Final Model Complete... 3.5 days left!!!

Bear with me as I try to remember and explain the past few days in a nutshell. I've been absolutely crazy with my internship at NDD, building my final model, 30 page project report, powerpoint presentation + presentation poster. Whew!

Where to begin?

On Tuesday, a group of us headed to Tainan to work at NDD [New Design Dimensions Firm] for two days. We were given our assignment, to research the target buyers for fitness equipment sold at Costcos in the US. The company selling these specific machines was SportsArt and they proposed that we use color as a way to make the machines sell better in stores. Many things were lost in translation, but in the end we did a ton of research on market trends/color. We also redesigned the interface display for one of their treadmills. They really just wanted to hear what we had to say about it as americans and get our thoughts/ideas. It was an awesome place, we even got to work with our shoes off.

Later that night, the four of us had a AMAZING dinner at TGI Fridays. I had a 10 ounce NY Strip with mashed potatoes. It cost about 34 American dollars for my meal. It was expensive but so entirely worth every penny spent! The hotel we stayed at was also incredible. With a separate tub and shower, flat screen tv, robes, and a huge king sized bed all to myself. It was so different from my lofted bunk bed and 2 inch thick matress....

















When we arrived back to Shu-Te Wednesday night, our models needed to be finished and ready for the next morning. My group had been working for the two days I was gone and finished soon after I arrived back. It really turned out great! As I mentioned previously, our model is a structure for learning Tai Chi, the frame area will hold graphics/instructions to learn Tai Chi poses. There is a shaded bench area for relaxing. The objective was to make it look Taiwanese. Here are some pictures....

































So we are in a different dorm room for the last few days... last night the auburn boys [down the hall] had the world's 8th most venemous snake in their room. It was touching my friend Dan's feet under his desk. Thank goodness they are okay! So far I have only seen a fairly large gecko in our new room, however snakes eat lizards... I pray no snake enters this room or there will be three screaming girls swiming back to the states!



Well I am finally done with all of my work. I plan on getting a hair cut and massage + doing all of my last minute shopping within the next few days. We leave on Tuesday from Kaohsiung to Hong Kong at 11:30am on DragonAir. Our flight from HK to San Fran is arriving at 11:35am Pacific time on Cathay Pacific.

Birthday Pictures + Egg Cake!

I just stumbled upon the pictures Tin Man took of my birthday celebration, thought you might like to see what this egg cake was all about!


The infamous towering egg cake + other goodies.














Reading the sweetest cards ever...




Asking Tin Man if he'd like a birthday egg...

Ostriches + Markets

Today we took bus trip to a Hakka Museum and made stops at several small markets along the way. One of the markets had outdoor pottery wheels, which I think is AWESOME. I didn't want to get messy, so I didn't try. There were also handmade traditional Taiwanese umbrellas and fans. They were all so beautiful! The handmade pottery was absolutely amazing, I would have bought some if it wasn't all so fragile!

Another market had 3 live ostriches that we walked right up to. A few people were feeding them popcorn and were pecked. haha. The pictures convey, fairly well, how strange of creatures they really are.









































Joy Caught a fish, haha.
Recently, I have been writing numerous papers as a requirement for this trip. This blog, and all of my documentation, has helped me complete the reports for each of my 4 craft classes [glass, metal, painting + pottery], as well as a three page letter to the president of Shu-Te and even a report on Taiwan culture. There is still much much more to be written, but I'm trying to manage my time wisely here, so that I can enjoy more of my free time back home :) Free time, gosh, that sounds so great right now!

Yesterday, I started work on our final model in the wood shop with one of my group members, Dawn. We were a pretty good team! We managed to get quite a bit done in only a small amount of time. Unfortunately around noon, one of the Taiwanese students cut herself on the joiner and shop was closed down for the rest of the day. It is important that I do as much work as I can on this project all day on Monday, because Tuesday + Wednesday I will be interning in Tainan at a design firm called NDD [a requirement for another class I am taking]. Keeping in mind that our model is due Friday morning, it is not the best timing, but everything will pan out.

Tonight I began the packing process because we have to switch dorm rooms this week [the dorms are shutting down + we will be the only people on campus, as our program runs an extra week longer] So all auburn students are consolidating onto the same floor for security reasons.

9 days left. I'm sure the next week will just fly by with all of the work there is to do.

Painting Chinese Lanterns

Today in Chinese painting we tried something new + different. We were given rice paper lanterns to paint. It was so much fun! I've never tried painting on a lantern before. I have several hanging in my apartment in Auburn, and now I have a personalized one that will always remind me of Taiwan! It was our last class today, but I would really like to continue painting when I get back to the states. If I have room in my luggage, I might try to buy a painting kit to take back with me.

