Bangkok!

Hello everyone,

The third week of school was pretty good.  It seems I have FINALLY figured out my official schedule for this semester, and it looks like I will graduate in May as planned.  This issue has been gnawing at me for a long time; so, this weekend I will completely forget about it as my friends and I take over Bangkok, Thailand!  This will be my second trip out of Singapore.  We will be staying for three nights and exploring as much as we can.  I believe this is the biggest city I will have ever been to, next to NYC.  I will be sure to provide some fun and interesting stories when I return on Sunday.

I am very interested to hear what is happening back on the other side of the world.  Do not be shy, leave comments!

Thanks for reading!

What's the difference between monkeys and young brothers?

Not much... I am sitting in my hostel in Kuala Lampur, Malaysia about ready to go to bed.  We arrived Friday afternoon and plan to take another bus home late tomorrow night.  It's not my favorite city in the world, but I finally made it out of Singapore and into more of SE Asia!  The name of our hostel is Reggae Guest House #2.  It is very laid back and fun, with low prices.  Today, we started the day off at the Batu Caves.  They were very impressive and FULL of crazy monkeys.  The monkeys would take things from people, fight each other, and run around liked they owned the place.  I guess they had more ownership rights than us tourists... We spent the rest of the day eating in Little India and touring more of the city.  Tomorrow, we wake up bright and early for a trek through the rainforest!  Okay, I guess I have it pretty good :). 

Thanks be to God, I'll keep you all updated!

Time Flies

I meant to make a post every 3-4 days and to my surprise it has been eight!  There are reasons for these things... School has begun and it is a whirlwind around here.  Exchange students, including myself, are frantically contacting advisors and professors attempting to register for the classes they need!  There are now 30,000 students on campus walking, running, busing, and driving on the wrong side of the road or path!  International students are beginning to plan trips to other countries while the locals start studying!  Lastly, we are all joining clubs and sports teams to try to be involved in something more than the nightlife and touring SE Asia.

In the past week, I have continued to meet great people and experience more of Singapore.  For example, on Friday I took the MRT and buses halfway across the island in the pouring rain in order to meet a businessman here.  He was kind enough to give me some great insight on the culture in order to help me with a research project.  As expected, we discussed our lives and families for the first 15 minutes as he handed me his business card with two hands.  After the last 45 minutes of our meeting he proceeded to take me out to lunch at a local country club.  I was encouraged to try some traditional Singapore food.  I had never eaten a whole fish before...

To say the least, things are going well and I'm being challenged in several areas of my life.  This experience is about growing holistically and I know that is and will be the case.  By the way, I learned that my university has Campus Crusade!  I attended their first meeting and I will be placed into a small group this week :).

Thanks for reading!

I guess I forgot titles were an option...

They forget to tell you STUDYing abroad includes class... This week starts week 1 of my final year as an undergraduate student.  Nanyang Technological University is a large and competitive school; therefore, registration can be a nightmare.  However, by God's grace things usually work out for me and so far they have.  I should be registered for all of my classes within the next two days.  And I forgot to mention, class should only be Monday-Wednesday :).

In the first week I managed to cram in many fun experiences, as I noted in the last two posts.  However, my favorite occurred on Sunday.  We went to Puala Ubin Island, about a 15 minute ferry ride from the main island.  There we encountered dense rainforests hosting monkeys and wild boar.  I rode my first tandem bike through the forest with my Scottish friend, Andrew.  There were about ten of us in all, representing six countries.  I love being an international business student.

Much Love!

WOW.  I arrived on Monday and this week has been overwhelming, shocking, outrageous, and fun.  There are about 550 international students at my school, Nanyang Technological University, coming from 30 countries.  It is amazing to see how the stereotypes fail when you find hundreds of adventurous students coming together for a common purpose.  Everyone is making lasting friendships and plans to travel Singapore and SE Asia together.  We are all experiencing something totally new creating memories that will drop jaws of the people who never had it in them to study abroad.

So far, I have been to Chinatown, Little India, Marina Bay, and several other amazing places.  I saw the best fireworks of my life yesterday and have already eaten liver, stomach, and frog legs.  To say the least, I am open to just about everything as I try to jam pack as much as I can in these four and a half months. Now, I am off to a wakeboarding cable park and Sentosa Beach for the day.  I am so incredibly thankful for everything here!

I'll keep you posted :)

As I sit in the San Francisco airport, three hours from heading to Tokyo and then on to Singapore, I am attempting to figure out how I got to this point.  Three years ago, I was starting to pack for my freshman year at Central Michigan University.  I knew that I would enjoy business because I like working with people, and I decided to add International to the mix so I could possibly get some travel benefits in the future.  Well, here I am ready to embark on my second semester study abroad experience.  I have never traveled across an ocean, and the majority of what I know about Asia I have learned on restaurant menus.

Yet, there are a few things that I know for sure.  The next four and a half months are going to be life-changing.  I am going to establish lasting friendships with other adventurous people from all over the world.  I will see the beauty of southeast Asian geography and culture.  Lastly, I will constantly get out of my comfort zone as I create memories for the future grandchildren.  I thank God every day for the life he has given me, and I will not take it for granted.

See you in Singapore soon!