After 3 months of hard work, our CAS project based on Translating services has come to an end. We end up translating a local breakfast shop’s menu, a huge shout out to the store manager who let us translate the menu. Overall the process is hard than we thought when most of us grew up from a similar background and all have the same blind spot for traditional food translation since we speak more than one language including the one that traditional food is in. This leads us to need to find a foreigner who at least has some understanding of our local culture and also can help us prove read our translations. After recruiting Tagg as one of our member, we decide to divide our jobs and focus on our own task before share informations.

Role distribution can be consider as one of the major step in a teamwork, each role does different job and would help the group to finish the task efficiently. We divide our group base on the stages of the program:

Search and communicate with the local breakfast shop – Danny, capable of speaking the local language and is able to find stores who need assistance with english translating for their menu.

Translating  initial Menu – Sean, capable of speaking local language and have some basic knowledge towards local breakfasts.

Prove reading and assistance – Tagg and Benson, both capable of speaking local language and have international background.

Digital Design – Wilson, took the IB art course and is an experience poster maker.

Final Work:  早安! 美芝城 Menu for CAS Project (Service)

During this 3 month process, I understand the importance of cooperating. When people work together effectively, they can often accomplish more than they could on their own. A larger pool of ideas is generated when more people are involved. Different perspectives lead to a larger pool of solutions. The team can decide which one is the most effective by working together. In my future life, I would try to work smart not hard. Although there may have some spark during the collision between ideas, it’s road to success when we analyze an issue with pros and cons.

Due to the strict COVID restrictions, our group decide to contact the breakfast shop with phone calls. Our manager of contact, Danny, who is a friend with the breakfast shop therefore he would deliver the menu when the restriction has been lower to a certain demand. Here is the photo of the original menu that is taken by the shop manager:

March, is the month for the mock exam, and the second month before my course ends. Mock is hard but it’s a preparation for the IB final exam and the future test during college. One tip for mock exams is to have a good night’s sleep the night before the test where you will gain the ability to focus during the test. I have trouble sleeping due to nervousness, one way to use up all energy is to study and play sport. In March, I ran a total of 5 KM during the exam and the pre-exam period to release stress. For me, Running is not only one way to release stress, but also to know my environment more as I want this to become a habit since I would have more tests in the future. Apart from running to release stress, the off-season soccer training officially started after exam week. Although by now I should spend more time preparing for the final exam, I must take some break and move around.

In addition to running and exercising, I also attended another beach cleaning event this time held by Red Cross.

The trash that I collected during the event

Unlike the previous beach cleaning at the turtle island, the beach that we’ve cleaned doesn’t have much natural ecosystem since it’s near the city. But since it’s near the city, the trash amount doubled. As my group and I pick up rubbish from the ground, we talked about why people throw them on the floor at first. We also reflect on the whole situation of the coastline where commercial brings economies to the city but damages the ecosystem.

I decide to do try new things within this month. Valentine soon arrive as chocolate became popular among stores, suddenly I came up with the idea of making one myself. I’ve never made chocolate by myself and this is just another step I need to step over, this activity requires multiple research before the hands-on part. After the research, I grab all the ingredients I need for the chocolate. The process continue when I mix the ingredients as the instruction says, it took me a while to stir and mix everything up before I divide the chocolates into different pieces and throw them into the freezer for 2 hours.

The first batch of the chocolate was slimy, it didn’t taste the way I wanted to because I didn’t use black cocoa powder which could mess up the whole ratio. Just when I was about to throw the failing batch into the trash can, I suddenly think of the people who is not lucky enough to have food served when they are hungry. Wasting food is a symbol of environmental destruction. It is not only unethical but also not fair. Therefore I’ve done some research and plan to recycle the discussed chocolates for other dish. I end up freezing the chocolates for 3 days which is enough time for the chocolates to become decorations, surprising it is still edible but I wouldn’t suggest it since it is still made with the wrong recipe. At least, I manage to use the best out of the diguesting chocolates instead of throwing them away at the first place.

The bowl where I mix all the ingredients

Final product

During this activity, I learn to stay organized. The whole experience was fine before I lost some ingredients because my working space was too messy. Chocolate gets hard when its temperature decreases which means I always need to have a pot close to the fire to maintain the high temperature of the pot. Maybe because it was the first time that I work with chocolate, my actions are clumsy due to the nervous feelings of heating the pot, I lost ingredients easily. One method to solve this from next time is to line all the ingredients up depending on their purpose that way I won’t end up in the unpleasant experience again.