After lunch I had a few hours of down time that I spent sleeping in the few hours of air conditioning that we are allotted during the daytime [between 12-2pm].

Later in the evening was Chinese class. Today we learned how to tell the date and time

Tomorrow my group is going to start the building process of our model, which is due on Friday, July 3rd.

22nd Birthday!

I would first like to thank everyone for all of the wonderful birthday wishes, it really means a lot hearing from you guys while I'm so far away from home! Happy Birthday, Jen!!! :)

So, I woke up, and at first it just felt like any other day. I really wasn't even sure if anyone even knew! My Taiwanese friend Apple came into pottery class and made me the Chinese Pizza I love so much [same dish that I've mentioned in previous posts.] It was absolutely delicious! I told her she needs to teach me how to make it pronto!

After lunch was studio, we were really busy figuring out how our designs would be built, how much materials we will need to make it... etc. Usually certain people are always talkative around me, but today in particular, most were pretty quiet. I figured they had gotten little sleep and were focused on the project at hand. One of my Taiwanese friends Kimmy got me an adorable "Love Cup" mug.


Another hour of work went buy and then I heard this roar....a crowd of 50 people started singing [even the people who don't speak English sang too!] I looked up and the first thing I saw was a gigantic tower of hard boiled eggs and a plate of cupcakes. I thought everyone had forgotten! There were cameras flashing left and right, and they gave me a huge card signed by everyone with some of the sweetest messages I've ever read!

I must explain that the hard boiled egg tower is no Taiwanese tradition. Apparently, my name in Chinese "Lau Liuen," sounds just like the word for a type of egg here... haha not many people can say they've had an egg cake before!

The surprises for the day didn't end there, oh no. On my walk back to the dorm, after Mandarin class, I was bombarded by a group of 6 of my most "talkative" Taiwanese friends [Page, Lesley, Mandy, Stuff, NoNo + Iris]. So we went to hang out in the lobby of the dorm. We got to the lobby and they surprised me with Ice Cream Tiramisu + a birthday collage with our pictures together!
I finally got back to my icy cold dorm room around 8pm and Flower [one of my Taiwanese roommates] Said "Happy Birthday,Lauren!" and gave me a sweet T-shirt with Chinese writing. It's so Asian, I love it!!

Around 11pm, my last visitor of the day was little Joy, I dont know what I would do without her! I thanked her for planning the studio festivities and for the unforgettable egg cake extravaganza.. haha. Words can't say how touched I am by all of my new friends. They have only known me for 1 1/2 months and have shown me more kindness than most people ever would in a lifetime. They are truly a giving culture with love in their hearts. I will never forget these wonderful people. :)

It was a spectacular day, my first Taiwanese Birthday! I will post more pictures as I find them, most everything that happened was a surprise to me!

Typhoon Linfa + other fun adventures.

The large orange mass in the center of this picture is tropical storm Linfa. She is graciously making her way toward the coast of Taiwan [the small potato shaped Island slightly above the storm].
Rather then calling it a hurricane, in the Eastern Hemisphere it is referred to as a typhoon. Needless to say, there will be quite a bit of rain here shortly. Don't worry about me, it's just heavy rain + high winds, all the Taiwanese students claim we will be fine!

Yesterday, myself and six Taiwanese girls went to the Chinese Clinic, but this time, no cupping. Instead, they hooked me up to an electric-muscle stim machine that worked wonders. I've never been on such a great stim machine. It was making my muscles jump all around, like they had a mind of their own! Afterwards, I convinced this sweet old nurse to crack my neck and boy... it felt so great! I will indeed return to try and save on chiropractic bills back in the states.

From the clinic, the girls took me for lunch at a nearby foodstand, rice noodle soup w. pork. Recently, I've gotten used to consuming food without question if I'm really hungry. This morning in particular, I didn't eat breakfast... so I was hungry + just starting eating along with the group. Midway through the soup, I lifted a tube-like piece of "meat" out of my bowl. Looking at Joy [my Taiwanese friend who speaks awesome English] I said "Okay... Joy... what is this? And.. if it's gross, please don't tell me." All it took was for her to say "pig" and point to her stomach for me to understand that is was pig intestine! I was done with lunch at that point. ha.

After an "interesting" lunch, we took an unexpected stop at a local hair salon. As mentioned before, Taiwanese salons are known for their spectacular head massages/hair washing. For only $7/US I had my hair washed with soothing Tea Tree Shampoo, massaged and during the rinse she put warm towels around my face and neck. I tried explaining to the girls that this 2 hour experience back in the US would easily cost $100 or more. I needed this day out with them. It was so fun and relaxing!

