If you have kids, having them read up on your travel destination sounds fantastic. After all, a great aspect of travel is being exposed to new languages (or a chance to practice a language they know–see 10 Reasons Why Your Child Should Learn a Foreign Language), cultures and customs, and learning more about the history of the place you'll be visiting, right?
To that end, before we visited Japan earlier this year, in addition to a Japanese phrase book, I bought a book called “A Geek in Japan” that I thought would be interesting for us all to read. And it was–I particularly enjoyed the sections on “Honne and Tatemae,” “The Concept of Giri,” “The Importance of Nemawashi” and of course the food chapters.
But guess which choice facts our son gleefully enjoys announcing to us at the dinner table?
“…If you see a Japanese man with his little finger amputated, he's very likely to belong or have belonged to a yakuza gang” (yakuza refers to the Japanese mafia)
On the other hand, “1.3 thefts are committed per 100,000 inhabitants, whereas in the United States the rate is 233 per 100,000.”
“…if [samurai] failed in an important mission they committed seppuku (or hara-kiri), ripping their belly open with a sword.” (from the section “The Ancient Bushido Code: The Way of the Warrior)
“Japan has the highest rate of suicides among developed countries, and the fourth highest rate of suicide among all countries” (from the section “Why Do the Japanese Commit Suicide?”)
This isn't to say those are the only sections he read in the book–in fact he read nearly the entire book, before, during and after our trip. And it was a good age, I think, to take him, since Japan is much more a cultural destination, and can be less interesting for really young kids.
But, not having particularly relished the gory or tragic as a kid his age, it's a reminder of how different kids are. I foresee interesting requests for our future culture-oriented trips.
If you have kids, do they enjoy reading up on the country you're visiting before or during your trip?
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