Friday, 6/19/09

Finally, some free time to write on this thing...

Yesterday, each group presented it's full-scale cardboard models to the class. We made the presentations outside, and it was insanely humid. Our presentation went well, and our model was lookin' pretty good. I took the rest of the day off: played some pool, went to my Mandarin class, and went to the 7/11 for some delicious convenient store food.

Today, I met with my group at 2 o'clock and we started work on the 3D computer model. I'm doing the computer work, and my group is figuring out all of the dimensions and joint-structure. We are nearly done, but have a few complications to work out. Tin-Man wants a half-scale final model made of wood, and some of our measurements are getting pretty tiny. Maybe I won't lose too many fingers trying to build this thing.

We were supposed to take a trip tomorrow, but the oncoming typhoon is gonna swamp us with rain for the next few days. So I'll probably just hang out in my room, and hopefully get some more work done.

I realized today just how big of a change it will be to be back in the States in a couple of weeks. I've gotten used to the way things work around here, and it'll probably take some time before I can even function properly when I get back. Plus the fact that I'll probably be speaking in broken English for a few days...

Wednesday, 6/17/09

I'm back again! Busy, busy, busy...

Since I last wrote, it has been business as usual. In class my group refined our design concept and began building our full-scale cardboard model. On Sunday, we took a trip with the international students to an aboriginal village and saw some pretty unique shows. Then, the week of classes began.

In ceramics, we began using a potters wheel to make bowls and cups. In glass, we finally poured our plaster molds to prepare to pour glass. In metal, we made necklaces. And in Chinese Painting we started using color, which I'm horrible at...

Which brings me to tonight, when we finished our full-scale model. It looks really good, and I think it will be pretty successful... if Tin-Man doesn't destroy it. We show it off at 9 tomorrow morning, so I will get some sleep now. I'll put up pictures later.

Thursday, 6/12/09

Okay, I haven't been slacking, I've just been very busy.

First things first, Hong Kong was great! We wrapped up the trip with a visit to the offices of TTI. It was cool to see all of the power tools they had designed and meet some of the design directors there.

Wednesday, after we checked out of our very nice hotel, we headed to the airport to catch our flight back to Taiwan. Our first order of business in Taiwan was to rest up for studio the next day, when we were to pick our final design.

After studio, the Auburn students had to make an appearance at International Day. We set up an Auburn table and James and Lindsay sang a couple of songs on the stage. I got pulled up to participate in a Malaysian congo line, of sorts. The celebration ended with the serving of some of the international foods. Soon after we ate, a few of us headed to the pool hall and played an hour or so of pool before calling it a night.

Which brings me to today. This morning we took our design to Tin-Man for approval, and he quickly dismissed it and we headed back to the drawing board. He had to go to the hospital soon afterwards, so we haven't run our new design by him yet. Hopefully he will like it.

At 5 o'clock we headed to an International Dinner, which had a pretty nice buffet set up. We ate and sat through some presentations about other countries. Soon the dinner turned into a karaoke night, so we slowly filtered out of the room.

That about wraps up this not-to-brief summary. Hopefully I'll be making more regular posts, but my schedule is pretty full for the next 3 weeks. If anyone is still reading these things, please feel free to make a comment... Let me know this isn't just me talking to myself. :)

Sunday, 6/07/09

Well, it's been a while... so I guess I'd better get started.

Since the last time I wrote, I spent two days building three scale models and presented them on Thursday alongside my group. The presentations went well, and I caught up on sleep for the later part of Thursday.

Friday, at 8:00 in the morning, the group headed to the airport for our flight to Hong Kong. It's been very interesting here, so far. We have eaten some great food, and taken a trip to the highest peak in the city. We've ridden subways, double-decker buses, and street trolleys. Shopped in markets and malls, and taken sky rails to a giant Buddha.

Hong Kong is a huge place, and I'm starting to really like it here. There are a lot of English-speaking people here, and the hotel we are staying in is one of the nicest hotels I've ever stayed in. There is an amazing breakfast buffet here, complete with an omelet chef named Rambo! You just tell him what you want on your omelet, and he whips it up within a minute.

That's all I'll write for now, I'm gonna sleep so I can wake up and eat some good breakfast!

Monday, 6/1/09

In ceramics today, we were tasked with making a little clay whistle. I was skeptical at first, but when my first whistle started a-whislin' it turned out to be an OK project.

In studio, we turned in the 10 sketches each that were due and had to pick out 3 that we would build models for. THREE scale models per person are due on Thursday... That's 15 models that my group has to turn in! Needless to say, I won't have time to write in this blog until I'm done.

Wish me luck...

Sunday, 5/31/09

Today was the last work day for the NCKU Creative Life and Service Design Workshop. The final presentation started at 4 o'clock, and we had officially put in only 10 hours of time into the project. I've included a picture of our final product, which is a lift to help elderly and people with disabilities into a pool instead of having to use a ladder.

