10th Grade
Creativity
During my stay in Italy, my host family taught me how to cook different Italian dishes such as Tiramisu, Castiello Napolitano, Cannoli, and my personal favorite; Lasagna Con Verdure (White Sauce Lasagna with Vegetables). I also prepared Thai dishes, such as Tom Yum Kung and Som Tum, as compensation, a true exchange of culture.
While I normally love cooking and food back home, I found learning how to make a different culture's food much more difficult than anticipated. Especially since my host family only spoke Italian! However, the language barrier didn't affect the exchange of recipes really, since we used google translate for any words or ingredients we couldn't name.
Whenever my host mother taught me Italian recipes, I always noted down the process along the way, and when I recreated the dishes back in Thailand, I would feel extremely proud to have learned how to make such delicious food. I think that the process of learning the recipes and interpreting the language, while was an obstacle, made the product much more gratifying. I realised how much more you can appreciate art (even in the form of food) when you recognise the effort and culture behind it, which I definitely encountered in this experience.
Activity
Towards the end of my stay, my host brother, his friends, and I would often go biking in the Royal Palace of Caserta, which is known for its beautiful scenery and biking grounds while being a historical place. Despite the constant lockdown from the height of Covid-19 throughout 2020 until 2021, I was able to appreciate the culture and more adventurous side of Italy at least once before returning home.
Through the gardens, over the streams of water, and past the century-old statues, we rode our bikes. While at this point, I was more proficient in Italian, to the point of being able to hold a conversation, we didn't speak a word as we cruised, engrossed by the scenery. Merely acknowledging each others' presence as we continued along the path was more than enough.
The total distance we'd ride would be approximately 10 kilometres, but it felt so much shorter because of the views we got to see. At the end of each trip, I'd feel fulfilled by the amount of physical activity I did after being enclosed for over 10 months and would go home smiling despite the sum of sweat and soreness.