Friend I met during a visit to KACA (K Animal Conservation Area)

Another new action that I’ve accomplished is working as a helper in KACA for one day. We have to clean the pets and the environment as well as persuade people to adopt them. I enjoy this task because it is a great opportunity for me to play with animals but it sucks to know that they would be killed if no one adopt them within a certain period. According to WHO (World Health Organization), there are nearly 55000 people die from rabies every year which is becoming a global issue. WHO also states that when stray dog/ abandon pets roam in packs, they pose a safety risk, causing traffic accidents, assaulting residents, and spreading disease. Similar to the previous task, this service at the adoption center also involves the technique of being organized. Being organized can help me academically when I work faster without wasting time looking for stuff.

At the begging of a year, I happen to went on a four day vacation with my family to the “Turtle” Island where I get to relax. I’ve been to many places in my country which isn’t hard because it’s quite tiny and it’s pretty fast to travel from one destination to the other. But Turtle Island is a place where I’ve never been to in my life since is not far but hard to get to. The trip begin when the boat left the dock from the main island to Turtle island and instead of renting a car on the island, my family decide to bike.

Picture of the island

The Island isn’t large and it only took me about 15 minutes to finish a circle around the island when cycling. During the cycling process, there was hardly any traffic on the island which made it relaxing. My family and I spend much time taking photos of us as I will be leaving the next year. I think one funny thought I can come up with when I was biking around the coast is my future. If Netherland is where I end up going for future education, I need to practice my endurance of biking since it is most likely going to become my main type of transportation.

Friends met during beach cleaning program

On the morning that my family and I are departing the island, my mother signs the whole family up for a “Beach cleaning program”. The beach cleaning program includes lessons on the ecosystem on the island as well as how to preserve natural reserves when entering one. The whole event ended with a beach cleaning around the coastline and we took the afternoon ferry back to the main island.

Overall, the trip was rather fun. Not only do I have more understanding towards my family but also the environment around me. The final beach cleaning program is very random but I guess, sometimes you just have to return to society.

The arrival of December was sooner than expected, after few weeks of preparation for the final examination, is time for the real deal.  However, apart from the stress from the final exam, the arrival of December also means the begging winter vacation around midway through this month. Of course, can’t forget about Christmas, this is going to be final Christmas before moving to other country for future education.

For creativity this month, I did a quick sketch of a character from the anime that I am really into recently ” my hero academia”. The story focuses on a character who is trying to complete a mission that requires the ability he doesn’t have. But the character did complete the task finally after many rough trainings which he did not avoid.

My drawing above is a character called Ken Ishiyama, Cementoss, this character can generate concrete not only to attack but to protect. I think in the anime series, he symbolizes the guidance of the main characters and teaches his student about the moral concept of being a hero. When I first saw this character, all I think of was his strength by controlling the elements. But he wasn’t that great overall, he couldn’t swim due to his weight. Based on my perspective, I realize the character was trying to demonstrate the balance between each character which gave me many thoughts because I was feeling a bit lost recently.

I agree with the author on the balancing part of each person and I hope to find my positive side cause recently, I am confused about what I am good at. As for the activity, I continue doing push-ups to remain fit. Although the soccer season is officially over, however, I am still keeping my body ready for the offseason which is coming up soon.

Most of the servicing-related activity that I’ve completed during December is part of the CAS project. Our group ends up only being permitted from one local breakfast shop for the translation menu service, so the focus of the CAS project this month would be to try to translate some of the menus if possible. Currently, the team already met some challenges due to a lack of concept in traditional Taiwanese breakfast.

As the JZN Internship comes to the end, I’ve gained more experience not only as a student but also as a co-worker. Before the internship started, I manage to set two goals which I aim to finish during the intern period. One being “Practice “bouncing back” after adversity, mistakes, and failures (Self-management)” and the other being “Practice focus and concentration (Self-management)”. Although due to many factors including the pandemic, my internship experience isn’t as good as I’ve expected before the start of the event. Due to a lack of practice in personal engagement, I only have limited practice with bouncing back reflection due to no chances of speaking with customers because the assignment that I was assigned doesn’t match. However, it does give me an. opportunity to practice speaking up and becoming a risk-taker when I find any opportunity to engage and support the worker as well as their customer. The second goal is self-management, originally I thought I was going to have loads of chances of using my device there to work on my school work, but it end up as I was too busy helping them do the basic work for example washing dishes and wiping the tables.