Presentations went well, and we took off for a really good meal with the NCKU students and staff. I had two of the biggest fried shrimp I had ever seen, and an assortment of other asian favorites. After the dinner, the NCKU staff handed out awards to the two best presentations... and my group won top prize! The 5 of us all got a certificate, which is enclosed in a really nice Institute of Creative Industry Design cover.

After we returned to Shu-Te, I sketched until I dropped. Where did the weekend go? It's getting incredibly busy here...

Saturday, 5/30/09

At 8 o'clock this morning, we struck out for NCKU. We were to participate in a design workshop there, and we finally arrived about an hour late. After a few presentations from our instructors, we teamed up and started our work. It was an all day event, so it's no wonder that I am so tired and need to go to sleep soon...

Tomorrow, we do it all over again, but finish it off with final presentations and dinner.

Thursday, 5/28/09

Busy day today.

We met at 4-trees at 10 o'clock and took a cab to the train station. We then headed to an old sugar cane factory and walked around the old buildings and trainyards there. Afterwards, we went to the biggest mall in Asia. I had squid spaghetti for lunch, and it was absolutely delicious!

After walking around the mall for 2 hours or so, we loaded up the train to the dragon boat races. We watched three or four boat races, then headed out for dinner. I ate Subway (today was my day to NOT eat Taiwanese or Chinese food).

After dinner, we came back to Shu-Te. Tomorrow is a free day, which really means a day to do all of our homework before the workshops at NCKU this weekend... So I'd better get some rest.

Wednesday, 5/27/09

Today, we learned how to paint bamboo in Chinese Painting, and started our Tai-Chi class. It is hard, because I am taller than all of the instructors. We practiced in the middle of a major walkway, so we naturally drew a crowd. Not everyday the Taiwanese students get to watch Americans make fools of themselves.

At 6:45 we threw a surprise birthday party for Sam, and it was pretty crazy. We had bought so much food: chicken legs, sausages, chicken hearts, hamburgers, birthday cake, corn on the cob, etc. I stayed until midnight, but a few stayed behind to cook some more steaks. My whole group was there, except for Charity. It was very fun, and a perfect end to a pretty good day.

Tuesday, 5/26/09

More classes today...

Glass and metal working. Nothing too special to write about. Just enjoyed hanging out with the Taiwan students some more. I try to teach them a handful of words and phrases a day, and they try to teach me one or two. One or two is all I can handle.

Tomorrow is Chinese painting and a Tai-chi class, I think. Should be interesting...

Monday, 5/25/09

Today, we had our first ceramics class.

I made a bowl with a plant design at the bottom. I only gave it two feet, so it rocks back and forth when you touch it.

In studio, we had to turn in our first 5 design concepts. We thumbed through them and picked out the ones we liked. However, we have 10 new concept sketches due next Monday. We may also have to build a scale mock-up.

After studio, I came back to the room and crashed... That's all for today.

Sunday, 5/24/09

This weekend was a rest / work weekend.

I was either eating, sleeping, or working this whole weekend so I don't have anything to write about.

That's it...

Friday, 5/22/09

Today, the Americans and about half of the Taiwanese group headed off to Tainan. We chartered a bus for the 45 minute drive, which was fully equipped with karaoke! I didn't sing, so don't worry...

Our first stop was the design firm that some of us will be working at for 2 days later in the summer. It was pretty intense. All of the designers there were really good.

Afterwards, we headed to get some lunch. I wasn't too crazy about what I had ordered initially: steamed dumplings with fried minced pork, and a soda that tasted a lot like cough medicine. So I ordered some fried shrimp rolls, which were much better.

Our last stop was the Furniture Manufacturing Eco-Museum in Tainan. They had some interesting stuff, but we were all pretty tired and restless, and the tour guide gave me a headache... So needless to say, we were all pretty happy when it was time to get back on the bus.

Coincidentally, the bus had parked right next to a giant chair, so we took a group photo and I snagged a picture myself.

After we got back, some of us grabbed dinner and headed to the pool hall. We played for 3 hours, which was the longest I had ever played pool.. But, we payed for 3 hours, so on we played. They play a different kind of game here, and I wasn't half bad. That wraps up my Friday!

Thursday, 5/21/09

Today was morning studio.

We met at 9 and had a pretty productive studio. At 12, I left with my group to get some lunch... And that's pretty much all that happened today. Oh, it rained today for the first time since I've been here. The sun stayed out and it only rained for about 10 minutes, but rain is rain. Now it's even more humid here... Ugh...

I had free time from lunch till now, and it's kind of uneventful when there isn't some festival or trip to keep me busy. I'm almost done with my book. I don't know how I'll fill the time once I finish it...

