Overseas Adventures

Many universities in Singapore offer you the chance to go overseas for studying. You can go anywhere: Asia, Europe, Oceania, etc, and it all depends on your university and course. I'm sharing more about my own exchange experience and I hope that this post could give you deeper insight on the exchange experience while encouraging you to give it a try. It doesn't matter if you have a CI or HA; you can navigate the unknown yourself. For those who have yet to enter university, this may aid you in the future. And to parents who may happen to read this, this is my story.

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As someone who is rather laid back and adventurous, I had to seize this opportunity to go out there and experience a whole new culture. After cross-checking universities overseas with my business modules and after eliminating some choices, I was left with Japan, Switzerland and Austria. I went with the one in Switzerland mainly because:

1. I had never gone to any European countries before.

2. It is landlocked, which means I would be able to travel to other countries during my free time. How I can do it, is another question :)

3. As a very safe country, I need not fear any break-ins or robberies.

Hence, I packed up in August 2018 and flew to Switzerland alone. To briefly summarize my entire exchange experience: while studying, I also visited and explored cities in 10 other countries: United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, Hungary, France, Czech Republic, Slovenia, Iceland, Amsterdam and Poland. You may think it sounds crazy, but refer to point 2. It is all possible especially when you are in Switzerland, a land-locked country. I mainly traveled using Flixbus (although the punctuality could be a concern), and budget airlines.

However, like some of you, I shared a major concern. How will I manage my CI overseas alone? Here's my takeaways and learning points that you may use for your own trips!

Before departure, you may want to consider doing: obtain a spare set of your processor, buy a few spare parts i.e. the wire for your coil (extra disposable batteries are a must) and look up for the nearest cochlear implant outlet in the host country you are going to. Luckily for me, the outlet in Switzerland was in Zurich, which was just one to two stations away from the town I was living in. Record the address and phone number so that should anything happen to your device, you can drop by to ask for a spare one. Do check out the Airplan insurance if you have it: would it be covering the repair costs even when you are overseas if your processor suddenly spoil?

While I recommend that you bunk together with somebody that you know (since he/she will be there to wake you up in any emergencies), I also understand if you prefer to stay alone (as I did). Should you choose to stay alone, let your friends and the school/hostel know about your hearing condition. See if any arrangements can be done i.e. breaking down the door when a real emergency comes (that was what was arranged for me, but luckily it never happened).

I would also strongly suggest to buy a woolen or waterproof hat that can cover your hearing device. In winter especially, the life span of the disposable batteries fall drastically (I've had my disposable batteries die on me within just 20 mins, hence panicking moments were real). By keeping it warm, I observed the life span of the batteries becomes more or less balanced or maybe just a little short of the usual. Since I'm heavily reliant on my only processor, I made sure to carry sufficient batteries and a spare processor whenever I traveled out of Switzerland.

If you are ever concerned about whether you can understand the accents, you could watch more movies with subtitles. They really do help! Anyway, from my experience staying in my host university's hostel, the exchange students there generally can be understood (even when they are from Spain, Germany, etc). Do take this chance to interact them! They're really friendly :-)

Now that the technical part is out of the way, sit back and enjoy.

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I have always wanted to be independent, or at least experience what is it like living apart from my family. This experience is really eye-opening, and I enjoyed every moment of it (much to the horror of my parents). Although there were some terrifying moments i.e. almost getting trapped in Venice because I was stupid enough not to bring my passport (because I thought a passport photocopy was sufficient), I created many memorable and enjoyable with new-people-become-friends.

Maybe your parents have nagged you, but it is still better to reiterate that it is dangerous to leave things unattended. I had friends who were pick-pocketed in London, Spain, Italy, etc. So if you ever travel alone or with friends, please take precautions and be alert; or buy a Pacsafe slingbag (no this is not a sponsored post!), and make it a habit to lock your things with a padlock. Even if it is more troublesome, it is definitely better than the hassle of scrambling around when you lose your important stuff.

Here's some of the best pictures of my entire exchange:

Mt. Matterhorn, Switzerland

Hike in Murren, Switzerland

Sunset, UK

Lake Bled, Slovenia

A plain field, Iceland

"Howl's Moving Castle", France

Spiritual shop, France

Fisherman's Bastion, Budapest

Buildings in ruins, Poland

Colosseum, Rome

Burano, Venice

If you ever have the opportunity, I would strongly encourage you to go for overseas exchange. On the other hand, I do understand that parents are generally the best advisers to deem whether you are ready to go overseas. What I can only say is if you believe you are capable enough, go for it!

So how has this really impacted me? Well, the most important takeaway I got was "empowerment". I never knew I really was capable of looking after myself alone (my CI, cooking almost all the time by myself, going all the way to Germany to buy ingredients, finding directions in an unfamiliar place) and most of all, making decisions for myself. These are all basic life skills but I believe it is harder to develop these in Singapore under the watchful eyes of our parents. Going to places I've never been to, has been very liberating and just wonderful. As someone who enjoy learning about past events, I learnt about the histories of some countries, and it gave me a deeper understanding about humanity. It is inspiring in many ways, like having the determination and courage to go through adversities.

I was really lucky that I could get along with all the Singaporeans I went with (by the way, most of us did not know each other prior to the exchange). While we went to some of the countries together as a group, I traveled to Slovenia and UK by myself. Again, it depends on how comfortable you are with travelling alone, and do not forget to inform your family if you ever travel alone (no matter how naggy they can get). It's for your own safety! If you must assure your family, please book a hotel instead. I stayed at backpackers' hostels only if my friends were travelling with me. As for getting around, I planned by myself what activities I would like to do for the day and walked around, occasionally updating my family with pictures so they can see that I was doing fine.

Study-wise, I would encourage you to choose your host university wisely. The quality and standards of the professors are quite different. For me, I found them to be more strict (i.e. If you just need 1 mark to pass your speech, they won't give it to you no matter how you plead with them). Some are just bad at teaching (not their fault though; they can be nice but they just cannot teach well). The examinations, in my case, were very different from Singapore system. I have never taken a paper with so many open-ended questions and no fixed answers, until this exchange semester. With no answer keys (which is apparently common in European countries), you are left to figure out the answers yourself. Hence, another advice would be to practice some past year papers, and CROSS-CHECK your answers with your friends. That's how I survived :")

On another interesting note, I found it very amusing that people from different countries really do work differently hence, culture shock i.e. some started preparing for their presentations only just 1 hour before the lesson started. But it's okay, don't freak out, because that's how they work. I just had to trust that they knew their stuff, and they did. Some are really hardworking, smart and friendly, so just ask them whenever you are unsure.

What you choose to learn from exchange is really up to you. But do not be afraid of adversities or managing your hearing device by yourself. It is possible to do so, and still enjoy the journey. If you ever go overseas for semester exchange, I wish you best of luck and have fun!

xoxo,

Claire