First Blog Post from Taiwan!!

Hello from Taiwan!!! It is currently day 4 of being in Taiwan, but officially day 2 of our program. What an experience it has been getting to experience this culture for the first time – from walking along the streets to exploring small alleyways to all the delicious food from various street vendors, it’s a culture so unlike what we know in America. And yet, it is so beautiful to get to be a part of the bustle of everyday life for people here. 

Class moving through the city

08.23 Upon arriving to Taiwan, I spent some time with some family friends, a little outside of Taipei in Linkou, before meeting up with the team in Da’an, a district of Taipei. After checking in and getting settled (and going to get my nails done at a local salon!), my roommate, Jaz, and I met up with the rest of the team in the lobby. We ventured out to our first dinner, a traditional 14 course Chinese dinner, complete with stinky tofu and hainan jie (Hainanese chicken). We went back to the hotel to get ready for our first full day!

Learning their process at Dot Design

08.24

Our morning started bright and early the next day, as we ate breakfast and then hurried over to the NTU’s Building of Research Excellence, where the D-School is located. There, we met the students that we would be working with for the rest of the week and learned about the project we would be completing. Then we had a delicious lunch, catered by the school! After that we headed to Dot Design, where we learned about how they create sustainable products, using recycled materials. It was very cool to begin to hear about their process, as well as see all the different kinds of products that they’ve made from just a few materials.

Raohe Night Market

Xiao Long Bao

Following our time at Dot Design, we made our

way to Dadaocheng, where we got to go on a tour, detailing the history of one of the oldest parts of Taipei. Along the way, we learned about some of the shops and how they are passed down from generation to generation, about the temple of the god of marriage, and about the architecture of the buildings, due to its proximity to the river. I really enjoyed hearing much more in depth about the history of not just this neighborhood, but also of Taiwan and how many of the shops and businesses function. Following the rainy tour, Jaz and I met up with a friend to visit the Raohe Night Market for dinner – so much delicious food!! And we ended the night with boba from 50 Lan!

08.25

Glasses making at Trash Kitchen

Another early morning and we started off with a car ride to the Songshan Cultural Center, where we got to tour the Taiwan Design Research Institute. I really loved this experience, as we learned so much about the history of design in Taiwan and how the TDRI has shaped the style of design that there is today – from a collection of symbols, to rebranding the election system, to modernizing the MTR, their impact has been prevalent throughout Taiwan. We also got to tour a few exhibits downstairs in the Taiwan Museum of Design, where they showcased products that had recently won awards for their design. Continuing on in our learning of sustainable design, we visited the Trash Kitchen, where we were taken on a tour of how they create wearable sunglasses using trash, from bottle caps to coffee grounds (and I got to bring a pair home with me!). It was cool to see how they continued to mirror many of the same practices as Dot Design, as well as had a similar mission in mind.

    

Brainstorming at NTU

More boba at 50 Lan  

We then stopped for lunch and did some small souvenir shopping, before getting another boba at 50 Lan and heading back to Da’an. This is where our brainstorming began for our projects! We worked for an hour with our team, thinking up ideas for our project and hearing what everyone had to say, before narrowing down our final decision. After a lot of brain power, we called it a night, grabbed katsu curry for dinner and now, here I am writing this blog post!

Taiwan to me has felt the most like home of any Asian country I’ve visited (keeping in mind that the only other country I’ve visited is Japan… :D). Maybe it’s just that I can understand the language just a little bit more, but there’s something so familiar about walking around, hearing the grandmas yell at you from their storefronts, and the quiet rev of hundreds of motorcycles. I’ve loved my first few days here and can’t wait for what’s to come!

Exploring the city with Jaz and Chandaline!