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Coming to America

Chakan

後輩
3 Dec 2002
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Often, we hear stories on this forum from American people who go to Japan for a trip or for good. I was wondering if anyone could recommend any sites or books with stories of those who travel from Japan to America?
 
Greetings,My name is Kimberly Valentino.There are so many travel books on spots to see thu out amercica.What places are you planning to travel too.If your plans consist of coming to California let me know.I am from Los angeles and I cangive you some realy great advice on affordable hotels to stay...youth hostels...great places to see...the tip top clubs to get in...museums...tourist attractions in Hollyood and give you any and all feed back that you would like to know about out fab town....as well as Las vegas, Nevada keep me
posted and have a wonderful trip!!!! +++KIM+++ [email protected]
 
Not sure Chakan, good question though. Speaking from my own experiences, whenever I had homestays or friends visit from Japan I always pretty much left the itinerary open depending upon whatever they wanted to do at the time. For some, this meant taking a road trip to check out the Mall of America, Niagra Falls, or even the Florida Keys (depending on where my family and I were residing at the time). I'd be interested as well to find out what some of the major hotspots for Japanese tourists travelling abroad include (I suspect Hawaii, California, and Florida top the list--maybe New York too).

Btw, if you ever want to impress your Japanese friends with a great "American style" burger and you're in Cali, take them to any In-N-Out (i'm partial to the one on 3361 S. Bristol, Santa Ana--my old "hangout" 8-p) for the best franchise burger you'll ever find, hands-down. :cool: Del Taco is good too if you want to give them a 'lil taste of Mexico (albeit a tad greasy). Their fare puts Taco Bell to shame, trust me. 8-p
 
Kimberly: No, I'm from the US as well and was just interested on what impressions one from Japan might come away with when they visit America.

Chef: I like Taco John's as well... I believe it's only store is in Athens, OH; a nice, small college town that I stayed in for a long, fun Summer. Mmm.. I need a meat, cheese, and potato burrito... ^_^
 
Originally posted by Chakan
Often, we hear stories on this forum from American people who go to Japan for a trip or for good. I was wondering if anyone could recommend any sites or books with stories of those who travel from Japan to America?


Before I became a high school exchange student in USA, I read soooo many books written about cultural experiences by Japanese people who traveled or lived in foreign countries. But they were all written in Japanese language, so I don't know any books to recommend.. but if you are interested in reading my English essay about my first-year life in USA, i will email you. I wrote this essay in college when I was 18. hehe :D
 
Last edited:
i sent the file to you, Chakan san.
I'm sure you will find mistakes. hehe :D
(i should have checked it before sending! oh,well..)
Anyway, enjoy~
 
Old thread but....

Often, we hear stories on this forum from American people who go to Japan for a trip or for good. I was wondering if anyone could recommend any sites or books with stories of those who travel from Japan to America?

I was looking for a Japanese cookbook when I came across this and thought someone might be interested. So, I'm posting the reviews here: The book is called, BENTO BOX IN THE HEARTLAND, by Linda Furiya. I haven't read it so I can't make a recommendation.

From Publishers Weekly
When Furiya started eating lunches in the elementary school cafeteria, she was profoundly embarrassed by the rice balls her mom packed instead of a sandwich like all the other kids ate. She was already feeling self-conscious about being the only Japanese family in her 1960s Indiana hometown, and her parents' insistence on continuing to eat their native cuisine—they grew their own vegetables and drove for hours to visit big-city supermarkets that stocked Japanese imports—was frustrating because it intensified the differences between her and her classmates. But the exotic dishes were also a source of delight, and Furiya ends each chapter with a recipe for one of her favorite meals. There is more to the story than food, though, and she describes the anger she feels when shopkeepers make fun of her father's accent, or the amazement when her mother takes her back to Japan, with the same vividness she applies to recreating the sensations of her first taste of wasabi. Though she continues to chafe against her parents' emotional reticence, partly inspired by their arranged marriage, Furiya also comes to appreciate the values they handed down to her, and it's this love that dominates her nicely told story. (Jan.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
In her syndicated newspaper columns, Furiya has written about Asian cooking as well as growing up in the only Japanese family in a small Indiana town. In this memoir-cum-cookbook, she expands on those subjects in chapters that close with family recipes. Food is always at the center of Furiya's stories, which begin with her grade-school realization that her bento-box lunch sets her apart from her 1960s peers. In a voice that's angry, yearning, and direct, she remembers the bewildering pull between American and Japanese culture, and her complex struggles to form a cohesive, proud cultural identity. The specifics are moving and vivid, as is Furiya's universal wonderment about who her parents are, how they ended up together, and what her own grown-up life will be: "Someday you will shoot and follow your arrow," her father tells her. "My arrow, it landed here." Pair this with Diana Abu-Jabar's beautiful The Language of Baklava (2005), another culinary memoir of growing up with immigrant parents. Gillian Engberg
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Book Description

