Barbara's Product Reviews & Giveaways

November 22, 2011 11:03 AM

The Immigrant Advantage

[Tenney, Charlene, Lady Lovas, mm, and Julie are the winners of this giveaway. Thanks to all who entered! And thanks to Free Press for sponsoring it! You can find The Immigrant Advantageat Amazon.]

When I lived in California, I went through a period in the early '80s of having my nails done at a little place called Three Sisters in San Rafael.  Over time, I heard the story of the Vietnamese family whose father had escaped troubled times on a tiny boat and made his way to the United States, where he worked hard, put himself through beauty school, worked harder - then one by one, sent money for each of his daughters and his wife to join him in the land of opportunity.

The family worked 7 days a week, 10-12 hour days.  Besides their own salon, they had bought a house - in Marin County, one of the most expensive places to live in the US.  Then one by one, they arranged to marry off their daughters, showing off the photo albums with pride

I was fascinated by their story and - given the huge difference between their work ethic/character/customs and ours - felt like they had a lot to teach us about families, purposefulness and success.

Fast forward 30 years and you might understand why when I was offered a chance to review The Immigrant Advantage: What We Can Learn from Newcomers to America about Health, Happiness and Hope I was excited by the idea that someone had taken the time to find out more about our incredibly gifted immigrant population and to pass on their time-honored customs for our consideration:

THE IMMIGRANT ADVANTAGE What We Can Learn from Newcomers to America about Health, Happiness, and Hope By Claudia Kolker

Can Vietnamese money clubs teach us to be more trusting with our friends?

Can the Mexican cuarentena (forty days of rest for a new mother) help reduce post-partum depression?

And would you let your parents help you select your future spouse as with a South Asian assisted marriage?

In The Immigrant Advantage: What We Can Learn from Newcomers to America about Health, Happiness and Hope, award-winning journalist Claudia Kolker proposes we try some of these customs and find out ourselves.

According to "the immigrant paradox," discovered by social scientists, first generation immigrants in the U.S. tend to be healthier than the average American, and the customs they bring with them may be one reason for this. With immigration such a polarizing issue, Kolker adds to the conversation by illustrating how the presence and influence of immigrants can be beneficial to us. Kolker's extensive research and reporting took her across the country, witnessing these customs in action and even trying some herself.

In addition to experiencing the customs above, she visits Korean and Chinese afterschools, West Indian multigenerational households in New Jersey, Chicago's "Little Village" - a Mexican enclave with extraordinarily low rates of asthma, and signs up for Vietnamese Monthly Rice, the delivery of inexpensive home-cooked meals right to one's door, in Houston.

In THE IMMIGRANT ADVANTAGE, Kolker introduces seven customs, dedicating each chapter to exploring one of those practices. Kolker takes readers into the living rooms, kitchens, and restaurants of immigrant families to bring these customs to life, allowing us to experience them in an intimate way and to hear about their benefits in the words of the first and second generation immigrants who practice them.

What she discovers makes a gripping case that some of America's smartest ideas - and best reminders of our own core values - now reside with our country's newcomers.

• How to Save - Vietnamese Money Clubs can help us to financially plan for vacations, taxes, even weddings and college tuition
• How to Mother a Mother - The Mexican cuarentena may help buffer against post-partum depression and encourages mother-child bonding
• How to Court - Could South Asian assisted marriage be the perfect balance between old-school parental oversight and modern freedom of choice?
• How to Learn - The myth of the "model minority" and the power of Korean and Chinese afterschools
• How to Shelter - The social and financial benefits of living in a Jamaican multigenerational household
• How to be a Good Neighbor - Hanging out on the stoop or the corner in barrios fosters social bonds that might explain why some of the poorest immigrant communities have some of the best health outcomes
• How to Eat - Delivery of Vietnamese Monthly Rice helps relieves the stress of having to cook a meal after a long day of work and allows more time for families to spend at the dinner table

These customs are unfamiliar to most Americans, but they shouldn't be. Honed over centuries, Kolker found, these practices actually provide solutions to challenges that Americans face every day. Not only can they help save money, make time for a family meal, and support a college education - they may even help fend off disease, finance home ownership, and build a buffer from the physical and psychological assaults of poverty.

Love,

Posted in Books | Permalink

Comments

Sounds fun!

Posted by: Jessi | November 23, 2011 6:18 AM

This book sounds fascinating.

Posted by: Newt | November 23, 2011 9:17 AM

Sounds like an interesting read

Posted by: Maureen | November 23, 2011 9:48 AM

Sounds like a good read.

Posted by: Karen Lewis | November 24, 2011 4:17 PM

You feature some of the most interesting books - I would love to read this one!

Posted by: Sheila | November 24, 2011 6:59 PM

Sounds like an interesting book.

Posted by: Cheryl | November 25, 2011 9:00 PM

I am from Brazil and South American culture is completely different from North American one. But I have noticed that it too is changing and I think it's because people are distancing themselves from God and a conservative way of thinking and embracing technology and materialism.

This book sounds fascinating. would love to read it!!

Ps there is a Chinese restaurant in my town. The wife is there 7 days a week, The husband is an engineer and works at a plant in a nearby city and makes a good living, but every night and weekend here is there helping in the kitchen cooking and serving. Their only son is currently in Chicago doing his residency in orthopedics, but we know he is in town because he is in the restaurant serving and cleaning tables. These are wealthy people not only because they have money but because they value each other and their time and service/ work to the community. Oh, did I mention they are immigrants from China? One year they closed during Christmas time for a short trip (5 days) to China so she could visit her dying mother. I asked her "why don't you stay longer?" Her answer was that she couldn't stay closed longer. She doesn't need to work to live but she is providing food for a community and jobs for many other immigrant Chinese people. She has a sense of work, tradition and value that most people lack completely.

Posted by: tereza crump aka MyTreasuredCreations | November 27, 2011 3:51 PM

What a fascinating idea for a book. I'd love to read it. Thanks!

Posted by: Lucy | November 27, 2011 10:25 PM

This topic has always interested me. Thanks for the opportunity!

Posted by: Julie | November 30, 2011 10:37 AM

This sounds like a great book !

Posted by: dee | November 30, 2011 1:45 PM

Please enter me in the drawing. Thanks.

Posted by: Kathryn Judson | November 30, 2011 2:55 PM

Sounds interesting and I come from a family of immigrants myself, thanks!

Posted by: mm | November 30, 2011 5:19 PM

This looks like an interesting book, with lots of great ideas we could take for our own lives. When my oldest kids were born, our midwives encouraged us to take a "babymoon" - time to just stay home and be served by others. If someone offered to help out, they told us to just say yes! I never knew this was a custom anywhere outside their midwifery practice!

Posted by: Patty | November 30, 2011 5:46 PM

Growing up in Mexico, I can relate to the short review of the book. There are so many great things that our home countries and cultures taught us, but I feel like we are losing some of that knowledge. This would be a great read!

Posted by: LadyLovas | November 30, 2011 7:15 PM

Sounds interesting!

Posted by: Marisa | November 30, 2011 7:45 PM

this could be quite interested for me as our oldest son is dating a new immigrant from the philippines.

Posted by: Charlene | November 30, 2011 8:36 PM

Looks like a fascinating book!

Posted by: Addie | November 30, 2011 8:54 PM

You have piqued my interest.

Posted by: Michele Mom of 8 | November 30, 2011 9:51 PM

As I have explored other cultures, I've seen so many reasons for us in America to learn from other ways. I'd love to read this book to find out more.

Posted by: Tenney Singer | December 1, 2011 1:08 PM

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