Spotlight on Alumni
In the News - December 2003
Ruth Pennington Paget
American student to Japan, 1980 summer
Ruth Pennington Paget went on the YFU summer program to Japan in 1980 through a scholarship funded by Chrysler Corporation. She is a freelance food writer and author of The Edible Tao. She graduated with a degree in East Asian Studies from the University of Chicago and has worked with Japanese businesses for multinational consulting firms in Chicago and Paris. She resides in Monterey, California.
Her book Eating Soup With Chopsticks: Sweet Sixteen in Japan (available on Amazon.com) was published in the fall of 2003 and recounts her experiences as a teenager on exchange in Japan. YFU recently interviewed Ruth about her new book.
YFU: 23 years after your exchange to Japan, why now write Eating Soup With Chopsticks: Sweet Sixteen in Japan?
Ruth: I think it has taken me 23 year to learn how to write! But seriously, I wanted to show how I came to love Japan in a fun book. While I was in Japan, I kept a running diary - mainly to show it to my mother, so that I could recount to her my experiences and let her know what I was doing on a daily basis during my time with my host family and with okaasan (host mother).
YFU: How did your experience in Japan shape decisions you made later in life regarding school and career choices?
Ruth: It shaped my choices in some obvious ways - I studied Japanese in college and had several international jobs after college. I worked as a salesman at a translation company, did work as a bilingual secretary, and eventually worked as the Japanese services coordinator for a multinational consulting firm in Paris, France. Now I am a freelance writer specializing in ethnic food stories and am in graduate school to become an academic librarian. In my current work reviewing ethnic restaurants, I do feel that this is my own way of trying to introduce other cultures to people here in my own country - creating a wider public view of all of the different cultures we have here in the US.
YFU: Did you have an interest in Japanese culture prior to your exchange?
Ruth: I had an interest in Asia prior to living in Japan, because I had visited China the year before (1979). The countries were nothing alike as I discovered.
YFU: Prior to departure on your YFU program, what were your greatest concerns/apprehensions about being an exchange student?
Ruth: I was just so excited about being an exchange student. I felt like a dream had come true. I wanted to be a good representative of the United States more than anything else. Once I found out that I would be going to Japan, I went to read and study about Japan as much as I possible could. Of everything I read, nothing was about what I really wanted to know. Much of it was topical and interesting, but there was very little information available that told me about everyday life with a Japanese family. I knew going that I would be in a different culture, but when you really get there, it is like a first anthropology experience- all of society was laid open for me to explore and discover.
YFU: Your book often uses humor to illustrate cultural differences and similarities, despite communication challenges. Did you consciously use humor to put people at ease and work through differences?
Ruth: Yes, I did. I often used humor as a survival mechanism when I was a teenager in Detroit, too, walking through the inner-city streets to get to school.
YFU: Reflecting on your exchange to Japan (now over 20 years later), how does your view of what you learned differ from the year or two directly following your exchange experience?
Ruth: When I got back, I could hardly wait to go back overseas and get more "international" experience. Now I realize that American society is so multicultural that I can find all of the wonderful things that I look for overseas - like the people, languages, foods, markets, holidays, and so on, in my own backyard if I take the time to look. I couldn’t appreciate that before I had lived overseas.
YFU: Do you think international youth exchange still has a role to play in combating cultural misunderstanding and intolerance?
Ruth: Yes I do. Especially when students make presentations about their exchange experience. When I went, I already had an interest and an ability to write, but YFU gave me a deeper interest and also taught me how to ask the right questions in a different culture.
YFU: If you had one piece of advice to a YFU student getting ready to go to Japan, what would it be?
Ruth: Try and learn a little Japanese before you go and try to be very helpful to your host family. I am a big believer that if you give, you will receive things in return. At first, okaasan did not want help, but I insisted. At home, I helped my mother take care of the house and so I wanted to help in Japan. This enabled me to build a close bond to my host mom. We would walk in the park and go to the grocery store. Most people don’t think going to the grocery store is too exciting, but in Japan, it is a fascinating experience. I also recommend going with an open mind and not having too many expectations.
YFU: Thank you for taking the time to share your YFU experience.
Eating Soup With Chopsticks: Sweet Sixteen in Japan is available on Amazon.com.
All YFU Programs are subject to change or cancellation without prior notice.
Last Updated: Thursday, December 18, 2003 07:01 PM