NUS 경험보고서

Modules

Campus

Architecture style in NUS is not that beautiful compared to KU, however, NUS campus has better landscape with high afforestation coverage. The biggest feature of this campus is there’s no elevator in teaching buildings thus NUS is also called as “National University of Stairs”. With all buildings connect to each other and stairs here and there, new students can easily lose their way in campus. My advice is bring campus map or download NUS map apps to your phone in case of losing your way.

Food

NUS has really great canteens. Every single department has its own canteen, as well as in dormitories, where you can get a variety of flavors, Chinese food, Western food, Japanese food, Indian food, Korean food and so on. Drinks, snacks and fruits are also offered in canteen, but there’s no alcohol allowed in campus.

Dormitory

NUS has two types of dormitories, Houses and Residences. The main difference is Houses have meal plan while Residences do not. Most exchange students live in Prince George’s Park Residence and Graduate Residence in U-Town.

Transport

Taxi-It’s pretty convenient to get taxi in Singapore, since there are more than 15,000 vehicles move around the city and you can call a taxi simply by sending a message.

Bus-Don’t try buses unless you know the city very well, because they never announce stops.

MRT-MRT is the main transport mean during my stay in Singapore. NUS has Kent Ridge MRT station nearby and it can send you everywhere in Singapore. So please remember to buy a transportation card as soon as you arrive.

Shuttle bus-There are four separate NUS internal shuttle bus services (Line A, B, C and D) plying the campus. Line A, includes A1 and A2, is the main line. It sends students from Kent Ridge MRT station into the campus. Student living in PGPR can take A1 to Kent Ridge station and take A2 to business school, while Line D is mainly for the convenience of students living in U-Town.

Climate

Located 1 degree north of equator, Singapore’s climate is tropical rainforest climate with no true distinct seasons. During my stay in Singapore, from January to May, the temperature is all day around 25°C to 30°C suggesting that wearing short pants and T-shirts with short sleeves is enough. But you do need to bring a jacket when go to the classroom or library, since NUS has really good air condition system with an average indoor temperature of 22°C. In addition, it rains a lot here in Singapore. Remember to bring umbrella everyday.

Language

As a multicultural and multiracial nation, the Singapore government recognized four official languages: English, Chinese, Malay and Tamil. English is the main language in government and business occasions, which means speaking fluent English is necessary for exchange students; otherwise, you may have difficulty in understanding classes and communicating with fellow students. However, Singaporean has strong accent speaking English, so called “Singlish” that brings lots of troubles to people from non-English speaking countries. It took me really long time to get used to this accent.

Speaking Chinese can be a plus in your living in Singapore, because most taxi drivers and salespersons speak Chinese. And daily communication among local students is actually half English and half Chinese.

Money Exchange

I found most KU students applied VISA card in Citibank branch in Korea and got their Singapore dollars from Citibank ATM in Singapore. My suggestion is bring Korean Won cash to Singapore and exchange it in money exchange stores locate in China Town, where offer better exchange rate than the banks.

Telecommunication

There are three telecommunication companies in Singapore, Singtel, Starhubs and M1. Frankly speaking, there’s no big difference among these three companies, because most exchange students only use prepaid SIM cards and these companies offer very similar prepaid card services. I simply brought my iPhone to Singapore and bought a prepaid card in the airport. Sending message and making local calls is pretty cheap using prepaid card, while overseas calls are expensive. So try to use Skype when you call your family. If you used up the money in prepaid card, you can top up through the Internet.