Creating A Series Of Videos All About Indonesian Food

Growing up, my family and I were always big on food. My family consisted of either people with a good understanding of food or people with great skills in the kitchen. It became very clear that my family are food lovers who make, eat, and love anything food-related, whereas I prefer to eat and try the food, with me having little experience in the field of cooking. What I think of food is that it is something so surreal and I think it is the world’s universal language where people across the world can relate and enjoy it together.

By the age of 12, I started watching a lot of food-related Youtube videos such as vlogs, cooking shows, and even reviews. In my spare time, I would sit down and give these different channels a watch where I gain knowledge and understand more about different cuisines and food. Whereas my personal project’s goal is to aim to research and learn about different local cuisines and cultures and create a series of videos showcasing the diverse food culture in Indonesia. Instead of outside and foreign cuisine, I attempt to shed light on all things local and Indonesian, which will consist of variations of vlogs, cooking shows, reviews, history, and guests.

The reason why I have chosen this project is that this is something I have truly wanted to do since I was younger. I have always wanted to attempt creating a youtube channel regarding food because it is what I am inspired by and what better way to do it, than in my Personal Project. Personal Project has given me an opportunity to take on different challenges and steps I have been wanting to take for a very long time, consisting of skills and challenges such as videography, editing, and even communicating. Upon creating this channel, I will get to interact and communicate with different people, which further develop my communication skills.

Global Context

The global context that my Personal Project is trying to achieve is Personal and Cultural Expression. Personal and Cultural Expression is inquiry ways where we have the ability to express ideas, feelings, nature, culture, beliefs, and values. My product being a youtube page surrounding food is me expressing my experiences and culture through different videos which include, vlogs, history, reviews, guests, and cooking shows. The youtube channel will have an ample array of different local foods and cuisines.

Product

All in all, the Personal Project proved to be a difficult set of challenges for me where I finally created — a series of videos with the prime purpose and goal is to shed light on Indonesian cuisines. The global context that I initially set on accomplishing and doing from the very start is Personal and Cultural Expression, and working on this project has further enhanced and educated me on the general topic of Personal and Cultural Expression. I’ve always had a strong passion and interest for food, even though I wasn’t particularly the best at cooking I still was really keen on tasting and eating food, where this project helped me rediscover my forgotten passion I had for food. My project features several different videos on my exploration and takes on different foods and cuisines present in Indonesia, where the videos are around 5-10 minutes. In short, my project is a laid-back, not too serious, and totally relaxing series of videos, where audiences can spare a few minutes to go and give each of my small amounts of videos a watch. I also think it is Important to further popularize, preserve, and in a way promote Indonesian cuisines through working on my project, whilst also serving as a form of entertainment during these dark times of COVID, and quarantine.

Reflection

Overall this journey has been extremely meaningful and has further expanded my train of thought and also helped me in learning and understanding my knowledge to the global context, being Personal and Cultural Expression. Even though my product is not exceptionally filled with numerous videos and content for me it’s all about the effort and experience I’ve made and I definitely learned a hefty amount of experience, skills, and information along the journey, all while creating an overall sufficient and decent product. Additionally, this product has helped me refine my past interests and hobbies and the overall product really satisfied me.

During the whole course of the production of my Personal Project I was heavily preoccupied with school work, family business, my own needs, and many more, which helped further enhance my time management and productivity skills. All though it was hard I was able to pull through and even made a timetable/plan for support. This Project placed me into this sort of different ambiance where I did many things much differently than how I normally do work. Usually, if there are school projects I am incredibly lazy and unmotivated, but with this project, you get the opportunity to pick and choose the things you’d actually enjoy and touch on, and that's what I think is so special and unique about the Personal Project, you are completely set free and able to explore and do any project you want or desire. All though I definitely underestimated this project and expected it to be like a walk in the park, but instead there are way more difficulties and hardships to it than just eating.

All in all, my goal was to simply enlighten my viewers and shed light on all things Indonesian food through ways of entertainment and content creation. I always try to ask my friends, family, and acquaintances anything regarding my product and whether it exceeds or achieves an appropriate level of competency. There are numerous days and nights where I constantly reflect on my overall product, and as a person who is very insecure, I always try to maximize and produce the best possible videos I can possibly do in my strength, because I don’t want people to think otherwise. At the end of the day, I am forever grateful, thankful, and satisfied to have done this project.

IB Learner Reflection

I, as an IB Learner have learned to grow and develop many skills; especially during these last few months as I embark on my Personal Project Journey. The process was far from easy, it has challenged me more than ever before. Solving problems and obstacles left and right, testing my creativity, and pushing me to my fullest potential. Each and every IB Learner profile has played a role in the success of my product, especially Risk-taker, Reflective, and Communicator.

There was a lot of thought that went behind my product and idea. One of the biggest obstacles and challenges I faced was my own social anxiety. The thought of talking in front of a camera and posting my content for any type of audience to see was incredibly nerve-wracking. I had a lot of doubts, and I always thought back and forth if it was the right choice for me, but I finally decided to go for it, this project posed as a challenge, an opportunity for me to step outside of my comfort zone. Though it would be a long and difficult journey, it was a chance to experience something unique and new. I took a risk, I made a choice and I am glad that I persevered.

Being able to reflect, continuously grow, and improve is a key element in a successful product. Upon finishing my first video, I felt dissatisfied. I wasn’t proud of my outcome because I knew that I could do better. My solution was to redirect myself to different sources of inspiration, which includes food channels, food bloggers, etc. From there I felt reinspired, and I was able to implement and borrow many aspects and elements from them once again. I think I showcased my ability to reflect quite well in this part of my process.

I showed my skills as a communicator through my product itself. The most important aspect of a youtube channel and content creation is the ability to communicate with its audience. But I tried to do the best of my abilities to convey my message in a clear manner that can be understood by all. I always try to respectfully receive any given feedback from different people and have even done so through creating and passing down my survey to numerous people, hence my Personal Project is complete.