Zoo, Night Safari, Dragon Boat Racing - oh my!

The past few days have been completely overtaken by classes and then suddenly - fun stuff! :) We went to the Singapore Zoo, then the Night Safari (the evening zoo, basically), and then to the National Dragon Boat Racing Championship today!


The zoo was absolutely amazing! There was even a special "Cat Country" which was just perfect for me :) They had white tigers, leopards, jaguars, a cheetah, cougars, and more. They also had so many different animals that I had never seen or heard of before. It was so very foreign, but familiar at the same time! It was so similar to our own North Carolina Zoo, but some of the animals there I didn't even know existed!


Our first experience with the Night Safari was a fire dance performance outside of the exhibits, which was really impressive to watch. It was really unnerving to walk around a zoo with very few lights and in the dark, but it was also exciting and so different! It was even more of a challenge to find the animals in all of the exhibits, due to the night-time aspect. The Singapore Zoo and the Night Safari were also extremely open areas - we were around so many animals that we very easily could have touched or could have touched us! They had a lot of enclosed areas where the animals roam freely and you can walk among them. It was a very new experience!



The Dragon Boat races we went to were for the national championship. It was so exciting, especially seeing so many different countries and Singaporean colleges compete! It was basically a rowing competition, but it's special due to the dragon-design of the boats and the use of drums.

I got to have a lot of new experiences these past few days! But now, I'm off to eat some cheese pizza and enjoy some Western food to cure a bit of homesickness :)

Classes!

I don't have much to add at the moment because classes are consuming my soul at the moment :) We have a five-page essay for our Thailand History segment due next week, as well as a five-page essay on the politics of Southeast Asia and a five-page essay on the economics of Southeast Asia, not to mention our finals coming up! This means that I've been working hard and opting more to stay in and study the readings rather than be adventuresome, sorry! :) "Study" comes before "abroad" in studying abroad, though, I have to admit!

Instead, here are some pictures that other people have uploaded that I thoroughly enjoy! :) Hope you enjoy them too!

Singapore at night, from our home stay house! It's gorgeous :)


A dinner outing in Malaysia to a REALLY GOOD restaurant! We also ended up paying about $30 for a meal...for eight people! You can't beat some of the exchange rates here!


Myself, along with Angela and Beth, in front of the Esplanade. I like how I am the only one looking at the camera in this picture :D

A guy was nice enough to take our picture at the Botanical Garden together on our excursion through the Orchid Walk!

A picture of our home stay in Zhiqi's grandparent's flat! Alyzza, sitting beside me, are smiling a little too much because we were mean to each other right before the picture and now look like the best of friends :) I really do enjoy the company of most of my fellow SEAS participants!

Since things are going to be crazy the rest of the week, I'll probably do the same tomorrow and post some more of other people's wonderful pictures...hope they don't mind :D

Recuperation!

After being out for nearly a week, I'm finally doing better (thanks to the overwhelming amount of pills prescribed to me) and will just conveniently forget my trip to Malaysia, considering the wonderful impact it made on me...:)


This past weekend we went to Pulau Ubin - considered the "last village" of Singapore on a very untouched island full of tropical vegetation, dirt roads, and a thriving tourist population. We were able to see a granite quarry that had been filled in by water over the years, but even then...it was a familiar sight, considering Mount Airy's infamous granite! Cycling all over the island was amazing and we also got to go walking on a coastal boardwalk to see the mangroves that protect the island. Mangrove forests are a very important part of tropical environments as they host many species of creatures, prevent soil erosion, and just protect the main islands in general from storms and bad weather.


Today was the beginning of our last real week of classes (which is exciting, I must admit!) This week we don't have anything official planned, instead having lots of optional excursions. So today, some of our wonderful Singaporean friends hosted a picnic for us at Singapore's National Botanical Garden and it was absolutely amazing! Free food and lots of good company, as well as pretty flowers all around :) I took lots of pictures, just for my grandparents, of the Orchid Garden!


Our trip is definitely starting to wind down - hopefully I will be able to blog more about this experience after the fact, and I'm determined to write more while I'm in China! If I have any luck, I won't be out an entire week due to sickness in China, either...!

Malaysia & More

After spending the past four days in Malaysia, I have come back to Singapore and am thoroughly sick :) I will try to blog about Malaysia as soon as these symptoms run their course!

The Hwa Chong Institution

Yesterday we were able to grace the Hwa Chong Institution with our very American presence (as if they need anything else to grace their beautiful campus!) :) It was an absolutely fascinating and very educational experience as we got to learn a lot about one of the top schools in Singapore - something that is not to be taken lightly.

