Back Stateside -- Honey Pig

Back Stateside -- Honey Pig

Last night I ventured with friends (and Living Social voucher) to the Honey Pig in Ellicott City. I'm still in the afterglow of a great four months in Korea, so of course, I was a skeptic.

Before we walked in, the groups of people waiting were bursting out the door! Me having #gradstudentproblems, mumbled, "If this was Korea, we'd just walk to the place next door." Of course it was because Honey Pig sold a ridiculous amount of discount vouchers, but also because Honey Pig is now known for THE place to eat BBQ in the DC/Maryland/Virginia area.

Verdict: the place was delicious. I will always love a place with delicious pork belly. I was in great company with two good friends, so the time was well spent on eating meat and dishing dirt.

The Pros:

1) MEAT. Grilled. Duh!

2) It's open 24 Hours.

3) There's Korean beer! Yay, more Cass!!

4) the exhaust system seems to work more than the ones did in Seoul. I did the sniff test on my clothes after, and it wasn't too bad!


But... being fresh out of Korea, there were some cons:

1) They don't let you cut and cook your own meat! (I do understand it's probably better this way since some people don't know how to properly man the griddle...but still.... i would have liked the option to DIY)

2) The line was horrendous. We waited like 40 minutes for a table (Ok, they made bank doing that living social deal... and apparently they give 25% off the entire bill if the Redskins win.)

3) The location is in a strip mall. The great thing about the BBQ places in Seoul were that they were smack dab in the middle of the city, so you can stumble out of dinner and down the street to a bar afterwards.

4) The sparse banchan... left so much more to be desired. what happened to the mounds and mounds of kimchi and seasoned bean sprouts! They don't serve their korean peppers whole -- they're sliced.

5) No wet naps?! Koreaaaaa, come back to me. Those were the best things ever / no-brainers for a restaurant where you eat with your hands.

Again, I am being too critical. It was a delicious BBQ meal, and just makes me reflective of the awesome culinary times I had. Can't wait to do it again. I need to brush up on my korean food words again!

From Bojagi to Model

From Bojagi to Model

Bojagi: wrapping cloth

I told myself I'd make more models in Grad school. As of yet, I never really gave myself the time to invest in a quality physical model. Which is why I told myself I couldn't wuss out on the 1/50 sectional model we were "required" to complete for our final review.

For those non-architecture, 1/50 means 1/2 centimeter = 1 meter. Which means, big model.

My project was inspired by the traditional korean dress, the hanbok, as well as the korean quiltwork, jogakbo. Themes included use of crease, seams, and folding to create an envelope that wraps the site. This wrapping was inspired by the bojagi, which koreans use as a utilitarian way to wrap objects for transport, storage, or gift wrapping (sometimes a jogakbo is the bojagi wrapper).

the traditional hanbok

jogakbo = jogak (pieces) + bo (cloth)

bojagi

Here are photos of some process...

folding / creasing a flat plane

 sewing fabric in different jogakbo seams

Older process model, made after midreview

Consulting the digital model

Roof Terrace

Final Review

Final Review

There are a few basic rules of studio I always try to tell myself to keep no matter what:

1) Always maintain a regular shower regimen. No one likes greasy hair (among other things)

2) Try to get sleep every day. Yes, naps (meaning 0-3 hrs of sleep) do count.

3) Always leave studio before the sun rises.

Well, at least I kept up with rules #1 & 3. The day of final review, I had been up for around 36 hours already, and running on adrenaline. I promised myself I'd finish that 1/50 scale model before I went home, which I did. I walked home a few hours before review to accomplish Rule #1, and eat. I had thoroughly impressed myself with how I had survived in the past three weeks with such lack of sleep, and I must admit, I was getting delirious towards the last night, especially when I was the only one left in studio.

I was third to present, and I presented without coffee coursing through my veins, which was surprising to me. My tactic to stay awake was not to wear a jacket. It was bloody freezing in the presentation space (Koreans, ever heard of proper insulation?!?). After taping (masking tape, classy) my boards to the wall, my brain went dead. I couldn't seem to mentally prepare my thoughts, so I said to myself, "I guess I'm winging this thing again."

