1st April 2006 - Day 166

For in-flight entertainment, I have 3 babies wailing in front of me.

As I write this, I think about what happened 180 days ago when I first reached Karlsruhe, Germany for my Student Exchange Program (SEP) as part of an enrichment program under the National University of Singapore (NUS).

The main building of Universität Karlsruhe

I didn't count wrongly. I cheated and took a 14 days break back home over New Year. There were no entries between 26th December 2005 and 8th January 2006.

The familiar aisle in Aldi-Sud

The 4 semesters of German Preperation Classes at the Centre of Language Studies (CLS) have undoubtedly helped me navigate through the puzzling German administrative system, be it in the Universität, the Bürgerburo or the Bank. It would not be easy if I did not know any German and was thrown straight into this situation.

A piece of Stadt Karlsruhe in my memory

But, I didn't really improve in terms of language ability even though all my modules were conducted in German.

Generally speaking, SEP is an administrative nightmare which should be avoided at all cost, especially for one in which the language of instruction will not be English.

However, if you do manage to get pass the hurdles that stop you initially, the experience will stay with you for life.

Certainly, there are times when one feels lost and quite helpless in a new environment. Carry on doing what you are doing anyway. It beats staying at a spot.

Unquestionably, I do think certain personality types are more suitable for SEP. But whoever you are, it will definitely benefit you in some ways.

Students have different reasons for going on SEP. Some want fun, some want exposure to an international stage, and some just want to get away from NUS and S/U all their core modules. But whatever it is that you want, keep it clear in your mind and be sure that you get it at the end of your program.

I tried to document every day of my life during SEP so that I could recall what happened. As time passes by and with exposure to new experiences, only fragments of memories of my SEP will be left. But that's just me. I trust that others have better memory storage capacity.

In fact, I feel like as if I have never went for SEP.

A SEP cannot be simply classified as "fun" or "not fun". At least it would be difficult for me to answer the question. It is an experience. And everyone's experience living in a different country or town will definitely be different.

It was wonderful to have you, my friends, as readers of this blog. I shall post up a content page listed in chronological order for ease of reading and navigation at a later time.

So, I hereby declare the end of this journey.