TAINAN & TAIPEI & SEATTLE (9/17 - 9/22)

Wow... How do I start my final blog? Where to even begin? For one— apologies if this blog sucks more than my others as I am jetlagged and maybe a teeny bit sick. These last couple of days of the program have been more work and less play, which is to be expected. For the life of me I can't remember what I did on the 17th, though my camera roll places Kalin, Ned and I at Cheers Bar on the night of the 17th. We walked there after dinner to have a drink and chat about the process of our 

projects—something we talked about nonstop until after presentations on the 20th really. There were two shiba inus at the bar, one of which was so rambunctious he had to be taken on not one but two walks. On the 18th, we had a lecture in class on the badlands of Taiwan, and how a team of designers worked to create a metaverse of the area. The work was super impressive, and was a unique approach to bring attention to an older area of Taiwan. We made our own paper metaverses, which were all pretty chaotic looking. Very fun to interact with and see though! After the lecture, my group got back together to put in some work on our project. We grabbed some materials so we could 3D print and set up the presentation / poster. That night I grabbed dinner with Jennifer and Pfeiffer at some steak place nearby and it was by far the worst dinner of the trip. We all struggled with translation and were eventually given the English menu out of pity. There were two options for cooking: medium well or medium. I wanted medium rare but we settled for medium. When the steak came out, we found out medium really meant blue rare—the steak was practically raw inside and it was the chewiest cut of meat imaginable. We couldn't cut the steak, rather we ripped it into bites. The next day more than made up for that steak though! We got to partake in a matcha ceremony and make a japanese 

papercraft. A bunch of us tried on kimonos and I tried on a yukata for myself. Afterwards we went out for poke—which was the best poke of my life hands down. As fun as the days activies were, this was where the work got serious. We rushed back to the classroom and had some final critique before we delegated the work and locked in. I'm super grateful to the work Sydney put in on the project, she worked till early in the morning with me when the rest of our group went to bed. Being the smallest group was hard, especially when the two NCKU students in our group understandably had other obligations besides the project. That night I was up until 5:30 in the morning working independently on the poster and helping Sydney with the presentation where I could. I was dead tired and stressed out of my mind before presentations but we managed to put together a project that I feel we were all proud of. The name fortutensils sort of sucked but I love the experience and system that we worked to create. When we finally presented, I felt a huge weight lifted from my shoulders. We won the Taiwanese essence award (hooray!) and got to share some afternoon tea together as a group. I took the hardest nap of the trip after but everyone was in high spirits having finished the study abroad. The seniors made a trip to Bar Whisper for the final time before ubering to Heylo. Funny enough, everyone we saw there last time was there that night as well. I think it's the only real DJ style bar in the area so everyone makes their way there when they go out. Somehow, some locals convinced us to come to karaoke with them on the 15th floor of some building. We sung our hearts out for about an hour—my favorite was Vida la Vida by Coldplay. The next morning we reflected on the program over some breakfast and parted ways. I got off the HSR in Taipei with Pfeiffer and Sydney—we were all leaving on the same flight on the 22nd. When I got to my hotel I had a MOS burger and immediately passed out. I had originally planned to go out or sightsee while I was in Taipei but it was raining the whole time and I was exhausted after the last two nights. I met with Pfeiffer the next day for some Vietnamese food and to take the MRT to the airport. The flight wasn't bad at all and I watched two movies: Once Upon a Time in Hollywood and the Garfield movie. I don't really recommend the second one. Glad to be back in Seattle but I'm going to miss Taiwan dearly. This program has been more amazing than I could've ever expected and I'm so grateful to have been selected to be a part of all this. I'll save the reflection for the final reflection essay but it's been a real joy to be a part of this Design in Taiwan. (Imagine me doing the ID hand sign).

-Austin

TAINAN (9/14 - 9/16)

Unsurprisingly, the boat was lovely. It was dumping rain the whole time but I think that was a pretty authentic way to experience Taijang National Park. We were lucky enough to spot some fun local birds and even a mud dwelling crab or two. The whole experience made me think back to AP Environmental Science in high school and learning about mangroves (a textbook example of a key species). The trip was more interactive than I had imagined—we stopped on a floating barge and I got to help pull a net out of the water. The net didn't have any big fish but there was a funny little mudskip (I think) in there. We also made a quick stop to see some oysters that were being farmed in the area. 

