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Surviving Paradise: One Year On A Disappearing Island
Just one month after his 21st birthday, Peter Rudiak-Gould moved to Ujae, a remote atoll in the Marshall Islands located 70 miles from the nearest telephone, car, store, or tourist, and 2,000 miles from the closest continent. He spent the next year there, living among its 450 inhabitants and teaching English to its schoolchildren. Surviving Paradise is a thoughtful and laugh-out-loud hilarious documentation of Rudiak-Gould’s efforts to cope with daily life on Ujae as his idealistic expectations of a tropical paradise confront harsh reality. but Rudiak-Gould goes beyond the personal, interweaving his own story with fascinating political, linguistic, and ecological digressions about the Marshall Islands. most poignant are his observations of the noticeable effect of global warming on these tiny, low-lying islands and the threat rising water levels pose to their already precarious existence. An Eat, Pray, Love as written by Paul Theroux, Surviving Paradise is a disarmingly lighthearted narrative with a substantive emotional undercurrent.
256 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2009
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February 25, 2023
A familiar story, but told with more polish and realness. An American man in his early twenties goes to teach english on a remote island in the Marshall Islands. He starts off sounding like a brat, expecting to be worship welcomed, and glorified for saving the underprivileged islanders. He quickly receives a reality check. His tropical island is flat and small. He is hosted by a family and lives in a spare room made of concrete and just a bed. The students seem to despise him and don’t want to learn. He is gentle whereas the parents are harsh.
The plot moves on from his (apparently) botched attempt at teaching to how he uses his free time. We learn about all these pecularities that are either just that or differences in culture. For example he wants to go out and see stuff but whenever he asks, the people act as though there’s nothing on. So he goes out alone and stumbles on them all having a fun festival. Is he being snobbed? Or is last-minute how they roll? He wants to go fishing with people but no-one is going fishing today, and then he sees the boat launch without him. It must be hard.
So after a while he just goes off and does his own thing, and if he flukes some interactive event then so be it. He gets laughed at for being different: swimming for the sake of swimming, showering after being in the ocean, reading. Going back to the main island is a highlight for him as he craves company and inclusion. Especially with language issues getting in the way of meaningful conversation.
Near the end, he brings in some climate issues re sea level rise after getting a degree in that field and seeks out local perceptions on it. Apparently there is little concern and if there is a problem, surely it will get fixed if we put our minds to it.
What I liked most about this well-trodden story of a western person going to a remote place to help out, was his take on it. Many authors seem to link some kind of personal development angle to it “I saved them”, or “they saved me”, or “we saved each other”. For him, it was more like, I went to teach them, it didn’t go down too well, but I managed fine, and I am still the same as I was before, only more experienced. It was quite refreshing. He took some lessons like understanding that he is Western, having denied it before “I’m not like them”. Although his goals weren’t quite achieved in the way he had hoped for, the experience led him to his alternative career path on cultural perspectives on climate change in the region.
I read this as part of my around-the-world reading challenge.
The plot moves on from his (apparently) botched attempt at teaching to how he uses his free time. We learn about all these pecularities that are either just that or differences in culture. For example he wants to go out and see stuff but whenever he asks, the people act as though there’s nothing on. So he goes out alone and stumbles on them all having a fun festival. Is he being snobbed? Or is last-minute how they roll? He wants to go fishing with people but no-one is going fishing today, and then he sees the boat launch without him. It must be hard.
So after a while he just goes off and does his own thing, and if he flukes some interactive event then so be it. He gets laughed at for being different: swimming for the sake of swimming, showering after being in the ocean, reading. Going back to the main island is a highlight for him as he craves company and inclusion. Especially with language issues getting in the way of meaningful conversation.
Near the end, he brings in some climate issues re sea level rise after getting a degree in that field and seeks out local perceptions on it. Apparently there is little concern and if there is a problem, surely it will get fixed if we put our minds to it.
What I liked most about this well-trodden story of a western person going to a remote place to help out, was his take on it. Many authors seem to link some kind of personal development angle to it “I saved them”, or “they saved me”, or “we saved each other”. For him, it was more like, I went to teach them, it didn’t go down too well, but I managed fine, and I am still the same as I was before, only more experienced. It was quite refreshing. He took some lessons like understanding that he is Western, having denied it before “I’m not like them”. Although his goals weren’t quite achieved in the way he had hoped for, the experience led him to his alternative career path on cultural perspectives on climate change in the region.
I read this as part of my around-the-world reading challenge.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 21, 2023
My book club visited the Marshall Islands in the Pacific Ocean in March. It is an archipelago that is visible on only a few world maps, lying between Hawaii and the Philippines. Some atolls of the Marshall Islands were used as nuclear testing sites by the United States of America. The USA forced/tricked natives of Bikini atoll to move to another island, while the Americans conducted their nuclear tests. It's also where the swimwear "bikini" got its name. Up until today the people and the descendants of Bikini atoll are still nuclear refugees, unable to return back to their atoll and receiving annual compensation from US taxpayer money.
The author Peter Rudiak-Gould was a volunteer of the WorldTeach organization, who visited and taught English on Ujae island for a year from 2003 to 2004. Most of the book are descriptions of his culture shock, Marshallese culture, teaching English in one of the lowest-ranking schools of the Pacific, spearfishing and general stories of his year spent on the Marshall Islands. It's a very light read and he peppers it with a lot of humor, revealing his embarrassing moments. As a reader, I enjoyed learning about the Marshall Islands through a foreigner's eye, especially because I didn't have any background knowledge. It's impressive how the author gained fluency in such a unique language that few speak and which has so many specific words and descriptions that cannot be found in English or in other European languages (words related to sailing, certain relationships, feelings...).
The author is now a professor and still involved with the Marshall Islands, which he uses as his research site to study climate change and its effect on society. Only towards the end of the book does he bring up the topic of global warming and how it threatens these small islands where there are hardly any hills and where entire populations would need to be moved when sea levels continue to rise. At first, I thought about giving this book three stars because some of the author's observations at the beginning of the book were too naive, but the ending of the book really saved it. The author's conclusion on how the Marshall Islands is viewed by the rest of the world and how the Marshallese people view global warming truly touched me. The quotes can be read below. Armageddon vs. hoax, this reminds me of the current coronavirus pandemic and how devastatingly slow leaders are to fight against this virus. That's what I love about reading. I can read about a completely different subject (in this case the Marshall Islands), but if the book is well written, one can always find a way to pull a lesson or two that relates to one's current situation/life.
