the cure for island fever

Hey there –

I’m pretty sure (hoping anyway) none of you on exchange in the U.S. were directly affected by the killings at Virginia Tech, but I wanted to touch base with you and find out how you were doing and what the mood was like on your host campuses. 

Everybody doing alright? 

Nikki

it’s been an amazing time thus far here in australia. i really think so, at least for me cause i am spending alot more time idling around then studying. hahaha. i like it that way lah. but it just feels so….weird? cause back in ntu, i barely have time to even breathe. and i can’t believe the aussies/americans/germans/french - basically none singaporeans lah - find it stressful here. i think they’d die in ntu. haha. honestly!

it’s funny how i have to rush back singapore in june cause i have to take intersem otherwise i would have to overload myself with 7 subjects next sem, which is out of the question. it’s sad isn’t it. haha. oh well, at least i am having it easy over here now. (they only allow me to take four subjects)

as it was the easter break over the weekend, i caught up with xinjie and bernie in goldcoast and we visted this place called byron bay - one of those tourist attractions. it was fun and you know how liberal pple can get here. so we found ourselves facing stark naked men  man and over friendly strangers who practically choked xinjie when they wrapped their arms over her. i think it’s nice with all their friendliness and everything, but too much is an overkill lah. haha.

and here’s some pictures we took at byron bay. but i didn’t see the beauty which everyone says exists there but probably cause it was just raining non-stop then.

Hi all -

The blog is now open for anyone to view.  I’ve written to the year 1 and 2s and pointed them to the site.  Students interested on exchange can now peruse the site and post questions for you here about your experiences.  Some of your friends in year 2 may just check in with you for fun. 

If you want, you should also feel free to write a post dedicated your host university.  You may also want to check some of your earlier posts in case someone adds a comment or two.

For those of you interested in exchange, please do post your questions. Your friends can help discuss the pros and cons with you.

Take care,

Nikki

I just have to share the joy of listening to National Day Songs!

Download them all at http://www.singsingapore.org.sg/songs-content.asp

My personal favourites are “Five Stars Arising”, “The Little Things”, “Home” and “One People, One Nation, One Singapore”… what’s yours?

It all started when I decided to write a paper about National Day Songs for my ethnomusicology paper, and now I’m hooked on these songs! They bring back the memories of singing them in school and during National Day… remember? Ahhh, the power of music to generate a collective sense of nationhood in all of us!

And as I listened to “Stand Up For Singapore” I was inspired to write my philosophy paper defending the why a limited government as compared to a absolute government is undesirable and impossible…

Enjoy!

Hi all –

 I received the following email from a NTU student on exchange in the U.S. who is organizing a couple of tours for the very low price of US$450.  I’m not endorsing the guy and I have no knowledge about the quality of the experience, but this smells like a bargain and I know how you guys love a good deal . . . so, I’m passing the info along.

The student’s name is Lee Cheow Peng Wilson.  His email and other contact info is below.

Hope you are all doing well. 

 Take care,

N

***********************************************************8

 I am a student on an overseas attachment in the States. I will be organizing 2 tours in June 2007, an 8-days East Coast (New York, Washington, Niagara Falls, Boston, Rhode Island and New Jersey) and a 7-days Yellowstone tour (Yellowstone, Salt Lake City, Bryce Canyon, Kanab, Grand Canyon, Las Vegas, Bay Area). Both for less than US$450 each. The Yellowstone tour package may be extended to include Disneyland, Sea World, Universal Studio at Los Angeles for less than US$750 (10 days).

I think this is a good opportunity for NTU students to travel together, and with the increase in price of petrol, it is really not worth to drive now. The packages include hotel accommodations and tickets to cruises, museums and parks along the way. Only meals are not provided. The tour agencies also help look out for affordable air flights to and from the places and free pick-ups at the airports.

I have found a few agencies with the following tours and would approach them in the weeks to come to obtain a more competitive pricing. However, I would like to seek your assistance in disseminating this email to your students. They can contact me via my email leec0032@ntu.edu.sg with the number of interested parties, their current locations, any other suggestion and write-up on themselves or their group.

Those interested in joining the tour MUST CONFIRM with me by 28th April. Feel free to enquire more about the tour and remember to provide me with detailed write-ups to make arrangements easier before the deadline.

Finally, if your students would like to travel on their own, they can visit http://www.eusatravelguide.com/welcome.php?lang=en to request for free official visitor guides to be sent to them.

Thank you for your help and kindly cc me if you were to send out this email.

