After my semester abroad, I’ve been back in the country since March and had a lot of time to review all my experiences. In summary I can say: it was the best decision of my life to go to Singapore and I really had no problems at all. I would also like to express my great praise to MicroEDU as a recruitment agency, because they prepared everything very well and were always on hand with advice and action.
Tourist Attractions
Despite its size, Singapore really has a lot to offer. I was particularly fascinated by the fact that city and nature are so close to one another: there is a jungle right in the middle of Singapore and there are also many reservoirs spread over the whole country (caution: you can’t swim, it could – as always in Singapore – beckoning a hefty fine).
You really have to go to the Mc Ritchie Reservoir once if you are doing your semester abroad in Singapore. From there you can do a 10 km run, the so-called Tri Top Walk, the highlight of which is a bridge over the trees. From there you have a gigantic view.
Just as interesting about Singapore are the different cultures that live together in a very small space, but somehow don’t live together. Anyone who has ever been there will understand what I mean. Each “inhabitant nation” has its own small area in which they mainly stay. Whether it’s Little India, Chinatown or Arab street, all of these places are a definite must-see in Singapore. These places are highly recommended, especially when it comes to clothing and culinary delights. If you can’t see Asian food anymore, there are also two Ikeas that offer the usual Swedish food;)
In addition, you have to have been to the Marina Bay Sands. This is the famous hotel, the roof of which is strongly reminiscent of a boat. From there you have a gigantic view. Normally the ascent costs something (I don’t know how much, but I mean around S $ 30), but on Wednesday you can go up for free due to the Ladies Night, because there is also a highly recommended club;)
Furthermore, it is Especially for nature lovers Botanic Gardens (right next to the MRT station of the same name) and Gardens by the Bay (right next to Marina Bay Sands) a very good address. Here you can just let your mind wander when you’re fed up with the big city.
Singapore is also interesting for beach lovers: the man-made island of Sentosa invites you to come to you with various events such as concerts, a wide variety of attractions such as the casino or I-Fly, Universal Studios and of course the beach (please don’t expect too much, as said artificially) Visit a. You can easily get to Sentosa via the MRT, by the way.
- Learn more information about the country of Singapore and continent of Asia on computerdo.
A very special place is also the party street par excellence: Clarke Quay (pronounced: Clark Key). In addition to bars and great clubs, there is also the so-called bridge, which is known to all party people – a bridge that crosses the small river in Clarke Quay. Here you can meet all the people who are in the mood for a party on Wednesdays (Ladies Night everywhere), Fridays and Saturdays. There is also the bungee ball, which you absolutely have to try out – an absolutely great experience!
Now let’s come to the somewhat difficult subject of accommodation. The university works with a rental company, KaizerHalls, but it is not really recommended. I lived there myself and apart from the very good location (directly across from the university) I don’t have a lot of positive things to say. You usually live with a large number of students in an apartment or house and pay a comparatively high amount.
My alternative suggestion would be: look for a cheap hostel for the beginning (Backpacker SG in Bugis is recommended) and then look for it on site so that you can look at the apartments before moving.
Basically, a price of around 500 €, i.e. 750 S $, can be expected for a single or double room in a shared apartment including additional costs.
University
So the main campus is really nicely designed and invites you to linger and learn. You can also take part in many activities such as yoga, table tennis and football.
In my opinion, the course contents are not really comparable to those in Germany. As a European, you are often under-challenged in the lectures and surprised by the sometimes very poor English of your fellow students.
In addition, you have to be prepared for the fact that there is absolute compulsory attendance, which is controlled with fingerprints and can lead to expulsion from the country if not observed. You also have to expect to have to do a lot of tasks (mostly 10-page essays) as subtasks for grades, so that the effort for the subjects is relatively high, even if the demand is rather low. In principle, I can recommend the subjects Service Quality Management and Consumer Behavior. These were quite interesting and also connected with field trips.
In my opinion, the grading at this university is very arbitrary. Some professors say right from the start that it is not possible to achieve the best grade (grading system is HD, D, C, P and F for fail), others do not even read the essays properly and give all students with a few exceptions the same grade, others give an HD (= High Distinction) for a good layout and appropriate length of the text.
It is therefore advisable to find out exactly what the curriculum looks like for the respective subject and how much effort it will take beforehand. It is also an advantage if you just have to pass the courses (which is easy) and the JCU grades are not transferred to Germany, because that way you can destroy your hard-earned average under certain circumstances.
Nonetheless, the university experience really helped me a lot. In particular, the hard work with the essays has improved my English a lot and also trained me in dealing with English sources, which will definitely benefit me in the future.
Summary
All in all, this was really an experience that I wouldn’t want to miss for anything in the world. It also looks really great on the résumé and is definitely recommended.
