Full transcript
0:00if there was something that my yo
0:03oneself was excited for about uni life
0:05back then it was 100 the student
0:07Exchange
0:09but at one point the pandemic hit and
0:12almost all hope was lost
0:14then somehow the Stars aligned and I had
0:17one last chance to make it happen
0:19this is how my study abroad Dream came
0:22true
0:23[Music]
0:40foreign
0:42[Music]
1:20what's up guys and if you're new here my
1:22name is Mark and I'm a final year
1:24business student studying at the
1:25National University of Singapore it's
1:27been a long time coming but I wanted to
1:28share a story about my life as an
1:30exchange student studying in Stockholm
1:31Sweden earlier this year
1:33and after everything is pieced together
1:34let's go back to how it all started
1:38[Music]
1:48in January this year I made the trip
1:51towards the Scandinavian region with my
1:53two buddies The Sims
1:55it was a long time leading up to this
1:57exchange having supposed to go the past
1:59three times but having those plans
2:01canceled because of covet
2:04The Sims and I arrived at our apartment
2:05in Stockholm and got settled down for a
2:07first week of school while the same
2:10study at kth University I took classes
2:13just 15 minutes away at the business
2:15school in Stockholm University
2:17[Music]
2:21this was where I started to meet fellow
2:23singaporeans studying in Stockholm like
2:25Richard Lenny Mel Jordan Shem and many
2:30others became a close Community while in
2:32Sweden
2:34we learned how to cook our own meals but
2:37just to the extremely cold weather
2:39explore the city
2:41and after a while this place started to
2:44feel like home
2:46but upon completing our first class in
2:48Stockholm it was time to explore the
2:50world
2:52first stop the Arctic Circle
2:55[Music]
3:04our first and only trip has house beats
3:06led us to tromsa in Norway where we
3:08found ourselves feeding reindeers
3:10[Music]
3:14going to explore the vast Landscapes of
3:16the Norwegian land and experience
3:17trumpza's first sunrise in two months
3:20and even had some snowball fights in the
3:22cold winter
3:24but more importantly we set out in the
3:26core with a campfire under the moon and
3:28stars
3:30where the Northern Lights not once but
3:33twice
3:34were greeted by the green lady on both
3:36occasions because of our lovely parents
3:39this was something that I'll never
3:41forget for the rest of my life
3:42[Music]
3:57within the first month we also managed
3:59to visit rovanami in Finland known for a
4:03Santa Claus village
4:09this was where we crossed Frozen Lakes
4:12by Huskies leading and snowmobiling
4:30[Music]
4:46it was a fun couple of weeks traveling
4:48with friends
4:49and even though I was missing out on
4:51some events that I usually celebrate
4:53with family like Chinese New Year
4:56it was refreshing to have the experience
4:58with Newfound friends
5:01hopefully exchange life was set up to be
5:03one of the best stages of my life thus
5:05far if not the best
5:08but that wasn't without its own set of
5:10challenges
5:12now here's chapter 2 the struggles of
5:15exchange life
5:18[Music]
5:21during my first month of exchange I
5:23actually went through a pretty few else
5:26I caught Corvette went through so many
5:28airport problems like missing my flights
5:30I also lost my student residence permit
5:33we got into car accidents and I also was
5:35faced with a realization that I wasn't
5:37going to be traveling to all my planned
5:39destinations with my housemates
5:41also being in a foreign country gave me
5:43a sense of uncertainty and unfamiliarity
5:45that I wasn't used to
5:47it was a reminder again that things
5:49don't always go according to plan but
5:51what matters is how you react and how
5:53you move on
5:54then I started getting a lot more
5:56concerned about things like budget being
5:58homesick relationships and even getting
6:01stressed about finding an internship for
6:03the upcoming summer
6:05that led my sentimental self to calling
6:07many friends and family back home
6:09I was definitely missing everybody so
6:12FaceTiming many of them really helped me
6:14to realize that I was just getting
6:16caught up in my own head it also
6:18reminded me that my time on Exchange was
6:20short
6:21I had to embrace the opportunity right
6:23in front of me and focus on the things
6:25that truly made me come alive so once I
6:28sorted my mindset out I noticed that my
6:30next module in Stockholm University was
6:32going to be fully online
6:34so you know what that means
6:36[Music]
6:38save me
6:41[Music]
6:47[Music]
6:59[Music]
7:04if I am
7:06[Music]
7:14how's your mouth
7:21[Music]
7:37[Music]
7:48[Music]
7:55foreign
8:15[Music]
8:17spending time overseas with family
8:18trying out solo traveling and meeting
8:21new friends along the way suggests
8:23exploring parts of the world with close
8:24Buddies
8:25despite it becoming a very hectic season
8:27and traveling this was truly a very
8:30life-changing month for me
8:31and one that I'll never forget
8:34yay the month ended with me turning 25.