Somehow I pulled it off because afterwards my professor said to me," I don't know how you pulled it off, but you did!" Comments from the jury were all positive; and I was glad I made that big model. It's good to finally get an overall good review after a blood-sweat-tears kind of semester.

Me trying to gather my thoughts

Showing my stitchwork, done with lack of sleep

One happy Seoul studio (afterwards of course)

Our last time at the Black Tent

After BBQ we walked to another place to have drinks. On the way, I walked beside Junsung and asked him if he was going to miss us American kids.

He replied: "Oh yes, or course. My body will not have the ability to NOT miss you all. You know, before you guys came, I was really discouraged with teaching the Korean students. They aren't easily self-inspired or self-motivated; it's really hard to teach them. After teaching you guys, I have more of a motivation and inspiration to keep teaching."

I was really moved by that. Junsung is usually a very dramatic person when it comes to expressing his feelings about architecture and whatnot, but I really felt that he was being really candid. I'm glad we could affect a professor just as much as they have affected us.

Meat Buffet and Black Market Books

Meat Buffet and Black Market Books

It definitely wasn't the typical finals week. It of course included sleep deprivation, malnourishment and lots of caffeine, but it also had it's surprise perks, such as going to the all-you-can-eat meat buffet with my professor and his korean students, and of course, the best thing of all, the korean "bookstore."

 Here we are at the "Self Bar", what they call the all you can eat meat bar. The meat cuts aren't the greatest, but it fits the hungry korean college male student's needs. The kid in the blue puffy jacket (never did remember his name) was literally inhaling the meat. 

Another night, we meet up with the "Book Guy." One of our korean student friends has the hook up, and just calls a guy. The guy comes at night in his SUV, backs into the loading area (or parking lot) and opens his back trunk and BAM! Christmas came early for us architecture nerds.

Nope. Not sketchy at all. White SUVs mean safety.

Yep, maybe we were a little excited. and all got Phylogenesis.

Korean Thanksgiving

Korean Thanksgiving

NOTE: I am horrendously behind on posts, so bear with me. Let's travel back to Thanksgiving....
________
After classes, we hopped on the train to have dinner at our professor's apartment. His wife was so kind as to cook every single dish. I felt kind of bad because our one task was to find a turkey, and we failed on that account. We were counting on the service that Yongsan Military Base used to have, which was selling roasted turkeys at the base gate for outsiders to pick up. Well, apparently, they discontinued that service in 2009, and the other option of ordering from a hotel was too expensive and too short of notice.

As we entered the apartment, we were welcomed with the wafting smells of bulgogi. We had tons of other great korean food, including japchae, kimbap, fried seaweed, chicken skewers, among other things. The professors were bringing out the big guns -- Junsung with delicious french wine, and Mark with a spanish (read: molotov) cocktail.

Cheers to the cook, Junsung's wife!

The Three Stooges

Marc's Spanish drink: 2 bottles of rum + lemon peel, cinnamon stick, coffee beans. Lit on FIRE!

The bowl cracked under the heat... so we salvage the liquor by siphoning it through a cheescloth

...and then used a cooking pan instead. architects are dumb.

full from korean goodness + french wine + spanish liquor concoction

massage train! Our goofy professors in the front

This meal was exaclt what I needed to get through the rest of the semester. At one part of the meal I was chatting with Junsung, our korean professor, and he was reminiscing about his time with Alvaro Siza. He said that Siza was asked, "Do you love architecture?", to which he responded with a reaction like "Love? Love is a strong word. I don't Love architecture. I like architecture sometimes...Man doesn't exist for architecture. Architecture exists for man."

Junsung said it meant that architecture shouldn't be your life -- it shouldn't be the all-consuming, end-all THING that is the only thing that matters. How then can we even enjoy what we are pouring our efforts in for our entire lives? How can we enjoy our life? So, in order to enjoy architecture (or anything you have a passion for really) you need to not have it be your LIFE.

This is expecially true now that I am in Seoul; it's been clearer to be since I am geographically away from St. Louis. If I constantly remind myself this everyday, I think it would be a great, constantly humbling thing that brings be back to earth. I think we all get caught up in this academic bubble of working nonstop for some convoluted goal of "finishing" a project without even enjoying the process itself.