It was a sunny day when my plane was descending from an eight hour flight from Doha International Airport into Singapore's Changi International Airport. As I looked out the left window, I could see the famous boat like structure on top of Marina Bay Sands, the Singapore Flyer Ferris Wheel, and even the Supertrees. When the plane finally touched the ground and came to a stop, my first thought was "This is it. I'm actually here".
I didn't think that these past five months would have gone by as quickly as they did. There were certainly dull times throughout the semester where the days went by and all I had done was stay in my room and do some work. However, as I have to come to learn, studying abroad doesn't necessarily mean doing something new every moment. Often times people studying abroad say they have been enlightened or have changed as a person. While I can't necessarily say that I have changed, I have learned a lot more about the world through the lens of the locals in Singapore and the countries I have visited. I have enjoyed having meaningful conversations with my fellow exchangers about their home countries and how their culture is similar and different from my own.
Looking back on my semester, I don't have many, if any, regrets. There are some things that I wish I had known before coming to Singapore. These things include basic things like sunscreen (it costs so much here!), an umbrella (despite all of the sun, it rains at any given moment in Singapore), and also general assumptions such as spending. While the food in Singapore is cheap, I have found myself being constantly low in cash. Singapore is mostly a cash based economy. The country is moving towards being cashless by encouraging people to pay with NETS, the Network for Electronic Transfers. NETs is a national electronic payment system that is owned by banks in Singapore including DBS, OCBC, and UOB.
I also did not think that I would become as patriotic as I have this semester. I have spent multiple months outside of America visiting family in India in the past and I had never missed home as much as I did this year. It might be because I have been visiting India since I was little and it has also become my home. In Singapore, where I am surrounded by other Americans instead of my Indian family members, I have been reminded of the States a lot and felt homesick several times throughout the semester. For example, when walking up a bridge to cross the street and looking at the buildings in downtown Singapore, I felt like I was in Boston for a few minutes. As an American, when you come to Singapore or study abroad in general, you get asked a lot of questions by international students about their feelings about American politics. It is difficult to be proud of the state of affairs with the government and political scene in the States. However, on a less macro perspective, I have throughout the semester found myself comparing life in Singapore to life back at home. Things I look forward to doing back home include cooking, driving, seeing my friends, exploring the streets of Boston and working in the city, living in D.C., and eating homemade food. One piece of advice my mother gave to me when I was missing home and comparing Singapore to America was that I shouldn't expect things to be similar to home. I intentionally studied abroad and went out of my comfort zone and should therefore expect the environment and culture to be different. It's okay to miss home, but it's also important to remember that all of the amenities of home are obviously not going to exist in a different country.
As I have said before, Singapore has been my home for the past five months. The memories I've made, the people I've met, and the experiences I've had will always have a special place in my heart. I will miss sitting and studying in Starbucks with friends as I am right now writing this post. I will miss the poorly planned dinner plans with friends as we end up eating in the local dining hall. I will miss having to trek to the metro stop on campus to get fruits and milk among other groceries. I will miss laughing at the silly antics of my "80 year old" professor for my Global Economic Dimensions of Singapore class. I will miss joking around with my local friends as we procrastinate on our project. I will miss exploring the city at night and walking down the brightly lit streets of Arab Street. I will miss everything that I've done here but know that I will come back in the future to visit. There is so much that I have yet to see and to explore within South East Asia. I will be traveling to India next week from Singapore to visit family for two weeks. Then, finally, around May28th/29th, I will arrive back in the States. Leaving Singapore will be bittersweet for me; however, as I have said about my trip in Vietnam, it's not a goodbye, it's a see you later!