Blog #17

Day 1:

In our memoirs, many of us decided to write about our heritage and foods that our parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents made but I really like how you wrote about your friends because we act most like our friends and we grow up with them creating a greater sense of understanding about each other. I'm sure much of the high school, myself included, can relate to the fact that we have almost no idea to do when we finally "reach adulthood". During the fishbowl I liked how you and your group related sacrifices to something more like a trade-off. A point I especially liked was how even though with all her husbands she had to work, whether in the garden, the store, or in the muck, yet her willingness to work was greatly different with each person, and that she was not necessarily making sacrifices for Tea Cake as much as just wanting to be with him. I think this points shows great development in Janie's quest for self-actualization. Amazing job!

Day2:

I have never made a souffle before but yours was great! I really liked your video because it showed the cooking process. Your story of how your family makes this for only special occasions and how its a Easter food but you don't eat it then really stuck with me. I like that how it shows that this food means something more special to you than the general public and how each person has their own reasons and ways for celebrating. I enjoyed during the discussion when you spoke about identity advancing when moving from place to place and people around you changing as well. Great job!

Day 3:

First of all, fried rice is always amazing and I'm glad you brought that in because I was particularly hunger on that day. Your presentation showed a good integration of time as you went from your childhood to you grandparents to your life now, it was very cohesive as as you made sure that all your points connected. During the discussion I liked how you talked about the husband and wife roles, and how though one is considered "dominant" it does not necessarily mean one has more voice overall. Husbands have their own fortes and so do wives and one generally for women is food. Connecting Janie and Jody's relationship back to the fundamental of food and the things that we learned during the writing of our food memoirs shows a great ability to synthesize different information. Great Job!

Day 5:

I really enjoyed your story of how your life is so very different from your sisters' because although my sister and I were both born in the United States I still feel a huge gap by our ten year age difference and how my life has changed in the time before she was born. I also really enjoyed eating your dish, although I will probably never be able to pronounce it correctly! I think one of the best things about reading or hearing all these memoirs is that you can see how each person has been affected by their culture and heritage and I think you did a great job connecting your "old" culture to your "new" culture. During the fishbowl discussion I like what you said about connecting who we are with how others expect us to be and how people change us but that is not necessarily detrimental. In your fishbowl notes I saw how you analyzed Janie's actions with respect to Jody, and how after he died she was set free as she was no longer next to Jody and she didn't have his reputation to worry about anymore so she was then able to advance throughout her life. Great job and great food!