Week 1

Life in Sydney so far has been different to say the least. The city is laid out in a fashion I would have never guessed. There is a part with high rise buildings, but also a suburban area. Our apartment has been getting along very well. We’ve done the “touristy” things in Sydney so far, hitting the opera house and botanical gardens. Both of these have surpassed my expectations.

In addition to our site seeing stops, class has been more interesting than I would expect. The Australian Life and Culture class has taught me some very interesting things. For example, the reason the British sent over convicts to Australia to settle their land was because the colonies rejected any British ships from entering. They were going through the war for Independence. I never knew how tied American history is to Australian. I also enjoy that class because it is not only Bucknell students. It is a class of 24 with students ranging from Villanova and Virginia Tech. The Professor is always asking for input from the class and it’s very valuable to hear other students input, not just Bucknellians. I’d say so far so good and can’t wait for the rest of the semester.

Week 2

As you can see to the left I made a new friend this week. This picture was taken at Walkabout Animal Sanctuary. It has definitely been the coolest place I have visited so far. I met Kangaroos, Koalas, Meercats, Wallabies and many more animals present in Australia. All of the animals at the sanctuary cannot live out in the wild on their own because they either have some type of injury or disease. Another stop in walkabout was the boomerang throw. This was the first time I have ever thrown a boomerang, and lets just it is as hard as it looks. It is not about power but more in the wrist movement and angle of throw. This tour has definitely convinced me to go to the outback and meet some new animals that I won’t have the opportunity to see at home.

On Tuesday as a group, we toured the inside of the Opera House. It was truly as beautiful on the inside as it is from the outside. The construction of the Opera House had an original budget of 7 million dollars and was only supposed to take 3 years. In actuality it took 17 years to construct and totaled to 100 million dollars, just a tad over budget. Safe to say though, they put no dollar to waste as their are around 7 venues in the Opera House. Three main venues and 4 smaller ones. I cannot wait to see a show there, my parents are visiting in a few weeks and we are going to see The Mirror, which is similar to Cirque du Soleil. One more fun fact is that all the tiles are not white, every other one is actually a greyish color, but the reflection of the sun makes it look completely white. A must see tour while in Sydney.

Week 3

As we come to the end of our first set of classes, I’m beginning to realize that time is flying by. The main event this weekend was going to Bondi and doing the coastal walk. At first we started the day at Bondi and it was a perfect day to surf. I watched many surfers carve up some waves. After we stayed their for around an hour, my roommates and I decided to do the coastal walk. It was beautiful to say the least. We ended up at this small beach that is not crowded at all. A secret gem because Bondi is always way too crowded. It is definitely my knew favorite beach and I will definitely be returning.

Time is definitely becoming pressed as most of us have finals and presentations due on Friday. It is definitely an adjustment with the condensed schedule, but I believe that I’ve been handling the change well enough. Having most of the Bucknell students in the same classes help a lot because you know they are going through the same thing as you. After this Friday we start new classes and for me that is Business Law and International Finance. I am excited because I feel like these classes are very applicable to the “real world”.

Week 4

The beginning of block 2 classes have finally begun. I find business law already very interesting after week 1. Today in class we had a mock negotiation and I can definitely say it was quite agitating trying to sway the opposition to a reasonable agreement where both parties are happy. I found a nice park this week as well on one of my strolls around the neighborhood. I was able to grab a bench and reach my book. The weather has been basically perfect so far and as long as it is, I’m planning on going there after class most days to clear the mind. Here are a few photos from the park and the book I’m currently reading. I also forgot to mention I went to a local bookstore to find it, which was huge. I went with a workers recommendation and so far I haven’t been disappointed.