Presenting Models + Taiwanese Card Game

This morning each group presented their respective models to the class outside, and was it ever so humid! Just before it rains here, the humidity gets just below 99.8% and stays that way for several hours before it actually rains and cools down for a bit.

When class was over, it was indeed time for a much deserved nap. I had this feeling as I was walking to the dorm, that maybe, just maybe, the air conditioning would be on just this once... for no particular reason, just because I wanted it to be on [the A/C schedule here is from 7PM to 7AM, we wake up every morning in a sweat] So, just for the heck of it, I pushed the little red A/C power button as I walked in the door, expecting nothing to happen, but to my surprise... it turned on at 12:30pm. Long story short, I got to take a luxurious 3 hour nap in the air conditioning. It was glorious.

This evening in Mandarin class we played a few games dealing with numbers in Chinese. Bingo and pick-a-number between 1-100. I won a game of bingo [Grandma Miller's luck] and will receive a traditional Taiwanese prize next class. The best part of this class was during the pick-a-number game. We got down to a number between 38-40.... so obviously... we said "san shi jou"- 39 and the lady said No. We were all completely confused and laughing in hysterics. The teacher changed it and the game proceeeded awkwardly. To make it worse... this happened again during the same game... You really had to be there...

After class, I ran into some PD [product design] students in the lobby playing cards. They asked me to join in and taught me to play the game "99" or "Jou Jou." Its hard to explain but very simple to play. But to make it a little more challenging, each person had to say the numbers in their opposing language [ie. me in Chinese, them in English]. It was a great learning experience!

Tomorrow morning I'm going with a few Taiwanese girls to the Chinese Clinic for cupping and a chiropractic adjustment. I've been sleeping poorly lately and am in desperate need of a chiro. I might even try some bitter Chinese Herbal Medicine too, to help me relax. We'll see.

Necklaces + Cardboard Models...

Today's highlight was making charms for necklaces. We were shown the hammering process and how to create forms from metal by using just a hammer and rounded steel base. The entire procedure was very simple, so decided to make three. Here's one of them [see left].


We started moving forward today in Glass. After several weeks of forming clay, we finally got to cast our designs in plaster this morning. Next week we will dig out the clay, left with just the plaster mold. Then we can finally melt glass inside the cavity. I can't wait to see how they all turn out!

Tonight, we had our first mandarin class, from now on will be 4 days a week. It will be a good help trying to decipher the language barrier.

Afterwards, I met with my group and began working on our fullscale model. We got some done, but will be spending quite a bit of time tomorrow completing it.

I need a day off, maybe one entire day committed to sleep.

Ps. Happy Birthday, John!!


Here are the other two necklaces I made today...

Pottery Wheels + Studio

This was the day I've been waiting for since I ever laid eyes on one; I used a pottery wheel today! I was so excited because I have always wanted to try! The process requires patience and a sensitive touch, too much or too little water can ruin the piece. This trip is making me want an art studio in my first house!
I ended up making two pieces, both would be great for potting plants! I wasn't that horrible at it for a first-timer either! By the end of class I was happily covered in clay spatter!

Studio was somewhat stressful for everyone today; trying to pinpoint the perfect design to move forward with is never easy, but seeing that our time here is very limited [only 19 days to construct a final full scale model] I think everyone is feeling the crunch. After 5 hours of meticulously critiquing, brainstorming, sketching, all 60 of us called it a day! I'm beat.

Tomorrow we will begin building our full scale cardboard mock-up of our chosen concept, after 8 hours of glass and jewelry classes. Whew! Better get some rest!

Ps. I have noticed that Taiwan has very few sunsets and have now grown to appreciate them when they make an appearance! This is the view from our studio just as class was wrapping up.

Aboriginal Taiwanese Tour + World Games Stadium

On Sunday, Shu-Te sponsored a Taiwanese Aboriginal tour for all international students. The chartered buses took us to the majestic mountains of Pingtung County. The aborigines performed quite a remarkable show, about an hour long, with traditional dances, songs + clothing. I found their culture to be so colorful with ornate tribal patterns. Here are some photos from the show..



































After the performance we loaded back onto the bus to have an authentic aboriginal lunch, and some of it was
"interesting" to say the very least! My Taiwanese friend Jimmy pulled this chicken foot from the pot of soup on the table and devoured it. haha, don't worry, I had no intentions of having the slightest taste...




We left the aboriginal park and headed for the Kaohsiung World Games Stadium. Now that is something to see. It is covered in a blanket of nearly 9,000 solar panels, which generate 1.14 million kWh of power. The structure was designed by Japanese architect Toyo Ito.

Back to Shu-Te...

