THE WEST MEETS THE EAST From a car to a bicycle, a handshake to a bow, and a fork to chopsticks?! This book chronicles T.A. Hyman’s experience of living and studying in Japan, while pursuing a master’s degree at one of Asia’s top universities—a complete 180-degree turn in culture. This book gives her first-hand account, often comical, of adjusting to a new way of living and grappling with culture shock, 8000 miles away from her home town in Jamaica. That experience forced her to learn more about herself and find her true identity as a black woman. Like many westerners, her experience of eating with chopsticks for the first time aptly represents her time in Japan—very difficult in the beginning but, after some time, mastery comes. Let her take you on a journey—from the moment she arrives in Japan—adapts, then abruptly departs due to the terror of the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake, and resultant nuclear disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi Power Plant.