After docking the boat we flocked to the gift shop and I bought a fish pencil bag (which I will cherish forever). The bus took us to the Anping tree house next—which I thought would be a house in a tree. Rather, it was a house that was sort of fused with a tree. The mirrors scattered throughout the abandoned warehouse made for a really beautiful juxtaposition with the brick and tree. I got a cheeky beer in the gift shop and was informed by our tour guide that the locals sometimes had that specific beer (Taiwan Cheng Gong Beer) before an exam because it was associated with success. I might have to try that back in the states.

Seeing as it was Saturday and the night before our free day, a handful of us made our way to the West Central District. We started the night at Present Coffee, a cafe that Jessy had found tucked in an alley. I had the most delicious hohjicha latte—a wonderful start to a wonderful night. We had some dinner at this restaurant called Nest, which I highly recommend, and eventually made our way to this bar (I think it was called Heyso?) with a live DJ and a fun crowd that spilled outside.  After ubering back at 3am, Sydney, Kayla and I grabbed some late night McDonalds to fuel what would be the start of a very early morning gameday. I had subscribed to a VPN and begged Kalin for her peacock so that Kayla and I could watch the Apple Cup. We lasted about a quarter before we both passed out. Unfortunately, we both woke up to watch us lose in the last three minutes of the game around 7am. Rough start to my free day, no doubt. When I woke up again, Ned and I grabbed some rice omelettes and met up with Kalin and Jessy. The four of us shared a single origin coffee flight at a cafe and the coffee helped to make up for our excruciating loss. We walked around the area for a while, eventually making our way to a curated vintage store that specialized in Taiwanese designed / inspired clothing. Everything was quite expensive so I only grabbed two mandarin stickers from the 90s. The employee told me that they were romantic stickers often placed on motorcycles in the early 90s that translated to "romantic touch" and "tender like the water". I thought I could maybe put them on my bike  or car but I lost them a few hours after I

 purchased them. Oh well. We left and went to Yuguang Island to catch the sunset with the others. The sunset was absolutely stunning and I think I took a hundred photos. Seeing the bats fly overhead towards the setting sun was something special. The water was the warmest I'd ever felt (at least compared to the west coast) and the sand was incredibly fine. After heading back to the hotel and showering, we went out to Bar Whisper for the second time to sketch and unwind—and also to see their adorable cat again. We caved and shared a specialty drink of theirs called Jumanji that consisted of gherkin, brandy, sticky rice, and sausage. It was interesting to say the least. Today was yet another cafe in the morning (I'm starting to think the coffee culture

here might be even bigger than in Seattle). I met up with my design group and had maybe the best mocha I've ever had. We talked about directions that we could take for promoting sustainability / how we can effectively convince the customer to compost. We also decided to use American utensils, rather than chopsticks, to better cater to the US market. We started a Figma board for form inspiration but didn't get very far before we had to leave to go on our awesome field trip. The embroidery was impressive—I can't imagine how long each one took. That being said, three years and four months didn't sound too long to master the art. I still can't really wrap my head around how they're able to accurately find where to push the needle back up through the fabric everytime. The incense store was also really cool, although I can't say I did the best job listening as I was busy trying to smell every incense in the shop. After buying some treats at the bakery, we made a quick snail alley stop before grabbing some Japanese for dinner. This might very well be my longest blog post to date but, in all fairness, these past three days have been action packed. It's starting to dawn on me how much little time we have left in the program so I'm really trying to soak up every last minute of my time here. It's been exciting to watch the other groups develop their ideas and to see all the non designers get so involved in the process. I feel these next couple of days are going to be busy but I'm excited to get back into the familiar late night grind that I've grown used to last year. I know that our groups going to make something truly special (especially if I can find some time to render). Anyways, here's a cool picture I took. Cheers! 

TAICHUNG & TAINAN (9/11 - 9/13)

Hello Taiwan! On the morning of the 11th our class piled into a bus once more—this time headed to Taichung for an overnight field trip. Our first stop? Yoshan Tea House. I had done zero research into our itinerary so this was a very pleasant surprise. I was sleepy coming off the bus but talk of tea, especially local tea, gave me some much needed energy. A tour guide greeted us inside of the place and began to explain the variety of teas they had available. Truthfully, it was a little hard to hear him over the sound of clinking glass (we were all excitedly picking up the glass tea jars and smelling them). After learning about their history, we got to make tea balls and sample some of their teas. I tried to resist but I bought two tins in the gift shop. We got lunch after at a nearby restaurant and right as we sat down a giant floor to ceiling window shattered across the restaurant. A very startling start 