Wednesday, 5/20/09

Today was our first Chinese painting class, and I was tasked with learning how to write my Chinese name. Sounds simple enough... It's only two Chinese characters...

Well, after writing it about 25 times, I can honestly say Chinese painting is going to be no easy task. Everything is so precise, so clean. Maybe I'll get better. Eventually...

After class, I met with my group and we prepared for the Dragon Boat Race. We had prepared the mandatory dragon head and tail, which were to be worn by the people in the front and back. I drew the dragon head, Charity drew the tail, and Mandy colored them up with markers.

Then the race began! Our team of 5 had to squat down in a line and carry the dragon body, all while waddling like ducks. There were 2 challenges: one was passing a rubber band from person to person using straws in our mouths, the other was eating a slice of watermellon. We beat the other team we raced against, but fell short of placing top 3 out of 13 teams.

The race was fun, but it had to be about 100 degrees outside. So I headed back to clean up, then took off towards the cafeteria with Charles. And who should I see at the cafeteria? My group (minus Min, plus No-No and Iris). I taught them the English names of all of their favorite cartoon and movie characters, they quizzed me over what eye shapes I liked... The usual...

Anyway, today was great! I had some free time to relax tonight and studio is in the morning. So I'm going to get some rest...

Tuesday, 5/19/09

Today was the first completely full day of classes. I had glass working from 9 - 12, and metal working from 1 - 5.

We cut glass to make pendants, and began work on our prototype for a glass mold. In metal class, we drew dragons and cut them out of copper plates. It took a really, really... really long time.

After class, a big group headed out to the night market. Everyone in my group but Charity came along. The night market was great, even though the majority of sellers had nothing but girls clothing... I had Papaya milk and some barbecue fries, and played a game where you shoot balloons. I won playing cards and a Rubics Cube!

Tomorrow is the Dragon Boat race, so I'd better get some shut-eye...

Monday, 5/18/09

Rode the High Speed Train back to Kaoishung this morning. It cut the 4 hour trip almost in half. Pretty crazy...

Right when we got back to campus, we headed to our studio. My group couldn't make it until 2 hours into the studio, but we ended up goofing around with traditional Chinese toys until it was dinner time. You call it ridiculous, I call it research...

After dinner, I met up with Mandy, Charity, and Min to work on our dragon head and tail for the Dragon Boat race on Wednesday. I drew the dragon head, and it was not easy...

Tomorrow are the glass and metal working classes. Should be interesting...

Sunday, 5/17/09

Last day in Taipei...

We went to the Palace Museum today, which is so huge it required a mountain to be hollowed out for use as a vault. I saw a lot of Chinese artwork and history during our stay at the museum.

Then it was off to Pizza Hut! I got a Hawaiian pizza, and it was amazing. It was nice to have something not rice and noodles for once.

After lunch, we headed off to the river to catch the ferry across to the other side. We actually took three different ferries to different places in the are, the last of which was an island with many food stalls and artists. One artist in particular was really good, but I couldn't bring myself to buy a portrait from him. I ate squid and then we headed back to the hotel to pack and get some rest.

Back to class tomorrow...

Saturday, 5/16/09

Yodex trade show today!

The trade show was crazy! So many people, so little space. Shu-Te's booth was really good. I got to see Stuff's senior project: a scale for young children.

The culture here is so different from back home. From designs, to advertisements, to fashion.

We ate lunch in Taipei 101 and went to the top afterwards. It was great getting to see the whole city from the top.

Oh, yeah... We also went to the night market, which was CRAZY! There were people selling stuff out of suitcases, and they ran away when the police showed up.

Crazy day, crazy tired...

Friday, 5/15/09

First full day in Taipei.

Not much to write about, actually. We visited two museums, one of which had a monument and a "changing of the guard" ceremony. I've seen the ceremony in Washington D.C., so it was nice to have something to compare.

Maybe tomorrow will be more exciting...

Thursday, 5/14/09

Today, we leave for Taipei!

Class started at 9 o'clock, but Tin-Man let us out early so we could eat and pack. We took a cab to the bus station and boarded the nicest bus I have ever seen. Everyone had their own recliner and television. Too bad all of the controls were in Chinese...

The trip was about 4 hours, then we boarded the subway to the hotel. The Taipei Hero House is a hotel that only houses military personel and students.

We headed out to the night market, but we ended up spending more time on the subway than the market. After we ate, all of the stores had closed, except for a Dunkin' Doughnuts where I bought 5 delicious chocolate cake doughnuts!

Time to sleep. Waking up at 8:00 to eat breakfast and hit the town!

Wednesday, 5/13/09

Today was more or less just a work day. I had 12 sketches to do and I also had to define "recreation" before meeting with Mandy, Charity, and Min at 5.

