'People want to take pictures with me because I'm blonde': Swedish NTU exchange student shares surprising experiences in Singapore

A Swedish exchange student at Nanyang Technological University (NTU) said she was surprised to find that some strangers in Singapore would stare at her and ask to take photos with her, simply because she's blonde.

Lisa shared the experience in a TikTok post on Wednesday (Sept 30), which has since garnered more than 18,000 views.

The video, titled Things I Did Not Expect As An Exchange Student at NTU as a Swedish girl, listed several other surprises from her time in Singapore.

She started off about how some "people will stare like a lot, and want to take pictures with me", simply because of the colour of her hair.

"I thought it was a joke but no, it happened," she quipped.

She also described NTU's long lectures, which can last up to three hours and are sometimes held without a break.

She said classes are mandatory, unlike in Sweden where lectures are not necessarily compulsory.

She also praised the variety of food options on campus, including Western choices, which she found affordable.

Beyond campus life, she said peak-hour crowds could be overwhelming, citing a Luckin Coffee outlet with more than 100 orders at 9am.

She added that she did not realise NTU was more than an hour from the city when she applied for campus housing and joked that she did not recommend paying more than $50 for a Grab ride home after a night out.

TikTok users weigh in

Some TikTok users responded to her observations, with one jokingly asking: "Can I take a picture with you?"

Another commenter pointed out that she appeared to have picked up some local speech patterns, writing: "I can see Singlish blooming in your sentence structure. As a Singaporean, I'm proud of you."

"I think it's so cute that everyone wants a picture with you," another user wrote.

One commenter speculated that those asking for photos were likely from China or other countries with more homogeneous populations, adding that Singaporeans are not particularly bothered because half the country are foreigners.

Lisa confirmed the commenter's speculation: "Yes, they said they were here from China; I just thought it was funny."

AsiaOne has reached out to Lisa for more information.

helmy.saat@asiaone.com

一名在南洋理工大学 (NTU) 就读的瑞典交换生表示，她很惊讶地发现，新加坡的一些陌生人会盯着她看，并要求与她合影，仅仅因为她是金发女郎。

Lisa 于周三（9 月 30 日）在 TikTok 上分享了这段经历，该视频目前已获得超过 18,000 次观看。

这段名为《作为一名瑞典女孩在南洋理工大学做交换生，我意想不到的事情》的视频列举了她在新加坡期间的其他一些惊喜。

她一开始就提到，有些人“会盯着我看，还想和我合影”，仅仅是因为她的头发是这个颜色。

“我以为这是个玩笑，结果却真的发生了，”她打趣道。

她还描述了南洋理工大学的长时间讲座，有时长达三个小时，而且有时没有休息时间。

她说，这里的课程是强制性的，这与瑞典不同，在瑞典，讲座不一定是强制性的。

她还称赞了校园内丰富多样的餐饮选择，包括西式菜肴，她觉得这些菜肴价格实惠。

除了校园生活之外，她还表示高峰时段的人潮可能会让人难以招架，并举例说，早上 9 点，一家瑞幸咖啡门店就有超过 100 个订单。

她补充说，她在申请校园宿舍时并没有意识到南洋理工大学距离市区超过一个小时车程，并开玩笑说，她不建议晚上出去玩后花超过 50 美元打车回家。

TikTok用户发表看法

一些TikTok用户对她的观点做出了回应，其中一位开玩笑地问道：“我可以和你合影吗？”

另一位评论者指出，她似乎已经掌握了一些本地的说话方式，写道：“我能看出你的句子结构中融合了新加坡式英语。作为一名新加坡人，我为你感到骄傲。”

“我觉得大家都想和你合影真是太可爱了，”另一位用户写道。

一位评论者推测，索要照片的人很可能来自中国或其他人口构成较为单一的国家，并补充说，新加坡人并不特别在意，因为该国一半人口都是外国人。

丽莎证实了评论者的猜测：“是的，他们说他们是从中国来的；我觉得这很有趣。”

AsiaOne已联系Lisa以获取更多信息。

helmy.saat@asiaone.com