to an otherwise very tranquil lunch. We ran around with some giant balls behind the restaurant to burn off some calories (plus there was a huge inflatable soccer ball I couldn't resist). The next craft destination of the day was a bamboo craft factory—where almost immediately we all noticed and begged to ride on a bamboo frame bike (I did give it a spin). I had seen the mugs this factory produced in a gift shop near TDRI back in Taipei so it was cool to see how they were produced and to learn more about bamboo varieties. For the final craft stop of the night we briefly stopped by a master woodcarvers shop. I got my hopes up thinking we'd get to carve something but we were only there for twenty minutes or so. I think one day I'd like to be a master woodcarver somewhere. For whatever reason, I expected Taichung to be a humble mountainous town in the center of Taiwan. I found out, as our bus dropped us off next to a skyscraper in the middle of the city, that was not the case. Our "hostel" was on the top floor of this building overlooking a sprawling park. It was by far the nicest hostel I think I'll ever have the pleasure of staying at. Change, being from Taichung, recommended that we visit a brewery nearby our hostel for dinner that night. After seeing a chicken head at lunch, I was sort of hoping we could have some burgers and a beer. Albeit expensive, the burger and beer combo was exactly what the American in me needed. I also got some earrings of Taiwanese beer right outside the restaurant so that was a huge plus. The next morning we packed up and left the star hostel to visit the National Taiwan Craft Research Institute. The bamboo chairs knocked my socks off—I almost fell to my knees on the second floor. They were just that cool. 

We stopped for lunch at a local sustainable eatery that we discovered opened just to cook for us on the chefs birthday. The food was incredible and Winghi's Taiwanese unc stopped by to drop off some treats for the whole class (thanks unc!). The food gave us some fuel for the next stop: another bamboo craft workshop! This time we got to work with the bamboo which was soooooo much harder than expected. I wish we had been to the workshop before the craft museum because it would've given us some more appreciation for all the works we saw (more than I already had). The master was making a bamboo dinosaur which, after taking three hours to make a little vase, seemed impossibly impressive. After a little tour, we waved goodbye to the workshop and drove back to our hotel in Tainan. Today we presented on our early concepts, which I think went smoothly after having stayed up in Taichung to work on it. After a few rounds of brainstorming, our group decided to move forward with the fortune stick chopstick holder idea. I think it'll be a fun challenge to refine the idea and polish it for this next weeks presentation. I also found some NCKU capstone books from 1980 all the way to last year that were incredibly inspiring and entertaining. The one from 1990 might've been the coolest visual identity for a capstone ever and got me thinking about what I'll do for my capstone this next year. Super excited to hop on a boat tomorrow—I'll let you know how that goes in the next blog.

Cheers!

Austin 

TAINAN (9/7 - 9/10)

We're in Tainan now! Three days ago, we took the high speed rail down from Taipei to Tainan—thankfully I pulled the window seat. I stared out the window just about the whole ride. The train was moving so fast it almost hurt to watch the buildings whip by. We dropped our luggage off in the hotel lobby and made our way to NCKU (which took a whole five minutes). The students introduced themselves and recommended some spots around NCKU, including some bars and good food. After meeting the students, they gave us a quick tour of the campus. I loved the turtle pond in the middle of their quad and the brand new cafe on the other side of the brick gate. 

We ended up visiting one of those bars they recommended that night—a listening lounge about twenty minutes from the hotel. The dj was killing it and we were able to snag a private couch area upstairs. There was a minimum order so I had a scotch on ice. It all felt very sophisticated. The next day was a free day, and unlike the last, was very eventful. A handful of us set out to a nearby capybara cafe with LIVE capybaras. We were lucky enough to catch them while they were eating lunch and I snagged a couple photos with a chill capybara. We caught a taxi over to Shennong street and checked out some vintage stores. Unattended, I managed to spend a ittle over 2201 NT on some vintage military wear (very happy about the purchase though).

Rain started pouring and half of the group took shelter inside a Japanese restaurant. Genuinely some of the best Japanese food I've ever had for a little under ten dollars. Although I was stuffed, we all went to the night market and I had some fried squid with a Taiwanese sausage. Perfect end to a perfect day really. One of the things I was looking forward to the most on this trip was the indigo dying and it 100% lived up to the hype. The craftsmen were incredibly knowledgeable and taught us how to dye six separate patterns. I chose the donut style method and was incredibly happy with how it turned out. I loved the way the dye turned the gloves a purplish blue gradient. It felt good to learn something new, especially as cool as indigo dying. Although I might not get my hands on indigo in the states, I'm sure it's applicable to tie dye. It's still drying in my room but I'm itching to wear it after the first wash. While it was hanging after the third dye at the library, we visited a temple across the street. As hot as it was, I'm glad we went because I found a plethora of influences for our upcoming project within the city god temple. That and we got a silly little towel!

