{"product_id":"welcome-to-my-home-one-family-four-countries-9780578473024","title":"Welcome To My Home: One Family, Four Countries","description":"\u003cp\u003eShortly after we arrived in China, my assistant introduced me to a professor who greeted me\u003cbr\u003e in Chinese. Obviously, as I did not speak Chinese, I had no idea what he had said, so my\u003cbr\u003e assistant translated, saying, \"Welcome to my home.\" Well, that I understood, so I responded\u003cbr\u003e with, \"We'd love to come--when would be good for you?\" The man looked surprised, and there\u003cbr\u003e was a long pause before he said, \"How about if you and your family come to dinner Friday?\" I\u003cbr\u003e said that would be fine, and we said goodbye. After we left, I asked my assistant what had been\u003cbr\u003e wrong, why the man had been so surprised when I accepted his invitation. My assistant paused, \u003cbr\u003e then said, \"Oh, nothing, he was just thinking about when the best time would be.\" I wasn't entirely\u003cbr\u003e convinced, but I accepted his explanation. Months later, I learned that, \"Welcome to my\u003cbr\u003e home,\" was a standard greeting to people visiting China, and meant something like, \"I hope you\u003cbr\u003e are enjoying China.\" It wasn't an invitation to his home any more than my saying, \"Hello, how\u003cbr\u003e are you doing?\" would have been an invitation for him to catalogue his ailments and personal\u003cbr\u003e problems in detail. Similar situations--in which we assumed we understood meanings just\u003cbr\u003e because we understood the meanings of words--plagued us throughout our year in China. We\u003cbr\u003e adjusted quickly, however, to most of the cultural differences, and learned to accept even those\u003cbr\u003e customs we didn't like, but there always remained the inherent possibility that, although we\u003cbr\u003e acted in good faith, we acted incorrectly. We could never be sure that our understanding of what\u003cbr\u003e people said to us--even in English--was cultural, as well as linguistic.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Roy E. Blackwood\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Roy E. Blackwood\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 04\/01\/2019\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 570\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.82lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.00h x 6.00w x 1.27d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780578473024\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eBlackwood, Roy E.:\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e - Roy Blackwood, was raised on a small farm in northwestern Pennsylvania. After graduating from high school, he spent four years in the Marine Corps, one-and-a-half years of that time in Panama. After his release from the military, he spent a year at the University of Alaska, six months as a reporter for the \"Daily News\" in Anchorage, and eight months traveling in Southeast Asia. He has a BA from Cleveland State University with majors in theatre and English literature; and an MA in theatre, and a Phd in adult education and communication from Cornell University. He taught at the University of Illinois for four years, and at Bemidji State University for 23 years, retiring in 2005. In 1982 he served as a United States Agency for International Development consultant on use of audio visual materials to the government of Guyana, South America; in 1987 was one of 16 selected for the first study tour of the Chinese media by U.S. academics; and in 1990 was one of 20 Minnesota State University faculty selected to receive a Fulbright Travel Grant for a six-week study tour of Costa Rica. He taught journalism at Liaoning University in Shenyang, China, in 1988-89; at Chulalongcorn University, Bangkok, Thailand, in 1993-94; American University in Bulgaria in Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria, in 1999-2000; and American University of Central Asia in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, in 2005-06. Since his retirement in 2005, he has spent about 1800 hours a year doing volunteer work for 12 local organizations. In his spare time, he has restored a 1971 Volkswagen and a 1951 Chevrolet. He is currently working on placing a 1958 Chevrolet pickup body on a 2001 Dodge pickup frame, engine, and running gear.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Roy E. Blackwood","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":40171920064627,"sku":"9.78058E+12","price":22.95,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0555\/9255\/0515\/products\/img_6fb85a75-da29-487b-8b8a-51150dabebcf.jpg?v=1655213362","url":"https:\/\/bookstorenmore.com\/en-de\/products\/welcome-to-my-home-one-family-four-countries-9780578473024","provider":"Bookstore N More","version":"1.0","type":"link"}