It's that time of the year again, when people are getting exchange programmes all over the world. I think it's NUS' turn this time. I think I realise it more, because although NTU's exchange programmes happen like half a month earlier than NUS', I have more friends in NUS than I do in NTU (I mean for NTU it's like... Chrys and no one else). I don't know why but it seems like getting an exchange in NUS is easier than getting one in NTU, and MUCH MUCH MUCH easier than getting one in SMU? Someone please enlighten me on why this so. #doesnotstudylocally

Suddenly FB (and to a lesser extent, twitter) is inundated with status updates like: "You have been offered a place at -enter university name here- for the student exchange programme during NUS AY2012/2013 Semester 1" along with added squealing and emoticons/smileys/etc.

I mean, I'm just like lol, congrats guys (: Although I wouldn't personally want to go to many of the unis which my friends/acquaintances are heading to (I think I only have one friend whom I envy to a certain extent, she got a place at the University of British Columbia which has a beyond gorgeous campus), I think my point of view is skewed and biased because I already study overseas. If I had ended up in NUS/SMU/NTU and got a exchange programme, I think my reaction would be exactly the same. Like $#@% YES!~ As long as it's overseas and far from S'pore, I would have been happy. I guess this reminded me of how fortunate I am, to be able to travel as often as I do around Europe, and to be able to see what I wake up to every day. Even though it's cold and miserable sometimes, I am thankful for what I have.

I mean, I travel so damn much I'm sick of travelling and flying on planes. That has got to say something right? :/ (Everyone at home: WTF ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT I WOULD KILL TO BE YOU.) I really am blessed: recently, in less than half a year (Sept '11 to Jan '12), I've already been to/am going to 5 countries in Europe in total, not counting UK and S'pore.

I'm honestly humbled by and grateful for the things I have been blessed with. I don't think I appreciate my situation enough sometimes, and I guess I ought to do it more often. I'm just really glad and happy that my friends in S'pore can experience this too, the joy of leaving home and fending for yourself, being independent, and hopefully they'll learn to appreciate their parents and their home and being in Singapore more. I've met too many people who are going overseas to study (armyboyz, this is you) and they see this as an escape, to "get out" of the country and leave all the shit behind. I am almost ashamed to admit I was once like that too, but I suppose I was less fervent and open about it. Yes, you feel like that when you leave and the first term is just you letting loose and being free. But after a while, I believe that everyone, through leaving home, will ultimately appreciate it more someday.

It's the small things really. You gain lots of freedom, sure. But you have to do your own laundry, wash your own dishes, take care of all your admin stuff yourself, cook for yourself, clean for yourself, travel by yourself (sorry ah, no one to ferry you around)... Plus you have to be more careful on the streets and no, you can't actually eat any S'porean food anymore. They've Chinese food yes, but other than prawn mee and laksa and chicken rice and a few more, there is nothing else. No bak chor mee, no seafood soup, no sugarcane juice, no fishball mee, no pig organ soup, no Malay/Indian food... It's sad. ):

So yes, through the excitement of leaving and thinking about all you will gain, I hope that you guys think about what you're losing too (: But I suppose for a short six month exchange, the excitement will probably last throughout. Heh heh. Enjoy, you guys (: Wrap up warm.

I absolutely detest Christmas shopping and trip planning. I can totally see the appeal of giving up and going on a tour, where everything is planned for you and you just need to go with the flow. But I guess the appeal of planning your own trip is the ability to go wherever you want, whenever you want... I guess you sort of see more of a place rather than just being stuck on a tour bus all day. You get to go on ~public transport~ and mix with the locals and order your own food. You get to stay in gritty hostels with people of different nationalities whom you'll never see again (but for the short moment in time where you were coincidentally in the same place at the same time).

But until you get there, the planning SUCKS.

Fine, it's not the first trip I've planned. It's probably not going to be the last either. And I'm not the most anal of people who actually have an entire timetable of where to go and at what time for the whole of the trip, so that takes a lot of work off me as it is. However, I think people underestimate how annoying it can be to plan a trip, especially a big one with like five people tagging along. (Not that small groups are much less annoying, but still.)

First step: find flights. This can be really annoying because you're checking Every Single Flight Website there is, and trust me there are quite a few. It's even more annoying when you're planning a general trip in December and you don't actually have proper dates when you want to fly. It's just one of those we-fly-on-the-date-where-it's-cheapest things. So you have to check every single website for the whole month.
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Next step: Are you flying from Birmingham or London? If it's Birmingham, yay! We're almost done with the process. But if it's London? (Which it is like 90% of the time.) Then damn, you just set yourself up for more work!
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Step 3 (London things): Find train (including return journey) down to London. Find hostel to stay in for half the night. (Because most cheap flights fly from 6am to 8am in the morning in London, you'll need it.) Find transport to the airport (hello Easybus).
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Step 4 (skip Step 3 if flying from Birm): BOOK A HOSTEL. Hop onto hostelworld.com, find a ~cheap~ and ~good~ hostel. (Sounds easy? Try it when you're visiting a big and expensive city, I assure you, this step is all but impossible to complete.)
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Step 5: Oh look you're almost done! Wait, root through your email inbox for the gazillions of confirmation emails sent, print out whatever you need, and don't forget to check in online and print out your boarding pass!
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Step 6: Wash rinse repeat for every single trip. And oh yes, check wikipedia and google and books for awesome sights to see when you actually get there. And if you're in a big group, email/text/skype with everyone in the damn group to see if they're okay with the flights/hostel/whatever you booked. If you are travelling between countries, don't forget to find transport between each one (read: buses/trains/flights)!

If it sounds like pie, I challenge you to plan a 1.5 week Eurotrip with 3 countries, 4 cities, and 5 people in total going on the trip. I did that in Easter '11 and it was pretty stressful (although the trip itself went really well). Now I've spent most of the last two weeks planning my trip to Budapest in the first week of the hols, Dublin in the last week of the hols and Mystery Destination during the weekend of my first year anniversary/birthday.

Plus, Christmas shopping. I'm only buying ONE present, for my boyfriend, but please do not underestimate the fussiness and pickiness of this one boy. I can spend hours online shopping for the perfect gift and then I need to run it by him to make sure he likes it (no surprises for this one, he hates surprises) before I buy it otherwise if I buy it and he doesn't like it, I will prolly have to return it. He also only likes ~practical~ things, so I can't get him something impractical or decorative cuz he hates that shit. And I have given up on getting him clothes because he is extremely picky about colours. Anyway, after some hits and misses over the last 1 or 2 weeks, I managed to spend FOUR HOURS on Monday picking the perfect category of present (wallet), picking the perfect present itself, and making sure it doesn't bust my budget (tried to keep it below 100 pounds). All this while, was texting the boyfriend to make sure that the colour/texture/etc of said wallet was okay with his picky self.

It went something like this: Wallet or belt for Xmas? Wallet. Black or brown? Black. Coin compartment or not? No, card space would be nice. Does texture matter? Yes. Smooth or "scratchy"? Nothing weird is good. Do you need a card holder? Er no.
~By now, I've narrowed it down to two choices. I go on Skype to ask Chrys and Reubey for their opinions. I finally pick one.~
XMAS PRESENT BOUGHT, FINALLY. For all you curious peeps who have stuck with me through this entire post, I got him a Hugo Boss wallet.

And all this whle I had two essays due at the end of the week. As of now, I have finished/handed in one, and am 1/5 through the other. Hohoho. Just can't wait to get this thing done, hand it in on Friday, and GO ON HOLIDAY and reap the benefits of all my planning. Hehehe.