Flying into the small island country of Singapore at about 11pm, I expected the city to be dark, but as George Swenson, JT Braun and I stepped into the cab to take us to campus, I saw the city as active as Nashville during rush hour. Driving on the other side of the road was really the first thing that showed I wasn't home anymore. As we pulled into campus and saw the thirteen story boarding house we would be staying at, we couldn't help but wonder how different this school was. The next morning, JT and I rolled out of bed and looked over the side of the balcony and saw their pool. After waking up George, and having breakfast in the boarding hall, we all walked down to the school to have a look around. Our first shock came when we saw a coy pond in the middle of campus. The academic building for their high school stretched from about Massey to Lowry on our campus, and was seven stories tall in some parts. The library was astonishing, three stories and beginning on the second story of campus. The next highlight of the trip was traveling to various cultural centers, including little india where George and JT got henna tattoos. Then came the mosque, built partly out of bottles donated by surrounding communities. The food stalls surrounding the area were superb, and the samosas that we had there was the best food we had on the trip. After that, we went to the waterfront where we saw the merlion and heard the story of the founding of Singapore. A few days later we visited one of the pride gems of Singapore, the Singapore flyer, slightly bigger than London's. After hearing multiple tour guides say this, it appeared as though Singapore was attempting to "one-up" its former colonizer. Unfortunately, the night safari was amazing, but as it was at nights pictures were all blurry or dark. The various large cats were active at night, and many of the smaller ones would jump nearly 10 or more feet in the air. The exchange in this fantastic country on the other side of the world allowed me to experience all of these interesting sights. The outward shining city however was not reflected on the political and economic situation of the government. Multiple speeches about the atrocities of war, and evil of violence made me think Singapore would be a peaceful country, and yet they almost brag about being able to invade Malaysia in less than 36 hours. They also promoted green technology, and yet destroyed almost all of the natural resources that existed in the country. At first, I was critical of these contradictions, then came to realize that these same views occurred in the United States. The US and Singapore are very different in their physical sights, language, and food, yet very similar in the socioeconomic mindset. My interest in politics of the smaller countries that was sparked by my policy debate research was furthered by the experience of viewing the contradictory mindset that is reflected from the US, and seeing how even though culture varies, the mindset of developed countries seems to develop as a whole, and for one country to advance, all countries must. The experience of this summer that has changed my view of countries outside the United States has been one of the best of my life. I'm sure that the experience will help me understand the workings of other countries, and further my international service efforts, and policy debate research. Thank you MBA, Mrs. Warner, and Raffles Institute for making this exchange possible.
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