Singapore

After a few very rough days I have finally settled into my life here in Singapore, and I absolutely love it.  The first day I was here I was so exhausted I passed out at noon and didn't wake up until 3AM.  Unfortunately, at that time all of the places to eat were closed and I didn't get around to eating before so I was very hungry and after sleeping for 13 hours there was no chance I was going back to sleep.

The second day we had an orientation and I got to meet all of the kids who are also studying abroad at the school.  The mix of students at this school is amazing.  There are actually more British, Canadian, and Swedish students then American studying abroad here.  I have meet students from all over the world.  But, on the second day I made the same mistake and decided it would be smart to take a nap at 4PM.... only to sleep through all of my alarms and wake up at 2AM very hungry!. I was starting to get  upset with myself because I was missing all of the fun but I guess the sleep was much needed.

After the second day things have gotten much easier and I am finally adjusted to the sleeping schedule here.  I have had some amazing experiences so far and love exploring the city.  There is so much character, history, and life in Singapore.  It amazes me to see people of all religions live so close together and all get along with literally ZERO violence.

Here are some interesting facts I've picked up on in the past few days exploring the city:

• 1 in 6 Singaporean families are millionaires, it is a very wealthy country
• Drinking in public is not only legal, it is also very common and the normal.  (Picture proof, enjoying a beer while shopping in the mall)
• 5 Million people live in Singapore, Singapore is only 130 sq. miles wide.

I went with a group of about 13 random students to the local beach on an island just off of Singapore called Sentosa.  Our group had students from New Zealand, Egypt, Canada, Germany, Finland and Amsterdam   It was so much fun to spend the day with these guys and get to talk with each one of them about their lives.  It is amazing how similar we all are and how easy it was to get to know everyone.  Below are some pictures of Singapore and our trip around the town.

The entire city is covered in apartments that looks similar to these.  Nearly all of the living in Singapore is actually government housing.  It is very different then government housing in America though.  The government controls the housing for two reasons.  The main reason is because they are so limited on space everyone each building must offer the maximum amount of living space, and the second is to keep the religious groups mixed so that the city doesn't become secular.  Even millionaires use government housing.

This is the Sentosa beach.  It was beautiful!  I am enjoying the most famous drink in Singapore, the Singapore Sling.  Behind me is a bridge to the "Most southern point in Asia".

Here we are walking across the bridge.

 It was "cold" the day we went, 86 degrees, so there were no locals which was very nice.  We nearly had the entire beach to ourselves.  

We then headed downtown to Little India.  This is a picture with some of the other international students.  We were enjoying a coconut at the hawker center.  A hawker center is a large market where you go for meals.  It is like a mall food court but ten times bigger.  I didn't understand anything and ended up getting a plate full of noodles and small sardine like fish.  It wasn't the most appetizing dinner but a good cultural  experience none the less haha.

The market wasn't very busy, but it was huge.

Here is a temple in Little India.  There were tons of huge temples on every corner of the city.

Thanks for following my posts!  From here on out the posts will most likely be shorter with more pictures and hopefully they will be more exciting!