≫ PDF My Holiday in North Korea The Funniest/Worst Place on Earth Wendy Simmons 9780795347047 Books

My Holiday in North Korea The Funniest/Worst Place on Earth Wendy Simmons 9780795347047 Books

Download As PDF : My Holiday in North Korea The Funniest/Worst Place on Earth Wendy Simmons 9780795347047 Books

My Holiday in North Korea The Funniest/Worst Place on Earth Wendy Simmons 9780795347047 Books

This book is funny for sure. But I'm a bit worried about her two "minders" and if they will suffer any repercussions as a result of this book. Although she didn't identify them by name I'm sure the NKs can figure out who these women were easily enough. Really don't know why anyone would risk their freedom going to North Korea but I guess if you get a book out of it - okay. Aside from being entertained by Wendy's humorous writing style, I didn't really learn anything new about North Korea. There's a fine line between laughing at someone and laughing with someone and it seemed to me Wendy wasn't too sure where that line was. Sure, it's a light and funny quick read. But since it's written on the backs of 24 million captive brain-washed humans - er, not so sure if I should be laughing or crying.


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My Holiday in North Korea The Funniest/Worst Place on Earth Wendy Simmons 9780795347047 Books Reviews

Wendy Simmons has traveled the world but has never made it to the closed country of North Korea, until now. Being a foreigner in North Korea is strange enough, but being an "American Imperialist" is a whole different story. As she tours the country with an array of "handlers" that both guide her around the sights and translate for her, she is subjected to the same anti-American propaganda that the North Koreans themselves are subjected to, lied to at every turn, and paraded around from empty amusement park to empty soccer stadium to empty food factory to empty hospital with little to no electricity, no running water, and no idea what's going on. Packed with loads of pictures from the suppressed country, humor, and insight, My Holiday in North Korea offers a rare glimpse into a country that few tourists will ever experience.

Most complaints from other reviewers focus on Wendy Simmons' attitude during her travels, and I have to admit, it was pretty glaring to me, too, as I was reading Wendy is kind of a bitch. Then again, as another "American Imperialist," I have to say that I get it. I mean, this is a country that brainwashes their citizens from birth to hate everything about us. They're incessantly lied to, suppressed, and left to starve while their failed political system is touted as "the greatest country on earth." Wendy steps into this country and while her guides are telling her how awful the Americans are and force-feeding her the same false propaganda they've heard all their lives, she's standing there questioning, "Why aren't there patients at this hospital? Why do you confiscate all the twins and triplets born in this country and hide them away in state-run orphanages? Why are the schoolchildren so miserable? Why isn't there running water? Where are the books in this library? Where are the stores? How do people buy groceries? " While most have criticized her attitude towards the North Koreans as being insensitive and rude, and I agree, I have to say that given the favorable way she describes the rest of her world travels and the unique situation of North Korea being pretty damn crazy, her unfavorable attitude towards the North Koreans is probably a one-off thing. I tried to not get bogged down by it and actually found a lot of her commentary funny, given the ludicrosity of her circumstances. Even in my own experiences, where I was taking classes in the Middle East and the professor told me that a woman is worth 1/4 of a man, I couldn't help my American attitude escaping and shutting that argument down.

Lately I've been super interested in North Korea and have read a lot of fascinating books about the harrowing escapes of some of their citizens, but this book brought a new look at the country from a tourist's perspective, and I found myself highly entertained. There were many, many pictures included in the book, too, that I found absolutely fascinating. I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a funny travel memoir (maybe along the lines of Chelsea Handler's Uganda Be Kidding Me) and isn't easily offended.
Having lived in Asia more than a decade, and being married to a Korean, I was hoping for something funny, but a lot more respectful. The author is absolutely disrespectful to her handlers, mocking North Korea, it's culture, and the fact that the North Korean people have no ability to do anything about it. At the end of the book, the author talks about how she is so much more empathetic than most people, and so much more able to intuit what's going on in situations, but throughout the book she displayed her inability to understand Korean culture and was utterly disrespectful and unemphatic towards the flight of her driver and the handlers. Asians will quickly overlook a small offense. And the author wonders why the driver won't forgive her. The slap she gives the driver at the end, was obviously the straw that broke the camel's back. I would not have had as much patience for the author, as did this poor driver.

Despite the fact that she has supposedly traveled to so many countries, she obviously doesn't understand Asian societies. Never would anyone ask disrespectful questions or questions which might shame the people out their culture, yet this is what she does repeatedly throughout her 10 day trip. So much so, that her driver refused to even acknowledge her when she left. She talks about the"playful" banter they shared, but this"playful banter"doesn't exist in most Asian societies. Instead, she continuously caused her driver to lose face in front of his co-workers. No wonder he wouldn't even acknowledge her when she left. She also says how he refused to hug her--- a simple thing she would have understood, most Asians don't hug, especially Koreans and especially not with friends, let alone acquaintances!!!

Despite painting herself as a fine Jewish woman, practically every page had the F word, or something along those lines. The book should be marked as having explicit language.

She says she intuitively "gets" what's happening, faster than her friends, but it's obvious, to someone understanding Asian culture, that she had no idea what was going on, most of her trip. Throughout the book you see her drawing quick inferences about what's happening, and then proceeds too judge these poor repressed people ruthlessly. She was obviously dealing with culture stress, and taking it out on her handlers and the driver.

Her handlers we're giving her clues as to what they "had to tell her," yet she continues to mock then incessantly. She points out to them everything that's wrong about their country. Then she wonders why they are rude with her. In other cases she talks about interactions with sales people, or other situations and she's equally blind to the cultural aspect.

I was absolutely furious with this woman, who gave Americans a terribly bad name, towards the end of the book.
Trips to North Korea are very unusual. Even the famous Vice magazine was unable to get there through normal diplomatic channels (ended up bribing the Chinese). The story author, rather than give a look into a closed society, makes pointless quip after quip. For example

"I remember thinking it was more time than a typical American vacation but less than the twelve to fifteen weeks before puppies are fully vaccinated and finally allowed to go to the dog park to play."

If you want a travelogue with nonsense like the above, filled with snark and sarcasm where its impossible to tell what actually happened, and think the above statement is clever, buy this book. Otherwise, avoid is, because the writer is more concerned with interjecting her nonsense than actually telling story.
This book is funny for sure. But I'm a bit worried about her two "minders" and if they will suffer any repercussions as a result of this book. Although she didn't identify them by name I'm sure the NKs can figure out who these women were easily enough. Really don't know why anyone would risk their freedom going to North Korea but I guess if you get a book out of it - okay. Aside from being entertained by Wendy's humorous writing style, I didn't really learn anything new about North Korea. There's a fine line between laughing at someone and laughing with someone and it seemed to me Wendy wasn't too sure where that line was. Sure, it's a light and funny quick read. But since it's written on the backs of 24 million captive brain-washed humans - er, not so sure if I should be laughing or crying.