Submission and Crit went pretty alright, but ended on a rather depressing note because for the koreans, it means that they would all be moving home to their hometown soon, and for us, it signifies the end of our time here in Korea. The exhibition was held at this posh gallery, and I was very impressed with how the school handled it. Everything was done very professionally, very well coordinated and organised. It seems like over here at the Hanyang side, they take this exchange very seriously, and it is a very prestigious joint venture between two schools. But the NUS side doesn't seem to care as much. The representative that they sent over, was a professor who didn't even teach architecture!
But anyway the exhibition went very well, and it was very satisfying seeing not just my own hardwork, but the works of everyone's labour displayed publicly. I was pretty contented with what I produced even though I know there's so much more I could push the design towards.

My panels and my model

Juri my best korean friend :) More like a sister to me.

Yut in front of her work..

Nicole and hers..

Sungil my eyecandy in school hahaha!

Dahee and Juri. On crit day, I spent some time going through their scripts with them because they were worried about having to present in english. I don't think I did much but I think they felt a lot more assured after going through their presentations a couple of times. In the end both of them did our studio proud by getting an award presented to the top 12 most interesting designs! And honestly, I felt so genuinely proud of them, and happy for them! Especially Juri who didn't turn up for school for 2 weeks during the semester cos she wanted to give up. I'm so glad she didn't and fought till the end. Sometimes it's funny how someone else's story could inspire me so much and gives me courage to fight my own battle instead. These girls have been amazing friends and I think it would be so hard when the day comes for us to say goodbye...

This is an urban design project. Combine efforts by Marc, Juri and I. Guess that's when I started growing so close to Juri. All the overnights and the late night walks back to studio together did provide us with many opportunities to talk. And surprisingly, we're so similiar. There are so many things in her life that I can relate too, and likewise, she understands me so well.


Check out Richard at the back destroying this picture of Chang and I haha.


Nicole and Juri!

Juri and I sneaked out during crit to get snacks because the crit sessions were getting really draggyyyy..

That's Heewon, the best looking korean in the third year! He's very very stylish I think, that's probably what makes him so attractive.

Melissa and her "egg" building!

Lirong trying to act studious. hahaha but cute larh.

haha catching a glimpse of my eyecandy!

All the profs standing in a row waiting to give out the awards

Our studio! We have two professors because prof kim (the old one) is a very coveted professional in the country and he is very well known for his designs of museums especially. So he is barely in the office. I tried to look for him in his office 11 times over the span of two weeks, but failed to find him!! Maybe that's why the school got another guy in to share his teaching duties. That probably explains why we're not close to either professor. But even as a studio we're not close, which is such a shame actually because I really wished we could do more things together as a studio. Truth is, we've never dined together as an entire studio before. Sigh.


Haha HYU and NUS joint project. Juri and I always go on joint shopping trips together. Occasionally I stay over at her dorm, and sometimes she sleeps over. Gotta treasure such times because there really aren't many days left.

This is our second proffesor, also known as prof kim, but more endearingly known as young kim among the studio people haha. That's how we distinguish the two profs, old kim and young kim. Guess I'm closer to young kim and somehow we're like friends. Think I've been very blessed because he has been very nice and encouraging towards me. He told me at the end at he is very proud of me and everything that I've done, almost made me cry..

That's old kim and I. I don't know why the picture turned out this way :(

At the end of the day when we had to bid each other goodbye. Prof said he was really happy to be able to teach us. He said we made him very very happy and that if he could, he would have given an award to every single one of us. Some people think that he's just being nice and saying very diplomatic things to us. But I was genuinely touched, and encouraged.

And as I pondered about the whole semester, I think I'm very glad things turned out the way they did. The studio I was allocated to, the people I met, the dorm groupings, everything happened for a reason and ultimately God was in total control. I don't know why those things made me so upset in the beginning, but maybe God was trying to test me and see how I would react. And through it all, I think I can safely say that I did not fail terribly. I know I've made some blunders along the way, but still God would be proud of me and how I've chosen to deal with all the situations. So yea, I've learnt so much this semester, not just about architecture, but also about myself and my relationship with God. It hasn't been easy, but I think I got through pretty alright. Like what they always say, what doesn't kill you will definitely makes you stronger :)


edit*
After the end of the exhibition, I popped by my old office in Spacegroup to pay my colleagues a visit. Sadly, most of them weren't there because they had stayed overnight the night before so many of them stayed home. Thankfully, I still got to see my big boss Mr Park, and Sun On-ni! When the boss saw me, he opened his arms wide to welcome me like he would a daughter. He took time to dig out the files on the projects I worked on previously, and explained to me the progress of the projects since I left. He pointed to the facade of the design and said to me "See, can you recognise this? It is your idea!" and then promptly pointed to the table I used to sit at and said "table still empty, table still waiting for you to come back!" Sobs, his kind words and gestures made me wish that time would stand still and that I can work in this team forever. I took some pictures with them, and then with more hugs, bidded them goodbye. I left the office with tears streaming down my face. Seems silly, but I really couldn't control myself. I think I will never forget this beautiful country and the wonderful people who have made such a difference to my life.