"But behind all of these reasons, I felt, was one central cause: a feeling of disempowerment, inspired by some rather obvious historical events. When you feel you can do nothing, your only options are denial and despair - and those were precisely the popular responses I had seen on Ujae. The saddest thing of all was that a sense of empowerment was what the islanders needed most in order to prepare for climate change, and climate change was exactly what would kill the last flicker of that resolve."
"Now, living again in one of the culpable nations, I can see that the Marshallese are not very different from us. In our society, one side depicts global warming as Armageddon, while the other calls it a hoax. No wonder action has been so slow. In the Marshall Islands as in the industrial world, people are given both to disavowal of the problem and to hideous exaggeration of its intractability. Denial and catastrophism are a pair of apparent opposites that reinforce each other more than they oppose each other, because the worse the prognosis, the more reason to pretend the problem doesn't exist. The real battle is not between those two; it is between complacence, manifesting as either of those two extremes, and pragmatism."
"These critics saw garbage piles and thought 'irreversible devastation!' when they should have thought 'solid-waste-management problem.' They saw makeshift shelters and thought 'abysmal deprivation!' when they should have thought 'housing shortage.' They mistook the country's nuclear legacy for the obliteration of an entire nation, rather than the forced migration of several hundred people and the irradiation of several hundred others. These premature obituaries were based on a kind of cynical paternalism: the assumption that the Marshallese had no ability to solve problems or adapt to change. I had done my share of criticism too, but it was hard to reconcile these dreary descriptions with my own memories of men fishing on pristine reefs and women preparing bwiro for a feast. The Marshall Islands was a flawed and struggling Third World country, not an apocalyptic wasteland. More to the point, it was a real place, not a political allegory. The country was a bit like Ralph Ellison's invisible man: time after time, outsiders defined it as the perfect exemplar of their worldview, with little interest in the thing as it actually was."
"In the end, I was inclined toward a viewpoint that struck many islanders and expats as ever so slightly heretical: that the Marshall Islands were currently experiencing something of a golden age - a cozy lull in their oddly tumultuous history; a time after the imperialists had quit but before the sea had risen; when chiefly scuffles and world wards did not periodically devastate people's lives; when floods from typhoons or from global warming did not push locals to the brink; and when foreign handouts guaranteed an easy security without shattering all sense of national pride. For all of my own private discomforts and personal critiques, for all of the doomsaying of locals and visitors alike, Marshallese life strolled on with something resembling good cheer."
The author Peter Rudiak-Gould was a volunteer of the WorldTeach organization, who visited and taught English on Ujae island for a year from 2003 to 2004. Most of the book are descriptions of his culture shock, Marshallese culture, teaching English in one of the lowest-ranking schools of the Pacific, spearfishing and general stories of his year spent on the Marshall Islands. It's a very light read and he peppers it with a lot of humor, revealing his embarrassing moments. As a reader, I enjoyed learning about the Marshall Islands through a foreigner's eye, especially because I didn't have any background knowledge. It's impressive how the author gained fluency in such a unique language that few speak and which has so many specific words and descriptions that cannot be found in English or in other European languages (words related to sailing, certain relationships, feelings...).
The author is now a professor and still involved with the Marshall Islands, which he uses as his research site to study climate change and its effect on society. Only towards the end of the book does he bring up the topic of global warming and how it threatens these small islands where there are hardly any hills and where entire populations would need to be moved when sea levels continue to rise. At first, I thought about giving this book three stars because some of the author's observations at the beginning of the book were too naive, but the ending of the book really saved it. The author's conclusion on how the Marshall Islands is viewed by the rest of the world and how the Marshallese people view global warming truly touched me. The quotes can be read below. Armageddon vs. hoax, this reminds me of the current coronavirus pandemic and how devastatingly slow leaders are to fight against this virus. That's what I love about reading. I can read about a completely different subject (in this case the Marshall Islands), but if the book is well written, one can always find a way to pull a lesson or two that relates to one's current situation/life.
"But behind all of these reasons, I felt, was one central cause: a feeling of disempowerment, inspired by some rather obvious historical events. When you feel you can do nothing, your only options are denial and despair - and those were precisely the popular responses I had seen on Ujae. The saddest thing of all was that a sense of empowerment was what the islanders needed most in order to prepare for climate change, and climate change was exactly what would kill the last flicker of that resolve."
"Now, living again in one of the culpable nations, I can see that the Marshallese are not very different from us. In our society, one side depicts global warming as Armageddon, while the other calls it a hoax. No wonder action has been so slow. In the Marshall Islands as in the industrial world, people are given both to disavowal of the problem and to hideous exaggeration of its intractability. Denial and catastrophism are a pair of apparent opposites that reinforce each other more than they oppose each other, because the worse the prognosis, the more reason to pretend the problem doesn't exist. The real battle is not between those two; it is between complacence, manifesting as either of those two extremes, and pragmatism."
"These critics saw garbage piles and thought 'irreversible devastation!' when they should have thought 'solid-waste-management problem.' They saw makeshift shelters and thought 'abysmal deprivation!' when they should have thought 'housing shortage.' They mistook the country's nuclear legacy for the obliteration of an entire nation, rather than the forced migration of several hundred people and the irradiation of several hundred others. These premature obituaries were based on a kind of cynical paternalism: the assumption that the Marshallese had no ability to solve problems or adapt to change. I had done my share of criticism too, but it was hard to reconcile these dreary descriptions with my own memories of men fishing on pristine reefs and women preparing bwiro for a feast. The Marshall Islands was a flawed and struggling Third World country, not an apocalyptic wasteland. More to the point, it was a real place, not a political allegory. The country was a bit like Ralph Ellison's invisible man: time after time, outsiders defined it as the perfect exemplar of their worldview, with little interest in the thing as it actually was."
"In the end, I was inclined toward a viewpoint that struck many islanders and expats as ever so slightly heretical: that the Marshall Islands were currently experiencing something of a golden age - a cozy lull in their oddly tumultuous history; a time after the imperialists had quit but before the sea had risen; when chiefly scuffles and world wards did not periodically devastate people's lives; when floods from typhoons or from global warming did not push locals to the brink; and when foreign handouts guaranteed an easy security without shattering all sense of national pride. For all of my own private discomforts and personal critiques, for all of the doomsaying of locals and visitors alike, Marshallese life strolled on with something resembling good cheer."
