SDLC 105 Learning Journal #4

[Hongzhen Chen]

I only have one classmate who studies French in my class, and I think she did a really good job in introducing French cheese culture. Food is really a big part of French culture and she chose a small pointcut of the whole picture. She talked about the history,development as well as production of cheese. After listening to her presentation, I learnt a great deal of the cheese culture, not only the many different kinds of cheese and their names, but also French people's attitude about food and life. As she mentioned, most of French people would consider their country as an agricultural country and themselves from farming areas including those from Paris. I totally agree with this point based on my personal experience. I have met many French people who live in Paris, however when introducing themselves they would always talk about their original hometown like a small village near Paris instead of just saying "I am from Paris". It is the same thing in China, another big agricultural country in the world. Although both off my parents and I were born and raised in Shanghai, I would always add that my grandparents are originally from Sichuan, a west province in China. This reflects how people see themselves based on the culture environment.  Another thing she mentioned in the presentation is that nowadays teachers and parents are encouraging kids to eat more cheese to prevent them eating fast food. Although there are a lot of fat in cheese as well, this action could also be seen as to prevent the national food culture. It would be horrible if the new generation of the country only eat KFC and Burger King instead of the traditional handmade cheese. Therefore the preservation and support for cheese making factories  are very important.