Anyone who ever said, "Go exchange can play.." obviously never went to Tec. (Tec de Monterrey or ITESM). For one thing, I've done more homework here than the whole of last term! sianz. It was only when we got here that we realized that Tec is supposedly the "Harvard of Latin America" and that's why it's so siong. Nevertheless, it's all good 'cos.... i'm enjoying classes! haha. the closet-nerd has been unveiled. :)
One class in particular, (Intercultural Communication) is especially interesting because every single continent in the world is represented in the class- so the discussions and sharings we have are truly enlightening. :) The prof started the very first lesson with the quote, "If the world were a village of 1000 people, there would be 607 Asians, 132 Africans, 120 Europeans, 79 North Americans, 57 South Americans and 5 Australians/Oceanians." Ever since then, he continously challenges us to redefine how we perceive the world... in light of "belonging to a world community".
Besides ICC, I'm also taking International Negotiation, Intro to Mex. Culture and of course....Spanish! I seriously love the language. :) Will hopefully continue it when I get back to sg. (wonder if SMU will offer Intermediate Spanish again? hmmm.)
One thing I realised when I got here... is that I'm a perfectionist. :( Even though all these courses are pass/fail... I still find myself putting in so much work; cos I wanna do well. (Haha... seems like jane's experiencing the same thing in Florida. maybe it's a rafflesian thing?) The passing grade here is 70. (yup. you read right... SEVENTY).... but generally most pple can scrape thru with a pass if u hand in all the homework.
So yeah, back to being a perfectionist- we just received our first "mid-term" grades 2 wks back.... (there are THREE midterms during the term. but if u get more than 86 by the 3rd one, they allow you one extra week of absences)... and I got grades I havn't seen since.... primary school! *grin* 100, 93.5, 94 and 89..... go figure which is for which. :)
Enough about classes. Besides Tec- the classes.... there's also Tec-the school! as in the school grounds. The Tec campus is everything SMU strives for... and eventually fails at. The grounds are the epitome of "City campus"! The buildings would be right at home in our CBD, there are art scuptures installed at strategic areas of the campus, there's lotsa greenery and landscaping..... and beat this- there are ANIMALS. not the typical cats and dogs mind you, rather... PEACOCKS, DEER, ducks, pigeons, chicks and various other species of birds. and they're all allowed to roam the grounds freely.
The mexicans tell me that if you get attacked by the deer, you're tuiton is free for the year! Haha. oh yeah, the only thing is, they put "something" (like benches, or the art pieces) in all the would-have-been open spaces to prevent students from congregation and staging protests.
The students in Tec are pretty warm and friendly. Most can speak English 'cos they have to pass a TOEFL test before they are accepted into the school. It is VERY amusing though to read their tshirts... cos they don't really get the funny phrases. for example... just this week i spotted a guy wearing one which said-I'm still wearing my clothes;please help me undress. and a girl wearing I need a sugardaddy. hehe. u should have seen her face when we explained to her what that was!
"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do.
So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover."
-- Mark Twain
About Me
[ name :: debz ]
[ age :: 20 ]
[ bday :: 04/ 12/ 1985 ]
[ :: blessed child of God ::]
[ :: smu kid ::]
[ :: happy daughter n sis ::]
[ :: pampered gf :: ]
I wanna travel the world someday.. *wistful grin*
This is just another step in my journey...
I'm currently in Mexico right now (Tec de Monterrey to be exact).. on exchange.
So feel free to share in my adventure... :)
