Introduction
George Mikes is a Hungarian artist, author, publisher, illustrator and journalist. These excerpts are from ‘The Land of the Rising Yen'’ and ‘How To Tango’. Here he writes about his travelling experiences from two different places of the world, Japan and Brazil.
Travel writing is about writing one’s experiences of travelling and visiting alien places. Travel writing has become very popular as more people have begun to explore new places on the globe. Though much of the earth has been explored, and almost everything has been written about, the popularity of travel writing is still growing. There are exclusive channels on travel and the influence of new media has further increased its popularity. The travel narratives are telling comments on how a culture gets represented by another.
Theme / Summary
Japanese Manners / Courtesy - substitute privacy
The writer observes that Japanese are well-mannered people. They respect one another’s privacy immensely. Courtesy has a double function there: it is courtesy and it is a substitute for privacy. They conduct their most confidential business transactions, their love-quarrels in public in perfect privacy.
Bowing
Everybody in Japan keeps bowing to everybody else. It’s a mania. Bowing is quainter; more formal, more oriental and infectious too. Japanese have a complicated hierarchy in bowing: who bows to whom, how deeply and for how long. Though a little complicated to us, they manage it effortlessly. Even the smallest difference in rank, standing, age, social position will be subtly reflected in that split second.
The wife bows to her husband, the child bows to his father, younger brothers to elder brothers, and the sister bows to all brothers of whatever age. The writer notes that despite their distinct manners, Japanese can turn into savages as soon as the bus arrives. They push each other, tread and shove to grab their seats.
Eating Soup
One must make a fearful noise while eating soup in Japan, for it is a sign of appreciation. It must be according to the expected levels of approval or it is thought to be an example of ill manners.
Brazilians’ sense of beauty / Traffic in Brazil
Life in Brazil looks slow paced to the writer. He appreciates their aesthetic sense in decorating the grey pavements in Copacabana with beautiful black mosaics. But the same leisurely characters speed madly when they get to the steering wheel. They are highly passionate about cars, though motor cars are extremely expensive. As soon as a driver notices a pedestrian step off the pavement, he targets him and accelerates in a fair game. The pedestrian has to run for dear life. It’s a driver and pedestrian - hunter and prey game. They smile at each other amicably and move on. Even the war between the drivers is murderous but good tempered. There is no anger, no hostility, no mad hooting. The writer humorously mentions the worst traffic scenario on Avenida Presidente Vargas. It's as if one can not cross to the other side of the busy road. However, life moves on.
Conclusion
George Mikes by sharing with us his experiences of being in two different countries from two remote parts of the world shows how unique people are with their distinct culture and manners. Moreover, the importance of travelling is manifest through this piece.
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