Afterwards we went to a BBQ place and had some of the best food yet on this trip. I think we must've ordered at least 12 different dishes. We kept trying to take photos but by the time the next dish came the last plate was licked clean. Today we had our first class brainstorming with our groups. It took us a while to find our footing but after a much needed lunch we found the direction we had been looking for. Whatever was in the food was exactly what we needed. I'm glad we have more time with this project because I'm confident our group can accomplish something really special. This study abroad has been great design process practice—something I feel that I don't always follow religiously when working on projects. Working with non designers and students outside of UW has also been educational. Ideas are being pitched that would never be pitched if it were just a room of UW ID seniors. I've been trying my best to be more attentive of potential influences in my free time—taking pictures of things that are unique to the culture or just generally interesting to me. It's been incredibly helpful in the design process, being able to refer to preexisting photos rather than trying and failing to remember what I saw in an alley three days ago. The brainstorms over, but I'm still keeping an eye out for anything that might further influence our project. Looking forward to our trip tomorrow! 

-Austin 

TAIPEI (9/4 - 9/6)

Hello again! Since I last wrote, a lot's happened in Taiwan. Allow me to catch you up... The morning of the fourth we walked outside of the hotel to find a bus waiting for us. Not an ordinary bus, but a karaoke bus. We didn't actually sing because all the songs were in Mandarin but we did use the microphones to discuss our highlights of the day! Our first stop was Yingge Ceramics Museum, a museum in the greater Yingge Ceramics district. The museum had some wonderful works, including some more industrial applications of ceramics in outlets and machinery. I didn't take a photo of the outlets but I did snap one of this beautiful red and blue ash glaze. After the museum, we went to the Tai Hwa factory, whose collection of ceramics rivaled that of the National Palace Museum. 

We were fortunate enough to have the opportunity to paint a teacup and saucer for around an hour. Despite knowing this time constraint, everyone at my table chose to paint something ambitious and we all stressed out in the last ten minutes. I had to abandon my idea of painting cats all over my mug and settle for just four little guys. It was harder than I imagined, and gave me a newfound sense of admiration for all the beautiful painted ceramics I had seen. When we finished at the factory, we took the karaoke bus back to Taipei—this time to Dot Design. Dot design was a small studio I mistook for a coffee shop at first glance. We were greeted with tea when we got in and I made a dash for the coolest looking chair in the room (the coral chair). The founder of Dot Design, Lance Han, was charismatic and walked us through the sustainable practices and products they had launched. They had an incredible amount of awards, no doubt for all they had done in the field of sustainability and their rather ingenious design. He told us of a very pretty Starbucks nearby which we didn't get to see as the bus had arrived and took us to SCU. After looking long and hard at our materials, of which there were a lot, we settled on the idea of doing a lantern. The red mesh bag, red strainer, and gold wire practically begged to be made into a traditional Taiwanese lantern. However, the lantern we made was far from traditional. The mesh bag was reminiscent of a fishing net and the strainer was often found at wet markets, or so we were told. Knowing this, we decided to lean into the fish vibe and make a lantern that changed the meaning from prosperity and fortune to shrimp! That night I had a bowl of shrimp dry noodles, something I think that was fitting. The next day was a full work day, which albeit stressful, was very rewarding. It was awesome to be back doing design work, especially on something as silly as a shrimp lamp. 

It was nerve wracking to go last, having to follow a genuinely innovative chair and a spice set that could go straight to market. Surprisingly, the judges loved our humble shrimp lamp, stating that it was very Taiwanese in execution and meaning. In celebration, we went to ACME for a brunch / dinner which had some of the best truffle fries and french toast I think I've ever had. With some recommendations from the SCU students and staff, we decided to have a night out on the town—first at Draftland and then Omni Night Club. Draftland was recommended to me multiple times and I'm glad I went, the cocktails weren't too expensive (by Seattle standards) and were served over a counter on the street. We marched 25 minutes to Omni where we remained until 3:30 am—at which point we got McDonalds and ubered home. Unfortunately for my free day, I woke up at two pm. I got a new MRT card (having broke the last one) and got a mani pedi by myself. Right outside of the salon was an amazing bun stand on the outskirts of the Shilin Night Market that I stopped at. Although it wasn't the craziest off day, it was relaxing and I got some much needed me time. 

