Anna Shan's Blog WRIT340

In the second half of the book  Growing a Farmer , Kunt continues to discuss his experience with different kinds of live stocks on his farm. He gradually becomes an expert in raising cows, chickens, and pigs and learned ways to process raw products like eggs and milk. Among all his discussions, I found the chapters on slaughtering and butching the most intriguing. Just like Kunt, I have been live in the city for my whole life and I am used to purchasing ready-to-cook meat from the grocery store. Slaughtering and butching live stocks that you raised seems to be a cruel thing to me. However, Kunt is able to interpret the process of slaughtering farm animals from a whole new angle. He mentions in the book that one of his neighbors, who is a professional butcher, would always bring his two-year-old daughter to the scene whenever he got a job because he thinks that this is the best gift to his children. Kunt believes that it is important to learn the process of raising l...

Starbucks Barista People love drinking coffee nowadays. The barista at your favorite coffee shop is probably the person you will meet the most often beside your friends and family. During the summer of my freshman year, I worked at a Starbuck in my hometown in China. Although tasks like taking orders and preparing drinks might appear as simple and basic, being a good barista in a country where drinking coffee has not become a popular culture actually requires a lot more efforts than you would imagine.  The word “barista” originally means “bartender” in Italian. Now we commonly use the word to describe those who specialize in serving coffee drinks. However, in Italy, a barista serves all kinds of drinks, not just coffee. It is both a technical and creative job that needs a lot of attention and care for other people. To make sure every customer leaves my store with a delicious beverage and a satisfied smile on their face, I have to learn how to tell the need of differen...

Kurt Timmermeister's book- Growing a Farmer is one of the books that introduces me to a world of unknown excitement. This book is not only a story about growing his farm, but also his personal growth of becoming a farmer. Born and raised in an urban setting for my whole life, I have always loved a pastoral style of living and being in nature. With Kurt's guidance to live like a farmer, I was provided a chance to make my dream come true and become familiar with the daily routine of a farmer. Somehow Kurt's story's of opening a new chapter of his life as the only man in a strange island resembles the story of Robinson Crusoe to me. Just like Robinson has Friday as a capable assistant, Kurt also has his little helper, Matt, who is knowledgeable about growing crops on the farm and transformed the deserted farmland into a magical land of harvest. I also enjoyed this read not only because of the novel content of the book, but also his down to earth writing style. Without an...

Who You Are Matters Many people are facing identity crisis these days, including myself. With various distractions around us in life, it is often hard to find out who we really are, or what really matters to us. As a result, getting to know a person can be a long and gradual process. I hope this short blog of mine could provide you some insights into my life and my personality.  I was born in a small port city called Ningbo in southeast China. One good thing about growing up by the sea is I get to taste different kinds of seafood all year round. My favorite is the freshwater crabs in the late autumn. Mom would often buy a whole bucket of freshly-caught crabs from the market and steam them on the stove. In the night, my family would sit around the table and share this whole bucket of happiness. Sweet memories like this always bring me a strong sense of belongings to Ningbo. And makes this small town the only place on earth that I would identify as home. I co...