Our first day back to studio was spent figuring out a final design to move forward with and begin mocking up full scale models in cardboard. Lots of confusion and contemplation, but I think maybe we have it narrowed down to something... I think?

Meanwhile, in boredom, I scored these sweet glasses from a group-mate and saw it as a good photo-op...







During studio was the Product Design Department's final show. They displayed metal, jewelry, ceramics + glass projects, which were all very impressive. These students are very skilled individuals. The project in this picture is handmade by my friend No-no. The theme is obviously fruit, and is entirely made from metal. I think the apple core tea cup and saucer is the cutest idea!





International Day was held later, recognizing the cultures of Taiwanese Aboriginals, Malaysians, Indonesians, Thai, Vietnamese and Americans [of course]. Each country gave a performance unique to their country of origin. Luckily for us Auburn students, Lindsay has an awesome voice and James can play the guitar. They performed "I'm Yours" by Jason Mraz.

This group replicated a traditional Taiwanese Aboriginal dance, very cool.



Here are some beautiful Vietnamese girls in their traditional gowns.

After all of the performances, I got to taste some Aboriginal wine, a spicy Vietnamese dish + refreshing mango salad.

Day 4 in Hong Kong

Today we ventured to Ocean Park, a Zoo/Amusement park located on the most mountainous terrain possible. We took 4 completely gigantic escalators to the top, never before this trip could I say I rode an escalator up a entire mountain!? Awesome! haha

I'll spare you the wordy details + show you all the spectacular sights/animals I got to see upclose!

Park on a cliff.

Cliche Panda...

More Cliche Panda... haha

Red Panda.

On a skytram down a steep cliff.

Sea Jelly Exposures

Loves Sea Turtles...

Lion Fish, awesome.

The sea lions are not dead, they're sleeping... haha

After Ocean Park, I went back to Stanley Market to buy the souvenirs that I had missed out on the first trip! I was so happy + found some really great deals!

Day 2 in Hong Kong

We started the day by attending the PolyU design show in Kowloon. It was really quite impressive. They had work from interiors, graphic + industrial design, architecture and a small exhibition on green projects. I wish Auburn's CADC would come together and have a massive show once a year displaying all of our work. PolyU has represented their school very well!. Most all of the display tables were made from stacked cardboard cut outs, there were also some great cardboard benches + chairs, some tables...etc.

















Afterwards, we walked around the city some and ended up taking the craziest double-decker bus trip to Stanley Market. I wish I had video taped the experience, because the roads were twisting up and down these mountains, and I sat at the very front/top seat so I could see everything right as it was happening! I saw every brush with death, every close encounter, it was such a thrill + absolutely hilarious. No worries, we arrived safely to one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen. This place has to be some hidden vacation spot for royalty because I have never seen more Maseratis, Ferraris, Mercedes and BMW's all in one vicinity, as I did today!

The market street was a great souvenir spot. I like to shop around too much before deciding on things, so that is one huge flaw of mine! [especially in a group of 11 people] I ended up buying only one gift! Before we left, I saw a coconut stand where they slice open fresh coconuts + you drink the milk. It was great, and felt just like a vacation should!


Hong Kong has been such a great
experience already, its very refreshing
to be here. It's nice to be in a melting pot again, where it doesn't feel like everyone is staring at you a lot.

Ps. We went to a McDonalds today and I ordered a double hamburger... needless to say, it was truly a Ham Burger... weirdest thing ever! A lot like two patties of canadian bacon... haha but definitely not the same!

Day 1 in Hong Kong

We just finished our first day in Hong Kong. Our flight arrived around 1pm, after getting situated in our fabulous 3.5 star hotel, we left for another extravagant "lazy susan" style lunch generously paid for by Tin Man and his wife. He ordered 55 small portions of food [to split between 13 people], all which was different than anything we've tried thus far + very delicious too. I'm amazed by the variety of food here, everyday I find something totally different to eat when we travel.

From lunch we took the subway to "The Peak." As it says, it is a giant mountain with shops/restaurants at the top that looks over all of Hong Kong Harbor for miles. To get to the top, we took a cable trolley at a 20 degree incline. It was so neat! Similiar to the incline plane in Johnstown, but more like a trolley from San Fran.






We stayed until 9pm, and the view of the city at night was breathtaking. The city was so lit up + the smog seemed to dim slightly. This was our view while sipping 7 dollar martinis, what a life! haha







This is the result of accidentally bumping the camera during a long
exposure... I think it turned out pretty awesome!

Tomorrow we are headed to the PolyU Design show + other adventures I'm sure.


Ps. I saw a Pizza Hut today and I fully intend on splitting and entire pizza with someone before this trip is over! haha