four partner universities to do an exchange. I decided to do my exchange in Singapore mainly because the NUS has a very good academic reputation and I also liked the geographical location of Singapore.

Unlike many other exchange students, I did not have to participate in courses as I was writing my Master's thesis in Singapore. So I did not have to search for courses but for a supervisor (resp. co-supervisor) and an interesting project for my thesis. This was not that easy, as many professors at NUS do not want to supervise exchange students because they will be gone by the end of the term and most likely would not continue working in a project at NUS. So I found my main supervisor at my home university and with the support of Karolinska Institutet I found also a co-supervisor at NUS. If you do a thesis abroad, I would recommend you to start searching for a supervisor and project as soon as possible. It will take more time than you expect.

After I got submitted, I got all the necessary information by NUS. One could say, that it was maybe even a bit too much.. The application for the visa took place in Singapore, as an Austrian citizen (or Swedish as well) you do not need to apply for a visa beforehand. When you enter Singapore, you will get a tourist visa and during the welcome days at NUS, you can apply for a visa. Everything is guided, so don't worry too much about this process. 

For the vaccinations, I visited City Akuten, where students from KI also get a discount. In Singapore they also have a university health centre, where they consult you in case you need some further vaccination or prophylaxis (e.g. Malaria). They also sell a travel kit with basic medication you might need when travelling in Southeast Asia

I landed in Singapore on the 10th January, that was the weekend before the instruction week. Many students arrived at the same time or a bit earlier, so the campus was already crowded and it was easy to find fellow students.

The international student organisation offers a pick up service,  but I did not use it because it is really easy to get to the campus by the MRT (staiton Kent Ridge). If you want to use the pick up service, you will need to pay for the cab.

Besides the international student activities, there was also a host family programme. There you have the opportunity to meet a local family which will show you some other parts of Singapore.

Accommodations in Singapore are really expansive and hard to get. So if you are lucky, you will get a student room by the university. The student rooms are quite the same price as in Stockholm.

Unlike in Sweden, going out for food is really cheap. I have never even cooked once, because it is so much more expansive than going the next hawker centre or food court (and I really like cooking). The local food at a hawker centre is really tasty and cost between 2-5 SGD. Certainly, if you feel like going to a fancy restaurant, it will cost you much more.

Partying in Singpaore can be really expansive, the night clubs usually have a quite high entrance fee and thanks to the so-called "sin tax", alcohol is often even more expansive than in Stockholm. There aren't any good alternative clubs - but if you like to go out to posh places, you will feel at home in Singapore. Otherwise I would recommend you to safe some money and travel during the weekend. There are plenty of cheap possibilities to see great parts of Southeast Asia.

There are some mandatory costs for the visa, it was appr 1000 SEK if I remember right. Vaccinations can be expansive, depending which you (need to) choose.

There are several options for accommodation at NUS, however it is not easy to get what you ask for. The newest accomodation is called U-Town and has great facilities. This is in my opinion the best choice. I stayed at Prince George's Park Residences, which were a bit older but still a good choice. In general try to get a room with air condition. You might get used to you heat but not your clothes. I had a room without A/C and many of my clothes which I did not wear that often started to mould.

The shared showers were OK, but the toilets were not always left clean behind by the other corridor colleagues. I never used the shared kitchen besides for making my cup of coffee in the morning. But in general it was quit clean.

On the corridor, there was not so much social life going on, compared to student corridors in Stockholm. They have very strict policies. The student corridors are divided by gender and you are only allowed to have a visitor of the other gender on daytime with your room door left open. Also, on the whole campus smoking and drinking is officially forbidden. There is also a campus security.

I mostly worked on my own on my Master thesis, so I will not comment too much on studies. The environment of NUS is good, however they have a lack of ergonomic working places. So if you write on your thesis, you might want to escape to a Cafe sometimes.

Officially there are 4 languages in Singapore: English, Malay, Tamil and Chinese. Most of the signs are written in those four languages. Everybody speaks English or a kind of English, which is very specific for Singapore. So I would say the 5th big language is Singlish. You will learn some basics of this mixed language during your stay, lah!

NUS houses many different sport clubs and you can even go swimming on the local swimming pool. For some activities it was not that easy to participate. For example they built a new climbing wall on the campus during the time I stayed there, but only the official mountaineering team was allowed to train there.

There are many possibilities to spend your free time in Singapore. People in Singapore love malls and many of them spend their whole free time in malls. They host also bars, clubs, cinemas etc.

Also, there were many student parties at clubs. There are many facebook groups so it is very easy to get in contact with other students.

The best way to spend your free time is in my opinion by travelling. Singapore's location is great and there are many budget flights to small paradises. Check out Tiger Airways or Air Asia. And don't forget all the ferries and overnight buses leaving from Singapore! 

Singapore is the easiest accessible place to become acquainted to Southeast Asia.  It is safe, clean and houses many different cultures, including a great variety of cuisines. Also the university is of high quality and you will easily find contact to other (exchange) students. If you want to experience the "real" Southeast Asia, you should visit some other countries during your stay. Singapore is also a very posh place, but the city feels a bit like a facade and artificial in comparison to its neighbourhood. Not to mention the very strict laws and authoritarian style of the government. (Read up a bit before you travel.) But get a picture of Singapore on your own! It is definitely a great destination for a semester as an exchange student! So pack your shorts and go :)