8:38the milestone in which I learned so many
8:40new things about myself with a renewed
8:42perspective for life and appreciation
8:44for my family and friends I took the
8:47time to also document some of my
8:49thoughts in turning 25 on camera
8:51maybe I'll turn them into a video to
8:53look back on in the future too my
8:56housemate's mom also decided to surprise
8:58me by asking my family to write me a
9:00birthday book before we left for Sweden
9:02and kept it for three months in his
9:04luggage before hiding it under my bed or
9:06I celebrated my birthday virtually with
9:08my family this was the exact moment when
9:12I found out oh what
9:15[Music]
9:33it really just reminded me how blessed I
9:35was to be with friends and all those
9:37thoughts and Tiny struggles in the
9:39earlier months were just gone
9:41I also got to hang out with friends who
9:43were more interested in photography like
9:44Mr Jacks and weeping which encouraged me
9:48to go out there and create more exciting
9:49memories and content
9:52it was such a blessing to be able to
9:54travel while studying and have these
9:56experiences that we enacted Something In
9:58My Heart
9:59by that point I was midway through my
10:02exchange life and I was just hungry for
10:04more Adventures
10:07now you might think that this was the
10:09craziest part of exchange I mean sure it
10:11did get a bit more hectic with having to
10:13do school work and studying for exams
10:15but nah for the next two months or so it
10:18only just got better and better and you
10:20will see why
10:24it took a last minute student Party
10:26Cruise to Estonia where I got closer to
10:28my housemates empty and alongside a
10:30bunch of friends from Stockholm too it
10:32was a quick and random decision but
10:33those were the nights that we never
10:35slept a spontaneous trip filled with
10:37laughter and a lot of freezing in the
10:39cold
10:40[Music]
10:40[Applause]
10:57following that Swang and I visited the
11:00beautiful countries in the eastern
11:02European region where we experienced so
11:04much culture and energy in the cities
11:06and Islands
11:18[Music]
11:31foreign
11:41[Music]
11:51but clearly it was quite difficult to do
11:53so and so after an exciting couple of
11:55days we found ourselves to Mr Jax and
11:58Ben Chan in the land of the horses
12:02uh a trip that almost never happened
12:04this was by far my favorite place was on
12:07Exchange because it had everything time
12:10people the best travel companions
12:12amazing breathtaking views this was
12:16Cappadocia
12:21[Music]
12:33foreign
12:52[Music]
13:00[Music]
13:03foreign
13:10[Music]
13:21[Music]
13:26[Music]
13:28month of my exchange life
13:31but we're not right after my gyms I
13:33packed up my bags and headed towards
13:35Western Europe to link up with my fellow
13:37batchmates chaos and map crashing their
13:39graduation trip through Europe and
13:41Germany and Denmark we explored the
13:44cities of Munich Berlin and Copenhagen
13:47in what felt like my own grad trip too
13:50[Music]
14:00foreign
14:09I took another short trip towards the
14:11amazing Lakeside Village of horstadt
14:13where we visited the salt mines and just
14:16enjoyed our time facing the calm Waters
14:21just after that I was in Vienna a city
14:24filled with so many kind strangers
14:26offered to let me eat with them and
14:28provided me with free food
14:31last but not least I bet the local film
14:34photographer called Max who I bumped
14:36into at the local Starbucks
14:38surprisingly he offered to show me his
14:40Studio teaching me a lot more about film
14:43photography
14:45it was those moments where you just had
14:47to cross your gut and go off the floor
14:50so shout out to you Max thanks for
14:52making my trip to Vienna so memorable
14:56if I could describe my exchange journey
14:58in one word you will be blessed
15:00for almost not getting to go for
15:02exchange to living through and
15:04experiencing some of the best moments of
15:06my life this was something that I could
15:08only thank God for
15:10and our last trip encapsulated all those
15:13feelings the one and only road trip of
15:15my exchange life alongside two brothers
15:17and Jacks around yourself though it was
15:20only a short five days we drove around
15:22the country taking in the views that
15:24I've been dreaming of as a kid this was
15:27our final destination the Icelandic road
15:29trip
15:36[Music]
15:38trying to get through the dark
15:42[Music]
15:46lost our gravity now we're waiting
15:50[Music]
16:04in our closets
16:06had a reason but we lost it no Direction
16:12[Music]
16:18[Music]
16:26[Music]
16:35what's up
16:39the Moon
17:05we're beautiful creatures
17:08foreign
17:16[Music]
17:27[Music]
17:28with that I was just left with one week
17:31in Stockholm breathing in the
17:33peacefulness and slow pace of life here
17:35for the final time I'll miss absolutely
17:37everything about the stage of my life it
17:40was more than just studying in a
17:42different country
17:43from cooking together and having meals
17:46in large groups to Adventures filled
17:48with good energy and adrenaline playing
17:51football in badminton looking genuinely
17:53nice and kind people and finding the
17:56best spots to watch the sunset it was
17:58also surreal to just explore this
18:00amazing City that I called him for a bit
18:02and from the first day at the start of
18:04the Year till the very end I had
18:07brothers that shed this real sense of
18:09happiness
18:13oh my God
18:15I will never be 25 again traveling the
18:17world with some of my best friends
18:19meeting new people or taking off many
18:21items on my bucket list
18:23and so without a doubt this film will
18:26immortalize every happy and sad moment
18:28I've had forever
18:30[Music]
18:48come here foreign
19:18[Music]
19:21I've learned to take things slow to take
19:23care of myself and to be thankful at
19:25each step of the way
19:27I'm grateful for my family and friends
19:29who supported me all this time and this
19:32entire experience reminded me to live in
19:34the moment to stop worrying about the
19:36unknown ahead and to enjoy each chapter
19:38while they last
19:40I waited two years chasing the stream
19:42and almost came close to giving up on it
19:45only for it to turn out better than I
19:48could ever Hope For What a Beautiful
19:50Creatures
19:51[Music]
19:54foreign
19:59[Music]
20:12[Music]
20:24[Music]
20:32my dreams
20:40just like this there's a fire in your
20:43eyes
20:45[Music]
20:56[Music]
21:07if tonight is always
21:15[Music]
21:54remember
22:04that was the worst cream ever I cannot