While growing up in Versailles, an Indiana farm community, Linda Furiya tried to balance the outside world of Midwestern America with the Japanese traditions of her home life. As the only Asian family in a tiny township, Furiya's life revolved around Japanese food and the extraordinary lengths her parents went to in order to gather the ingredients needed to prepare it.
As immigrants, her parents approached the challenges of living in America, and maintaining their Japanese diets, with optimism and gusto. Furiva, meanwhile, was acutely aware of how food set her apart from her peers: She spent her first day of school hiding in the girls' restroom, examining her rice balls and chopsticks, and longing for a Peanut Bullter and Jelly sandwich.
Bento Box in the Heartland is an insightful and reflective coming-of-age tale. Beautifully written, each chapter is accompanied by a family recipe of mouth-watering Japanese comfort food.
 
visiting New York and Japan

Is it true people are finger printed going into the US? Does that happen in Japan??
I do not have a problem to have ID in the US. I just think all US citizen should be finger printed going into other countries so their governement know who they are letting in.
 
Is it true people are finger printed going into the US? Does that happen in Japan??
I do not have a problem to have ID in the US. I just think all US citizen should be finger printed going into other countries so their governement know who they are letting in.
Yes to both questions. Look around the site for LONG threads on this.
 
Bought it

I was looking for a Japanese cookbook when I came across this and thought someone might be interested. So, I'm posting the reviews here: The book is called, BENTO BOX IN THE HEARTLAND, by Linda Furiya. I haven't read it so I can't make a recommendation.

From Publishers Weekly

When Furiya started eating lunches in the elementary school cafeteria, she was profoundly embarrassed by the rice balls her mom packed instead of a sandwich like all the other kids ate. She was already feeling self-conscious about being the only Japanese family in her 1960s Indiana hometown, and her parents' insistence on continuing to eat their native cuisine—they grew their own vegetables and drove for hours to visit big-city supermarkets that stocked Japanese imports—was frustrating because it intensified the differences between her and her classmates. But the exotic dishes were also a source of delight, and Furiya ends each chapter with a recipe for one of her favorite meals. There is more to the story than food, though, and she describes the anger she feels when shopkeepers make fun of her father's accent, or the amazement when her mother takes her back to Japan, with the same vividness she applies to recreating the sensations of her first taste of wasabi. Though she continues to chafe against her parents' emotional reticence, partly inspired by their arranged marriage, Furiya also comes to appreciate the values they handed down to her, and it's this love that dominates her nicely told story. (Jan.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

In her syndicated newspaper columns, Furiya has written about Asian cooking as well as growing up in the only Japanese family in a small Indiana town. In this memoir-cum-cookbook, she expands on those subjects in chapters that close with family recipes. Food is always at the center of Furiya's stories, which begin with her grade-school realization that her bento-box lunch sets her apart from her 1960s peers. In a voice that's angry, yearning, and direct, she remembers the bewildering pull between American and Japanese culture, and her complex struggles to form a cohesive, proud cultural identity. The specifics are moving and vivid, as is Furiya's universal wonderment about who her parents are, how they ended up together, and what her own grown-up life will be: "Someday you will shoot and follow your arrow," her father tells her. "My arrow, it landed here." Pair this with Diana Abu-Jabar's beautiful The Language of Baklava (2005), another culinary memoir of growing up with immigrant parents. Gillian Engberg
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Book Description

While growing up in Versailles, an Indiana farm community, Linda Furiya tried to balance the outside world of Midwestern America with the Japanese traditions of her home life. As the only Asian family in a tiny township, Furiya's life revolved around Japanese food and the extraordinary lengths her parents went to in order to gather the ingredients needed to prepare it.

As immigrants, her parents approached the challenges of living in America, and maintaining their Japanese diets, with optimism and gusto. Furiva, meanwhile, was acutely aware of how food set her apart from her peers: She spent her first day of school hiding in the girls' restroom, examining her rice balls and chopsticks, and longing for a Peanut Bullter and Jelly sandwich.

Bento Box in the Heartland is an insightful and reflective coming-of-age tale. Beautifully written, each chapter is accompanied by a family recipe of mouth-watering Japanese comfort food.

I got a copy of the book as a xmas present to myself. You can order it in Japan at: Amazon product ASIN 158005191X
 
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