TAINAN _ SEPTEMBER 17–21

 September 17, 2024

Tuesday was Mid-Autumn Festival, however I ended up doing school work for most of the day. We brainstormed and worked as a group in the morning and had critique from teachers in the afternoon, before going back to work afterwards. Despite working all day, it was really fun to work in the NCKU Industrial Design studio building and get a glimpse into what their lives as ID students are like. While walking back from campus during sunset, the moon was incredible large and low in the sky, which was a really gorgeous view. I bought a few pens at the stationary store before getting dinner with friends. We stopped at a place that had two really cute Shiba Inu dogs named Charcoal and Cooper.

September 18, 2024

The morning started off with a lecture about mapping out a region in a metaverse and using that digital platform as a way to educate people on the town. We talked about basic human motivators that make an experience and did a really fun activity where in groups we each made our own metaverse maps that would facilitate a specific factor. Despite being really stressed about our projects at this point, it was nice to have a fun activity to focus on something other than our projects for a while. Everyone did really fun, cute, and crazy drawings on their maps, and I really enjoyed laughing and relaxing for a bit with everyone before going back to work. After the lecture, we had some tea and snacks in the building. An interaction I found really sweet was when one of the NCKU students had commented on a drawing of a tiger I had left on the table and was drawing a dragon themselves. I then showed them the drawing of a dragon I had done the night before, and we had a good laugh about the coincidence. Before starting on our group projects again, Jessy Ned and I continued our cafe adventures and stopped by another cafe that had really cute whale-themed decor and a dog as well. Then, when we got back, the NCKU student had left drawings of a dragon and a tiger in my sketchbook for me! After working, one of the students in my project group took Sydney, Jessy, Ned and me to a local spot to get milkfish soup and braised pork over rice, which was really delicious. For dessert, Jessy and I tried the egg custard tarts from KFC, which an NCKU student had recommended we try (we both liked the classic flavor more than the black sesame mochi one) before I went back to the studio to keep working for the rest of the night. 

September 19, 2024

Thursday began by making matcha and doing paper crafts. I had never tried metallic-paper crafts before, and it was really cool to see how smooth the master was compared to the rest of us, which made me appreciate how practiced he must be. I always really enjoying doing hands-on crafts. For lunch, almost all of us stopped at a sushi restaurant recommended by one of the employees at the paper craft place. It was really fun to eat with everyone, and the food was really good! I've been really enjoying getting to eat a lot more fish than I usually do in Seattle, since fish is really expensive in Washington. With our final presentations due the next day, we went back to work for the rest of the day and well into the night, finishing up projects, posters, and presentations. It was very reminiscent of our typical studio classes back at UW, which was familiar and fun despite the stress and lack of sleep.

September 20, 2024

For our final full day, we spent the morning finalizing any details of our projects and practicing for our final presentations. It was really incredible to see everyone's work; it was all so impressive how much work everyone did in such a short time frame and how high quality it was! After some celebratory snacks, we went back to the hotel to rest before going out for dinner and celebrating! It felt very bittersweet to be finishing the program, but I'm glad I got to spend the night with all my friends and even one of the NCKU students from my group. 

September 21, 2024

This morning was especially bittersweet! It has been such an incredible time in Taiwan; I truly cannot put into words. I've learned so much about Taiwan, about design, and about myself! I've enjoyed getting to spend so much time with my friends as well as making so many new ones. I feel really inspired by everything that I've seen and experienced and the people that I've met. I've never traveled for so long before, but we were having so much fun it really flew by. I hope to be able to travel more with my friends in the future :D <3