A Summer Spent Across the World

I have never set foot on a rollercoaster. And I don’t plan to anytime in the near future.  I’m scared of spiders. And snakes.  And thunderstorms. And heights. You get the point.  Adjectives like “brave” and adventurous” are not often attributed to me.  Willingness to step outside of my comfort zone has never been a central aspect of my personality. In fact, even when I investigated the many study abroad opportunities that UNC offers, I decided that it would be best to wait until my junior year and spend a semester in a place as similar to the United States as possible to minimize the risks of culture shock and danger. Somehow, however, just weeks after my freshman year ended, I arrived at the airport with an overstuffed suitcase, ready to spend two months in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and China with 24 other rising sophomores, all of whom were complete strangers to me.

It’s hard to figure out what made me apply for the University’s Singapore Summer Immersion Program, but part of my decision stemmed from an awareness that my knowledge of Asia was rather limited and my desire to change this fact. It’s embarrassing to admit, but before my freshman seminar, “English as a global language”, I had never even heard of Singapore. Even after I was introduced to it, I had trouble finding it on any map. I was certain that my cluelessness wouldn’t help me shine during the interview process--if I made it that far. However, after much deliberation, I became convinced that turning in an application, even one that would probably be placed in a “discard” pile, was a better option than spending the rest of my life wondering if I could have spent a summer halfway across the world.

By some miracle, in March I received an e-mail informing me that I had been chosen as a program finalist and would have a brief interview. By an even greater miracle, I survived this nerve-wracking 15 minutes of interrogation and received another e-mail which began with the word “Congratulations!” I had never traveled outside of the United States, and now I was on my way to a different continent, 12,000 miles away.  I had to keep rereading the e-mail to convince myself that I wasn’t imagining things.

Although leaving home was an experience that ended with tears on both sides of the airport terminal, surprisingly, once I arrived in Singapore, I was more excited than afraid, for once in my life. Perhaps the knowledge that I would likely not have another such opportunity motivated me to make the most of my time there. I didn’t become a reckless adventurer—there were certainly things that I avoided, like tasting fish head curry (its eyeballs were still intact!) or wandering around Bangkok, Thailand alone. However, I did try new things, from riding an elephant to eating nearly every meal at outdoor hawker stands with unidentifiable ingredients to going on a rainforest canopy walk on shaky wooden planks hundreds of feet above the treetops. I learned to say “why not?” instead of “why would I do that?”

My summer in Southeast Asia not only changed the way that I looked at the region, but also at the way I saw myself and my own country.  The trip also offered me the opportunity to develop my skills as a journalist by writing a weekly column chronicling our adventures and mishaps for a newspaper in my hometown.  Through this writing, I gained a better appreciation of how my journalism major could apply outside of the classroom.

It is difficult to sum up all of my experiences overseas in a letter.  In fact, while I was there, I managed to fill an entire journal with my observations and take more than 1000 pictures.  There were simply so many places to explore and people to meet.  During the seven weeks, we attended organized trips, including eye-opening lectures by ambassadors and by the leaders of Malaysia’s Sisters in Islam, a non-profit organization dedicated to educating Malaysians and the world about women’s rights in a primarily Islamic nation.  As a group, we also visited temples, caves, art galleries and even a Cantonese opera.  In addition to structured activities, I learned so much by simply walking around each country and talking to individuals at hawker stands, shops and on the streets.  One of the best experiences was having the chance to meet students at the National University of Singapore (NUS), where we took two classes.  A few NUS students even studied abroad at UNC last fall, which gave us a chance to repay the kindness they showed us in Singapore by introducing them to our campus.

Our classes themselves were also interesting.  At first, I thought that the last place I’d want to spend time while overseas would be in a classroom, but our professors from NUS and UNC made this time worthwhile.  We studied the histories of Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia and Southeast Asia’s international relations since World War II.  Not only were lectures about these subjects presented in such a way that they kept me awake even at early hours of the morning in a tropical climate; they were also supplemented by field trips to some of the places we studied and with movies that introduced us to contemporary Singaporean and Malaysian culture.

Perhaps one of the best parts of the trip was the opportunity to bond with fellow Tar Heels.  Despite the fact that we all visited many of the same places and heard the same lectures, each of us came away from every new experience with a difference perspective.  We spent many hours simply talking about our perspectives on Southeast Asia, sharing our interests and reminiscing about our freshman year at Carolina.  Because of these shared experiences, we grew so close that we remain good friends today.  Some of us see each other in classes or at club meetings, but we also keep in touch through group reunions and even through meeting for lunch.  Occasionally, it can be hard to describe all of my adventures overseas to other friends and family members.  I wonder if I will bore them by mentioning Singapore yet again.  However, whenever I talk to others who accompanied me, I know that they understand what I’m describing and are as eager to discuss it as I am.

I came back from Singapore with jet lag, a fully-filled journal, bulging suitcases, a love of spicy Indian green curry and gamelan music, new friends and a greatly expanded view of the world.  I also came back with the knowledge that being a Tar Heel is more than just attending classes in Chapel Hill.  It can be a truly global experience.  As Saint Augustine once wrote, “The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page.”  Thanks to the Singapore Summer Immersion Program, I not only received the opportunity to stir from this familiar first page into uncharted chapters; I also received the encouragement to continue to turn the pages.