Intern [4]

6/1/2010 New

8am In desperate need for a lint roller. nobody owns dryers around here... and most of my clothing is black.

9am Immediately feeling overdressed. (Supervisor later tells me to please dress more casually tomorrow)

10am Meeting, what are they saying?

Update on the BIG project at the office is that it is no longer.

But in other news, I get to work on design. First assignment is a wedding reception area on the roof of the Victoria Hotel. I am presented with a plan with a rather arbitrary oval drawn between a pool and a garden. I'm told that it is the predetermined shape of my design... I was relieved later to find out the form could still be rethought.

Foreign interns are given a lot of freedom in design here. One, because the boss is a teacher and is open to new ideas. Two, because we're not really expected to know or learn Taiwanese codes and regulations so we're allowed to design without those in mind. This suits me just fine.

12:00pm Out for noodles and afternoon nap-time

5:00p Liking the people a lot. Finally people around my age interested in buildings (that wont just send me to tourist attractions) to ask about places to go, eat... and print portfolios.

6:30pm Work over. Tired even though I did pretty much nothing other than fail to install software on the office computer. Maybe just the energy of being in a new environment.

6/2/2010

10:00am People at work keep telling me to relax. Is this saying something about me? I think the GSD has given me a 'never time to relax' mindset that I did not used to have. Undergrad was busy, but people would never have told me I needed to relax back then. I used to get more comments on how relaxed I seemed as I was able to make time for people and other events.

12:00pm I find out that the general opinion is that food is better further south in Taiwan. Why am I in Taipei again?

1:00pm I'm enjoying the fact that there are pillows specially made for office nap times. They're shaped for the head on folded arms over desk sleeping position.

Wish Chinese writing could stick to one direction. Right to left or left to right...

6/3/2010

6:30pm Dinner with the boss, supervisor, and Wisdom's family. His dad is a (supposedly well known) contractor in Taiwan who recommended me to the Architecture firm. Thai food at the Sheraton. It was uncomfortably fancy/formal, but I found the conversation quite good. There was a lot of talk about what one could learn from approaches to design and education in other countries as well as travel and cultural experiences. I was told I looked bored... not good. I'm guessing it's because listening to chinese wears me out. It's not a completely foreign language but it still takes a lot of attention to keep up.

9:00pm Met up with Dan from MRT in Shanghai. Bar I was recommended was closed. Ended up eating rice burgers and drinking juice at Mos Burger. Interesting.

6/4/2010

9:00am New project. Site is at an important Taipei intersection. Designing a 14 story commercial/office building replacing the two story hang ten to the the left of the building left of the white Sogo. It's viewable from the above ground rail as well as the ground level station exits and viewing area within the green sogo across the street. It's somewhat intimidating designing stuff that might get built. Especially in such a hotspot.

3pm Fridays are 'Happy Time' days at the office. Beverages on the office. Office also got in some free pastries. I was surprised when I at the donut and found out it was more bread-like than cake-like. Tien-tien-chuen (sweet sweet circle)

I.M. Pei building on the same intersection as our office. Wondering what the dimple is about... I find it hard to distinguish good skyscraper design... haven't learnt too much about it in school and at first glance it seems like many of the most famous skyscrapers are not so different from the not so famous.

6/5/2010

10am Eslite bookstore building. Galleries, Stationary, Product Design, Fashion, Accessories, Books.

12pm Dinner in the Taipei Underground with David C, friend from back in high school that lives in Taipei.

2pm Jianguo Holiday Flower, Jade, and Artisans Market. On weekends these three markets take up the space of a parking lot underneath a roadway that is used for office/business parking during the week. It was a pretty gloomy day, so most of my pictures did not come out very well, but it was quite a spectacle. The continuous stretch took up four or more city blocks.

4pm Sole purchase was two semi-precious stone chops which I will be getting engraved at some point. The engraver within the market was overpriced. I'm starting to think the stones may have been too even though I was able to haggle the price of both down from 1,200 to 800 NT. I should have tried for 600. Too late now. Although signatures are becoming more common, chops are still used in Taiwan for official forms as a mark of identity and agreement.