Isabelle Ward

I spent my year studying at the National University of Singapore. It was a fantastic experience; besides being able to catch a bus anywhere in South East Asia at the drop of a hat, there was so much to do in Singapore itself. With four national languages and as many majority religions, the country is celebrating a festival nearly every weekend. It makes planning trips away difficult; you don't want to miss anything. My favourite was Deepavali. Little India went wild, with even more colour and lights than usual in this exciting quarter of the city.

Outside of lectures, NUS was a great University to attend. The top university in Asia, it has as many societies and activities at the University of Leeds. I joined the orchestra, a martial arts group and attended the many international student activities available. Some things are very different; I was confused at first when attending the senior orchestra conductors' house for an after-concert party and being invited another time to a student barbeque at a lectures' house to celebrate exams! The difference in food was also a brilliant surprise, I managed to eat a new item of food every day until 8th March.

I fell in love with GIS after mapping areas of Southeast Asia. I also took the opportunity to study Chinese, Politics, Sociology and History.