Yin-Yang [Kindle Edition]

Alice Renouf (Author, Editor), Mary Beth Ryan-Maher (Author, Editor), Terry Lautz (Contributor)

Book Description

China has become one of the largest study and teach-abroad, travel, and business destinations in the world. Yet few books offer a diversity of perspectives and locales for Westerners considering the leap. This unique collection of letters offers a rarely seen, intimate, and refreshingly honest view of living and working in China. Here, ordinary people—recent college graduates, teachers, professors, engineers, lawyers, computer whizzes, and parents— recount their experiences in venues ranging from classrooms to marketplaces to holy mountains. The writers are genuine participants in the daily life of their adopted country, and woven throughout their correspondence is the compelling theme of outsiders coping in a culture that is vastly foreign to them and the underlying love-hate struggle it engenders. We follow their initial highs; the shift to general discomfort and then to full-blown culture shock; and slowly, the return of a sense of balance, identity, and normalcy; and finally, the decision to return home or stay. Written in a down-to-earth, personal, often humorous, always authentic style, these tales of trials, successes, and failures offer invaluable insight into a country that remains endlessly fascinating.

Editorial Reviews

Review

The opening line of a letter to Alice speaks volumes: 'we need your sage advice.' The cadre of adventuresome educators crafted by the redoubtable Ms. Renouf represent the future of the Sino-American partnership; and it is her vision of who is needed to deliver the goods that makes for the endeavor's success. One thing for sure: whenever we take the plunge into China, the moment is unique; and these letters chronicle the experiences of those fortunate enough to have Alice as a lifeline during times that can be had only in China. (Peter Rupert Lighte )

Some of the letters are laugh-out-loud funny; all are intensely real. Reading them in chronological order captures the extraordinary pace of change in China since 1991. And they achieve their goal magnificently: anyone who reads this book will be fully prepared to face all the challenges of living in China. (Valerie Hansen )

This terrific book provides thoughtful and thought-provoking insights into just how overwhelming, rewarding, scary, exciting, lonely, humorous, and enriching it is to be a foreign teacher in China. We are adding it as a must read, not just for those we send to China as part of our Teacher Exchange Program, but also for those whose dreams take them only as far as the living room couch. (Jan Berris )

About the Author

Alice Renouf has been the executive director of the Colorado China Council since the late 1970s. Mary Beth Ryan-Maher is a freelance writer who taught in Kunming, China, and co-led the Colorado China Council’s Shanghai Summer Institute for new teachers.

Product Details

• File Size: 3275 KB
• Print Length: 247 pages
• Page Numbers Source ISBN: 1442212691
• Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers (December 16, 2011)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
• Language: English
• ASIN: B0076LYD22
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• X-Ray: Not Enabled
• Lending: Not Enabled
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #598,296 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Changing China June 17, 2012

By Bonita W. Agan

Format:Hardcover

Having been to China over a decade ago to visit and travel with Mary Beth Ryan-Maher, I am amazed at the vast changes throughout China that are so beautifully conveyed in this book. Although Western influences continue to intrude, it's clear from these poignant observations that China remains a fascinating land of contradictions. What a fun read!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Sequel bests the fine first book January 17, 2012

By Jeanne Phillips

Format:Paperback

As a teacher in a small college in China, I naturally loved "Dear Alice", Renouf's first collection
of letters from the cohort of Americans, all ages and backgrounds, that she had over the years placed as teachers
in colleges all over China. It captured their fascinating adjustments, growth and excitement but also annoyance and frustration
frustration in coping with different customs and living conditions and expectations. They wrote of their
feelings of triumph when even small challenges were conquered,of their slow adaptations to overcome
the worst of their culture shock. Friendships,growing cultural awareness, new competences led most of them to be
profoundly grateful for the experience. While China was reflected in their eyes, their letters told us more about
themselves.
"Yin-Yang" is about a very different China, confronted by a different collection of Americans, now
more aware,as we all are, of China, its old culture and its new Westernization and importance in the world. Some
aspects of life are easier-- McD, KFC, Pizza Hut abound in most cities. German, French and Chinese big box stores
join Sam's Club and Walmart, making even cheese and potato chips easy to find. But differences in habits, attitudes,
expectations, ways of carrying on daily life and work are still very different, culture shock is still there. But
our new awarenesses make this group acute observers, able to inquire and understand more of what they see and
encounter.They give us a rich and fascinating picture of many facets of daily life in China, its anxieties and
aspirations, fun and humor, worries and joys. They depict China today from the eyes of varied but intent
Americans. "Yin-Yang" is easy fast reading that gives a more personal, daily-life level view of China from an
American perspective.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Realistic, Inspiring Portrait of Life in China February 17, 2012

By J. Garton

Format:Kindle Edition

My family is planning to move to China in six months, and I would not consider stepping on the airplane without having read this book! It gives a very humorous, inspiring and sometimes moving description of what it is like to set foot in another culture. The authors have effectively pulled together a wide range of perspectives and with each one it is possible to come closer to an understanding that a lack of control in a country like China is part of the adventure. While the book is particularly useful for those who have lived, or will live in China, it is such a good read that it would be just as useful for anyone planning to travel anywhere outside their comfort zone, whether across the world or across state lines.