One is eager to find purpose and the other doesn't seem to give a damn. Thomas and Daniel are different, make no mistake, but can one be bad, the other good? I'm not sure- because there were things about both of them that were unappealing. It's more than just a language barrier, it's the very marrow of having grown up with traditions that can't be learned from a simple book. My own experience, from having lived in Japan- because western culture sometimes seems alien by comparison, I can well relate to misunderstandings and feeling lost in a foreign setting.
The knowledge I have of teaching in foreign countries also came from him and another Uncle- stories galore about culture clashes. The only knowledge I have about China has come from literature and my Uncle (professor of anthropology who sadly passed away recently) who traveled there. This book could be called the beauty of idealism or the death of it.
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