Aminta Arrington

This is a book about an American family making a home for themselves in China. We get many aspects of this story, from the adults coming to terms with culture shock and being treated as a spectacle to gawk at, to the different ways that the three children handled their new environment. Throughout, the author also approached different topics relevant to modern China, always through the lens of the Chinese language and the long history of the country.

Make no mistake, this is a memoir, not an anthropological study. The book does not, nor does it really claim to, examine anything other than this one family's experiences in one village during one particular period of time. But in doing so, it invites us to take the journey with them, thinking of how we might react if put into the same circumstances.

Recommended for anyone with an interest, but not necessarily a lot of knowledge, of Chinese culture. Also for anyone studying the language, who can learn a lot of context from this memoir.… (plus d'informations)

Home is a Roof Over a Pig is a fantastic read for the armchair cultural anthropologist. Aminta Arrington's memoir is a fantastic first-hand account of the life, customs, and calligraphy of China. Though she shares her family's present-day experiences, she also shares historical lessons that have led to the lives and thought processes of today's Chinese. The book is very well-written by an author who is well-educated and knowledgeable about her subject.

I was fascinated by the Chinese education system. Because Aminta and her husband are both educators, they are able to successfully critique Chinese education. They have the advantage of being able to observe their own children in school as well as learn from students in their own classrooms. Additionally, Aminta is being tutored in Chinese so she has the perspective of a learner. Her instructor is an invaluable resource in understanding thinking, traditions, and language.

The author uses quotes to begin many of the chapters from people well-known in Chinese history and even from the Bible. My favorite quote was a Chinese Proverb. "Water and words are easy to pour but impossible to recover." (p. 117)

Arrington makes an interesting observation as she explores the acquisition of language. "Learning a foreign language is not academic, it is social." (p. 253) She tells her university students that they can memorize a word, hear it, write it or recite it but the word does not become their own until the word can be used to express their own thoughts.

In her discussion of the place of women in Chinese society, the author quoted a few of what she considered limitless Chinese sayings. My favorite was "Put three women together and you have a drama." (p. 274)
That might be considered a global observation of women. I know it is blatantly true for young women of the American junior high school age!

When the family arrived at the foster home of their adopted daughter Grace, Aminta observed that there were no toys in the home where many foster children had been given care. She suggested that this explained why their daughter had always considered people the best amusement. (p. 306) This is the type of cultural insight shared by this book that is uncommon to other books on Chinese culture. The author is able to share facts in addition to her very personal perspective.

The author does an excellent job of defining Chinese culture. It isn't just ". . . art, language, poetry, architecture, and ceremony, all of which China has in abundance. It also means duties, obligations, manners, rituals, and traditions, and China's long history has layer upon layer, which have become more intricate and complex as the centuries have passed." (p. 276)

She also excels at comparing our American culture to the Chinese. "I might disagree with the war in Iraq, be embarrassed by my country's occasional arrogance, and abhor the violence and the decadence shown in the movies that we export around the word, but I couldn't disown this country that had pushed my bounds so far, that had told me my abilities, my imagination, my work ethic were my only limitations. Perhaps, it was this more than anything else that made me an American." (p. 277)

This was a book that I dreaded putting down and always looked forward to picking up again. I highly recommend it.… (plus d'informations)