May is Asian Heritage Month. To celebrate, Gather is giving away a set of free books to one Gather member. You could win a prize pack of the following books:
- Free Food for Millionaires
- Trail of Crumbs
- The Fortune Cookie Chronicles
- Transparency
- Strangers from a Different Shore
For your chance to win a set of these books, in the comment field below tell us what interests you about the Asian culture. Comments must be posted by Monday, May 25th. Gather will draw one respondent to receive the prize pack of books.
Visit Books.gather.com for more giveaways!
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Comments: 66
Mitama no fuyu
Arigatou gozaimasu
Thanks....Deb
I am especially fascinated by India. I want to go there; I feel drawn there.
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What I admire most about the culture is
They are a hardworking and Innovative people
They can be very modern yet know the value of keeping up with tradition .
They have a Great sense of Humor yet also know what make for a good scary story .
They have a very strong sense of honor and family values .
I'll never forget learning how to say "I love you" in Japanese! It was really neat getting to know the Asian students. I always love the opportunity to get to know more students from various cultures, but I am especially excited about meeting more students from Asia.
I am intrested because of thier beauty and thier culture in general. These sound like some great books!
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In a world where so often you see the same stores and fast food restaurants, even in other countries, it's exciting to see something so different. Even when they have the same old fast food restaurants, they are 3 stories and unrecognizable to us.
It's unlikely I'll ever be able to travel to any Asian land, but learning about other cultures is a good experience for me.
I also like sashimi and sushi and saki!
One of my all time favorite authors is Amy Tan who is Chinese and I would love to get to read more books by other Asian authors.
Thanks for the consideration and opportunity.
She is very nice to me, but I just don't understand her ways. It would be nice to have a book that could help me with this.
the food's darn tasty too.
Everything about Asia is fascinating, because it is a different way of life, the food, the family structure and values, the religion. I did a thesis on Japan and another on India and one day I'd like to visit China.
When I lived in Houston we had a huge populace of Vietnamese and Okinawa and it was interesting to see the integration process. A struggle for young and old.
In the military I made friends with Asian wives and my husband came back from Vietnam with a real appreciation of the culture of Vietnam.
I would love to win these books!
I always enjoy reading more about other cultures, it is amazingly interesting to me to learn how people act, eat, have fun...etc. in other cultures. Especially if the books are a bit hard to find as well - some awesome authors are unknown!
When I was in high school, I took 4 years of Spanish. When I was in college, I started dating a Chinese man. His parents were born in China, but he was born in America. It was very interesting to see the differences in the culture and it inspired me to take a semester of Chinese I for Beginners in college. The language/writing is very beautiful and challenging since slight changes in intonation completely change the meaning of the word. As part of our class, we learned the history of the characters and it really made sense. As stated above, I had 4 years of Spanish, so I struggled remembering the vocabulary, but I enjoyed the class.
I've never been too interested in any other country, however, my 12 year old has been into anime for well over a year now. She really wants to travel and/or even live in the Asian countries. She's been working on learning some of the different languages. Since she has an interest, I am learning more and more. I think these books would be a great win! After reading each one, if it is age appropiate I know she would enjoy them as well.
I have always enjoyed oriental food, and a year in Okinawa where the food was more authentic increased that aappreciation. When I was in high school, a neighbor was a native of Japan and had married a G.I. after World War II. I enjoyed listening to her stories and was always amazed as how well she could sew--even without a good pattern.
Asian art is what I find most interesting. They have a lot of symbolism and very bright colors. Knowing the significance of them is very intriguing. Someday I would also love to visit so knowing about the culture is important.
My husband is Pacific Islander, and I am extremely fascinated with both his Asian heritage and his Spanish heritage. Asian culture has always fascinated me, especially artwork, the languages and different philosophies. And of course, anything I learn, I pass onto my children... my children are well-versed in customs and history in other cultures... although the various Asian heritages and cultures I haven't quite tackled yet. :)
Oh, and I love all types of Asian food... I love cooking it AND eating it! :)
What interests me about the Asian culture?
My grandmother is Japanese and my mother is half Japanese. My mom was born in Japan and my grandmother was born and raised there so growing up I was fortunate to learn a little about the culture from them. My grandma would tell me stories, fairy tales that her mother told her when she was young. I would sit and listen to the music on Saturday mornings while my grandma cleaned her house. We would watch videos of the women dancing in beautiful costume, to beautiful music together. But as we all grew, I grew apart from my heritage. When I was only a few years old I could speak Japanese with my grandmother, but now I only know a few words. I would love to learn again.
In September my grandma, my mom and her brother and sister are all taking a trip back to my grandmother's hometown to visit family that she hasn't seen in at least 30 years. It will be a wonderful family reunion that hopefully the rest of us will be able to be a part of with video and pictures. We will be able to see where my grandma grew up, what her village looks like, what her family looks like. I imagine it will be much different from 30 years ago, though she told us that she grew up in a poor fishing town that is very different from Tokyo and that it hasn't changed much. I can't wait to see pictures!
Even today, many of my favorite foods are the traditional Asian ones my grandmother made for me growing up. And no one can make them like she does! Though I'm still trying to learn, so that I can make them too. It doesn't hurt that so much of it is so simple and healthy!
Someday I would love to go and see how their life is the same and different from ours. I want to experience the language, the traditions. Hopefully one day I will be fortunate enough to go. I want to meet the rest of my family!
I forgot to add that it was so much fun to learn some Japanese songs to sing with my kids. A few years ago my grandma taught me and my daughter a song called "Raccoon Dogs Dancing at Shojoji Temple". It is a very cute and simple song for young learners. At the end of the first verse my grandma said you are supposed to tap on your belly, sort of like you are drumming to the beat of the music, when you say, "Pon poko pon no pon". It was so much fun to learn and we were lucky to have that opportunity.
One of my favorite Japanese songs is sort of a cliche. Sakura (Cherry Blossom) is such a beautiful song. I only know that one word in the entire song, but the sound of the words and the music make it such a wonderful and calming song. Our dog's name is Sakura.
Asian culture has always interested me, from the food and the culture to their value of family and their elders.
The clothing, traditions and food of the Asian culture interests me.
I have a friend who is a China scholar, and I once asked her why she decided to study that part of the world. (We were both working in Washington, DC, in the political arena at the time) and she said, "that's where the future lies." I have never forgotten it, and today more than ever (with the expansion of a "flat" world through globalization) it seems true.
I'd love to win these books! What a treat for the person who does!
i love their gardening style it is so beautiful and i love the cuisine :)
Both my husband and I are Asian but have had very different experiences growing up. Our home country had been colonized by Spain and the US and Japan and has a mix of cultures. I would love to learn more about the culture and history of other Asian countries and Asians who grew up in the West.
gaby317nyc AT gmail DOT com
Winner of the Asian Heritage Month Book Giveaway