December 30, 2009
I had such a fight with this book. Well, we fought for the first 50 pages. Peter R-G was a WorldTeach in the Marshall Islands just like me (same country, different island). He did a fantastic job explaining the ups, downs, and bizarres of the experience. At first I was angry that he is profiting off of the book, but I got over it when all of the emotions of my volunteer year were reflected nearly perfectly.
***
We walked to the airstrip. I hugged my parents again; the islanders blushed again; the children stared again. As the plane took off, the complex emotions of their visit simplified into nostalgia. I was alone again, surrounded by people (79).
***
We walked to the airstrip. I hugged my parents again; the islanders blushed again; the children stared again. As the plane took off, the complex emotions of their visit simplified into nostalgia. I was alone again, surrounded by people (79).
March 30, 2012
The narrative in this memoir is captivating, but the analysis is stunning. I really appreciate Rudiak-Gould's willingness to acknowledge his own cultural biases and the expectations that come with them. This is thoughtful and well-written with good voice.
June 3, 2017
It's a rare day when I write a review that rates a book higher than its average. I'm a tough sell.
There's a good reason why I'm doing so now.
I spent two years as a Peace Corps volunteer on an island in the Caribbean. Although the author's island was much less developed and the experiences he had differed in ways, many observations he made resonated personally...and he didn't necessarily go with the accepted party lines concerning cultural integration or the value of another culture vs. his own.
He presented both himself and his experiences without those filters and occasionally in unflattering lights.
And he couldn't WAIT to return to his Western home and ways of doing things even though he found solid value in the culture he lived in.
I think I would have liked to read a bit more about his teaching experiences and what he finally thought of them. After all, teaching there was the primary reason he went and what he spent a lot of time doing. It appears it was a tough, unsatisfying experience overall, with occasional bright spots; that certainly lines up with my experiences.
I also appreciate his anthropological observations and his openness to try things he had built-in aversions to.
There are few unvarnished books about WorldTeach and Peace Corps experiences; I highly recommend this one.
There's a good reason why I'm doing so now.
I spent two years as a Peace Corps volunteer on an island in the Caribbean. Although the author's island was much less developed and the experiences he had differed in ways, many observations he made resonated personally...and he didn't necessarily go with the accepted party lines concerning cultural integration or the value of another culture vs. his own.
He presented both himself and his experiences without those filters and occasionally in unflattering lights.
And he couldn't WAIT to return to his Western home and ways of doing things even though he found solid value in the culture he lived in.
I think I would have liked to read a bit more about his teaching experiences and what he finally thought of them. After all, teaching there was the primary reason he went and what he spent a lot of time doing. It appears it was a tough, unsatisfying experience overall, with occasional bright spots; that certainly lines up with my experiences.
I also appreciate his anthropological observations and his openness to try things he had built-in aversions to.
There are few unvarnished books about WorldTeach and Peace Corps experiences; I highly recommend this one.
January 28, 2011
Rudiak-Gould describes the year he spent teaching English on one of the Marshall Islands. He is straightforward about the cultural conflicts he encountered there and speaks honestly about the moral quandaries, isolation, and confusion that he continued to experience long after he adjusted to the daily routines of life in his adopted community. He eventually comes to appreciate his own Westerness as well as the motivations behind the islanders' actions, but never completely escapes the grittiness of the two cultures brushing up against each other.
Having been in a situation similar to Rudiak-Gould's, though not nearly as extreme, I can appreciate his candidness in writing about his ongoing cultural struggle. Many accounts of cross-cultural experiences tend toward a "I saved them" or "they saved me" kind of depiction. Surviving Paradise is the best memoir I've read about the paradoxical challenges and uncomfortable truces that any guest in a completely foreign culture has to make.
Having been in a situation similar to Rudiak-Gould's, though not nearly as extreme, I can appreciate his candidness in writing about his ongoing cultural struggle. Many accounts of cross-cultural experiences tend toward a "I saved them" or "they saved me" kind of depiction. Surviving Paradise is the best memoir I've read about the paradoxical challenges and uncomfortable truces that any guest in a completely foreign culture has to make.
January 31, 2010
I was craving a travel memoir...and this book took me to the Marshall Islands, where the author spent a year as a volunteer with World Teach. Best known as the islands where the U.S. tested nuclear bombs (specifically Bikini Atoll), the author's year there taught him as much about Marshallese culture as about the lingering influence of western culture on this small set of islands. What surprised me about the book were the thoughtful insights on Marshallese traditional culture vs. western influence...and that neither is better than the other. I wasn't surprised to find that the author went on to pursue a doctorate in anthropology.
This was enjoyable armchair travel.
This was enjoyable armchair travel.
August 29, 2019
I have a lot to say about this book, none of it good. I can’t believe I didn’t trust my gut and stop reading after the first chapter. Instead of posting my entire scathing review I will simply state that this book is a Colonizer’s wet dream, and it made me nauseous more often than not reading about the author’s brazen entitlement mixed with the demeaning way he discussed the islanders he cohabited with. He should be thoroughly embarrassed about this self serving, indulgent, uninspired, pathetic memoir.
March 30, 2015
I was as bored reading this book as the author was on the island. I normally finish any book I start but made an exception here. There's really nothing here that hasnt already been better observed by others and better stated.
March 6, 2015
This was a funny, level-headed read about the life of a volunteer teacher on far-flung Ujae, in the Marshall Islands, full of culture shock, amusing self-observation, and a nice dose of reality. I was grateful to the author for not trying to paint the people and the culture with the noble savage labeling I've seen in other books of this kind.
By the end of the book, the author (and readers) has come to a deeper understanding of both the Marshallese culture and US culture. I think it's a great one for a bit of horizon expansion and empathy development.
I will note that the author does inject his politics from time to time into this book, but just like everything else, it stands out, inviting analysis. You don't have to become like him or agree with everything he says to learn something; in fact, that's pretty much the guiding principle of everything you find here.
I read this because, for reasons too complicated to explain, I've had a fascination with the Marshall Islands for a long time. I was looking for something different to read, and found this in my library's card catalog. I recommend!
