Foreign student in The Philippines – Manila

To be a foreign student in Manila is a life changing experience both if you are Asian, African, American or European. For me the stay in Manila was so different than Denmark where I came from and it ended up changing my life and my future is definitely in the warm, hospitable and beautiful country of the Philippines. There are so many good things about studying and living in the Philippines.Let start with the weather which is tropical meaning hot weather all year around. There is off course the rain season and the dry season which is a little dull. Then there are the Filipino people and especially the Filipinas! The sweetest hottest girl’s there is. Well let’s talk some academics. Manila is not the most popular destination for foreign students and that really is a shame. There are many colleges in Manila. The educational system is made with high school and college after the English model.

I studied at De La Salle University in Manila which is one of the two main universities there along with Atheneo De Manila in Quezon city. My university in Europe had much more high tech equipment but the teachers in Manila are more present in their teachings. Because these universities take a fee unlike the university I studied at in Copenhagen the teachers are concerned that the students actually pass the courses.

This could be seen by the way that passing grades were sometimes lowered to get more people to pass. The form of teaching was traditional with the teacher writing on the blackboard. Class participation was usually limited to writing assignments on the blackboard. There were a lot of quizzes and tests which required preparation. Being a foreign student made it easy to get the teachers and students attention and I suspect that sometimes my grades were a little higher because of my white skin.

I studied Economics there and was generally satisfied with the courses. I took both undergraduate and graduate courses. The undergraduate were fun and more sociable while the graduate courses were serious with the majority of the students already in pay employment. There were other foreign students there. At graduate level I met mostly Chinese students. The undergraduate foreigners came from places such as Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, Germany and so on.

Most international students spend time together. The exchange students spend a lot of time drinking and travelling around the country. Most of them are there for one term which in La Salle is 4 months. They have a lot of fun. I also travelled some and hit the clubs sometimes with them. I planned to stay more than one term so my focus was a little different. Many of the foreign students living in Manila go to La Salle.

There is a foreign students association there. This association is primarily for the permanent foreign students in Manila. I did a lot of sports in Manila and went to some social events. Judo became a big part of my social after hour’s time at the university. This is where I met most of my Filipino friends.