Du Han

2019/3/15

Emily Forney

Occasional Paper

I finally realized the significance of my major -- Hotel & Restaurant Management,

and I made a clear plan for the future. Switching from the major of Tourism

Management to Hotel & Restaurant Management is the right choice I made according

to my interests. Additionally, when I come to NAU, an American school famous for

the major I learn now, I firmly believe that I can learn more outside my home country

even in the face of language barrier. I decided to participate in this program, which is

called “NAU in France: Discovering Gastronomy, A Study of French Terroir and

Tradition” and it is conducive to broaden my horizon and can help me plan for the

future. I want to be a manager in a high-end hotel, and I will look for a job to

accumulate experience after returning to China.

Before that, I made a plan to go to France for short-term study with the Chef of

HA 243 course this summer vacation. The study program was lasts for 20 days. Not

only can I enjoy the romantic scenery of France, what's more the most important was

I can have the opportunity to learn the local hotel catering culture and visit a variety

of personalized factories, hotels. Although it will cost me a lot of money and summer

vacation time with my family, I dreamed for that trip.

Before that, I had a video call with my parents in China to discuss whether to

participate in the study program in France. My father chose to respect my opinion and
let me analyze the real value of this program to myself. My mother asked me in detail

about all the plans and arrangements for this summer vacation, as well as the time and

exact location of the program. Of course, my mother also stressed the safety issue to

me, after all, in her opinion, except home there were safety hazards everywhere.

Before that, I spent two full hours reading the details of the study program on the

school's website after class. Then I searched on the Internet for the safety situation in

France and the local wine culture. I was fascinated by the French hotel and catering

culture, but I was also worried about the recent safety problems in France and

wondered whether I could adapt to the learning process in time with zero experience

of being there and did not understand French.

Before that, I learned how to make pasta in lesson HA243. The chef reintroduced

us to the summer program and, in the course of the class, he shared the unique pasta

sauce he had tasted and other wonderful memory in France. This made my desire to

visit France even stronger.

Before that, at 8 o 'clock in the morning, I arrived at the coffee shop of the Hotel

& Restaurant Management Building as a coffee volunteer. I met the chef when I was

doing the preparatory work. He asked me warmly if I had any idea of joining the

French project, and I told him truthfully that I had no idea now. The chef

recommended it to me and said I need to experience this wonderful learning trip. He

also mentioned that if enough people attended, the Center For International Education

would send professional photographers to take the whole trip for us. I began to

imagine how pleasant it would be to sit on the grass in front of the Eiffel Tower and
have a picnic.

Before that, I got an email from chef Mark. The main content of the email is that

he recommended a 20-day summer study program in France to me. I was attracted by

this email. As I had no definite plan for this summer vacation, I thought it was a good

choice for me. Besides, I had a plan to travel to France two years ago, but it hasn’t

came true yet. It was a good chance for me, it was not just a solo trip, I could also

learn some professional knowledge from the trip.

Before that, I was worried about the mid-term exams and a lot of homework,

especially the accounting and economics. I began to look forward to this year's

summer vacation time, but no definite plan. What kind of interesting and meaningful

activities are there? Can I do something in summer vacation to enrich my monotonous

life? I sat in front of the computer, lost in imagination.

Before that, I discussed with my parents that I would return to China this summer

vacation, which was also my grandma's idea. But it was not a good choice to just stay

at home for three months for holiday, that would be too monotonous.