Week 5

This week I thought I would explore the northern beaches in Sydney. I was surprised with how easy it was to figure out how to get there through public transportation. You just hop on the B-Line bus and ride it to basically the end, and then hop on the 199 bus until the end. The bus ride ends up bringing you to palm beach, which I decided to go to because our last professor said it was one of her favorite beaches. It has a lot more locals than Bondi beach, which I greatly appreciated. The beach was beautiful and had a good atmosphere. I stayed there for about an hour and then visited another beach called Avalon beach. It was a little bigger, but generally the same. If you couldn’t tell, I want to visit as many beaches as possible in Australia since I heard they were some of the best in the world, and they have not let me down. It also doesn’t hurt going to the beach when most of my friends are freezing in Lewisburg.

Week 6

This week my parents visited me. I was able to show them around and put a visual to all my descriptions over the phone. It was an eventful week. I did the Sydney Harbor Bridge climb which gave a great view over the city. It gives you an aerial perspective of the Opera House as well which is always a nice sight to see. Speaking of the Opera House, I went to a show called The Mirror. It was an Australian dance group, kind of like a smaller cirque du soleil. I also went up to the Blue Mountains which was a beautiful sight. Fun fact, they are neither mountains or blue. The place was created purely out of erosion. Safe to say it was a pretty good week. Only one week left in Sydney…

Week 7

This week was our last week of classes, meaning it was finals week. A pretty stressful week altogether, however, I did have time to go to the Rocks market on Sunday. At the market they have a lot of original hand crafted pieces of art and jewelry. I purchased a new pair of sunglasses made from wood harvested in Bondi. In addition to the rocks market I took another stroll through the botanical gardens and visited the Featherdale Sydney Wildlife Park. The Featherdale Sydney Wildlife Park has the most diverse population of rescued Australian species. I was able to feed kangaroos from the palm of my hand and was able to pet a koala. Fun fact, koalas actually sleep around 16 hours a day. Below are a couple of pictures of the Koalas.

Week 8

This week was my first in Singapore as well as the first week of my Internship. I am a marketing intern working at BSI in the CBD district. It is about a 20 minute train ride from the accommodation. So far Singapore has been great and it is truly a beautiful city. Our accommodation has a great city view and is in a perfect location. I have to say the best thing so far about the city is the food. The Hawker Centers are as good as everyone claims them to be. I eat at one for lunch almost every day. I haven’t been able to travel around the city that much, but was able to visit the Merlion and the Marina Bay Sands Hotel, which is apparently a reasonable $740 SD. I can’t wait to explore more of this city this weekend.

Week 9

This week started off with a packed Saturday. First, we went to the Singapore National Museum where we learned an in-depth history of how Singapore came to be the country it is today. After the museum Dean Kepner took us to the top of the Marina Bay Sands, a view that cannot be topped.

As you can see from this view, Singapore is marvelous. I didn’t know it was one of the biggest ports in the world, but looking out you can see the hundreds of boats anchored.

In terms of work, it is starting to pick up. At first it was a little slow, but now BSI has me working on newsletters and social media posts. Learning how to put these together are skills never taught to me. It’s not as easy as it sounds since the posts have to be specific, clear, and concise. Having a minimal word count really puts the pressure on. I usually go out to lunch with my boss Kelly and a few co-workers, which has been nice to get to know the office a little. I am the only intern from the program working at BSI so it is definitely a big jump. I’ve know most of the names in the office now, which is a big deal because I am terrible with names. Next week I will be starting market research and can’t wait to see what’s in store with that.

Week 10

I switched things up a little this week and took a cooking class. I learned how to make a new dish called Laksa. Wilson and I made it together. The main part of the dish was making the sauce. Wilson cut the ingredients while I pounded and then eventually blended them to release all the flavors. We then added coconut milk and threw it into a pot to heat the sauce up. After the sauce was an adequate temperature and spiciness, I added the sauce to a plate of noodles, shredded cucumbers, a hard boiled egg, and fish cakes; it was delicious.

On the topic of food I’ve also been to a total of three hawker centers. My favorite is La Pau Sat, which is where I usually eat lunch everyday with my work colleagues. On Saturday I visited the hawker center featured in Crazy Rich Asians (so Keri told me since I’ve never seen it). Each hawker center has a different atmosphere and selection of food, it is something completely traditional to Singapore. No matter which one you choose, the food is always to die for. My go to dish has been sweet and sour chicken I must admit.