Regards,

Wilson

California

Spring break lasted for a week. Headed down to Gulfport in Mississippi on a Hurricane Katrina Relief. Hammered plenty of nails, tore up floor boards, moved door hinges, did some painting, moulding for bathroom and cleaning up. Questioned myself a thousand times why i was spending my time hammering nails instead of laying at the beach and possibly sipping on some cool lemonade. Vented a lot of frustration on those horrid nails. But at the end of the day, truly satisfied with what i did.

Here’s some pictures.

Hi all –

You may have heard by now that SCI has revised its curriculum structure and the courses on offer.  Although the rollout of the new curriculum affects the lower division students (next year’s year 1 & year 2s), some questions amongst your batch have naturally cropped up. 

I’ve attached the power point slides from Dr. Schubert Foo below for your information.  You may also go to SCI’s website and check out the new curriculum on offer beginning 07/08.  The link to the school’s website is in the blogroll on the right hand side of this page.   I sat on EBM’s curriculum revision team, so I’m happy to answer questions as I can.  But Dr. Schubert Foo is available at the year 2 edventure site to answer questions about this as well.  So, you should go there as well and post any questions you might have.

I’ll answer two questions which have already cropped up:

1.  What happens if I couldn’t match my core/PEs while I was overseas?  I don’t see the class there anymore.  How am I going to make it up? 

        Although the course numbers, and in some cases the course titles have changed, in large part, the year 1 and 2 courses are still available.  Most of the changes we made to the curriculum were to add more offerings.  I can’t really think of any of the major year 2 cores (201, 202, 203) which are no longer there.  The name may be changed slightly.  For some PEs, like BAV for example, the course has been renumbered, renamed, and re-designed as Image and Sound Production, but essentially, there is still an introductary production course which you could take.   

Even if we wiped something completely off the map, we’d work with you to come up with a reasonable substitute for the requirement.  So, don’t worry, we won’t leave you to twist in the wind.

2.  Can I take any of the new courses in the lower division (this is the new term for year 1 and year 2 courses)?

      Can, lah. 

Take care,

Nikki

The PPT slides below

2007curriculum-briefing.ppt

Hi all –

 When we first debated the idea of a blog, I said that we’d start off as a private blog and then we could discuss opening it up if you wanted. 

I’m wondering what you think about opening up the blog for others to view.  Part of the reason I’m motivated to do this is that I’m going to give the exchange briefing on April 11th and I thought it might be nice for students curious about exchange to be able to come onto the blog, read about your experiences and ask you questions about life overseas. 

How does that sound to you?  You can comment here or if you may email me directly at tnldraper@ntu.edu.sg. 

I know many of you are on spring break — so I’ll give us until Monday April 2nd to discuss it (if it needs discussion!)

Hope everyone is doing well!  FYP deadline is next week and the year 4s are walking around like characters out of a horror film.  BAV students are headed off to shoot this weekend.  Year 3s are also bleary with PI.  But for the most part, life seems to be clicking along over here.

Take care,

Nikki

on behalf of bernie, xinjie and myself, here’s a quick update of what occupied our saturday last week.

Keep reading →

This happened a week ago, but it suddenly came to my attention that I paid US$20 for nasi lemak, teh and four curry puffs. WHAT?

Haha… thus the title.Well, not shiok, but satisfying. Beggars can’t be choosers right? Haha.

It was at this placed called Malaysia Kopitiam, but when you open the menu, it was local food fare! Char Kway Tiao, Poh piah… gosh… to top off that, the waitress (auntie) was wearing the kebaya that our SIA girls wear! What a sight. (Notice, it’s a period not an exclamation mark)

There is actually another restaurant just around the corner, Penang, that serves local food too. We were told from people working at the Singapore Embassy here that there is where they cater local food for their functions. We actually attended a Chinese New Year dinner at the embassy and got to meet other students studying  in the DC area. Apparently, there are quite a few Singaporean students studying at Georgetown University and John Hopkins… scholars, I heard. Haha…

Well, the good thing is Spring is finally coming and my spring break is just two days away. Many of the students have been skipping classes and thus to reward those who attend, my lecturers have been giving out pop quizzes for extra credit. They are really hard…

My philosophy tutor was hilarious, he came in and looked around and said, “Get ready for a pop quiz.”. I froze like everyone before I took out my paper to answer his question, then he said, “You don’t need paper, just answer these 3 questions on my paper… Your name, university ID and who do you prefer, Hobbes or Locke?” Haha… he did it again today…  “Oh dear, looks like I’ll have to give you another pop quiz. This time round, it’s going to be more difficult! Your name, your university ID and who is your favourite philosopher?” After that, he decided to cancel tutorial sessions on Friday.

Gosh, I wish my exams were that fun.

The weather’s been so good that I’ve been heading out for class in my t-shirt and bermudas! Hooray! I even had an opportunity to bask under the sun at the mall (lawn) while waiting for my next class… some students were literally sun-tanning!