The Shaolin monk on the book cover is holding a bag of food from Burger King. I was extremely hungry at the time, having skipped lunch to work on some homework that I should not have procrastinated on. This book caught my eye, and this was my thought process:
zOMG BURGER KING. zOMG.
IS THAT BURGER KING?!
I haven't had fast food in soooo long. FFFUUU.
That. Person. Is. Chinese. I'm sooo reading this book.
So maybe I picked up this book for the wrong reasons. Instead of having 'high intellectual goals of accumulating wisdom' in mind, I hoped there would either be descriptions of food or complaints about how different everything in China was. (Both were in the book to varying degrees.) Because let's face it: books about cultural differences are always entertaining to the point of ridicule.
But anyways. American Shaolin is a nonfiction book about a weakling and Princeton dropout who travels to China to learn kungfu from the original masters and to maybe even achieve religious enlightenment from the monks' form of Buddhism. He does become somewhat beast at kungfu, but he doesn't really achieve true spiritual enlightenment.
There's just one thing wrong with this scenario: he dropped out of Princeton. Blasphemy! Pure blasphemy. I believe that dropping out of any prestigious college, ESPECIALLY Ivy League, is grounds for eternal shame and damnation in the fiery brimstone pools of Hell. (Or so say my parents.)
Anyhoo, I really liked this book. I could somewhat relate to it because I'm Chinese and most of the characters in the book are Chinese, but also because... no, that's about it. I'll never go on a self-discovering journey into the depths of a foreign country where everyone stares at me like I'm an alien, nor will I ever, EVER become physically ept. (The extent of my exercise is from videogames and walking to class. Derp.)
I do like the interactions between the Shaolin monks and Matthew (or Bao Mosi, as the monks call him), however. For instance, the monks consider Matthew to be a sexual libertine after he states that he's had 3 girlfriends. The Chinese culture states that one does not start openly dating until one is around 25, so the idea of an under-25 Matthew with 3 serious relationships and numerous (presumed) sexual conquests under his belt is unthinkable.
This highlights one of the many cultural differences, others of which include kinds of food eaten, amount of physical affection, and politeness. As many of you may know, Asians eat a larger variety of foods than whites. Physical affection is also increased, since people are comfortable in their sexualities and the idea of homosexuality in Asia is a myth. As for politeness, let me give a real-life example:
My family was dining with some relatives in a high-end seafood restaurant on our last visit to China. The bill came.
Dad: I'll pay the bill.
Uncle: Nonono, I insist I pay it. Keep your money.
D: We can't possibly make you pay all of this bill. It's too expensive. I'LL pay it.
U: *growing exasperated* You're our guests here. We can't allow you to lose your precious money on trivialities. Buy some icecream for your kids and let us pay the bill.
D: *loudly* No, I'LL pay the bill. End of story.
Etc etc etc...
The argument can go on for up to ten minutes before my dad grudgingly concedes to let my uncle pay. No joke.
Contrast this with an scenario between my family and some American friends:
*the bill comes*
Dad: I'll foot the bill.
American: Okay. Thank you, *insert my dad's name here*!
Dad: ...
The differences are astonishing.
Having no good way to conclude, I'm just going to lamely say: READ THIS BOOK.
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