By the end of the book, the author (and readers) has come to a deeper understanding of both the Marshallese culture and US culture. I think it's a great one for a bit of horizon expansion and empathy development.
I will note that the author does inject his politics from time to time into this book, but just like everything else, it stands out, inviting analysis. You don't have to become like him or agree with everything he says to learn something; in fact, that's pretty much the guiding principle of everything you find here.
I read this because, for reasons too complicated to explain, I've had a fascination with the Marshall Islands for a long time. I was looking for something different to read, and found this in my library's card catalog. I recommend!
April 6, 2012
True story slash situation: Newly college graduated Dude goes to the South Pacific to teach on a remote island. The story ended up not being much about him teaching, just about his reactions and experiences with different people. At first this book started off super douche-y. Dude just wanted to go to the most remote place ever and experience it, but really, American-isms have reached everywhere and there is no escaping it anymore, but Dude made it work. Kind of an interesting read. I did like that by the end, Dude at least appreciated America and wasn't all haten' on it, like he sort of was at the beginning and I could relate to that side of it a lot.
Definitely something different, but kind of douche-y. Eh.
Definitely something different, but kind of douche-y. Eh.
January 4, 2015
Truth
I was excited to stumble across this book, as I had lived in Majuro for three and a half years working as a volunteer teacher and counselor for the Catholic community. While the author took me on his personal journey, it was not so far from my own and from many other stories told to me by other volunteers arriving in this island country. In reading through the chapters, I was reminded of things I'd forgotten. Parts of his story made me laugh, parts made me sad, parts made me indignant. And other parts made me nod yes, that's so true. Accurate depiction, entertaining, and thought provoking. Makes me want to go back.
I was excited to stumble across this book, as I had lived in Majuro for three and a half years working as a volunteer teacher and counselor for the Catholic community. While the author took me on his personal journey, it was not so far from my own and from many other stories told to me by other volunteers arriving in this island country. In reading through the chapters, I was reminded of things I'd forgotten. Parts of his story made me laugh, parts made me sad, parts made me indignant. And other parts made me nod yes, that's so true. Accurate depiction, entertaining, and thought provoking. Makes me want to go back.
November 10, 2009
This was a great memoir, ethnography, and all around enjoyable read. Frequently laugh-out-loud funny, and with a rare insight that perhaps everything is fine just the way it is on the island.
August 3, 2016
Thoroughly enjoyed this book. The author spent a year teaching English in a remote Island in the Marshall Islands group. The book is very well written, with lots of humor, and interesting topics
September 2, 2021
Można powiedzieć, że obudziła się we mnie swego rodzaju dusza odkrywcy, nieszczęśliwie „uwięzionego” we własnym mieszkaniu ze względu na obecnie panującą sytuację pandemiczną, czy też brak odpowiednich środków pieniężnych. Podróżować jednak można teraz w inny sposób, chociażby zanurzając się w ciekawej lekturze. Właśnie jedna z nich przeniosła mnie na Wyspy Marshalla, w której towarzyszę autorowi, nauczającemu angielskiego dzieci mieszkańców jednej z tamtejszych wysp.
Od czasu do czasu lubię sobie usiąść i przeglądać portale internetowe w poszukiwaniu ciekawych lektur. I choć najczęściej wybieram te, które znajdę po norwesku, tak momentami najdzie mnie ochota, by zobaczyć, czy nie ma czegoś ciekawego również po angielsku. No i właśnie ostatnio zobaczyłam „Surviving paradise. One Year on a Disappearing Island”, którą napisał Peter Rudiak-Gould. Jest to książka z gatunku literatury faktu. Narratorem w niej jest sam autor, który w roku 2003, w wieku dwudziestu jeden lat wyjechał na Wyspy Marshalla. Wyruszył tam w ramach wolontariatu organizowanego przez organizację pozarządową WorldTeach, by uczyć dzieci lokalnych mieszkańców języka angielskiego. Sama działalność non-profit miała na celu pomoc edukacyjną państwom rozwijającym się. Ciekawostką jest, że jednym z jej fundatorów jest Michael Kremer, który w roku 2019 zdobył Nagrodę Nobla w dziedzinie ekonomii. „I started easy. I showed my eighth graders a map of the world and asked them to point to their own country, the Pacific archipelago known as Marshall Islands. They couldn’t.” Autor książki opisuje w niej rok swojego życia spędzonego na jednej z wysp archipelagu — Ujae. Leży ona na zamieszkałym obecnie przez mniej więcej czterystu mieszkańców atolu o tej samej nazwie. Na początku lat dwutysięcznych dostęp do technologii, czy zwykłych udogodnień życia codziennego był utrudniony, lecz nie niemożliwy. Peter Rudiak-Gould opowiada nam swoją historię, poczynając od przylotu na wyspę Pacyfiku, a kończąc na powrocie w rodzinne strony do Stanów Zjednoczonych. Autor pokazuje nam w niej, jak wyglądało codzienne życie mieszkańców, z jakimi problemami musieli się zmagać podczas jego pobytu, jak wyglądał dostęp do edukacji oraz ich kultura. Wszystko to opatrzone jest jego refleksjami oraz ciekawostkami naukowymi dotyczącymi historii Wysp Marshalla, np. podczas II Wojny Światowej. Podoba mi się, że choć jego spostrzeżenia i opinie są dosyć wyraźne i nie ze wszystkim, z czym się zetknął podczas pobytu, się zgadza i to akceptuje, to nie ocenia tego pod względem zła czy dobra, jak i nie narzuca czytelnikowi swoich racji. Pozwala nam on otaczać się codziennością, pokazuje, w jaki sposób on spędzał czas, jak wyglądały relacje międzyludzkie oraz ogólne zasady panujące w tym małym społeczeństwie. Ukazuje nam absurdy społeczne, podejście ludzi do przybyszów, czy też jego relacje z ludnością, w momentach gdy uważany nie raz za tamtejszego celebrytę, nie raz robił za postrach najmłodszych dzieci. „Coming to Ujae had been an experiment in self-deprivation, and discovering that I could survive under those circumstances gave me a powerful feeling. It was a time to see what was necessary and what was not.” Nie można również zapomnieć o edukacji oraz jego zmaganiach z nauczaniem dzieci języka angielskiego. Pierwsza część książki w większości skupia się właśnie na tym. Widzimy jak głęboko zakorzeniony jest w nich język marszalski, jak ciężkich prób wymagały lekcje oraz cierpliwości samego autora, oraz to, jak momentami ciężko było mu porozumiewać się z mieszkańcami bez znajomości ich języka. Dlatego też książka przepełniona jest również ciekawostkami dotyczącymi sfer językoznawczych. Peter Rudiak-Gould, mając tę możliwość, zaczął uczyć się regionalnej mowy, z której mnóstwo wyrażeń zobaczymy też w omawianej tutaj książce. Z ciekawości weszłam na stronę autora, na której znalazłam podręcznik do nauki języka marszalskiego, z którego korzystały osoby wyjeżdżające w ramach tej samej działalności wolontariackiej. Dostęp do niego jest w zupełności darmowy i dostępny dla każdego. Nie ukrywam, że zrobiło to na mnie duże wrażenie. Aż człowiek chciałby się go nauczyć, dla siebie, po prostu z czystej ciekawości. „The most common phrase in every speech at every gathering was ippan doon: „together”. When I arrived on Ujae, this phrase was all I understood in speeches — but it was also the most important part.” Podsumowując, wiem, że ta recenzja jest być może jedną z najbardziej chaotycznych na stronie, lecz wynika to w głównej mierze z tego, jak bardzo jestem książką oczarowana. Uważam, że jest to jedna z najlepszych pozycji z literatury faktu, jaką do tej pory przyszło mi czytać. I choć została ona wydana jedynie po angielsku, będę zachęcać każdego, kto tylko interesuje się tematyką Australii i Oceanii, a w szczególności wysp Pacyfiku do tego, by po tę lekturę sięgnęli. Po cichu jednak liczę również na polski przekład, bo zdecydowanie warto.
