This entry is long over due…
Disclaimer: This entry, as critical as it may sound, it not targeted at anyone or any group or meant to belittle them. It is not an entry for policy, or even that of recommendation. It is just another personal view….
The Exchange Student need not just originate from the sunny island of Singapore, he or she could be could be from a university in Russia, from any South America state, Eastern Europe, South Asian or even African. He or she just aims to have a semester or an academic year in a university of another country. There are of course a couple of evident aims for the student: to explore a new country (even though he may have been there on holiday before), to experience a new teaching style and perhaps new facts, and well just have a relaxing life away from his old university life.
That’s all very fine. The trouble of course is what happens when he enters the new environment. Surely one can plan ahead nowadays, especially with the free flow of and abundance of information. So one should feel lost when he steps down from the plane. Yet, there’s no denying that he would try to find comfort with familiar faces, usually that of his race or nationality. It is no surprise that cultural and national groups at the university the exchange student would welcome that student with open arms and help him to settle in as smoothly as possible. Efforts to erase home sickness will soon be erased with their guidance and showering of activities that are so national linked. That’s all fine and dandy. No one said to leave your culture, your lifestyle and so on back home once you embark on this exchange. However here are two “don’ts” the Exchange Student should note:
1) Don’t mixed with your own countrymen practically every other day
Yes, its always natural to go back to familiar faces, names and of course habits and culture. But hey, you chose to be in a foreign country, a foreign institution. It doesn’t mean you go over there to experience a different form of teaching and studying but sticking to your fellow citizens forever will lead to you missing out the culture of the university, the city and the country. Of course, it will be a bit of a challenge getting to know the language (if it is not English), the accents and the customs. It was pretty odd for me for a short while getting used to “mate” and “darling” and other minute points of British culture. If you head overseas and shield yourself from the environment, you would have thrown away an opportunity and might as well have remained back home.
2) Don’t just stick to food that you know, especially food from your own country
This continues from the above point, though it really shouldn’t be a problem for Singaporeans who have lived in a globalised island where food from all corners of the world can be found there. So there’s nothing alien in the form of Fish and Chips and even roast. However, Singaporeans again may be Singaporeans and stick to their own food—especially the cup/bowl noodles and the hawker food. The Exchange Student may end up whining about missing so and so dish or attempting to duplicate his or her favourite dish from home.
Now, there is nothing wrong with yearning for a taste of home. What isn’t exactly benefiting the Exchange Student is he or she worked up over such food that the student does venture and try food from the country he or she is staying in. I’m talking about tasting delicacies and food that may not reach the shores of other countries. There’s no need to develop a liking in Black pudding or Chinese delicacies such as the gizzards of animals, or some Eastern European speciality. However, staying with the food from home in another country firstly separates any assimilation with the other environment and following that, you miss out on the true experience of being on an exchange.
Hmm, again another sloppy entry. Oh, others will be better.
LJS Blog 