Part 2 – Long turn (cue card)

I'd like to describe a train journey I made across the north of my country with my older brother, about three years ago, just after I'd finished school.

We'd always talked about doing a trip together, and that summer we finally bought two rail passes and spent ten days travelling from the coast up into the mountains. Most of the time we took slow regional trains, partly because they were cheaper and partly because we weren't in any hurry. We stayed in small hostels and, on a couple of nights, with friends of my brother's.

The part I remember most clearly is a stretch through a valley where the line runs along the edge of a lake. The train was almost empty, the windows were open, and we just sat there for about two hours without saying much, watching the scenery. It sounds simple, but it was one of the most peaceful moments I've ever had.

I think the main reason I remember the journey so well is that it was the first time my brother and I had spent so long together as adults. He's six years older than me, so when we were growing up we didn't really have much in common. On that trip we talked about everything – our plans, our parents, our childhood – and I feel that we've been much closer ever since. So for me, it wasn't really about the places we saw; it was about the time we spent together.

I'd like to talk about learning to cook, which is probably the most useful skill I've picked up in the last few years.

I learned it when I moved away from home to go to university. Before that, my parents did all the cooking, and to be honest I could barely boil an egg. In my first term I was living on sandwiches and takeaways, which was expensive and pretty unhealthy, so I decided to do something about it. I started by watching short video tutorials online, and I also asked my mother to send me some of her recipes. At first I made a lot of mistakes – I burnt rice more than once – but gradually I got more confident.

Now I cook almost every day. On weekdays I make simple things, like pasta or stir-fries, and at the weekend I sometimes try something more ambitious, especially if friends are coming round.

The reason I think it's so useful is that it affects so many parts of my life. It saves me a lot of money, it means I eat much more healthily, and it's actually quite relaxing after a day of studying. It's also a great way to bring people together, because sharing a meal I've made is one of my favourite ways to spend time with friends.

I'm going to talk about a time I helped an elderly neighbour of mine, a man in his eighties who lives on his own in the flat below mine.

It happened last winter, during a week when it snowed heavily and the pavements were covered in ice. I noticed that he hadn't been out for a few days, and I was a bit worried, so I knocked on his door to check he was all right.

It turned out that he was fine, but he'd run out of a lot of basic things, like milk and bread, and he was nervous about going to the shop because he was afraid of slipping. So I offered to do his shopping for him. In the end, I went every couple of days until the snow melted, and I also helped him to set up online grocery deliveries on his tablet, so that he wouldn't have the same problem again.

I felt really good about it, to be honest. It didn't take much effort on my part, but it clearly made a big difference to him. We got to know each other much better, too. Before that we'd only ever said hello on the stairs, but now I often stop for a chat, and he tells me fascinating stories about the city when he was young. It made me realise how easy it is to overlook people who live right next to us.