How crazy is that?! 

If you have spent two hours or more in the same room as me since February (maybe less, hehe) chances are you have already heard me talk about this. There are however some friends and family which I haven't seen or talked to since... Now you know!

 

I am incredibly excited for this adventure, it's hard to put into words! I have always wanted to go on exchange, even more so now after meeting so many amazing exchange students in Jönköping. I always planned to go to France though! I have studied French in school for six years in total and I'm a major language nerd so it just seemed like the perfect opportunity to learn more. Learning the words and the grammar is one thing, but actually speaking and understanding French when spoken to? I desperately need to practice that! Going to France as an exchange student became my goal long before I even started going to uni. So how come I have now started a process to go to the other side of the world? Where most people don't speak French but English, Chinese, Malay and Tamil?

 

I have always wanted to travel. Travel far. See new things, different things. While I have travelled some in Europe I've also been painfully aware that the world is bigger than that. There is just SO MUCH to see and experience! Despite all this wanderlust that has been with me for years, I obviously started my bachelors. The exchange semester was one of the things that made it seem possible for me to make that three year commitment at all. I wanted to study, but I also didn't want to miss out on going abroad! Once I had the long list of partner universities in front of me, I realised that I had a real opportunity. A chance to spend a semester in Asia? Perfect, sign me up! Intellectually I was carefully considering the pros and cons of every destination, but in my heart I knew that this was it. Luckily I went with my gut feeling and applied!

 

The city-state of Singapore seems to have a lot of exciting things to offer, besides the huuuge university. There are about as many students at NTU as there are citizens in my home municipality?! Looks like I'll have to be a little bit less strict with my "personal space"-policy! Jokes aside, I'm really looking forward to the experience.

 

Expect a lot more updates on this blog now that this is out there! My aim is to document every step of the way before, during and after my exchange. Make sure to stay tuned from the beginning! You can find all the posts in the "Singapore Exchange 2017" category. 

 

Til next time! / Julia