Od czasu do czasu lubię sobie usiąść i przeglądać portale internetowe w poszukiwaniu ciekawych lektur. I choć najczęściej wybieram te, które znajdę po norwesku, tak momentami najdzie mnie ochota, by zobaczyć, czy nie ma czegoś ciekawego również po angielsku. No i właśnie ostatnio zobaczyłam „Surviving paradise. One Year on a Disappearing Island”, którą napisał Peter Rudiak-Gould. Jest to książka z gatunku literatury faktu. Narratorem w niej jest sam autor, który w roku 2003, w wieku dwudziestu jeden lat wyjechał na Wyspy Marshalla. Wyruszył tam w ramach wolontariatu organizowanego przez organizację pozarządową WorldTeach, by uczyć dzieci lokalnych mieszkańców języka angielskiego. Sama działalność non-profit miała na celu pomoc edukacyjną państwom rozwijającym się. Ciekawostką jest, że jednym z jej fundatorów jest Michael Kremer, który w roku 2019 zdobył Nagrodę Nobla w dziedzinie ekonomii. „I started easy. I showed my eighth graders a map of the world and asked them to point to their own country, the Pacific archipelago known as Marshall Islands. They couldn’t.” Autor książki opisuje w niej rok swojego życia spędzonego na jednej z wysp archipelagu — Ujae. Leży ona na zamieszkałym obecnie przez mniej więcej czterystu mieszkańców atolu o tej samej nazwie. Na początku lat dwutysięcznych dostęp do technologii, czy zwykłych udogodnień życia codziennego był utrudniony, lecz nie niemożliwy. Peter Rudiak-Gould opowiada nam swoją historię, poczynając od przylotu na wyspę Pacyfiku, a kończąc na powrocie w rodzinne strony do Stanów Zjednoczonych. Autor pokazuje nam w niej, jak wyglądało codzienne życie mieszkańców, z jakimi problemami musieli się zmagać podczas jego pobytu, jak wyglądał dostęp do edukacji oraz ich kultura. Wszystko to opatrzone jest jego refleksjami oraz ciekawostkami naukowymi dotyczącymi historii Wysp Marshalla, np. podczas II Wojny Światowej. Podoba mi się, że choć jego spostrzeżenia i opinie są dosyć wyraźne i nie ze wszystkim, z czym się zetknął podczas pobytu, się zgadza i to akceptuje, to nie ocenia tego pod względem zła czy dobra, jak i nie narzuca czytelnikowi swoich racji. Pozwala nam on otaczać się codziennością, pokazuje, w jaki sposób on spędzał czas, jak wyglądały relacje międzyludzkie oraz ogólne zasady panujące w tym małym społeczeństwie. Ukazuje nam absurdy społeczne, podejście ludzi do przybyszów, czy też jego relacje z ludnością, w momentach gdy uważany nie raz za tamtejszego celebrytę, nie raz robił za postrach najmłodszych dzieci. „Coming to Ujae had been an experiment in self-deprivation, and discovering that I could survive under those circumstances gave me a powerful feeling. It was a time to see what was necessary and what was not.” Nie można również zapomnieć o edukacji oraz jego zmaganiach z nauczaniem dzieci języka angielskiego. Pierwsza część książki w większości skupia się właśnie na tym. Widzimy jak głęboko zakorzeniony jest w nich język marszalski, jak ciężkich prób wymagały lekcje oraz cierpliwości samego autora, oraz to, jak momentami ciężko było mu porozumiewać się z mieszkańcami bez znajomości ich języka. Dlatego też książka przepełniona jest również ciekawostkami dotyczącymi sfer językoznawczych. Peter Rudiak-Gould, mając tę możliwość, zaczął uczyć się regionalnej mowy, z której mnóstwo wyrażeń zobaczymy też w omawianej tutaj książce. Z ciekawości weszłam na stronę autora, na której znalazłam podręcznik do nauki języka marszalskiego, z którego korzystały osoby wyjeżdżające w ramach tej samej działalności wolontariackiej. Dostęp do niego jest w zupełności darmowy i dostępny dla każdego. Nie ukrywam, że zrobiło to na mnie duże wrażenie. Aż człowiek chciałby się go nauczyć, dla siebie, po prostu z czystej ciekawości. „The most common phrase in every speech at every gathering was ippan doon: „together”. When I arrived on Ujae, this phrase was all I understood in speeches — but it was also the most important part.” Podsumowując, wiem, że ta recenzja jest być może jedną z najbardziej chaotycznych na stronie, lecz wynika to w głównej mierze z tego, jak bardzo jestem książką oczarowana. Uważam, że jest to jedna z najlepszych pozycji z literatury faktu, jaką do tej pory przyszło mi czytać. I choć została ona wydana jedynie po angielsku, będę zachęcać każdego, kto tylko interesuje się tematyką Australii i Oceanii, a w szczególności wysp Pacyfiku do tego, by po tę lekturę sięgnęli. Po cichu jednak liczę również na polski przekład, bo zdecydowanie warto.
