This Japanese Life Eryk Salvaggio 9781489596987 Books
Download As PDF : This Japanese Life Eryk Salvaggio 9781489596987 Books
Most books about Japan can tell you how to use chopsticks or say "konnichiwa." Few tackle the real stress of life in a radically different culture. The author, a three-year resident and the writer and researcher behind one of the best Japan blogs, tackles the thousand tiny uncertainties of life abroad with honesty and wit. Perfect for anyone about to leave home for Japan or elsewhere, This Japanese Life will deepen any reader's understanding of Japanese culture, fused into methods and advice for dealing with the hardships of working and living there.
This Japanese Life Eryk Salvaggio 9781489596987 Books
From the title and the inviting cover you might get the impression that this is one of those books written by and for non-Japanese people who REALLY LOVE Japan, either from afar or on the spot. Actually, it is about one 2-year experience of conflict between the Japanese way of life and that of the USA (or at least of some parts of the latter). US culture puts a premium on independence and "following your own dream", and this author, it slowly becomes apparent, is the very essence of that. Conversely, as he and we slowly learn, Japanese culture thoroughly reverses the American Way.This poor author, hired to go to Japan and help teach the universally-required English cirriculum in a Japanese high school, gradually and painfully discovers how profoundly out of place he is there. Luckily, he's very articulate and very able to understand that he is, as it were, experiencing a major cultural conflict. As so frequently happens in the world, conflict reveals truth better than sympathy.
When I finished this book I understood better than ever before how different life in Japan is from life in the USA. I must say, even though I love Japanese media and art of all kinds, and respect their ancient culture, and even though I can clearly see the warts of our own culture, I now know that I wouldn't last 6 months there (except as a tourist maybe).
For a more sympathetic view of Japan, which also notices its warts but manages to endure and rise above them, see any book by Donald Richie, a guy from Kansas who went to Japan as a soldier in the American occupation in 1945, and chose to live there for the rest of his life.
Product details
|
Tags : This Japanese Life. [Eryk Salvaggio] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Most books about Japan can tell you how to use chopsticks or say konnichiwa. Few tackle the real stress of life in a radically different culture. The author,Eryk Salvaggio,This Japanese Life.,CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform,1489596984,TRAVEL Asia Japan
People also read other books :
- Perfectly Incorrect Why The Common Core Is Psychologically And Cognitively Unsound eBook Terry Marselle
- The Search For My Inner "I" Joseph W Macy 9781483679297 Books
- Perfectly Incorrect Why The Common Core Is Psychologically And Cognitively Unsound eBook Terry Marselle
- The Quadity Jacob I Pfeiffer 9780692818305 Books
- The Search For My Inner "I" Joseph W Macy 9781483679297 Books
This Japanese Life Eryk Salvaggio 9781489596987 Books Reviews
Eryk relates his experiences living in Japan in the form of short essays in this book, all of which give you an insight into what life is like living in this Asian country. I found a lot of his writing thought-provoking and very insightful. If you are not familiar with Japan, Eryk's book will be an eye-opener; if you are like me who knows quite a bit of the Japanese culture, you will learn even more about it. I certainly did!
The book was suggested as a handbook for expats but it proved far more adventurous than that. I was unexpectedly entertained by its raw honesty and witty humor. The reader comes away with a knowledge of not only the head games that are played through other cultures but of the way one percieves this growth and gets a human hold of the coping mechanisms of culture shock. I particularly enjoyed the escapades and adventures that take us by the hand on our fist time along with the authors first time...climbing Mt Fuji in sneakers? This was by far my best Summer read...Truly a book for everyone!
Know that most of the book is available on the author's blog. Very well written, usually just as focused on the human condition as much as on Japan\ Japanese life.
This book offers an edited collection of blog posts from the blog of the same name. While I enjoy Mr Salvaggio's narrative style, I must give this e-book four stars because of the numerous and distracting typographical errors found within it. That being said, this is a must-read for anyone considering an extensive stay in the Land of the Rising Sun. Mr Salvaggio's description of Japan as a "nation run by cats" is accurate and his experiences mirror those of many others who have gone before him to an extent, my own, as well. While he lost a star for mechanics, this author has still made a useful guide (and a detailed, touching, and entertaining story) out of his two years' stay in Japan.
Eryk Salvaggio discusses a wide variety of Japanese idiosyncrasies as witnessed from a foreign perspective with curiosity, compassion, humour and poise.
What sets this book apart from others about Japan is that it offers a new perspective to residents who have lived there for a long time, whilst remaining accessible to the inexperienced.
The prose is funny, articulate and compelling. Each article offers real insight into the Japanese mindset in a way that is very rare in books written on Japan, where, too often, authors resort to sweeping generalisations or glib stereotyping. This Japanese Life resounds with a compassion and humility in its approach that has potential to make even long term residents of Japan question their own assumptions and reactions to their day to day experiences.
This is a book about Japan, not about the author. From the outset he writes in a way that leaves no doubt that he has grasped the fact that Japan is not all about him. His personal journey is clear, as is the learning process he has been through, by both living and writing reflectively. The warmth of Salvaggio's approach leaves the reader inspired to look more deeply into cultural practices in their own lives and explore more to gain understanding.
This Japanese Life is in turns humorous, insightful, thought provoking and moving. I highly recommend it to anyone who has an interest in Japan, to those who still marvel at the strangeness of the place years into their own journeys there, and, even more, to those who have forgotten the sense of wonder that they had when they first arrived. It may just help them rediscover it.
That Japanese life and how it changes your mind while you are adapting to the culture, people and suddenly it brings you to knowing yourself better.
So in this context it probably doesn't matter through prism of what culture to look for more answers in life than you had looked before.
And there's a lot of uncertainties of normal life as if you were suddenly woke up on the other planet.
It'd be quite enjoyable but easy reading for those who looking for a story about a guy faced himself with overwhelming new world but not being bored in the process.
I encourage anyone thinking about moving their life to japan to read this. Not all experiences are great and the author does a wonderful job of showing us this dichotomy in an incredibly personal journey.
From the title and the inviting cover you might get the impression that this is one of those books written by and for non-Japanese people who REALLY LOVE Japan, either from afar or on the spot. Actually, it is about one 2-year experience of conflict between the Japanese way of life and that of the USA (or at least of some parts of the latter). US culture puts a premium on independence and "following your own dream", and this author, it slowly becomes apparent, is the very essence of that. Conversely, as he and we slowly learn, Japanese culture thoroughly reverses the American Way.
This poor author, hired to go to Japan and help teach the universally-required English cirriculum in a Japanese high school, gradually and painfully discovers how profoundly out of place he is there. Luckily, he's very articulate and very able to understand that he is, as it were, experiencing a major cultural conflict. As so frequently happens in the world, conflict reveals truth better than sympathy.
When I finished this book I understood better than ever before how different life in Japan is from life in the USA. I must say, even though I love Japanese media and art of all kinds, and respect their ancient culture, and even though I can clearly see the warts of our own culture, I now know that I wouldn't last 6 months there (except as a tourist maybe).
For a more sympathetic view of Japan, which also notices its warts but manages to endure and rise above them, see any book by Donald Richie, a guy from Kansas who went to Japan as a soldier in the American occupation in 1945, and chose to live there for the rest of his life.
0 Response to "≡ Read Gratis This Japanese Life Eryk Salvaggio 9781489596987 Books"
Post a Comment