Leisure & travel Notes

Solution

Dear Anna,

I’ve just come back from the exchange in Spain and it honestly shifted the way I see daily life.

The first thing I noticed was how meals worked. Families didn’t rush through dinner. They stayed at the table, talking and laughing even when the plates were empty. At home I’m used to eating quickly, often by myself. In Spain, food felt like an excuse to spend time together, and that made me wonder what I lose when I treat meals only as food.

School also left a strong impression. Students spoke freely with teachers and weren’t afraid to question them. That atmosphere created a sense of equality that felt refreshing. It made me think about how formality in our classrooms sometimes keeps us from saying what we really mean.

Of course, I had moments of frustration. My Spanish wasn’t smooth, and there were times I couldn’t keep up. But people didn’t laugh at me, they slowed down, repeated, or simply smiled and waited. That patience encouraged me to try harder, and by the end I felt more confident even though I still made mistakes.

This trip taught me more than any textbook could. It showed me how culture shapes small habits, and how those habits reveal values. I’ve brought back more than souvenirs: new ways of looking at food, communication, and learning.

Hope you’ll share what stood out to you as well.

Best,
Matthew

Solution

Luang Prabang: A City that Teaches Through Daily Life

When I first heard our trip was to Laos, I expected a quiet stop with a few temples and markets. What I found in Luang Prabang was a city that carries history and culture in every routine.

The rhythm of the place begins at sunrise. Before breakfast, monks walk silently through the streets collecting alms from local families. The gesture is simple; rice given, blessings returned, yet it reflects a community built on respect and generosity. Watching it, I realised that religion here is not a separate activity but part of the day’s flow.

Temples fill the city, each with its own detail to notice. Some walls tell Buddhist stories with colour and patience, others sparkle with mosaics of glass that catch the sun. Unlike in many tourist sites where religious spaces feel like museums, here they remain alive. Children play nearby, families bring offerings, and tourists are reminded they are guests. That mix of sacred and ordinary gave me a new way of looking at faith.

The natural setting adds to the impression. The Kuang Si waterfalls outside the city are striking: turquoise pools tumbling from limestone cliffs. They appear in travel magazines for their beauty, but seeing local families gather there made me think differently. The waterfalls are not just a postcard image; they are a meeting place, a reminder that leisure can be about community as much as scenery.

Tourism is impossible to ignore. The night market stretches through the main street with stalls of handwoven textiles, silver jewellery, and wooden carvings. Much of it preserves traditional design, but mixed in are mass-produced souvenirs that feel imported. That contrast raised questions about how global attention helps preserve culture but can also dilute it.

What made Luang Prabang stand out was balance. The city does not overwhelm with size or speed. Instead, it shows how traditions can survive alongside visitors, and how daily practices communicate values without explanation. For me, the most powerful lessons came not from monuments but from observing how people interact, with each other, with their faith, and with the landscape.

I would recommend Luang Prabang to any student traveller. It is not only beautiful, it is instructive. A visit here is less about ticking sites off a list and more about seeing how identity, belief, and community are lived. That is what makes it worth five stars.