November 30, 2020
I wanted Ujae to be my far-off paradise. Ujae wanted me to be its English teacher. So we married and we met, in that order. (10)
When Rudiak-Gould reached the island where he'd spend the next year, he set out on what felt like a daunting task: to walk all the way around the island.
45 minutes later, he'd completed the task.
The Marshall Islands have a population of roughly 58,000, spread over some 1,100 islands and islets. The capital city, Majuro, holds about half that population (look up pictures of Majuro—it's the sort of long and skinny that has one major road running through it, ten miles long, with water visible on both sides), but all the islands are remote enough that...well. As a very 2020 example of how remote the Marshall Islands are, the first COVID-19 cases didn't hit the Marshall Islands until late October.
As Rudiak-Gould describes it, the Marshall Islands are largely in a sort of limbo. Much of the country's income comes from US subsidies, and modern-day packaged food and the like have made the subsistence work of previous eras outdated in the Marshalls. Yet fishing and coconuts are still major parts of life, and the Marshallese are renowned for their skill with boats. Rudiak-Gould describes a weekend trip to other small islands, requiring hours in the boat, and it's striking how easily a comparison is drawn to, say, a weekend trip from city to country, in the US.
The importance of the outrigger was reflected in the Marshallese language as well. A mistress could be referred to as an outrigger, kubaak, and to say that one’s outrigger had sunk meant that one had returned to a place to find that one’s previous female prospects had all been married in the meantime. (107)
It must have been a disorienting year in many ways. Rudiak-Gould doesn't introduce any of the children he taught in any detail—treating them more, in the book, as a shifting throng—but he gradually built relationships with some of the adults, and he returns again and again to the complications of teaching. His students, who were roughly tweenagers could not locate the US on a map—nor could they locate the Marshall Islands. Many of the younger students could not conceive of a way of life that did not involve 'ocean side' and 'lagoon side—they'd been to Majuro, maybe, but not farther, and education in the Marshalls is lacking at best.
It ends up being pretty fascinating. Rudiak-Gould makes clear from the outset that he's not there to tell tales on the people he knew, instead preferring to ask why is this cultural difference what it is and exploring from there—lets everyone be more complex characters rather than being coloured by frustration or assumption. He touches on climate change (the subtitle, hello), but keeps any real discussion of it for the end, to allow the story to unfold naturally. It's a year I struggle to imagine (island life sounds so claustrophobic in some ways), but it kept me reading.
Bits and pieces:
I found it pleasant that a single phrase, yokwe eok, could mean “hello,” “goodbye,” “I love you,” or “I’m sorry for you.” The following dialogue could be real:
PERSON A: Iaar ba, “Yokwe eok. Ij yokwe eok,” ak lio eaar ba, “Yokwe eok.”
PERSON B: Yokwe eok.
It would mean:
PERSON A: I said, “Hello. I love you,” but she said, “Goodbye.”
PERSON B: I’m sorry. (56)
A note on the US diplomatic presence in the Marshall Islands: What was sad about these counterterrorism measures wasn't their excessiveness (the total cost had run well into the millions) or their moot value (the chance of terrorism in the Marshalls was vanishingly small). It was the fact that they failed even at their stated mission. The embassy had a metal detector but the international airport didn't. The ocean-side wall extended eighteen feet underground but only ten feet above ground. The fence prevented rockets from being shot through the bars but not over the bars. (151)
McDonaldization and the Marshallese no-rush philosophy had reached a compromise in a kiosk called Taco Bill’s Almost Fast Food. (I once dined there, and the advertising was not false: it was indeed almost fast.) (152)
It was a touching reminder of how small and close-knit this country was that, when somebody died, the national airline changed its flight schedule to allow the relatives to fly to the funeral on time. (223)
When Rudiak-Gould reached the island where he'd spend the next year, he set out on what felt like a daunting task: to walk all the way around the island.
45 minutes later, he'd completed the task.
The Marshall Islands have a population of roughly 58,000, spread over some 1,100 islands and islets. The capital city, Majuro, holds about half that population (look up pictures of Majuro—it's the sort of long and skinny that has one major road running through it, ten miles long, with water visible on both sides), but all the islands are remote enough that...well. As a very 2020 example of how remote the Marshall Islands are, the first COVID-19 cases didn't hit the Marshall Islands until late October.
As Rudiak-Gould describes it, the Marshall Islands are largely in a sort of limbo. Much of the country's income comes from US subsidies, and modern-day packaged food and the like have made the subsistence work of previous eras outdated in the Marshalls. Yet fishing and coconuts are still major parts of life, and the Marshallese are renowned for their skill with boats. Rudiak-Gould describes a weekend trip to other small islands, requiring hours in the boat, and it's striking how easily a comparison is drawn to, say, a weekend trip from city to country, in the US.
The importance of the outrigger was reflected in the Marshallese language as well. A mistress could be referred to as an outrigger, kubaak, and to say that one’s outrigger had sunk meant that one had returned to a place to find that one’s previous female prospects had all been married in the meantime. (107)
It must have been a disorienting year in many ways. Rudiak-Gould doesn't introduce any of the children he taught in any detail—treating them more, in the book, as a shifting throng—but he gradually built relationships with some of the adults, and he returns again and again to the complications of teaching. His students, who were roughly tweenagers could not locate the US on a map—nor could they locate the Marshall Islands. Many of the younger students could not conceive of a way of life that did not involve 'ocean side' and 'lagoon side—they'd been to Majuro, maybe, but not farther, and education in the Marshalls is lacking at best.
It ends up being pretty fascinating. Rudiak-Gould makes clear from the outset that he's not there to tell tales on the people he knew, instead preferring to ask why is this cultural difference what it is and exploring from there—lets everyone be more complex characters rather than being coloured by frustration or assumption. He touches on climate change (the subtitle, hello), but keeps any real discussion of it for the end, to allow the story to unfold naturally. It's a year I struggle to imagine (island life sounds so claustrophobic in some ways), but it kept me reading.
