How it all began

Perhaps it was due to the 2 years (and counting) of monotonous mugging in NTU, or perhaps it was due to the thirst for adventure and immersing myself in a foreign culture, or perhaps I can finally relish at the possibility to travel to another country for a long period of time (we're talking about at least four months here), perhaps, perhaps, perhaps...

Hence, when a friend told me about this exchange programme offered by NTU to a foreign university of our choice was available for application at the beginning of this year, I signed up for it without second thoughts. A number of host countries came to my mind immediately, along with it, some wild speculations: how about the prospect of running into Hollywood celebrities in LA or NY? Or how about sneaking a peek into the pyramids in Giza? Or how about joining the throngs of beer lovers during the Oktoberfest in Munich? The list went on until we went for the Q & A session on this exchange programme. There was only a limited number of universities around the world that has an exchange programme with NTU, so there goes GIZA, NY, LA, Paris, Munich, Milan, etc. In short, the countries available for selection either puts you in North America, certain parts of Europe or the rest of Asia, or you could probably wind up in Australia.

But applying for this exchange programme itself was a chore. Pages of application forms needs to be filled (that includes every bit of details the panel of judges who deem whether you are worthy for this exchange needs to know about me), a mini 'research' has to be done on the host university and the country you have selected for the exchange, matching subjects of the host university with the year 3 subjects in NTU (this task proved to be the biggest headache of all and I'll elaborate in detail in future posts). Somewhere in between filling the application forms and matching subjects, I was wondering whether this trip is really worth all the trouble. After much hassle and vomiting huge gallons of blood, the countries of choice for this exchange was narrowed down to: 1) Canada 2) Sweden 3) UK. With my breath held in anticipation, the application form was finally submitted.

It took nearly 4 months before the outcome of the application was known, and when it was successful, the feeling that hit me can only be described as striking lottery. Exhilaration took over. The email that bore the good news read: Congratulations! You have been shortlisted to participate in the International Student Exchange Programme (INSTEP) at University of Western Ontario for Semester 1, AY 2006-07. Already, breath-taking sceneries from movies like 'The Last of the Mohicans' and 'Brokeback Mountain' conjured a host of possible adventures and sightseeing I will experience in Ontario London. The culture shock that awaits and the vast tracts of beautiful sceneries in Canada, has instilled both euphoria and insomnia in me. Until I can finally set my foot on Canada, the feeling that this turn of event remains 'too good to be true' will continue to be the source of my many sleepless nights in weeks to come.