France Foods

My Trip to France and the AMAZING Food!   

Just got to Paris, France! it is beautiful here.  The food in France has been amazing so far! I am trying out tons of new and different plates and dishes that we don’t have in the United States.  France is known for their food culture and food lovers (French food Facts), although it is bizarre that their dishes are in small portions than we have. I’ve only been in Paris for one night and it seems like every street I go on to there is a new restaurant or dessert/pastry place.

I’ve have been doing a little bit of research myself and I’ve found that there are about five thousands restaurants in Paris alone(French food Facts).  I also found out a little about the french paradox.  This explains that with the fatty foods and unhealthy meals that the british and french eat, it’s exotic that they aren’t bigger.  They also have a low rate of chronic heart disease(French food Facts).  

Cheese is a very important meal to french people, it is in their culture to eat lots of cheese.  In the French food Facts article it says that one  person usually eats about 25 kg of cheese.  This makes them the largest cheese consumers in the world. They also make cheese and it is extremely yummy! The research I did said they make over three hundred different kinds of cheese. Cheese is actually its own meal in France! They have it before dessert but after their main meal(French food Facts).  

Bread is another very popular food in France.  They produce more than three and a half tons of bread a year(Food in France-USA Today)! The baguette is very popular for all meals and when the croissants were introduced in the 18th century they became popular as well.

All the meals look so presentable and so yummy to eat. Most of the meals that I had came with a baguette on the side. Coffee and tea was always an option at any meal. My first meal that I  had the first day I was there for lunch was a crepe topped with a chocolate sauce and vanilla ice cream on the inside. I guess you could consider this meal more of a dessert but it was still amazingly good!

One day I went McDonalds for a quick meal and I noticed that they had some very different meals than we have in the U.S. Yes, they have the normal burgers but the fries are in wedges and they sell sandwiches with meat and veggies on them.   

I also got to experience eating cheese as a meal. This was VERY weird. Too much cheese for me in one sitting. I guess if I grew up eating like this it would be enjoyable.

Over all the foods in France have been amazingly good and has been an awesome experience!

Asia Merrill

The Culture in Switzerland.

Hello! So, during my trip to Switzerland I learned a lot. One thing was that are different language regions, where people speak a certain language. It was odd to  be hearing people speak German in one place and then hear people speaking Swiss in another. While I was there, I found that it was mostly men on the streets. Women there are still seen as caretakers of children and the house. The place is still a bit old-fashioned, I suppose.

As soon as I stepped off the plane, I noticed that Swiss people love art and cool architecture.The streets are lined with it, and there are museums all over (the landscape is a picture of an oil painting I took in one of them). Not just that, but the arts in general. One of Switzerland’s largest industries is film. They haven’t done anything overly huge, but they have turned out a few movies and lots of actors. Producers, too. The landscape is gorgeous, so it’s a great place to film.

Another big thing in Switzerland is soccer. They’ve even hosted the World Cup!! They’ve sent players to the olympics and won gold. In this way, Switzerland is just like the rest of Europe. It means the same to them as football is to us. They take their soccer very seriously.Except they call soccer, football... but you knew that.

Finally, there’s literature. Yes, the books come in many different languages, but it’s a big part of their culture. One of the more famous Swiss books is called Heidi. It’s about a girl raised by her grandfather in the Swiss Alps. It was written by Johanna Spyri.

Anyways, the trip was amazing, and I’m really hoping to go back someday. It’s a great place and I would highly recommend visiting.

Misty - Norway

Misty Crowell

The Language In Norway

The official language spoken in Norway is Norwegian. Norwegian is similar to northern Germanic languages, and close to Danish and Swedish. People who speak Norwegian can usually communicate with people who speak Danish and Swedish pretty easily due to how similar their languages are. There are also two official written languages, which are Bokmål (“Book Norwegian”) and Nynorsk (“New Norwegian”). Bokmål is based on Dano-Norwegian, and has been developed from written Danish. Nynorsk is based on western Norwegian dialects. Both of these written languages have equal status, however Bokmål is more widely used. About 20,000 people in Norway also have the Sámi language as their native language. Sámi is a member of the Finno-Ugric branch of languages, and its roots in Norway may extend as far back as Norwegian. Sámi has become an official language with Norwegian in some Norwegian districts. Due to the number of immigrants and refugees whose first language is not Norwegian, there are currently approximately 110 different languages represented in the Norwegian schools. English is Norway’s most important foreign language for international use, then German and French.

Culture of France

 Culture of France
By Melanie Nix

Sports
France is full of folk and pop culture. France is a magnificent place to visit to find amazing culture. While visiting France, there was a tennis tournament going on. Of course I found myself inside the game itself. Tennis is so popular in France that It is the second biggest sport along with soccer, or as they call it Football.

Agriculture One of the most famous structure in Paris, France is of course the Eiffel Tower. You can’t go to France without visiting the Eiffel Tower. Even if you didn't want to visit the Eiffel Tower there is no way you can miss it. The Eiffel Tower is 300 meters tall. It has become the symbol of the city of light. Of course at the time the Eiffel Tower was the tallest structure in the world in 1889.

