"Ni Hao"

OK, so now that you are aware of how I usually make decisions in my life, let me explain the best decision I have ever made impulsively. While I was in the studio one day, I saw one of my best guy friends, Ryan, walking down the hall. I asked him what he was doing and he said he was on his way to Tinmans studio for the Taiwan meeting. Always curious, I asked him what it was about and he explained that Tinman takes students to Taiwan every summer for a product design studio and that I should come because it would be fun. So I found my best friend/roommate Laura and told her that we were going to a meeting about Taiwan and explained that we would be going to Hong Kong for a week also. We went to the meeting and signed up and I didn't think twice about what I was getting into. Over the next few months I was so involved in my recent studio projects that I didn't think about Taiwan. Every so often I would have to sign a piece a paper, get a shot or take a photo for my passport, but it still didn't register that I would be spending 2 months in another country half way around the world. Until that spring I had only flown once, which was an hour and a half flight to Cancun, Mexico for my senior trip. Two weeks before I flew to Taiwan I had to fly with my studio to Wisconsin to present our designs to the president of Broan-Nutone. At the time I was thankful for a flight to prepare me for the flight for Taiwan. Hahaha, yeah right. A 2 hour flight vs. 28 hours in the air? Tinman held monthly and then weekly meetings to discuss things for our trip and he sometimes showed us videos of what to expect. Nothing could have prepared me for what I was about to experience.

When I was preparing for Taiwan, the only thing I could think about was the 13 hour flight from California to Taipei, Tw. I never anticipated the events, emotions or the friendships that would come. Three days after spring semester ended, Tinman (our professor), his family, and 13 students from ID from Auburn met at the Atlanta airport to board our plane. 2 Days, 3 plane rides =22 hours, 2 beers, one book and 3 prescription sleeping pills later, we landed in Kaoshiung, Tw. The one thing I will never forget about stepping outside of the airport in Taiwan for the first time, was the distinct smell that the country has. At first I thought it was just that part of the city, or the pollution from the planes, but later realized it was a smell I would never forget. To this day I can remember how Taiwan smells. It is not an awful smell, just a very distinctive smell that made me realize I was no longer in America. I am not going to explain everything I did, everybody I met or everywhere I visited while I was in Taiwan because I could write a blog for each day. I will say that my experience in Taiwan is the most valuable memories I have. Although I am a very easy going person and I accept change, adjusting to a new country and culture is really hard. I never realized all of the daily habits and the things I took for granted living in America. The first one: Air Conditioning!! The only places that have air conditioning in Taiwan are the hotels and the large shopping malls. Forget about 20 oz and 48 oz drinks. The largest cups in restaurants were about 4 oz unless we found a McDonald's. Each day spent in Taiwan was a blessing and I remember watching everyone around me and thinking I would never forget this time in my life. The people in Taiwan are the most hospitable people I have ever met.

We studied product design at Shu Te University outside of Kaoushiung, Tw. The students in the program were overzealous to meet us and stayed by our side until we left 2 months later. Over the course of the two months spent in Taiwan, I visited about 10 factories, 23 museums, 2 beaches, 5 Universities, 8 shopping malls, 6 product design companies, 9 bars, and 28 night markets. I traveled by every means of transportation available, airplane, taxi, car, mopad, boat, train, and subway. Everyday we had something to do and somewhere to go. I ate more noodles in two months than most americans eat in their lifetime. I also saw one of the Taiwan students eat a fish eye... yeah it was gross.

The day we left I stood in the Kaoushiung, TW airport and cried for two hours with my classmates from Auburn and Shu Te. I had spent two months with some of the best people I had ever met and made some of the best memories of my life. Knowing I will never see any of them again still hurts me to this day. I never knew the day I signed up for the trip that I would be signing up for litterally a Trip Of A Lifetime. It has been 4 summers since I returned from Taiwan and I still think about that time in my life constantly. I know nothing else will ever come close to the things I experienced, the people I met, the lessons I learned and the memories I made.

When I returned home from Taiwan, everybody wanted to hear all about my trip and see my picutres. I was excited to show them and tell them my stories but to this day, nobody but the people who experienced it with me will ever understand the impact it had on me and the rest of my life. It is hard to put into words the peacefulness that I still have after that trip. It was easy to explain to people about the food I ate, the statues I saw, the Taiwan Beer I drank, the room I slept in and the night markets I shopped at, but to this day I can't explain the full extent of the experience of that trip.

The sighseeing, drinking and shopping were of course fun, but the everyday activities with the Shu Te students is what I miss the most. Although we are from two opposite sides of the world, speak a different language, & eat different cuisines , we learned how to communicate on a simple level, like trading mp3 players and relating to music or sneaking out to the Irish Pub and staying out past curfew. We were just as amazed by them as they were by us. I went halfway around the world to study design and ended up learning more about myself, life, the hungriness of college students, and what it really means to grow up in a "Free Country" than I ever thought possible.