Bits and pieces:
I found it pleasant that a single phrase, yokwe eok, could mean “hello,” “goodbye,” “I love you,” or “I’m sorry for you.” The following dialogue could be real:
PERSON A: Iaar ba, “Yokwe eok. Ij yokwe eok,” ak lio eaar ba, “Yokwe eok.”
PERSON B: Yokwe eok.
It would mean:
PERSON A: I said, “Hello. I love you,” but she said, “Goodbye.”
PERSON B: I’m sorry. (56)
A note on the US diplomatic presence in the Marshall Islands: What was sad about these counterterrorism measures wasn't their excessiveness (the total cost had run well into the millions) or their moot value (the chance of terrorism in the Marshalls was vanishingly small). It was the fact that they failed even at their stated mission. The embassy had a metal detector but the international airport didn't. The ocean-side wall extended eighteen feet underground but only ten feet above ground. The fence prevented rockets from being shot through the bars but not over the bars. (151)
McDonaldization and the Marshallese no-rush philosophy had reached a compromise in a kiosk called Taco Bill’s Almost Fast Food. (I once dined there, and the advertising was not false: it was indeed almost fast.) (152)
It was a touching reminder of how small and close-knit this country was that, when somebody died, the national airline changed its flight schedule to allow the relatives to fly to the funeral on time. (223)
April 19, 2020
Peter Rudiak-Gould spent his 21st year of life as a volunteer English teacher at one of the most remote islands in the world. The island of Ujae is part of the Marshall Islands inhabited by around 450 people when he was there in 2004. It is also one of the flattest islands, hence the reference to the disappearing island in the title. Rudiak-Gould does not spend any part of the book except the epilogue discussing climate change, so the title is a bit misleading.
Peter initially decided to volunteer for teaching at such a remote place to explore a culture out of touch with the modern world. But Ujae is remote but not primitive. They don't have electricity all the time because it takes gas to run generators and gas is expensive. They don't have grocery stores, cars, or television on the island either. But they have videos of American movies, radios that play American music, and American subsidized food supplies that bring junk food occasionally. The Marshallese people of Ujae are a mix of ancient hunter gatherer fishermen who are prone to diabetes due to the adoption of a largely western diet. They are master canoe builders who can fish, sail, and swim as proficiently as their ancestors but they also listen to American pop music and wear the same clothes as people in America. The Marshallese people are also, due to the US poisoning some of their citizens when Bikini island was used as an atomic testing ground, allowed to immigrate to the US without restriction. So many of the people Peter lived among had relatives living in the US or in the capital city of the islands. It wasn't what he expected at all.
His story was fun to read because life on Ujae was very different than our lives are in the US and the Marshallese are culturally quite different. He had to learn their language since hardly any of the inhabitants spoke much English beyond rudimentary phrases. He learned to live where everyone resides on a third of a mile long island and there is little privacy. It was not what he expected but it was, in the end, an amazing 10 months that taught him as much about himself as it did about the people of Ujae.
Peter initially decided to volunteer for teaching at such a remote place to explore a culture out of touch with the modern world. But Ujae is remote but not primitive. They don't have electricity all the time because it takes gas to run generators and gas is expensive. They don't have grocery stores, cars, or television on the island either. But they have videos of American movies, radios that play American music, and American subsidized food supplies that bring junk food occasionally. The Marshallese people of Ujae are a mix of ancient hunter gatherer fishermen who are prone to diabetes due to the adoption of a largely western diet. They are master canoe builders who can fish, sail, and swim as proficiently as their ancestors but they also listen to American pop music and wear the same clothes as people in America. The Marshallese people are also, due to the US poisoning some of their citizens when Bikini island was used as an atomic testing ground, allowed to immigrate to the US without restriction. So many of the people Peter lived among had relatives living in the US or in the capital city of the islands. It wasn't what he expected at all.
His story was fun to read because life on Ujae was very different than our lives are in the US and the Marshallese are culturally quite different. He had to learn their language since hardly any of the inhabitants spoke much English beyond rudimentary phrases. He learned to live where everyone resides on a third of a mile long island and there is little privacy. It was not what he expected but it was, in the end, an amazing 10 months that taught him as much about himself as it did about the people of Ujae.
May 29, 2019
This is the story of the author who moved to Ujae in the Marshall Isands in his early 20s. He moved there with a World organization to teach English to the island children. He spent a year there with the 450 inhabitants of the island, learned the Marshallese language, and taught school.
He went to a tropical island and was met with the harsh reality of the life of the people on Ujae. He tells his whole story of what it was like to teach children who didn't want to learn (and lacked discipline at home that didn't involve physical abuse), live without modern conveniences (phone, car, store, even medical care) and no way to really communicate with the outside world. He also talks about everything he learned about the people who lived there - that they were all one big family who shared everything - even with a stranger like him; who were steeped in traditions but also longed for Western convenineces as well. He had a chance to stay on after a year, and chose not to. But he has returned 3 times to the island for further study since.
I thought this was a great book. First - it was very well written. He tells a wonderful story about the people there, about his experiences, and what we should all learn about the state of our world and the remote parts that we very seldom see. I am so glad I found this book, and I recommend you reading it. It was really good.
He went to a tropical island and was met with the harsh reality of the life of the people on Ujae. He tells his whole story of what it was like to teach children who didn't want to learn (and lacked discipline at home that didn't involve physical abuse), live without modern conveniences (phone, car, store, even medical care) and no way to really communicate with the outside world. He also talks about everything he learned about the people who lived there - that they were all one big family who shared everything - even with a stranger like him; who were steeped in traditions but also longed for Western convenineces as well. He had a chance to stay on after a year, and chose not to. But he has returned 3 times to the island for further study since.
I thought this was a great book. First - it was very well written. He tells a wonderful story about the people there, about his experiences, and what we should all learn about the state of our world and the remote parts that we very seldom see. I am so glad I found this book, and I recommend you reading it. It was really good.
September 30, 2021
I was already weighted toward liking this, because I spent a year teaching English (both writing and literature survey courses) on a small island in Micronesia. Kosrae is considerably bigger than Ujae, with actual stores and a much broader commercial structure, but yet so many of the cultural conundrums that Rudiak-Gold describes here were accurate for me.