Tin-Man told us that there was a traditional water bucket ceremony at 4 o'clock today, but when we all showed up it was just a huge water balloon fight! Americans versus all! It was pretty crazy, there had to be more than a thousand balloons being thrown around.

After drying off, I met my group and we finally put together our definition of "recreation." Here it goes: "Recreation is going to the park, and using the land and facilities within the park to achieve physical and mental relaxation next to nature. Safe from mosquitos." Crazy, right?

That's all for today.

Tuesday, 5/12/09

Loooong day...

Woke up early and headed to NCKU. Hours and hours of lectures followed. The last two were good: John McCabe and Sangmin Bae. Anyway, we got a good, free meal out of it.

After the conference, we headed to a nearby food court to get some grub. We ate at a restaurant w/ a hibachi. I had the Seafood Trifecta (Shrimp, Squid, and Clam), and it was delicious.

We walked through a few department stores, then hit the train back to Kaoishung. Our taxi driver was cool, even though he ignored a few red lights...

I'm meeting my group tomorrow at 5 o-clock. That's all for now.

Monday, 5/11/09

Today was a great day!

The opening ceremony went down at 9 o'clock. Tin-Man and a few Shu-Te faculty gave speeches, followed by a video about Shu-Te.

A reception followed, and the food was great! I met Min, she's my translator from now on. Mandy, Charity, and Stuff were there, too. We took pictures... LOTS of pictures... I also got to show off my improved chopstick skills.

Class followed, and Tin-Man wasted no time getting started. We have to define "recreation" and sketch a good bit before Thursday's class. The group explained some hangouts and activities with me, then we took a lap around campus.

My group is teaching me Chinese phrases and writing them down for me. I have a lot to learn...

We then headed to the cafeteria for dinner. Afterwards, we set out for the bowling alley.

My group is great! They came along just to watch me play, even though they were tired and had work to do. I felt bad because I thought they were going to play, but they just cheered me on.

That wraps up my day. Mandy's english is getting better. I hope they are learning a lot from me. Lights click out in 3 minutes, so I'm out!

Sunday, 5/10/09

I've been in Taiwan for three days, and it's time to stop putting off writing a journal entry. The trip has been very exciting so far. I've eaten new things, seen new sights, and met many new people.

First things first, the plane rides were almost too long to bear. The 14 hour flight to Hong Kong almost claimed my legs. Thankfully, everyone's luggage survived the trip, except for Thomas' skateboard which stayed in Hong Kong.

The first day we toured Kaohsiung after moving into our 4-star hotel. We walked pretty much all day, except for a few train rides. the museum we were going to was closed, so we just walked around the city until we were exhausted.

We saw a few interesting things: pop singers, the dragon boat river, and the British consulate (which overlooked the ocean).

The next day, we met our groups and moved into our dorms. Stuff, Mandy, and Charity were there, but Min was home for Mother's Day. I gave them Auburn key chains and they gave me metal chopsticks and a spoon.

After they helped me move into the dorm, we had an opening meeting with Tin-Man and Frank. Then we all headed to the cafeteria. I then proceeded to make a fool of myself by ordering noodles, which are next to impossible to eat with chopsticks.

Soon after the fork, the pictures, laughter, and shame, it was time to head to the market for some essential shopping. Americans were in taxis, and Taiwan students were on scooters (lucky). I only bought some detergent and hangers, but got to spend some more time with my group.

Stuff knows some English, but he says that Min knows more. We left the market and went our seperate ways.

At night, we headed to the 7-11 with Tin-Man to celebrate my 22nd birthday. I had a Taiwan Beer and Tin-Man bought birthday cupcakes. That was pretty much it... On to Sunday!

Sunday, we met at "4 trees" and headed off to Tainan. We took a taxi to the train station, then had a 45 minute train ride.

Tainan is a really beautiful city. After going to a multi-story shopping mall (which only seemed to sell women's clothing...), we hit up a sushi restaurant. I ordered chicken kabobs and ate sushi for the first time. I'm getting better at using chopsticks...

We then proceeded to the location of two temples (the temple of the sea gods and literature god). The gardens surrounding the temple were beautiful, complete with koi ponds and waterfalls.

Leaving the temples, we came upon a rock band performing in a park. Their equipment was malfunctioning (plus the crowd was paying more attention to us than the band), so we boarded the bus to Tin-Man's in-law's house. The nicest girls were on the bus, they gave us all Mentos!

Two kids followed us all the way to the house, where we taught them high-five's and they asked me if I played basketball.

We headed to the day market, where some bought stinky tofu and I bought Sweet Potato Fries, which were delicious. The locals are nicer here...

After eating the big meal that Tin-Man's wife had prepared, I had another birthday cake! It was cold cake, with fruit on top.

We then called taxi's and headed back to Shu-Te University. Tomorrow is the opening ceremony and Min will be there, along with the rest of my group. Man, that was a lot to cover....