One month over...

Hey guys. Now I'm actually since one month in Singapore. Its a bit strange - on the one hand I feel like I just came here a week ago and one the other hand I experienced so much up to now that it could have filled several months. Anyway I think it's time to draw a little balance for now.

Living:
As you all now I am living in an undergraduate hall directly on campus. At first I felt a bit unsure whether I like the idea of a twin sharing room or not. But now I can say I feel totally alright. My roommate Jonathan, a Singaporean, is very nice. At the beginning he seemed a bit shy and quiet to me, but I think it is just a matter of getting to know each other. We get along very well and there were now quarrels up to now - I don't think there will ever be some. Additionally he is every weekend at his parents' so I have free run of the house regularly. ;-)

Studying:
It is already the forth week of the classes so I can tell you a bit about them as well. I took 4 courses in total: "Computer vision" and "Principles of information theory and coding" which are both undergraduate courses and "Advanced digital signal processing" and "Statistical signal processing" which are graduate (master) courses. One big difference between the graduate and the undergraduate courses is that undergraduate courses take place in the morning or afternoon and each distributed over the whole week. In contrast to that the graduate courses are held in one block per week from 6.30pm to 9.30pm (Yeah it's really quite late). The level of the courses is probably slightly lower than in Darmstadt - except for SSP where the professor sometimes flips the slides in an insane speed... In general I think that I chose the right courses - they are not too hard and not too easy as well, quite interesting and I won't have to overwork. As an exchange student you need enough time for extra-curricular activities...

Leisure time:
As you can see from the previous postings in my blog I enjoy my leisure time here very well. For the weekends it's really easy and cheap to make a short trip to Malaysia (I really like it there) or Indonesia (I haven't been there yet). Apart from that there are many clubs you can join here at NTU. Eg. mountaineering, wake boarding, archery, diving and many more. I didn't really join a club up to now but I probably should do it. Another popular activity is to go to Staff club (the only pub on campus) and meet some exchange students - there are alway some of them at the bar. Last but not least I spent some time to explore Singapore on day and at night. For the former there are many parks, gardens and other attractions and for the latter there are many clubs in the centre. I think I will dedicate another posting to the Singaporean nightlife.

Weather:
By now I am bit accustomed to the climate here. But the weather changed a bit during the last week. At the beginning it was very hot and sunny every day. But now its mostly quite rainy and cool (that means about 25-28°C). Last weekend the rain was a bit annoying but I hope that it will get a bit better soon. I don't mind some showers as long as it doesn't rain all day.

Food:
Since I have fully recovered from my food poisoning I am able to enjoy the whole variety of food again. On the first glance the meals seem all very similar - rice, noodles and chicken - as I already told. But if you have a closer look you can get a very diversified diet. I especially like Indian food - I is very tasty (and spicy!) and you can have Naam (kind of flat bread) instead of rice. Yesterday I was even invited by some Indian fellow students for real home made Indian food. The spiciness was at the upper limit but it was very delicious!
But one thing I really dislike here is the breakfast. The only think you can get is toast and (very fluid) egg. So I bought some packages of milk and some corn flakes - that's what I consider as a proper breakfast.

All in all I like it here very much. It doesn't get boring and I cope which the local circumstances better and better. I begin to fear that the 10 months will spin away!