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What’s
Up America?
By
Diane Asitimbay
| The
book of about 200 pages has twenty chapters
with topics ranging from Americans' fascination
with pets in "Pets as Partners,"
to a food chapter entitled "Eat Now,
Pay Later," where the author delves into
the paradox of why so many Americans are on
diets but still overweight. Simple graphics
illustrate various cultural points in the
book. The author picks out and engages in
the nuances of American behavior that Americans
themselves rarely notice, but which foreigners
can easily distinguish. For instance, in the
chapter on Growing up and Growing Old, the
author describes an anecdote of how a typical
American mom teaches assertiveness to her
four-year-old child at an Ice-cream parlor
where the kid confronts a bewildering array
of choices of flavors, sprinklers and cones.
The impatient mom gives the kid a few seconds
to 'choose' before deciding herself! Perhaps
a lesson for the kid to be assertive next
time? The writing style is simple and readable,
even for non-native English speakers.
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Buy
the book from Amazon.com
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A
book like What's up America will make for an
interesting read for first-time visitors to
the US. A comprehensive and carefully researched
book, this is a sure substitute to learning
Americanese by watching CNN or Hollywood flicks.
The author's experience with different cultures
and her deep understanding of her own culture
makes for fascinating reading for both international
visitors and Americans.
Even
in a world that is getting flatter by the day
(apologies Tom Friedman), fascination over American
culture continues, and books of this genera
continue to be in vogue. For those curious about
Americans, What's Up America? Will be a good
read.
About
the Author: Diane Asitimbay holds a degree in
international relations and has taught international
students for more than 15 years. She has lived
in Europe and Latin America and is bilingual in
Spanish. As the author of numerous articles on
cultural issues, she has long advocated the need
for cross-cultural awareness.
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Past
Featured Book
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Professional
Life in the US
By Mohan
Babu K
Mohan
Babu has assembled in one place
his ideas for professionals aspiring
to live and work in the US. In the
past few years, we have seen an
exodus of a vast number of Indians
who moved west. Young professionals
in India still aspire to partake
in the globalization that we are
experiencing. In the proposed book
the author shares snippets of life
and experiences, gained while living
and working in the UK and US. Many
of the ideas for the book have emerged
from Mohan's weekly column on working
abroad that appears in Express Computers'
IT People section. Click
to read the complete book online
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You
have several choices for downloading this
book. See the complete table of contents
below. You may take the entire book, parts
that include several related chapters, or
individual chapters. In order to create
additional copies of this book, you will
need to download the cover and the copyright
notice page.
This
book is free. Before you download the book,
you are required fill out a simple form
giving us your name, email address, organization.
Professional
Life in the US is not available in printed
form; however users are invited to download
and print out individual chapters or the
entire book. We recommend using a three-ring
binder that includes a clear, front pocket
for inserting a book cover.
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