First Day of School Awkwardness

As if the first day of school didn't already bring enough pressure to "fit in," now try the first day of school in an Asian country as a 5ft 9in American girl and eliminate any possibility of "blending in."

My first class (Services Marketing) started at 8:30 AM, I set my alarm for 7:00 AM anticipating 30-40mins being lost in search of my class despite the map I have printed and route planned.  

So naturally I don't wake up to my alarm, instead I wake up to my roommate getting ready for her class (which I remember starts 1 hour after mine) I look at the time and its 8:15 I skip the "getting ready" throw on a sun dress, brush my teeth, and bounce.  As planned, I had a solid 30-40 minutes of lost wandering on the wrong side of campus, ask for directions, but they only answers I got from other students were "no sorry, sorry."  Eventually I made it... 

I arrive early (learning from my mistake) for my next class (Consumer Behavior.)  I am very excited for this class because my interest in the psychology of consumers is why I decided to study marketing.  My excitement for this class is severely dampened after I meet the professor.  He begins with the standard procedures and what is expected of us during the course, then off topic he mentions "...well that might be just because I am sexist."  The Singaporean student sitting next to me half jokingly says "that might not be something you should be admitting out loud" and the teacher responds "I don't really care, it's true."  I guess discrimination legal, chewing gum... NOT so legal.  At first I was a little worried about the effect his personal ignorant perspective may have on getting the grade I deserve, but I am confident my projects will speak for themselves and MAYBE POSSIBLY help him be a little more open minded?

Later in this same class (like most first day of classes) we went around introducing ourselves, I said "My name is Nicole, I am studying marketing and at NTU on exchange from San Diego State University in California, the U.S."  In response I get "you cool governor!"  It made wonder how seriously people take us and our "govern-ator" aka the Hollywood actor better known for his role as the "Terminator," but other students expressed how "cool" it was that I was from somewhere that had so much consumer control over what brands would and wouldn't be popular across the rest of the world, this made me feel much better about being born and raised in Los Angeles.     

My Dorms at NTU

Sentosa Island, Singapore

Before I made my decision to study in Singapore I researched a little and Sentosa definitely had some influence on my decision because of its beautiful beaches and the opportunity to swim with pink dolphins!

To reach Sentosa we took the bus to the MRT station, to Harbour Front (South Singapore coast) then boat another bus ticket for SGD$3 across a bridge to Sentosa.  I was a bit disappointed upon arrival to see how "touristy" the Island is.  My initial reaction was "this seems like an amusement park!"  Little did I know Singapore Adeventureland will be opening up in 2010 on Sentosa, so I guess my intuition was correct.  No joke, the similarities to an amusement park consisted of a cartoon-like map given to us with purchase of the Sentosa bus ticket, a large Sentosa statue welcoming us, a tram taking us to the beaches and Marineworld Pink Dolphin Encounter, gift shops, and photo-opps.  None the less I still enjoyed every second of this mini day trip!