Love in a Strange Place

What do you think of the concept of love at first

sight?
Is it possible to fall in fall in love with someone even
if you don’t share a common language or culture?
What do you think of romantic relationships between
people from different countries? Do you think they
are doomed to fail? Explain.
Japanese A yunomi (Japanese: 湯のみ ) is
Teacup a form of teacup, typically made
from a ceramic material, being
taller than wide, with a trimmed
or turned foot. Unlike the more
formal chawan tea bowl which is
used during the Japanese tea
ceremony, the yunomi is made for
daily (or informal) tea drinking.
 Japanese silk is silk
Japanese Silk harvested in the country of
Japan. The silk industry
there was predominant
from the 1800s to 1950s,
but is less common now.
 Samurai were members of the
Samurai military class and Japanese
warriors.
They used a lot of different
tools in battle such as bows
and arrows or spear, but their
most famous weapon was the
sword.
 The word kimono literally
Kimono translates as "thing to wear", and
up until the 19th century it was
the main form of dress worn by
men and women alike in Japan.
Traditionally, the art of assembling
the kimono was passed on from
mother to daughter.
 japanese house In
with rice paper traditional Japanese architectu
panels re, a shōji is a door, window or
room divider consisting of
translucent paper over a frame
of wood which holds together
a lattice of wood or bamboo.
 Japan is the act of lowering
Bow one's head or the upper part of
the torso, commonly used as a
sign of salutation, reverence,
apology or gratitude in social
or religious situations.
Historically, ojigi was closely
affiliated with the samurai.
Silkworms Beautiful silk thread produced
from spinning 
Silkworm cocoons. Photo from
Kodansha Encyclopedia.
Raising Silkworms in Japan.
Raising silkworms,
or sericulture, is a traditional
side crop for Japanese farm
families.
 They buy a supply of silkworm
silkworm eggs eggs or produce them from the
previous year's crop. The eggs are
placed on large, flat trays and
usually kept in the warm
farmhouse attic. When
the eggs hatch, the family picks
mulberry leavs and feeds
the silkworms, which each
voraciously as they grow.
Silk by Alessandro Baricco
Silk is a 1996 novel by the Italian writer Alessandro Baricco. It was translated into
English in 1997 by Guido Waldman. A new English translation by Ann Goldstein
was published in 2006.
Originally published: 1996
Author: Alessandro Baricco
Pages: 100 pp (First edition, hardcover)
Genre: Novel
Original title: Seta
Publisher: RCS MediaGroup
 is an Italian writer, director and performer.
His novels have been translated into a wide
number of languages. He currently lives in
Alessandro Rome with his wife and two sons.
Baricco Born: 25 January 1958 (age 61 years), Turin,
Italy
Spouse: Barbara Frandino
Movies: The Legend of 1900, Silk, Lecture
21, Novecento
Awards: Prix Médicis étranger
It was a novel by Alessandro Baricco an Italian writer in 1996. It was translated
into English by Guido Waldman in 1997. A new English translation by 
Ann Goldstein was published in 2006.
The story takes place in Japan when they had just open their country to
foreigners.
The main character or the protagonist is Herve Joncour, a French Adventurer. He
has a dangerous mission to smuggle silkworm eggs from Japan. It was very hard
for him to accomplish his mission, because at that time bringing silkworm eggs
outside of Japan was considered a crime.
The excerpt that we had is just a conversation between Herve and Hara.
They are talking about the silkworm eggs. In their conversation, Herve offered Hara the
golds he have just to give him the real silk worm eggs. But according to Hara he can only
get what he want if Herve leaves their island. But Herve insisted that he can only do that
if he can get out of that Island alive and he can give all the gold that Hara wants.
All of the narration is presented in the third person’s point of view.
In our opinion this excerpt shows about how the people trade with each other, and Hara
symbolizes his country (Japan) because he can’t give the silkworm eggs to Herve that
easy, it is simply because they treated silkworm as their gold. While Herve symbolizing
his own country (France) that all the things in the world can be traded by gold.
“Deeply moving… A delicately crafted by
love story and an anatomy of desire.”
-Guardian
What does the protagonist feel? Why does he feel
this way? What specific parts in the text tell you this?
What does the girl feel? why do you think so? Why
did she do what she did?
What does the cup symbolize?
Do you find the text romantic ? Why or why not?