This week we began planning our final projects. My group consists of me, Aileen, and Stella. A topic that we have talked about at lengths throughout the preceding weeks is fermentation. Through these conversations my group members and I were reminded of kimchi, a popular fermented Korean side dish. As we are all Korean, we are interested to learn more about the history and scientific process of kimchi and its fermentation. We aim to present these things in an artistic manner by producing posters. We plan to split roles by variations of kimchi. For example, some of us will be covering the history and ways to eat Napa cabbage kimchi, while others will be covering picked radish kimchi. In total, we are aiming to discuss atleast five to six variations.
** Update: We have narrowed down our selections to the following: Nappa Cabbage, Radish, Green Onion, White Radish, Cucumber, and Ponytail.

When we were looking up the history it was interesting to see a lot of the food's origins in Korean royalty. For example, "Kimchi originated from the Goryeo Period. During this time, trade exploded with other kingdoms and new vegetables found their way to Korea, including napa or Chinese cabbage." Even with certain variations, we were able to see a lot of royal connections. Radish kimchi, otherwise known as kkakdugi, "was created by a Princess named Sukseon in Korea in the late 1700s. She actually made the dish on accident, but the King found it so delicious that she was inspired to introduce it to the royal court. Afterwards, kkakdugi was widespread and made popular amongst Korean citizens." The ponytail kimchi was made "in olden times like Chusun dynasty" where "young unmarried Korean boys (Chonggak) wore their long hair in top knot style until they got married. The shape of this radish resembles the hairstyle they had."

Further, we are interested in kimchi on an artistic level; beyond kimchi being a quintessential dish of our culture, the diversity of kimchi variations makes dishes unique with each and every meal. We feel that this project will evoke a lot of nostalgic feelings, as we are reminded of the typical family dinners that we have not been able to have as much since entering college.

As far as other projects go, hearing my other classmates made me really inspired and curious about their varying topics. I found Jessica's project proposal to be really interested as she talked about exploring feminine stereotypes, and how sustainable fashion could be used to embody the rejection of these norms. Her group showed their ideas which ranged from embodying cellulite, to body hair. I thought it was a really beautiful idea to tie in environmental awareness with the embracement of the female body. 

Resources:
https://korelimited.com/blogs/korelimited/the-history-of-kimchi-everyone-s-favorite-side-dish
https://oijee.wordpress.com/2012/03/09/chonggak-kimchi-ponytail-radish-kimchi/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kkakdugi
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kimchi
https://www.seriouseats.com/kkakdugi-radish-kimchi-5184673