(The campus was beautiful at the Hwa Chong Institution! This is a statute that rests in the center, immortalizing the founder of the Institution)

There are public schools in Singapore, but Hwa Chong is an "independent" school. There are eight independent schools and Hwa Chong is basically the top of everything (or so we were under the impression). It is different because it is a 6-year long education program, instead of being split up into the different schools that most Singaporeans go through. For most, there are six years of compulsory elementary school and then a large exam takes place that includes science, math, English, and a second language, usually Mandarin Chinese. If you pass this exam, you are allowed to go on to junior high for four years. After junior high there are O (for Ordinary) level exams. Even by your exam after elementary school, your path to go into the good schools or not-as-good schools has been determined (and a good school essentially equals a bright future, though that is not always the case). If you do well in your O level exams, you are admitted into senior high school and not many people are allowed on to high school at all. After high school there are the A (not sure what this stands for) level exams to go on to university. Schooling starts at age 6, just like our education system.

Hwa Chong is different since you are admitted after your first six years of elementary school and stay, so it's like a combined junior and senior high school (and very prestigious!) Courses are taught in the required English and Mandarin Chinese languages, since the institution (founded in 1919) started as a Chinese High School. The Hwa Chong Institution has produced 47 President's Scholars, which is the highest award that can be given to students. And yes, Singapore does have a President, though they also have a Prime Minister and a Parliament! :)

(Our whole group, finally together in one spot for a great picture on the steps of the Hwa Chong Institution! The whole Institution spanned over 70 acres in prime Singapore land, though, with many ministers of Parliament living nearby)

We were allowed to take a tour with a Hwa Chong student and he let us bother him with our tons of questions (our professors have also gotten pretty used to being plagued by our group's constant questions!) Just like in American high schools, there were plenty of groups and clubs and sports to choose from. Some of the interesting clubs/musical groups/sports to me were: Lion Dance Club, Mathematics Appreciation Club, Chinese Orchestra, Bowling, Judo, Tennis (they have tennis here too!), Rugby, Guitar Club, Photographic Society, and more. The list of things for Hwa Chong to boast was impressive, to say the least!

One of the most shocking things to us, however, was the length of the school day. Students technically have class from 8 until 1:30, with each day beginning with the raising of the flag, reciting the national pledge, and singing the national anthem (a tradition they picked up from the US!) However, after they have lunch at 1:30, students are required to stay at school until about 5 or 6 to do extracurriculars and extra things for classes. And after that, they still have homework to do! That was mind boggling :)

It was an eye-opening experience, though it's still clear that many aspects of Singapore are very westernized. Being able to talk to Singaporean students, however, and seeing the Southeastern Asian aspect of things was all very exciting!

Some order to the chaos

(A picture from our first day in Singapore - getting used to the climate and the large amount of activities ahead of us!)

Today was the first day of just classes and nothing else, so it's been a big break for everyone (especially those that want to go do their own thing!) Every day, Monday through Friday, we have classes from 9-12 and usually an afternoon activity or an evening activity. Instead of an activity, today our History professor showed us a movie called Singapore Dreaming that was absolutely WONDERFUL. It gave us all a lot of insight on a hidden part of Singapore and yes, there were subtitles so we could understand what was going on :)

One thing about Singapore is that, being a nation that separated from Malaysia in the 1960's and having been formed solely of immigrants from other nations, the "native" Singaporeans are nonexistant. Race is a very big thing here and there are four main categories that people are placed into: Chinese, Malay, Indian, or Other (including Caucasians, Eurasians, and Peranakan - a fusion of Chinese and Malay). Since these are the main types of Singaporeans in the country, there are four official languages and EVERYTHING must be made available in these languages. From this, the Singaporean culture has created their own mixture of languages called Singlish
though we haven't been exposed to it very much thus far. If I learn any new words, I will share. :) This made the movie really interesting, however, as there was an occasional English word thrown into the mix - it was exciting!

(A picture of me in front of the skyline of Singapore! It's extremely hot here and very tropical, but very industrialized and modern. Singapore isn't really like any other place out there!)

In my classes, we have our Southeast Asian History course from 9 until 10:20, have a break, and then resume with the Politics and Economics of Southeast Asia from 10:30 until 12. The readings have been overwhelming so far, to say the least, sense it is all incredibly dense material - but we are all still just trying to get used to being in Singapore, too! :) Our History course is taught by Dr. Ser Hwee Quek, an NUS professor (who actually teaches American Studies to her other students!) The other course is taught by Professor Layna Mosley and Professor Andrew Reynolds, both UNC professors who came with us on the trip. A lot of our afternoon activities (like our trip to the various Boards that govern different aspects of Singapore) will give us a lot of insight on the information we're learning in our classes! This past week, the events were more of a basic introduction and bracing us for the massive amount of learning ahead :) The one notable learning trip was to Parliament, which I can talk about later, as well as our trip tomorrow to the Hwa Chong Institution, a school in Singapore!