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.