My Preparation for Exchange

Things you should do during Preparation:

1. Not mind going solo

When deciding on my host university, all I wanted was to not be alone. Boy was I stupid! Exchange is a time for you to explore and be adventurous - basically an opportunity for you to pretend to be another person you never dared to be. When you are cool with being alone, you will then find out what you really want from the exchange programme and hence, be able to find the perfect country and university for that. 

I kinda regret choosing my host uni. Chose it out of convenience and cause I wanted to be with a friend. I just found out that the modules offered there are hardly anywhere near my interest. They also have really strict policies on module applications for exchange students :( 

2. Accommodation

I waited and waited. And waited. Waited for my host university to accept me (even though I knew they were probably going to accept me anyway since I was already approved by my home uni). Waiting was a terrible thing to do. I should have looked for accommodation the moment my school approved me. I should have! But I didn't. Right now, I am totally freaking out because property agents are not replying my emails about property enquiry! 

I was so desperate that I called them all the way from Singapore. I have to tell this story - the dude who picked up the phone didn't sound English at all. And I gave him my family name and he was like "Oh sounds like a Chinese name" and I said, "Oh yes it is". 那你可以讲普通话吗？I cried HAHAHA the entire conversation was in Chinese but it was way easier for him? So I guess I didn't mind if I managed to get what I needed done. 

When choosing and shortlisting property, my group took into account the distance it was from the university, the cost and also the amenities (e.g. dryer, internet). It rains almost every single day at some places and it will be almost impossible for your clothes to dry without a dryer. 

3. Check the weather

Google, please. There are a thousand websites on the Internet that are going to be really helpful. But please do not JUST look at the temperature. Look out for comments about the weather. Those comments are going to be way more useful as they will talk about other things like the wind (which kills). And ask friends! I am so lucky to have a friend studying just 15 minutes away from where I will be. I hope she won't start hating me for bombarding her with questions soon.

4. Budget

I think this is one of the hardest things to do for anything. How much is enough and how much is too much? My friend was a genius and dug out an exchange reflections report (they have at your school's office too) and seniors who have been to the same place as you will talk about their spending there and also tips on how to get the best deals! :) Accommodation, airfare, travel, textbooks, food, personal expenses... They even inserted photos of themselves at the destination! Hahaha!

5. Visa

Check if your host country requires you to apply for a VISA. Singaporean students do not require a VISA for exchange in the United Kingdom (UK). And I didn't know that.

"I finally received my acceptance letter and it instructed me to apply for a visa. I stupidly filled in the visa application form and was asked to pay like a huge amount of the visa. wtfuck hor i go exchange only. Need to spend so much money meh? Then an hour later, I realised I didn't even need a visa. Kinda spent the entire night filling up application forms for nothing... f**king stupid."

Update:

6. Tracking Travel Expenses

Just got back from a short trip to Taiwan and I attempted to track my expenses. And oh boy was it one of the best decisions I have made. I ain't no excel genius / nbs student / engineering student. My knowledge of excel is terribly limited but I managed to cook up an excel sheet that allows me to keep track of my expenses (included some formulas that helped me look at both currencies, and total spending, etc) There are so many changes I can make it to it but I am lazy now... But here is a screenshot of how my excel sheet looked like after the second day.

There are a few redundant columns (like the currency and conversion columns) and a few more useful ones that could be added. :) If you are interested in tracking your expenses with my very lousy formulated excel sheet, you may find it here: Travel Expenses.xlsx

I will probably update this post about my preparation until I actually embark on my adventure out to Newcastle. 

1st post-exam: bintan

It was not long ago that I last went back to Bintan. This trip was special because I had a special companion. :)

How handsome is he? *.*  

:):):) 

It was great having him around. He was like a little child, getting so excited over the smallest things - from the instant noodles to the "shopping malls" they had at Tj. Pinang. And I was glad that he went. I was down with food poisoning (I reckon) on the first night cause I overate. Poor boy had to stay up all night to accompany me, listen to me moan and groan in pain and to rub my fat belly with oil. 

Happy Birthday Jun Yang and I really hope you enjoyed the trip and our little adventure around Singapore. Right now, you are probably struggling to finish the Standard Chartered half marathon. 加油！I will be at the finish line waiting for you with some awesome tuna biscuit sandwich and toasted sandwich. (It's all about sandwiches today!) 

In other news, I have started my internship at Viddsee and I am so excited to see how things work out! :) I guess it is always exhilarating to be in a new company with new colleagues (and they happen to be very nice people who seem genuine). Hopefully my experience there will be interesting enough for me to be able to write a substantial post about it. (and we all know how terrible I am with writing)

m o r e t i m e f o r d i y p r o j !