Week 11

I visited the cloud garden this week to see the avatar exhibit, which is only here until June. The cloud garden is a giant glass dome, meant to present the atmosphere of a cloud forest. The garden has all different species of trees, flowers and other vegetation. It was already an amazing sight, however, having the avatar exhibit made it even better. In the garden you are able to walk around using various ramps and stair to get full access to multiple levels. The different levels are to give multiple perspectives of height from ground level to the tree line to almost 10 feet above. It is hard to imagine that there is real vegetation in this garden. It is not like a greenhouse at all. The whole dome is air conditioned and has a waterfall. It is definitely a place worth visiting.

After touring the exhibit for about an hour, I started walking around the rest of the gardens by the bay. The most interesting gardens were the heritage gardens. In these there was a garden to represent one culture. These collective gardens are called the heritage gardens. There were the Indian gardens, Chinese Gardens, Japanese Gardens, etc. each with different plants representing the vegetation in those countries and cultures.

The most scenic garden I though was the Supertree Grove. Here there are huge trees that were built to have vegetation all around them. It is like walking among giants and is truly something I have never seen before. A picture can explain it better than my words. You are able to walk at the top of some, but I didn’t get that chance.

Week 12

This week’s main event was a concert I attended at the Esplanade. At the Esplanade they have free concerts at this wonderful venue on the water. The theme was Local Fever meaning the bands performing did cover of local music in Singapore. The band I was fortunate enough to see was One Eye. This band couldn’t have been older than 21 and they were all very talented musicians. The songs were mainly alternative and indie pop and they were amazing. Here are some photos from the event.

At work I have mainly been working on a competitor analysis and putting together a spreadsheet of everything I’ve come across. I’ve gotten to know my boss Kelly pretty well and she’s taken me to all the good local joints for lunch. The office is very hybrid so I haven’t gotten the opportunity to meet many other employees. The other day, however, we met with one of the Execs, Harold. He told a few of the interns about the company and its operations, as well as some parting wisdom mainly revolving around the fact to “do what you love”. Next week the Bucknell students are taking a trip to Phuket so can’t wait for that. Until then…

Week 13

As I mentioned last week, I ended up traveling to Phuket. It was a fun weekend getaway. The first day I went to the beach for a much needed beach day. I ended up surfing for the first time this trip. The water was so blue and warm (85 degrees). The next day all of the Bucknell students on the trip went on a boat tour where we went snorkeling, swimming and all rented jet skis. We travelled around three islands in Phuket, some of which are shown below.

Later that day we all went to a Muay Thai fight, which is a form of kickboxing. That was the first time I had been to a fight and it is an interesting sport. It seems like it takes a lot of guts to stand in the ring and fight someone else, probably not my kind of sport. Overall, it was a good little weekend getaway, giving me the energy to power through my last two weeks at this internship.

Week 14

As we come down the home stretch, this is the last week of my blog. This overall trip has been a great experience. I’ve expanded my cultural awareness and learned some new business tools and skills. Over the course of my internship I’ve done several newsletters, multiple social media posts, and a thorough competitor analysis among other tasks.

On Wednesday at work, we had a training course on communication within the company. It was very eye opening to see the different kind of communicators across the company. The course leader used the DiSC strategy to categorize everyone. This breaks down people into communication characteristics that are Dominance, inflluence, Steadiness, and Conscientiousness. Each of these profiles have a different way to resolve a conflict. It was very helpful to learn how to breakdown and resolve one with each characteristic. My personality trait is steadiness which has the description of cautious and reflective, as well as accepting and warm, when in a conversation. This seminar was the most interesting program in my internship and will use the lessons I learned in it for the rest of my career.

Writing these blogs have allowed me to reflect on my learning experience while abroad. Sadly I have come to my last blog post. I enjoyed sharing my experiences with you. I truly recommend this program to anyone who has the opportunity to join.