How to avoid MESTakes in South-East Asia: a Student Advice

There is always something fascinating in the idea of living abroad. It all starts with the fear of not fitting in, mixed with the excitement of embarking in a new journey not knowing where it will take you. But most of the time, it ends with the feeling that the time was not enough.

I chose to pursue my master thesis in Singapore, at the Singapore ETH Centre (SEC), for 6 months. My name is Giuseppe Nappi, and I am an Italian master student from the Master in Energy Science and Technologies (MEST). The idea of living in Singapore fascinated me since the beginning, being an innovation-driven city, especially in the context of energy; however, I knew I was about to start a journey in a cultural context completely unfamiliar to me, and I was afraid to make mistakes.

What should I expect to eat? Should I approach people or they will approach me? Am I too invasive? How can I withstand the hot weather? These were few of the many questions that I had in mind before leaving. Only the time made me understand that there was no reason to be worried. That one of the best experiences of my life was about to start.

Sure, the first couple of weeks the cultural shock did not delay to arrive. Sometimes I was ordering food not knowing what I was about to eat; sometimes I was looking for something familiar, but that was the wrong attitude. So I started asking people what I should try and where I should go, and curiosity is what everybody appreciated. It is when I stopped acting like a tourist that I stopped feeling as one, and became part of a fascinating society (even though, I must say, I never got used to the spicy food!).

People take more time to gain trust when the mentality is different. It was important for me to understand how I could avoid making mistakes with my behavior, that people might have misinterpreted. Bonding with one of my flatmates gave me a huge help on that, when she understood that I was not trying to count down the days until I would go back to Zurich, that I was not just passing by, but I was there to create long-lasting memories and relationships with people. And at some point, as the last days were approaching, the nostalgia of going home that I was initially feeling turned into a craving for more time, since all the wonderful experiences and memories made during the 6 months made me demand for more.

And of course, being in the heart of South-East Asia, I could not lose the opportunity to visit some of the best sceneries in the world. From Philippines and Indonesia, to Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam, between the happy smiles of people living a simple life, cultures and histories that are hundreds years old, talking with every stranger I could meet. That’s where I realized how wonderful this experience was, because it is from the unknown that we learn, from the difficulties that we grow, and in the diversity that we appreciate the beauty of the world.