Escaping to heaven

Months of preparation had finally led me to the moment I had been waiting for. I was rested upon arrival, and excited to see my accommodation. I scrambled around the airport to find a currency exchange, and took the train to my new home. I threw my bags down and swung open the curtains. I could not believe how beautiful our balcony view was. From this moment, I knew I would have an exceptional summer.

I expected the residency to be clean, and large enough for four college students to survive in. Overall, the experience has exceeded my expectations. Our program director had left a basket of groceries for us to get us through our first few days in this new country – an unexpected but equally useful surprise!

I then began anticipating the beginning of my internship. What is my manager like? How will I adjust to a foreign workplace culture? I knew I would be slightly anxious for my first day, but was generally excited to begin working hard and make a solid first impression. I was hoping for a reasonable manager and proximity to other interns. If I have these two things, I will both be confident in my ability to complete workplace tasks and will have other Americans near me to help adjust to Singapore.

The most effective preparation technique was discussing with my roommate. I knew that we would be spending each day together, so it was best for me to talk to him about what we should bring,how we would figure out how to get to work, etc. In the future, I would use Google Maps and virtually explore the surroundings of my accommodation. This would have prepared me for walking around to grocery stores, convenience stores, and other useful facilities.