Insead Integration Party

This weekend was the Insead Integration Party. It was held at Km8, a beach and pool (as in swimming) bar on Sentosa Island. The island is a natural park and so we drove past signs warning us of "Monkeys Crossing" and drivers were warned that parked cars might suffer peacock attacks. In fact the most worrying thing was the apparent lack of sunshine.

Even though it rained it was hard not to feel pretty pleased with ourselves for choosing to start the year on the Singapore campus rather than in Fontainbleau. P1s (that's us) and P3s (those who graduate in July) attended and the aim was to "integrate". There's nothing like polysyllables to create an excuse for a party.

Singapore - INSEAD Start

I arrived in Singapore about a week ago after a marathon plane journey which took me via Doha (capital of Qatar of course) and Hong Kong. I thought I was flying Quantas but after wandering around Heathrow terminal 3 unsuccessfully trying to find their desk I looked closer at my ticket and realised it was Qatar Airways.

I'll admit that I was slightly nervous at the prospect of a fourteen-hour journey with the mysterious airline. I was wrong to worry - they were amazing. I watched MY choice of films when I wanted, had loads of leg room, was served delicious food and no one was too strict about the seats being upright for take-off and landing. The stop in Hong Kong was not planned but the result of a missed connection in Doha - no one's perfect.

On arrival in Singapore I called my new flatmates who met my taxi to help me with my luggage and were duly impressed when I produced a bottle of champagne and three flutes from my suitcase. Celebratory drinks were indeed in order as the flat we had all paid for without seeing was exactly as described. This was no London property agent we had been dealing with.

The following day was "Flatmate bonding day" as we ate together, shopped for mobile phones, swam and went to the gym together. Guillaume the French trans-atlantic sailor and Brazilian Pedro aka "Borat" are my new living companions and since we hadn't met before it's amazing how well we get on. We even decided to host the first house party of the year on Sunday night which was really easy to organise as most of the other students live in the same building complex.

Staying in Singapore is brilliant, not just because I get to go swimming in one of the building campus' 3 pools when I don't have class (here's where I live http://www.singaporeexpats.com/singapore-property-pictures/condo/heritage-view.htm) but also because I get medical check ups from people like Dr Pondy Lee Pong Ding whose hilarious name almost makes up for the needles. Of course it's hot, and also very humid, but there are thankfully no mosquitoes. Everything is really efficient and clean which somehow makes it a really relaxing place too. Insead is just a short walk from home and the campus is stunning so it seems there are really no excuses at all for not doing any work while I'm here... oh, apart from the parties of course.