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adventurer, traveler, and designer at heart, jay roop is on a mission to experience the most that earth has to offer and bring others on board for the time of their lives. currently residing in seoul, korea where he runs operations for his design studio, and previously living in gothenburg, sweden and san francisco, california, he is ready to share documentation of his life and work with all those who are interested.
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FEATURED PROJECTS
trading meatballs for kimchi
better known for meatballs and ikea (or even better, meatballs at ikea!), sweden has been my home away from proverbial home for the past 11 months. throughout my time here i have made many great friends, and experienced life as never before. from soaking in sun at summer houses on the east coast, to the dead of winter where the light is sucked out of the sky here in the rain plagued landscape of västragotlands’ göteborg. and back again to seemingly never ending sunsets and a new appreciation for the concept of seasons.
the journey that has transpired along the way has been a memorable one, to say the least. but my time has now come and gone and it is time to write a fitting ending for this milestone in life.
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i’m a believer in the idea that the more we bend, the less likely we are to break. life rewards the ability to roll with the punches, and unlike our bodies, as each year passes our minds become more flexible and open to the idea of change as inevitable.
last month the clouds of change started rolling in. they came in different shapes and sizes than before, but they were unmistakable. faced with a choice of attempting to hold out in sweden or experience something else, i choose to go with the flow and allow myself the freedom to move on.
for several years now, i have been gravitating towards korea. both as a reconnection with my motherland and as preparation for the rest of my life. it is something that i have literally dreamt about. it didn’t used to keep me up at night. but it does now as i ready myself for a journey that spans much more than the 9 hours and 7077km of atmosphere that i will pass through while encapsulated in a speeding bullet in the sky.
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on wednesday, july 21 i will say hej då (good bye) to göteborg. behind me i will leave people, a school, and a city that have been fantastic in every sense of the word, and which other descriptors regretfully fail to add any significant understanding to.
i will make a 36-hour pitstop in helsinki to visit friends, eat food, and shave.
on thursday, july 22, barring any earth-shattering events, i will board a plane to seoul.
and on friday, july 23, i will arrive in the country of my birth for only the second time since leaving. more than have of my life has passed since my previous trip, and when i touch down i feel as if i will be embarking on a sojourn that has been 26 years in the making.
i’m ready.
monoweek / back to basics
when we place restrictions on ourselves, interesting things tend to happen.
that’s why i’ve decided that between july 10 and july 17 i will only take photos in b/w with a square crop. ok – so to be more truthful, i’m going to process the photos in b/w and apply a square crop to them before sharing – such is the world of digital.
here’s to 7 days of focusing more on content and composition!
around the world
how often are you bored by the music you listen to everyday? if you’re like me, the answer is may be something like “every other day”.
this morning i’m listening to a podcast from npr called “all songs considered”, a name spinoff from the ubiquitous “all things considered” and something that will hopefully provide me with a continuous stream of new and interesting music. with the latest blip in my sojourn around the world being my departure from sweden to korea (more on that in an upcoming post) i’ve found it funny that this program is featuring music from 3 artists from the 3 cities in which i’ve most recently lived in. (maybe there is something about second cities, after all.)
baltimore / the lower dens
san francisco / sunny & the sunsets
gothenburg / junip (josé gonzalez)
if you’re so inclined (and i certainly encourage you to do so), take an hour out of your regularly scheduled music programming, put on your headphones and get prepared to be refreshed.
land of the midnight sun
we say it, be we may rarely have a chance to experience it; the land of the midnight sun.
but today, i have the fortune of being in a place where i can watch the sunrise before my very eyes at 1:30am in the morning. in fact, it’s more like a ‘sun warm’ than a sunrise, as the pinkish glow never fell below the horizon towards the east. the site is quite beautiful, and as i wait for my time lapse photos to finish up (hopefully quite soon, as i’m super freezing) i thought i’d share this moment with you.
what is actually quite logical, can often seem a bit mind boggling. i know in my head that the sun rises in the east and sets in the west. however, being able to pan the sky and go from a deep resonant blue to a pink to turquoise gradient can leave one a bit dumbfounded at first.
my vantage point is from the top of a hill, next to masthuggskyrkan. it’s not the highest point in göteborg, but i have a wonderful view over the city’s harbor. off in the distance i can see the neon blue glow of the new ‘wheel of gothenburg’, and subtle silhouette of the lipstick building against a dark horizon. the reflection of the buildings in the river (göta alv) is surrounded by the greenish blue tinge of the sky above and the warm street lights almost match the sunrise in color.
when i first arrived here about an hour ago, i was all by myself. since then, a pair of gentleman have taken a seat with cameras and beers in hand just to my right. there is the occasional chatter of birds in the early morning, and every now and then i catch a glimpse of them flying speedily around the trees. in the background there is the constant chatter of seagulls protecting their young – it’s a sound that i’ve become quite accustomed to here, even if i do tend to find it quite annoying. and of course, the less pleasing, but somehow reassuring sounds of cars rumbling up and down the highways all around.
now, 10 minutes after i’ve started to write this post the sky is coming to life. i can describe it as the glow of a slow burning ember unexpectedly reigniting. i clearly see five distinct bands of color: first pink, then yellow, aqua, blue, and the deepness of space above. there are several cloud formations, one coming in from the sea and another more streaky group off to the northeast, bumping up against the invisible ceiling of pressure and flattening out.
the reason i chose to come up to this cold hill in the middle of the night, even after working quite late, is simply because i may never have this opportunity again. i feel like there is something religious, or maybe spiritual is a better term, about being awake and alert to experience the darkest hours of the lightest day of the year. it’s something i’d like to share with those who aren’t here to see it for themselves.
the sound of music
since i’ve been here in sweden, i’ve been introduced to the wonderful world of spotify (http://spotify.com/), a music streaming service which allows you to listen to most songs you want to hear for free (supported by audio ads). it’s been a wonderful ride, but i have to say, their app has left me wishing for a better UI and the ads keep getting more, and more intrusive. now, for a mere 99kr (~ $12/mo) i could banish those ads, but now a new solution has popped up.
i first saw grooveshark (http://grooveshark.com/) last fall, but didn’t pay much attention to it. i was still stuck to my itunes library which contains 30,000+ songs that i almost never listen to. but as my frustrations with spotify have increased and my memory of grooveshark returned, i’ve ended up as a really happy user. in fact, it’s made my week much more productive with it’s banner ad only approach (not annoying audio ads every 5 songs) and ability to easily manage playlists, find artists (many more than spotify offers, including those from asia), find new music via the ‘radio’ feature, and the ability to quickly share with your friends – all they’ll need is flash to tune in.
anyways, my point is that i’m really happy listening to grooveshark, and thought i’d share a bit of the music i’ve been taking in this week. hope you enjoy!