Food

France famous pastry is Macarons, which means fine dough. Macarons are made with almond flour, sugar, and egg whites. The Macaron has been around since 1547 but it wasn't really popular until the 20th century. Now you can find these delicious cookies in almost any bakery. Macarons are not the only pastry food that France is famous for. France is famous for Crepes. Crepes are like thin pancakes made from wheat flour.

Language
French is one of the ninth most spoken languages. As crazy as it sounds French is one of the “Romance” languages. While visiting France almost everyone speaks french. To say hello and goodbye is “bonjour” and “au revoir”. Since poodles are very popular in France of course I really wanted one. The way you say “I wish I had a poodle” in french is “Je voudrais avoir un caniche”.

French Food

France is so much different than the US when it comes to food. Some say, Americans eat to live, while the french live to eat. They put more time into preparing their meals, and make best with what they’ve got. The french go food shopping on a daily basis and decide what to eat based on what’s on the market. While we Americans, just shop once in awhile and stock up in our pantries. I went to one of the schools and found out that the kids have 90 minutes to eat lunch. 90 MINUTES. Seriously? That’s twice as long as we get. Then again, they are served an entree, main course, cheese, and dessert.

I’m a big fan of desserts in America, but in France, i’m a fanatic. The desserts there are so rich and sweet. While out at a restaurant, I decided I would only eat dessert. I wanted to try and little bit of everything and that would be my dinner. I started off with some Creme Caramel. It's also known as 'flan' here in America. It's a rich custard with a soft layer of caramel.

The next thing I had was Tarte Tatin aux Pommes. It is really similar to an apple pie... it's just upside down.



And lastly, I had chocolate mousse. Some people in America make this but I had never had it until my trip to France. Its really airy and puffy chocolate.

Now, on to some savory food. This isn’t exactly my favorite, because I’m a really picky eater. But I figured i’d try some things while I was in France. The French eat a lot of cheese, and one famous cheese is Brie cheese. It’s sometimes called the “king’s cheese”. 

Here are some tips on the way to eat if you ever visit France.

• The fork is held in the left hand, while the knife is in the right.
• Don’t start eating until the hostess says, ‘bon appetit!’
• Don’t rest your elbows on the table, but keep your hands visible and not in your lap
• Finish everything on your plate.
• Follow the host, If they eat the bread with their hands, then it is okay for you to too.

Ireland and it's culture

   Ireland and it’s Culture    

I took a trip to Ireland last week to study their culture. This is what I learned while I was their studying    about Ireland’s culture!

While I was there I studied the ages of 100 people the median age came out to be 35 years old.

 Education
I also took a look at their education. They are well educated people, most people go to school at the ages 5-15. The percentage of people who finish secondary school is 80%. They also have a few boarding schools.

Food
While I was there I got to have some of their traditional food I also made a short list of their traditional food like corned beef, apple cake, cabbage, potatoes, fresh bread, lamb, homemade cheese, irish stew, and lamb. I also went to a big fast food chain that’s big in the U.K called Nandos. It was some of the best food I ever had!

Music
The music in Ireland is a lot of the same music we like to listen to, but they do have their own instrument’s they use
button accordion, fiddle, tin whistle, Uilleann pipes, etc.



Dancing
Some traditional dances that I learned to do are Irish step dancing, Riverdance, and lord of the dance. Irish step dancing is performed with your legs and feet. YOur arms stay straight by your side and your upper body does not move. River dance in theater mixed in with a dance, the Riverdance is like an intense version of irish step dancing. And Lord of the dance is a popular irish musical thats involves dancing like Riverdance.




Myths
Myths in the U.S are nothing like Irelands myths in Ireland are fun stories about fairies and leprechauns, and ours are about an oversized man named bigfoot.
Sports
Irish Hurling this game is played with a stick and a ball  if you take four steps with the ball you have to throw it, it can also be hit with the stick you have to get it to your goal and whoever gets the more points thats who wins. Also some other sports are Gaelic football, golf, salmon and trout fishing, and The fighting irish (boxing).


Things they like to do
One of Irelands biggest things to do is walking. They have miles of trails for people to walk on.Going to the pub is a big thing to do in ireland. Also they have lots of castles you can visit and a big thing to do there just like in every other country is play sports.       

And that is what I did and learned about Ireland's culture. I can’t wait to go again and have some Irish stew and play

some Irish Hurling!

_ Delia

TJ Hennessey
 Spain culture

A big team in Spain are the FC Barcelona. They are arguably the best team in the world. There modo is “more than a club”. This team has their own private schools where kids can go to learn and play soccer. The team has schools all around the country and even in different countries. There goal is to find the best. They hand pick kids from the schools to play on the team. The teams stadium is HUGE! it can hold up to 98,772 people, and on the way to the stadium the players can stop at a mini church before the game! Spain has a total of 64 professional teams. they are divided into 4 divisions. first, second, second division b , and third division.

This is FC Barcelona's stadium. One of the biggest soccer stadiums in the world.

This is one of FC Barcelona's private schools.

bullfighting is a big thing they do in Spain. bullfighting is when a matador puts a red cap in front of the bull. when the bull charges they pull it out of the way. the matador has to kill the bull. they stab it with a sword to kill it at the end. there is a type of bullfighting were the matador is just running around the the bull and dog it by inches. they also do stunts like jump over the bulls

this guy is jumping over a bull!