Issue 04 - In Transit
Traveling by train, subway, bus, bikes, and such
November already! Leaves of Fall season have fallen, lots of changes are happening in these last few months of December. ☃️ Here’s an update on our transitioning times.
C🔮
I’ve been commuting up down and around the three cities of rotterdam, delft, and den haag a lot lately, which feels extra chaotic with the wonderful weather we’ve been having -which I just love biking through (because my ns transport bill is so high each month i have to suck it up and bike through the rain.. “i’m not made of sugar” as they say to dismiss the rain’s powerful misery). So with my scattered scattered mind and thoughts barely making it to paper… here’s my hot takes of november in bullet point form. I’ve been biking/training/walking back and forth towns,
getting to know some heartwarming spaces around the neighborhood
especially this place you can always get a cozy home cooked meal in katendrecht
WIP: new atelier and spicy collabs 👀👂👅
I’m very happy sad about the situation because new and exciting experiences are in the making, but this also means i’ll be spending less time in Den haag and leaving my studio mate who was the very first to welcome me into the dutch creative world
really enjoying squishing and crunching the earth on my bike and on foot through autumn
there’s something gross and satisfying about the decomposing autumn leaves in the bike lane, soggy from the rain, every squish from my swishing bike tires help turn these leaves to mud
at het national park de hoge veluwe, there was an endless amount of sensory stimulation
in the perfect palette of fall, orange-reds, and golden-browns, there were leaves big as my face ready to be crunched, mossy mud filled with mushrooms looking like wonderland to be slipped on
also i must add the fact that we biked from the ede train station and cycled 13 kilometers (8 miles) to Otterlo to make it here, as someone who only “exercises” when I am biking the last mile in my commutes, this is a big deal)
i can see the bottom of our first 10kilo(22lb) bag of rice !!!!!!!!
wow i could write a whole book on all of the recipes we made with one big bag of rice. not a book, maybe a zine, i’m not that ambitious.
time for another run to AO 😀 or maybe it’s time to try Ochama
Anywhos, that’s all from my scattered brain this week, more to come soon ~\(๑˘◡˘๑)ﾉ♬
Z💫
Luckily, I started a 6 month Graphic Designer internship from November !
I'm trying to approach the concern about making mistakes as an intern with a different mindset. I want to work with the mindset of learning as much as possible from my colleagues.
I am considering how to conduct my own design research while doing an internship. I have plenty of ideas, but it quite challenging to find the time !
The moment I feel like I've become an adult or grown up is when I can no longer use student discounts. Especially, starting from November, I have to pay the full-rate fees for Spotify and Adobe Creative Cloud. 😔
I am trying to get used to the work environment as it’s my first experience with an internship/job in Europe. The working culture here is completely different from that of S.Korea and Japan.
It’s a season of making Kimchi. I want to make Kimchi….!
Do you know the application called 'TheFork' ? We went to a restaurant with a 50% discount from 'TheFork' before publishing the article!
We haven't known about this application for long, but occasionally, when we check the app and find good deals, we feel like to treat myself to dining out. Since coming to the Netherlands, often hesitate eating out on the tight budget.
Nevertheless, having delicious food at a reasonable price for a change of mood occasionally makes our feel better. To think there's such an amazing food in Rotterdam... feels like we discovered a treasure a bit too late !
While living in Rotterdam, we are making an effort to have wide and diverse experiences with food and culture. Being a large city in the Netherlands, I feel there's a lot more to explore! What new experiences are you having in the city you're currently living in? 😃
Did you enjoy checking out our update? Z is diving into her transit adventures. Do you enjoy traveling? The Excitement of hopping on planes, trains, buses, cars.. – it always gets us happy.
What stories come to your mind when you think of 'travel'? In this fourth issue, Z wants to share some stories about her destination in the Berlin this November! 🌍
💫[Z]💫 The charm of Berlin 🇩🇪
Many people expect Berlin is the city that enjoyment of clubs and nightlife. And I am not interested in those anymore. The purpose of this trip this time was to relax, eat good Asian food, meet friends, and recharge before starting my internship. My experiences and perceptions shifted a lot between my first visit to Berlin five years ago and the recent visit.
My first visit was in 2018, I absolutely liked the city. Ironically, 5 years later, I said to my friends “Ok, now I don’t like Berlin anymore”. Nevertheless, I have already been to Berlin twice this year. In February, I visited Berlin for a school field trip. The Berlin visit back then completely changed my perspective on the art industry both in a good and bad way. After DDW 2023, I visited Berlin for few days. My visit was driven by a strong desire to go somewhere close to the Netherlands but outside of the country.
The third visit to Berlin brought me a lot of enjoyment and things to see (exhibitions), however at the same time, it made me think a lot. The first thing that surprised me was the use of 'English’ in the city. My friend is currently studying at a university in Germany, and she is fluent in German (C1 level). When I went to cafes or restaurants with my friend and my friend used German to order, the staff didn't understand German and had to ask back in English. And we ordered everything in English. This experience might be unique to Berlin. Of course, in the Netherlands, there are many Dutch people who speak English well, but I haven't had a similar experience when I was living in the Netherlands.
Furthermore, I visited a famous bookstore in Berlin that sells feminist and queer books. This bookstore is famous among tourists and individuals who are interested in feminism even in Korea. I visited this bookstore with high expectations. During my time there, which lasted almost an hour, I experienced mixed feelings. Within the culture of feminist literature, there existed both mainstream and non-mainstream cultures. Queer literature and Western feminist works were undoubtedly part of the mainstream there. Books related to the rights of Black human rights, Black feminism, or Arabic women, and Arab feminism were diverse and often you could find. However, feminism in Asia, especially East Asia (Korea, China, Japan), was considered non-mainstream.
Of course, there were few books about East Asian feminism. I could find books like "Pachinko by Min Jin Lee" and "Kim Ji-young, Born 1982 by Cho Nam-ju" but most of them were novels, and I couldn't find any books that shed light on feminism in East Asia. Moreover, the number of books on East Asian feminism was significantly lower compared to Western feminist contents. I had expectations in this bookstore, but I noticed a bit of the reality of Asian feminism. As an East Asian woman, as an individual, what could I do in the Western context? And I felt like just a small presence.
In Berlin, what I really value about the city, there was a methodology that opened up accessibility to non-mainstream culture through the bookstore. And perhaps in Europe, I might have to live as a non-mainstream non-European person for a lifetime. How does it feel to live as a non-mainstream individual? How can this be connected to the city or everyday life? It is the main reason why I like big cities. There are fewer people who make me feel strange. And I believe this is the charm of Berlin.
‘Totally Off Topic’ is cooking up some experiences for the community. We look forward to your presence when we’re ready. Bringing good news and interesting topics, we'll be back within a few weeks! Stay tuned for exciting updates! 👀👂