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