Wrap Up

Honestly, what a month! I don't even know where to start writing the program's last blog! As bittersweet as the endings are, I am so grateful to have had our experience in Taiwan. I think all of us, especially the ID seniors, significantly bonded (even more than we had during our junior show which is honestly hard to believe). Picking up from where I left off in my last blog, the next days were just as packed as all the others! We did all have a group discussion about the full schedule days of the program, and I agree there could have been a few more moments of rest, but in retrospect, I don't think there is any amount of tired I could have been that would make me decline to see all of the places we saw, and exploring the city to its fullest extent. I would have rather come home exhausted than feel like I didn't see enough! 

The beginning of the end started with the Mid-Autumn Festival. My work group and I got barbeque, which we were told was a tradition to have on this day. It was a really good barbecue, we had lots of different cuts of meat, some shrimp, scallops and yummy vegetables! It was probably too much food for five people, and my wallet was sweating a bit when it came time to pay, but all in all, it was very worth it, and a good end to the day which was another all-day work and critique session. My group and I made some pretty good progress and although the way we worked together was not what I was used to, I think it actually worked out really nicely I'm happy we were all excited to just go with the flow and work on something we were all individually were excited about, but equally contributed to the project. 

The next day we partook in a very goofy activity of making a metaverse map or mapping out a region in the metaverse. I'm not sure I have the correct vocabulary to describe it in a good way, but it was like making a digital map of an experience. My group and I, not really sure what to do, just started drawing and had a really fun time doing it! Our map took the user (a small Hello Kitty figurine) through our experience of a crisis and relief situation. I said by the end of our experience, Hello Kitty was now Hello Cat which got a few laughs and I honestly thought it was pretty funny too so I was kind of proud of that joke. There is something about giving people colored markers and a big piece of paper that I think really allows us to kind of 'play' again as young adults. I would love to do more of these kinds of activities because I think as silly as they are, there is something very genuine and thoughtful about it that can be really powerful in creative processes. It also lets us lose a bit of the 'offical-ness' of brainstorming that lets our ideas come out in more color. After this and a bit more work, Ned Kalin and I took a jaunt to another nearby coffee shop and met this cute pup! We also shared a pink-pepper cinnamon bun which was so uniquely tasty. It's hard to imagine pepper working with cinnamon and brown sugar so well, but the spices really complement each other and are something I will definitely try out in my own baking time. Additionally, the interior was very inviting, and I find that every coffee shop we have visited has at least one really cool chair I would want to own one day. That night my group and I met up in my hotel room to put together our project deliverables and build our prototype.

On Thursday we took a slight detour to explore a creative park where we made paper crafts, and tried traditionally making matcha. I'm already a big matcha lover so I thought the matcha was very nice, but I would be lying if I said I liked it more than a hot cup of matcha with a little bit of milk and some sweetener. The rest of the day was more critique and more finalizing our projects. 

Our final day had some melancholy undertones, but alas we all made the most of it. We quickly made the final touches to our posters, prototypes, and slideshow before turning it in and meeting for the final presentation. It was really fun to see what each group had done and how they integrated Taiwanese culture into each of their designs. One of my favorites was the fortune utensils. I think people are very drawn to an element of surprise so the motivation to use the utensils to see a fortune on the inside of the packaging was very successful. Additionally, I think they connected the Taiwanese motifs to their project very cleverly, and overall it was really cute. Like we did at SCU, awards were given to each group. My group won the 'Design Excellence' award which felt very special since it was the last day and last award, and was also a satisfying end to a project I think we all had a lot of fun with. After the end of the presentations, some group pictures, and sad goodbyes to our NCKU friends, it was time for some winding down and packing up. I think I will look back on this trip often, and fondly, and as wistful and touched as we all were leaving, I can't wait to start my senior year having all of this new excitement and experience. It was truly a special opportunity to have this cultural exposure to something I am so very passionate about and will be for a very long time. I <3 industrial design! (and Taiwan too!)