Now that I'm out of Taipei, I feel it's easier to reflect on my time there. I wish we had more time, but the time we did have with the SCU students was incredibly valuable. Their knowledge of the country supported the observations I had made during my time in the city. Yiwen was an awesome teammate to work with and she recommended some delicious spots around their campus. Having talked and got to know the SCU students, I realized we're all alike as designers. Inspiration really comes from all around us, and the streets off Taipei are full of it. Tainan is up next, and I'm thrilled for all the new friends and new experiences. Cheers!

TAIPEI (9/1 - 9/3)

Hello designers in Taiwan! In these last couple of days, I feel as if I've already seen and experienced so much. I was initially worried about the long class days but I don't feel exhausted in the slightest—besides the long walking and jetlag maybe. I landed around five am on Sunday and promptly met up with Pfeiffer and Sydney at the baggage claim. I was planning on making my way to the hotel by myself but (shoutout) Pfeiffer made the connection that we were all landing around the same time and reached out. It made navigating a foreign country a lot less daunting—especially because Sydney knew some Mandarin. Having got in so early on Sunday, we were able to explore the city and get our bearings before the program started. In that time we had breakfast, shopped in Taipei 101, and visited a farmers market. 

When everyone finally landed, we had dinner and said cheers to the start of the study abroad. We visited the Shilin Night Market briefly but jetlag got the best of us and we all passed out by 10. The next day we had a quick breakfast at the hotel and were on our way to the Taiwan Design Research Institute (TDRI) by 8:30. My first impression of the TDRI was the space it was in—a former tobacco factory turned creative haven. Just about everyone who worked there wore all black, so you knew they were real designers. We were fortunate enough to talk with the Vice Director of TDRI, who might just have convinced me to apply to an internship there next summer (assuming I keep my Mandarin Duolingo streak). After we heard from TDRI, we walked down a floor and across the campus to the Trash Kitchen. Trash Kitchen was a lot smaller but just as impactful—turning trash into upcycled designer pieces. After a quick lunch break, which was delicious, we took taxis to the National Palace Museum. I was amazed to find that the museum was home to the Jadeite Cabbage and the rock that looks like pork belly.

I got a post card and bottle opener that looked like a jade pendant (which I've been faithfully carrying in my back pocket ever since). That night we had another group dinner, only this time with the students at Shih Chien University. They were super welcoming and the food was awesome. The highlight had to be controlling a robot arm with what looked like a hand mounted iPad. The instructor only had the power set to 10%, for obvious reasons. Allegedly it moves two meters a second at full speed— which will certainly knock you out. The next day we met with our groups again, and after some student intros and technical difficulties, set out to gather materials for our design sprint. Although none of us knew what we were doing and were pressed for time, we picked up some fun materials and hurried over (as fast as one can with a barrel) to catch up with the group. We caught up with the class in the middle of a tour of Dadaocheng, Taipei's oldest district. We got to learn more about the history of Taiwan, the Xia Hei Temple of the City God, and how to navigate a local fabric market. The tour ended near the Ningxia Night Market so, predictably, we went there afterwards. I had stinky tofu (which was ok) but also the best mango of my life. I'm still thinking about that mango as I write this and begin to try and reflect on what has been a genuinely transformative experience. 

Although I didn't touch on it earlier, Professor Shikai's presentation was a highlight of my learning thus far. His attitude towards design, and his photo vase series, was both engaging and inspiring. I came into this program looking to open my eyes to culture and design outside of what I'm used to. His work exemplified this—merging his culture with his designs in really compelling ways. I liked his suggestion to try dumb things. Design can be scary, especially when we're always comparing our work with others. Talking with the students at Vision Base has made me realize that design is really a universal thing. They love to wear black and laser cut just as much as we do. This trip has also made me feel like more of a designer, despite having done pretty much no design work so far. I'm constantly trying to figure out who I am as a designer, and I think exposure to other works helps me realize what exactly I like and don't. The intricacy and maximalism of some of the pieces in the museum, especially the 18 layered ivory ball, contrasts with the modern minimalist design trend. Although I don't want to be minimalist, I certainly don't have the patience or skill to carve 18 layers of ivory. But just like that ivory, I feel like I'm carving back the layers of myself and my design sensibilities through exposure to new things. It might be too early to know anything, but I'm eagerly looking forward to the rest of the trip. 

-Austin