An unexpected event during my intern process is the interruption of events during the pandemic. The experience has been modified to match the new requirements which remove some major events that shape this internship. I was unable to reach into the core of the JZN company and to have experience within the internship, but it was canceled after the lockdown reappeared mid-way through the internship. This being says that means I’ve had more time working in the basic part of the JZN and managed to chat with a few of them on their perspective of JZN which gave me lots of moral concepts. Some told me their perspective on the majors I was considering that it’s not suitable in a certain part of the world as well as its pro compared to other majors, some told me their story of how they end up here in JZN. Overall, I gain some knowledge throughout the participation of being an intern at JZN although it didn’t reach the expectation that I had expected.

Final Presentation

Moving onto November, I can’t believe how fast the time has come as the school releases the news of final examination week. My life have yet struck again by the pandemic as the winter arrives around the world and the new variance begin to spread, luckily, in Taiwan we are still safe and haven’t been influenced much.

For creativity this month, I begin to start some sketches of figurative drawings. I am planning on drawing characters from different roles in the society from my perspective, this act would not only practice my drawing skills but also help me understand the difference and importance of each role with in my surround society. The final goal for this assignment is to identify the connections, relationship and characteristics of each role as i begin to search for my majors in university.

The character i drew this time is a waiter who works in the coffee shop that I get my breakfast multiple times within the week. The dress code is what identify his role and this isn’t base of a real person in reality.  The activity of the month is also soccer training after school as is now an off season sport, the arrival of winter also means I need to pay more attention in taking care myself due to the leg injuries that I have with my knee which gets sensitive when its interact with cold elements.

For the CAS project which should be completed by now, I’ve already done most of my part as the program  is now stop due to the lack of shop that is welling to provide their menu for us to translate. Overall, the focus for this month is to secure the final test next month which would be counted as big part of the grades.

Coming into October, I immediately feel the stress building upon my school work. With the exception of the Halloween event, October for me is pretty stressful. Reflecting on my daily October life onto the CAS Blog, nothing has changed much for me. Although pandemic is slowing to get better in Taiwan, that still doesn’t mean I get to take off my mask and exceed in the public. As usual, of Creativity this month, I drew cats with the action of “shock” reflecting on the time that has passed soo fast that it’s already the due time for the EE’s first draft.

Cat – Action Shock

Activity wise, I did manage to try something new. Today I still have no idea how I ski the week before the first draft was due, but the outcome of the exercise is not bad. Learning a new sport isn’t easy, and I ain’t a fast learn by fact, but this event helps me to understand myself more and most importantly, I get to complete this activity with my family which I may not be seen after July next year. I think i bit of personal values can be discovered when I engage during an event, and clearly to me that the ranking of my family to me is rather important. But again, I think that is just me preparing for my university life.

A picture of me Skiing

No long after the second month of being a senior, as predicted, I am covered in stress and works from many subjects. One key factor being that some teacher could be here due to Visa issues caused by the pandemic. Without the supports from teachers, I am kind of lost but still manage to guide myself on this dark road with the tiny light from the instructions given by substitute teachers. For CAS this month, it’s been fantastic since lots of activities has been schedule to balance my life style from the humongous assignments.

Activity wise, I manage to attend a disaster training lecture held by red cross which would strengthen my knowledge about solving issues within a short period of time. During the speech, I was told to spread the power of my brain into different section which I can now multitask. During the activity I also understand the importance of cooperation during an extreme time, and by reflecting it, I now understand the strength of team work and how it can actually achieve dream work.

KAS Red Cross IG post on the Event

Moving on to the CAS project, the role of distribution has been updated but mine remain the same. Fortunately, the teammate manage to finish his part prior he left the team which didn’t mess up our schedule at all. I am still looking forwards to my part of the project which is the decorate the final presentation of the translated menu, I hope it really help people.

The Menu that me and my teammate will be translating for CAS project.

So far, we are only focusing on one restaurant and we hope to find other restaurant when in the future.

As my summer break reaches the end of its time, I am defiantly not ready to go back to school next month. Senior to me has always been an exciting moment but now I only want breaks. Next year to be harsh, college applications and loads of heavy assignments should be due at the beginning of my senior and I am defiantly not ready for it. I guess it’s just part of life where we enter the process of moving on, and right now I want to be the cat drawn by me to present my emotions as the summer vacation ends for me.

As a creativity activity for CAS, I’ve drawn this cat to reflect my tempo for next year. Although working is very important but without a healthy body, nothing would work. For next year, I need to continuously remember to take control of better time management as the workload increases. One event that I am most worried about next year is defiantly the art exhibition in April 2022, by that time I need to complete more than 11 artworks to graduate from the IB Art program, this CAS activity also supports me in practicing quick drawings that I can use for my process portfolio. In the end, I hope everything goes as planned next year and remember to take a break when it’s necessary.