I was alternately puzzled, astounded, taken aback, shamed, delighted and shaken by the differences between the US and Micronesia, on matters of food, relations between men, women and children, safety, privacy, religion, attitude and so much more. Kosrae is striking in the same ways as Ujae for its coral reefs and magnificent underwater experiences, and for its challenging subsistence living, and dependence on the US.
My most difficult experiences were as a teacher, because even though I was teaching at the junior college level, the students were essentially silent, even when directly addressed. Even by a friendly guy like me. Regardless, the book had me laughing out loud at the same kind of experiences I had over and over on the island.
I was alternately puzzled, astounded, taken aback, shamed, delighted and shaken by the differences between the US and Micronesia, on matters of food, relations between men, women and children, safety, privacy, religion, attitude and so much more. Kosrae is striking in the same ways as Ujae for its coral reefs and magnificent underwater experiences, and for its challenging subsistence living, and dependence on the US.
My most difficult experiences were as a teacher, because even though I was teaching at the junior college level, the students were essentially silent, even when directly addressed. Even by a friendly guy like me. Regardless, the book had me laughing out loud at the same kind of experiences I had over and over on the island.
April 12, 2020
A slow start to the author's year as a volunteer with World Teach, based on one of the Marshall Islands in the South Pacific. He didn't cope well with his initial disappointment at a less than enthusiastic welcome, and then at the state of the school and lack of enthusiasm of his students. Even after making friends and learning the language, he often felt excluded because no one told him about major events on the island.
The tone of the book becomes a bit more positive, and more informative, when he describes the election campaign, and the policies of the main parties, discussing the fate of the island and people of Bikini after its use as a nuclear testing ground, and the dangers that global warming is likely to make the low, flat island of Ujea, where he was based, uninhabitable. He still found life on the isalnd "more interesting than pleasurable". After finishing the year, he returns as an anthropolgist, writing a doctoral thesis on public perceptions of climate change on the islands.
The tone of the book becomes a bit more positive, and more informative, when he describes the election campaign, and the policies of the main parties, discussing the fate of the island and people of Bikini after its use as a nuclear testing ground, and the dangers that global warming is likely to make the low, flat island of Ujea, where he was based, uninhabitable. He still found life on the isalnd "more interesting than pleasurable". After finishing the year, he returns as an anthropolgist, writing a doctoral thesis on public perceptions of climate change on the islands.
September 4, 2019
This was a different take on the Sex Lives of Cannibals type of tropical-island disillusionment genre - but it was just as entertaining. Unlike J. Maarten Troost's somewhat lighthearted, slightly cynical, and kava-drenched tales, this one is told from the viewpoint of a bay-area hipster who signs on to teach English (with no teaching experience) at one of the most neglected schools on one of the most remote islands of an already remote archipelago.
Sounds kinda groan-inducing, huh? Actually, it's not - and as the book progresses you realize why things he did or thought, that at first seemed annoyingly naive or idealistic, were actually warranted. He brings you to the realization that cultures differ, societal norms differ, and it is just as reckless to try to force those norms on others as it would be for them to force theirs on you. I'm over-simplifying the message - not that this book contains a hit-you-over-the-head preachy tone... it's just that he's able to lay this out through the tales of his own experiences on the island and use those stories as a way better vehicle to get that sentiment across than I was able to in one paragraph without trying to give any spoilers away.
Sounds kinda groan-inducing, huh? Actually, it's not - and as the book progresses you realize why things he did or thought, that at first seemed annoyingly naive or idealistic, were actually warranted. He brings you to the realization that cultures differ, societal norms differ, and it is just as reckless to try to force those norms on others as it would be for them to force theirs on you. I'm over-simplifying the message - not that this book contains a hit-you-over-the-head preachy tone... it's just that he's able to lay this out through the tales of his own experiences on the island and use those stories as a way better vehicle to get that sentiment across than I was able to in one paragraph without trying to give any spoilers away.
January 6, 2018
While I did enjoy Rudiak's account of his stay in the Marshall Islands, it made definitely clear that being an educated native English speaker doesn't make an English teacher. Fortunately, Rudiak recognizes this early on, and wonders multiple times why he is there, and what his being there will really mean for the inhabitants of Ujae island. And for himself.
His interest in anthropology, native legends and the Marshallese language make for an interesting read. But with him, I wondered many times why he was there. And why we keep sending young native English speakers to all corners of the world to teach children English.
His interest in anthropology, native legends and the Marshallese language make for an interesting read. But with him, I wondered many times why he was there. And why we keep sending young native English speakers to all corners of the world to teach children English.
July 26, 2020
This travelogue really rang true for me. I've also spent a fair amount of time (though nowhere near that of the author) sitting around remote islands across the Pacific and I'm a fellow Bay Area native around the same age, so there were enough touchpoints where this could've gone wrong. Instead, I really enjoyed it! Gould is likable and real: sometimes he's the archetype of the cocky 20-something backpacker but he knows it, and his ability to step back and really see his interactions with the society around him was refreshing and humorous. I also loved learning about Marshallese society.
April 13, 2023
There were a few times I felt like this was a bit insensitive, but in the end I enjoyed this author's story of time spent teaching on a remote Marshallese island. He didn't sugarcoat the parts of this experience he found hard, but he did also come to understand and feel real affection toward the island and its people. I also enjoyed some of the language he included, am going to write a few down to ask my own Marshallese acquaintances if that is right and try to add it to my vocabulary.
June 3, 2024
As an American expat living here in the Republic of the Marshall Islands twice now, I can say this book was a fantastic depiction of the many nuances often lost between American and Marshallese cultures. The author did a great job bringing the sweetness of that tension together and filling in the blanks of the differences in cultures on a deeper level. It was both honest and full of affection and respect. The RMI has a special place in my heart, and this book captures the "why" so well.
July 29, 2017
Many, many interesting and funny insights about living in a foreign country, an island, volunteering as an English teacher. The author has the advantage of being a student of anthropology, and I could almost see him sorting through and typing up his field notes for this book. I enjoyed the book a lot.
October 21, 2023
Marshall Islands. These islands are known as ground zero for our nuclear testing during the Cold War. The author spent one year living on Ujae, an atoll with 450 people, teaching English to the children of the island.
May 10, 2021
could not get into it
September 29, 2022
Marshall Islands - Round the world reading challenge. Very insightful.
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