Hi, My name is An Cao and I’m fundraising for an opportunity to be at CIEE Culinary&Culture at Kyoto this summer.

A little bit about me and why I want to participate in this program so you can have a little bit more information.

When I was young, I always have a passion for making delicious desert and sweet treat, but I never have time to do it when I was in Vietnam. You see, when I was in Vietnam, I had to go to school from 7:15p.m to 4:00p.m, and then went to extra classes like english, math,...until 9:00pm, and then at 10:00 pm I have to do my homework and sleep and 11:00. I can’t do anything beside homework and homework. I didn’t have time to think about myself and what I want to do, but think about what test I have tomorrow and did I finished all the homework I have. Life was just go to school, studied, go to extra classes, go home, do home work, sleep, and repeated again and again and again.

When I was 11, my family moved to The U.S. I remembered when I realize I can choose whatever I want to do after school, and that made me feel lost. I didn’t know what to do during my free time, so I decided to learn a skill. I chose to learn how to make desert because I once saw a video on tiktok about how to make flan.

My first desert was flan, and it was horrible, uneatable. The outside somehow was burnt, but the inside is still raw. To put a cherry on top, the caramel is not fully melted, which made it not good enough to eat. My family called it a disaster, I called it a way to express myself. I started to make Vietnamese desert and other Asian desert too. My favourite deserts to make are flan, boba, chè, and chocolate candy.

When I saw CIEE has a program which will let me have an opportunity to go to Kyoto and learn about their food and culture, I was so excited cause this program would help me learn more about Japan food and culture better than social media could do.

But my parents don’t have the financial situation good enough to help me achieved it cause we just have a little baby to take care of. I won a 77% scholarship, but that isn’t enough for me to have an opportunity to go to this program. The money will be used to pay the other 21%, plan ticket, and my personal expenses.

With the help of the community, I will be able to attend this program. And as for the future, I will try to help kids that’s like me, who wants to learn and really to have opportunities.

Thank you for helping me and have a good day. ;3