Today was the last studio session of the semester, which means, I don't have to wake up at 9am anymore! Prof Kim wanted us to pin up our work and make a presentation to the studio, like a mini crit session. What really inspired me was when he said that the crit session was supposed to be a celebration, because I've never thought of it that way. To me, crit sessions were always dreadful and everyone's just praying they won't get slammed. But Prof is right, it should be a celebration because it marks the end of everyone's hardwork, and we should all come together to share our "harvest" for the semester, whether it is good or bad, because after all, it was still something we worked really hard for.

Anyway, my presentation went pretty well, considering the fact that I did not sleep a wink the night before. Prof said he was overall quite satisfied with everyone's work even though we all had some stuff lacking. It ended on a rather bittersweet note when he apologised for pushing us so hard, and said he feels very lucky to have us as a studio.

For me this semester has been quite a challenge, not because the design project was difficult but because of the lack of resources. Back in Singapore we had the luxury of having scalebar that made printing so much more convenient. The school provides us with desktops, and the environment is just so much more condusive to work in. Over here, the students bring their own desktops and printers, and there is nothing like scalebar around. Sometimes we get the korean students to print for us, but after a while it got a little embarressing to keep asking them, so butter paper became my best friend. If I wanted 5 copies, I drew it 5 times. On top of that, books especially, were very limited. The school library did not have a wide collection of books that were in english, and the national library was a 2 hour ride away. And as I took some time to sit down today to reflect about the semester, I realised that when we are thrown into a foreign environment where we no longer had the luxury of certain tools, we resort to the most primitive ways, using our hands to draw. I am actually quite proud of myself because despite having limited help and resources, I could still design, and produce something fairly decent. Language sometimes became a barrier too, but after a while I realised that the inability to communicate effectively made me rely a lot on visuals. I started sketching a lot more, especially perspectives, just to get my idea across. I learnt that instead of being very frivolous with my words, I was forced to reduce everything to its essence and express ideas in the most succinct manner. This semester, I really learnt a lot, and as everything is coming to a close, especially with the upcoming submission and exhibition, I really hope I'll use the rest of the time I have left, to enjoy everything about this place - the weather, the food, the environment, and most importantly, the people and the friendships..