Dear Alice: Letters Home from American Teachers Learning to Live in China
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Edited by Phyllis L. Thompson
Mind-expanding. Frenetic, crazed, ecstatic ups and downs. Saw parts of myself never seen before. —Kevin Law-Smith China is one truly screwed up country which I have come to love and hate at the same time, maybe even in the same day. --Michael May Alice Renouf got people jobs teaching in China, then stood by them, watching caterpillar North Americans turn slowly into intercultural butterflies. This is the process called culture shock. |
Whatever their age, whatever their goals, anyone who moves self and belongings to a new country for a year falls apart inside. All the clothes, activities, people, and language they grew up with disappear. In a new land, who they are now is up for grabs.
Some people flee or hide and never adapt, but most of the letters in Dear Alice describe plucky people doing what they must to re-build themselves in new form. Laughing and crying, asking Alice poignant questions, and finding friends in a strange land, these teachers show the jerky and emotional path to cultural adaptation.
Although the examples of culture disintegration and reintegration in Dear Alice all come from China, the adaptation process revealed in the book applies to anyone who moves abroad. These letters are organized to highlight the inescapable truth: If you want to adjust to another culture, you have to break down first. Rebuilding happens with the help of people you love.
Some people flee or hide and never adapt, but most of the letters in Dear Alice describe plucky people doing what they must to re-build themselves in new form. Laughing and crying, asking Alice poignant questions, and finding friends in a strange land, these teachers show the jerky and emotional path to cultural adaptation.
Although the examples of culture disintegration and reintegration in Dear Alice all come from China, the adaptation process revealed in the book applies to anyone who moves abroad. These letters are organized to highlight the inescapable truth: If you want to adjust to another culture, you have to break down first. Rebuilding happens with the help of people you love.
Dear Alice was originally published by the Institute of East Asian Studies, University of California, Berkeley, 1998. All rights reverted to Phyllis L. Thompson in January 2014.
A prize-winning radio play by Phyllis L. Thompson and Vicki Thompson based on the book
is also available.
Although Dear Alice is currently out of print, new copies of the book may still be available. Send an inquiry via the Contact page of this website.
A prize-winning radio play by Phyllis L. Thompson and Vicki Thompson based on the book
is also available.
Although Dear Alice is currently out of print, new copies of the book may still be available. Send an inquiry via the Contact page of this website.
