06: days 18-21

 09.09 - 09.12

Our last few days in Tainan were spent finalizing our design projects, furthering our understanding of circular design, and wrapping up the time spent with our friends. I’m writing this blog a few days after the program has concluded, and I think what has been flooding my mind most of all is how much I miss Taiwan and my friends there. 

thank u alisa for letting me ride your bike <3

On the ninth, I finally got to do something I’ve been dying to do my entire trip—ride a motorbike! Some of our friends rode us down to the beach on the back of their bikes so we could see the sunset and grab dinner while the weather was so nice. It was a perfect day for this activity as it was slightly cool and mostly sunny and it ended up being breezy at the beach.

We sat along the big wall that divides the shores while we chatted and enjoyed the weather and view as the sun went down. This might’ve been the highlight of my entire trip and really felt like a memory I’d never forget. 

pretty sunset!

On the tenth, we got to visit 18 Tea House and enjoy a Taiwanese tea ceremony and singing performance from the owner of the shop. I love tea and tea snacks so this day was perfect for me, and we even got to seal a thought in a case of tea and take it home to be opened far from now. I loved getting to experience this activity with my friends and I couldn’t help but think that this was such a nice closing exercise for our program. I’ve already forgotten what I sealed inside my jar of tea, so I’m excited to open it a year from now and think on this program fondly!

our tea setup

final project prototype!

On the eleventh, our last day of classes in the program, we met up at 9 am to finalize our presentation before presenting after lunch. This day felt so bittersweet since I was so proud of my team and our design but also knew that our time in Taiwan was really coming to a close. Even now, it feels crazy to think I just completed three weeks of design in Taiwan!

All in all, it was a beautiful end to our time together. After celebrating our project, my team met back up with a few other friends in the evening to enjoy our last night together and surprise Alisa for her birthday (which was on the fourteenth)! It was a really fun night and really brought me closer to everyone, making it even harder to leave at the end.

I guess this was my most sentimental and non-program focused blog, but the highlights of this trip for me were definitely the people I met along the way. There’s a big spot in my heart reserved for Taiwan and my friends from NCKU, and I’m already excited to see them again in the future. Thank you Meichun for the wonderful experiences and time spent learning sustainability design!

love my team foreverrrr