When I first looked at the sheet, I was extremely fascinated by the language that was on the side, to show what the name of the food was in Chinese. There was a couple of students from the NC State Confucius Institute at the table I was sitting at and I began to ask them about Chinese. They explained how it was a tonal language and by saying a symbol differently can imply different meanings. I asked them to teach me the basics, i.e. hello, goodbye, thank you, and delicious, and I began to think how the world is so different. It is amazing that people can communicate on a daily basis and know little to nothing about each others language. This thought brought me back to when I studied abroad in Vienna, Austria and had to step outside my comfort zone and be able to communicate to the native speakers to just to eat, that I learned quickly. If these language barriers affect everyday life, they must affect foreign policy, foreign medical aid relief, foreign business, etc. It is one important aspect to globalization process that occurs everyday.
Anyways, the class started off by washing our hands to prepare to make..... DUMPLINGS!!! Noted: The dough and the stuffing was made already, but wrapping those puppies was difficult. It did not at all compare to the Chinese people who were helping us make them. Their's looked immaculate! I asked one lady that was helping us make them how long she had been making them. She answered, "My mother and father first taught me when I was 8 years old." She said it equaled to about 30 years! I then thought about family tradition and China. From what I hear and see in movies, family tradition is very important to the Chinese. It is something that is cherished for centuries. In my own Italian family, we have many traditions that we still do to this day. It is important to think of how tradition affects how people view the world and how it affects everyday processes.
After that we watched the instructor cook a noodle type chinese cuisine, seen below. This part was especially important for me because their was an ingredient in it that has been controversial in the past, MSG. The noodle dish was delicious and perfect. I ate every bite. After we ate, the instructor talked to us about the food we cooked. She talked about MSG and explained that the mass hysteria should not scare people away from chinese food that contains MSG. She said that it needs to be cooked correctly to be applied to food. Though, the students around me said that it could cause cancer. So it is really important to understand what you are eating and if it is harmful to your body. This coincides with the discussion of the GMO's in our international studies class and whether or not they should be marketable.
The class was excellent! I had a lot of fun learning about Chinese culture and cuisine. It also made me think about certain things we talked about in class. It is important to apply what we learn to everyday life to question and think about how it affects the world around us. I would suggest participating in a food course because it is always delicious and it helps your ability to cook. So, ask questions, take a food class, and keep the global diversity alive!
