If you were marooned on a small island, what would you want to have with you? I've come up with the only food I would require, the five books I'd take with me, and so on. And hopefully I'll never be marooned with or without these things. But there's something a little romantic about daydreaming about no longer being tied to all our (unnecessary) material possessions and to the always-on digital world we live in these days, right? It might be thoughts like this that inspires some people to sign up to volunteer for organizations like the Peace Corps or WorldTeach but as Peter Rudiak-Gould makes clear in his book Surviving Paradise: One Year on a Disappearing Island, the reality is far more complicated than it seems, especially if you are marooned inside a whole different culture.

Rudiak-Gould signed up with WorldTeach after he graduated from college and asked to be assigned to a truly remote place. He got his wish. Not only are the Marshall Islands remote as a whole, but he was sent to tiny Ujae (1/3 square mile), one of the most remote of the islands in the island chain. He faced culture shock on a grand scale. There to teach English, very few, if any of his students or their families placed much import on education. And he didn't walk into the expected traditional culture but into an uneasy amalgam of the traditional and modern imported American culture. But this is not just a memoir of his experiences living so remotely, it is an examination of his own cultural biases, sometimes embracing them, sometimes pushing against them, but always accepting them and yearning to get back to the familiar.

The personal anecdotes of this memoir and anthropological tale were more interesting than the generalizations, which inclined to more descriptive than active. There's actually quite little about his experience in the classroom and teaching here, as if that was of little importance in his year--and maybe it was given the islanders' attitudes toward school but it seems odd in a memoir of his time teaching on the island. It is clear how much Rudiak-Gould comes to care for some of the people he meets even if he never quite comes to grips with certain aspects of their culture. In fact, learning such a different culture from his own makes him reflect all the more on how much he himself is a product of American culture. Interspersed with his own experiences are musings on the phrasings and the language of the islands, the curious customs, and the structure of the society, of which the foreign teacher will never truly be a part. He tells his tale with humor and frustration and finishes up with a look at the very real danger the islands face from rising sea waters. It sounds as if Rudiak-Gould values his experience with on Ujae but that he wouldn't be so very quick to sign up for another round, even as he wants to protect this unique place before it is gone forever. Armchair travelers and those who enjoy peeks at other cultures will enjoy reading this one. ( )

Learn from this book. Surviving Paradise is not a travel writer’s book or a travelogue as another critic calls it. If you try to read it as such you might be disappointed. It is much more: Peter Rudiak-Gould is a warm-hearted, amazingly mature young author who really tries to understand this far-away culture and his own reactions to it. Every cultural clash begins with a new insight into who we are, how we were conditioned, even brain-washed by our own culture. Everybody who has lived in a culture as different from ours as, say, that of the Marshall Islands knows about the frustrations, misunderstandings, puzzlements, and embarrassing self-deceptions that will inevitably befall us if we are capable of self-reflection. At the same time the author was able to open his heart and mind to the people who welcomed him as one of themselves – whether he wanted it or not. If you are planning to get involved with a foreign culture for a longer period, read this book; it will prepare you for how to deal wisely with the situation and grow. If you prefer to stay at home, read this book; it will provide you with more realistic insights than many a travelogue. As a writer Peter Rudiak-Gould is the opposite of grumpy Paul Theroux. I like and admire them both, I learn more from the younger author. And he is an amazingly good writer. ( )

Picked up from the library because it was set in Ujae, Marshall Islands for the states reading challenge. Peter, a newly minted teacher, accepts an assignment to teach English on the tropical island of Ujae. Paradise, right? Not quite. Old culture clashing with western culture on an isolated island. The islanders still spearfish...with modern materials making the spears. There's no truly keeping time, and no reason to really learn anything - so maybe the kids come to class, or maybe not. The supply boat comes once every few months, and the single plane arrives once/week maybe; with weight limits. The island is 70 miles from the nearest telephone, car or store. But, although the islanders are given stipends from the government, due to the nuclear testing on their islands during the cold war, what are they going to spend the money on? The book was very good describing his year on the island, and how he navigated his way back from island time to the western world. But skip the last chapter, which preaches about global warming and the effect on the island chain. ( )

Peter Rudiak-Gould signed up with the WorldTeach volunteer organization and chose to spend a year teaching English in one of the most remote locations on the globe: The Marshall Islands. Not only that, but he picked one of the most remote atolls and islands in the country at which to teach: Ujae.

In the first chapters he relates the many ways he experienced culture shock, from his lack of comprehension of the language, to his puzzlement with how the islanders distanced themselves from him. As he got to know the islanders more, he found that he admired them in some ways, yet there were also things that they did (like how they treated their children) which were quite offensive to him. He was also surprised to find that although Ujae is remote, it is not untouched by modern culture.

I personally liked how he went delved into the complexities of the language, and the unique expressions that can be found in Marshallese, some of which express very complex ideas in a short word. There are a lot of fun and interesting definitions given in the book. But the linguistics is really only a small part of the book. The bulk of Surviving Paradise deals with Peter's struggles to come to terms with the differences between his culture and that of the people of Ujae.

This is an enjoyable and educational memoir about The Marshall Islands, the Marshallese, and one man's attempt to learn about the people, try to fit in with them, and educate them all at the same time. It is filled entertaining stories, most of which are the kind that would make you thank God that you weren't the one in those situations, but others are filled with the beauty of the land and the people.

( )

Peter Rudiak-Gould is twenty one years old, fresh from teacher's college, when he decides to be a volunteer English teacher for a year on Ujae. Ujae is part of the Marshall Islands - a very tiny part - 1/3 of a square mile to be exact. And the school - officially one of the worst in the Pacific.

"...an idea that there was a place so far from everything, so tiny and little known, where men still fished with spears and women still healed with jungle medicine. It was a place unknown and therefore, maybe, perfect...I wanted Ujae to be my far-off paradise."

When Peter steps foot on the atoll, his dream collides with reality. He is not greeted with a welcoming committee as he had imagined. As he settles in for his first night with his host family - "I considered my situation. I was already lonely to the point of physical pain. I had been ignored and welcomed, avoided and stared at, indulged and deprived. All I had learned was that I knew nothing."

I think I really enjoyed this book because of Rudiak-Gould's complete honesty in writing it. Having exposed his naivete in the first two chapters he goes on to candidly document both his observations, feelings and emotions for the remainder of his year. (Yes he lasts the entire year!)

Marshallese society is much different than the North American version Peter grew up with. Children are pretty much on their own from age 4 on. Schooling is not given great importance - this is quite frustrating to Peter. Interaction between child and parent is limited. Indeed, Peter is the only adult who plays with the children. Elders are revered. Peter is being treated well by the Ujae people, but because it differs from his North American expectations, it takes him a bit to figure out the social nuances of social interaction.

"Living in another country had finally made me realize how much I was a product of my own country."

He perseveres and participates in fishing expeditions, festivals, makes friends and learns to speak and write the Marshallese language. (He has since written a Marshallese language textbook)

As for the subtitle? Ujae atoll is in danger of being swamped by the raising ocean levels. Indeed global warming is a threat to much of the Marshall Islands. Rudiak-Gould is currently working on his doctoral thesis, studying indigenous reactions to the threat of climate change.

Surviving Paradise is by turns hilarious, heartbreaking, educational, but above all eye opening. I thoroughly enjoyed this memoir! ( )