Nepal - Culture Smart!: the essential guide to customs & culture [Paperback]

Tessa Feller (Author)

Book Description

Series: Culture Smart! | Publication Date: June 3, 2008

Culture Smart! provides essential information on attitudes, beliefs and behavior in different countries, ensuring that you arrive at your destination aware of basic manners, common courtesies, and sensitive issues. These concise guides tell you what to expect, how to behave, and how to establish a rapport with your hosts. This inside knowledge will enable you to steer clear of embarrassing gaffes and mistakes, feel confident in unfamiliar situations, and develop trust, friendships, and successful business relationships.

Culture Smart! offers illuminating insights into the culture and society of a particular country. It will help you to turn your visit-whether on business or for pleasure-into a memorable and enriching experience. Contents include:

* customs, values, and traditions
* historical, religious, and political background
* life at home
* leisure, social, and cultural life
* eating and drinking
* do's, don'ts, and taboos
* business practices
* communication, spoken and unspoken

"Culture Smart has come to the rescue of hapless travellers." Sunday Times Travel

"... the perfect introduction to the weird, wonderful and downright odd quirks and customs of various countries." Global Travel

"...full of fascinating-as well as common-sense-tips to help you avoid embarrassing faux pas." Observer

"...as useful as they are entertaining." Easyjet Magazine

"...offer glimpses into the psyche of a faraway world." New York Times

Editorial Reviews

Review

Culture Smart! has come to the rescue of hapless travellers, Sunday Times Travel - ...the perfect introduction to the weird, wonderful and downright odd quirks and customs of various countries, Global Travel - ...full of fascinating, as well as common sense, tips to help you avoid embarrassing faux pas, Observer - ...as useful as they are entertaining, Easy Jet Magazine - ...offer glimpses into the psyche of a faraway world, New York Times.

About the Author

TESSA FELLER studied German and Spanish at Edinburgh University before training as a teacher and translator. She has worked in several countries, including Austria, Russia, and Germany, where she is now based. She lived in Nepal from 2002 to 2004, when her husband was posted there with the German Development Service (Deutscher Entwicklungsdienst). Her youngest son was born in Kathmandu.

Product Details

• Paperback: 168 pages
• Publisher: Kuperard (June 3, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1857334582
• ISBN-13: 978-1857334586
• Product Dimensions: 4.5 x 0.5 x 6.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #90,911 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #1 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Travel > Africa
  • #3 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Travel > Asia
  • #11 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Reference > Etiquette > General

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Nepal-culture smart: a quick guide to customs and etiquett, May 30, 2009

By 

Barbara (Houston TX USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Nepal - Culture Smart!: the essential guide to customs & culture (Paperback)

I purchased this book before traveling to Nepal on a medical mission earlier this year. If you only have time to read one book about Nepal-this should be the one! Written by a woman who lived in Nepal for two years,Ms.Feller captures everything you need to know to prepare you for the culture of this fascinating country. Had I not read the book, I would have been unaware of the significance of unusual details i.e. extra long fingernail,body language-sideways rocking of the head,etc. The book is small and easy to pack.
Barbara
May 2009

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not a bad beginners book, but not perfect, June 13, 2011

By 

Jamie L. Shepperd (Omaha, NE USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Nepal - Culture Smart!: the essential guide to customs & culture (Paperback)

I read this book before coming to live in Nepal for 2 years. I brought the book along with me for referencing. However, I would have to say that the book is best used by tourists because it only runs through the basics. If you know nothing about Nepal and you want a beginners guide, then this may be perfect for you, but if you're going to be spending more time in Nepal and need to better understand of the culture, I would suggest something more in depth. While it wasn't a bad overview, I have two main problems with it...

1.) When we buy a book like this we're looking for generalizations, semi-truths that will help us acclimate to an unfamiliar culture. There is nothing inherently wrong with that, however, some of the generalizations made in the book are regional or sub-culture specific. In Nepal, daily life in Kathmandu is a stark contrast to the country side, and the tourist areas seem to be almost a country unto themselves. Many of the generalizations she made may have been truer for the country side than the city.

2.) Frankly, there are some aspects of the book that I simply felt she was mistaken about. If you're going to be spending a short time here it's nothing you really need to worry about, but I do want to mention it. One example of this is her mention of drug use in Nepal. While there is by no means a country wide epidemic of drug use, there is a significant problem amongst young people in poverty situations in the city, and some studies have indicated that marihuana use (apart from more extreme drugs) is actually quite common amongst young people in the city and larger Nepalese towns. I felt she may have been misleading about this by downplaying it and saying that Nepali people don't really do drugs, or that marihuana is only used for traditional, religious purposes only. This is not exactly the case.

MISSIONARIES: This is not the book for you. While there are some missionaries who do a lot of research about Nepal before coming, most of you don't seem to. Many of you know very little about the culture beforehand, and some of you seem to be entirely misinformed. If you're going to be going to another country that you know little about, and you're going to be trying to alter an important aspect of their culture, maybe you should be doing a lot more in-depth research than this little beginner's book.

I should mention that there were a lot of little helpful facts in this book, it's extremely well organized, and is very easy to read, so I would suggest it to any tourist spending a short period of time in Nepal.

5.0 out of 5 stars Nepal - CUlture Smart!: The Essential Guide to Customs and Culture, December 27, 2011

By 

Paul - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Nepal - Culture Smart!: The Essential Guide to Customs & Culture (Kindle Edition)

I really enjoyed this book, I have lived most of my childhood in Nepal and I can say that it kept me interested and riveted. I loved reading more about the culture of Nepal and things that I didn't know.
It will be of great help to anyone who is looking to move to Nepal, good buy please read from cover to cover it is useful. Nepal is a beautiful country please don't compare it, take the country for what it is and judge it on its own merits.