Second Interview Report

Second Interview report

Interviewer: Zhe Wang

English:191

Interviewee: Mota

Interviewee's country of origin: Pakistan

Interview date: 10/31/2010

Me: Nice to meet you, my name is zhe, what is yours?

Mota: My name is Mota, I am coming from Pakistan.

Me: well, can you talk about your family and your mother country?

Mota: Sure, I have two older brothers and one younger sister. This means I have a big family actually. My mother country is Pakistan, it is in the middle east of the Asian. It is a big country compare to the different country in the middle east of Asian. In my country we have about 50million people. In the same way my country has 3000years history. And my counter had been occupied and settled by many different peoples.

Me: when did you come to American? What is your feeling at the beginning when you live here?

Mota: I came here on 23 Aug last year. I lived here a almost one and half years. You know the winter weather in Minnesota is very terrible. I really don’t like. This first feeling when I came here so in winter holiday I will go home. Because of my country is warmer than Minnesota.

Me: I can understand your feeling when you came here. Because of I felt it very cold too. Can you introduce how to greet to other people when you meet on the street?

Mota: I think the way to greet is the familiar to the American. We always shank hands each other and say the how are you in Urdu. Urdu is the official language of Pakistan.

Me: What you mean the Urdu? I have never heard the language before, can you give me more information about this language.

Mota: It is the mother tongue of approximately 5 million people, but there are probably over a million people to be able to fluently speak Urdu they think of is as second language. Urdu and Hindi are very similar, their most important difference is that the former used Persian-Arabic letter writing, and the latter is used to writer Sanskrit letters. Urdu also contains many from Arabic and Persian sources of foreign words.

Me: What is your plan when you graduate from this university? Do you want take high level education or find a job after graduation?

Mota: Actually, I have not thought about this question when I am a freshman in university. But I want to continue to study for having higher education. This is why I am chosen overseas study here. As long as my parents support me to get the master degree I am willing to study continuously. However in case of my parents do not want to support me, I will change my plan. I will find a job first in America and earn the money to pay my tuition, I will go back to school.

 Me: Sounds good, so when you finish all the class where you want to go? Here or go home?

Mota: I think will go back home because my parents are all here. Not only I miss my parents very when I stay here but also in Pakistan also have many opportunities to find job. Another reason is that my mother language is Urdu, I am not good at English actually. So I think I will go home at once.

Me: I can understand why you want go home soon after graduation. So what you usually do when you are free in America. What you usually do when you are free at home. What is the difference between the American and home?

Mota: When I came here I always go to play football with my friends. At the beginning of the period I always sleep when I am free (ha ha). Because I have no friends at that moment so I feel lonely every day. But now I would like to go to the fitness center or play football. Before I came here I liked playing the badminton too. When the weekend I like I ways hiking with my friends. I felt as fit as fiddle after hiking in the weekends. I think the biggest difference between the two country is the way that the people how to spend their free time. You know sport and recreation have always been a part of university life. So how to use the free time is very important for us because as the saying goes “weekends are for catching up”.

Me: You have a wonderful university life whatever here or home. So what city do you live in? Can you give me some information about your hometown?

Mota: The capita of Pakistan in the north on a plateau; the site was chosen in 1959. It is my home town I was born here and lived here until now. Construction began on the city in1960, and it replaced Karachi as the capital in1967. Population is 201, 000. But the biggest city is the old capita of Pakistan, the largest city in Pakistan; located in southeastern Pakistan; an industrial center and seaport on the Arabian Sea. My hometown is the political center in Pakistan, so we have high level quality of life. This is why my parents can support my study here.

Me: You hometown like Bei Jing in China, right?

Mota: You are right! Before I came here Hollywood star and U.N. goodwill envoy Angelina Jolie asked on Saturday for increased international help to repatriate more than 3 million Afghans living in Pakistan. Actually my home was on war in recently years. So I do not like to stay at home.
Me: I want to know what the war in your country is.

Mota: I think we have some mistake between other countries. For example Pakistan establishes for itself a security buffer zone on its northwest frontier, which comes with a friendly auxiliary army -- the Afghan Taliban -- as a bonus. Actually there is no problem between Pakistan and other countries.

Me: I hope this war in your country can be over as soon as possible. So I want to know why you choose American to study.

Mota: Because I have many friends who are also choose overseas study here. When they go back home I find they have learned many knowledge and skills in USA.

Me: What you find from your friends when they back home from America?

Mota: I find they are all growing up to adult. They know how to make the best use of their free time. They can cook by themselves and they know how to make friends easily. So this is the advantages when they study here. Actually I chose here because I think America is the strongest country in the world. They have open mind and free way to learn knowledge. If one has an open mind, it is easy to appreciate another's point of view. Another reason is that I want to improve my English skills because I want to be businessmen in the future like Bill Gates.

Me: Oh you have a big dream. How many children do you have in one family?

Mota: It is depending on what you want. It was commonly have 2-4children in one family. But if you want more children it depends on your family economic power.

Me: How about your food? Can you show me some traditional food in your country?

Mota: Meat is a major part of Pakistani diet, whereas vegetables and beans are as important. Wheat is also the main staple of Pakistani diet, whereas rice is also popular. It is also depending on the region and people, of which many have evolved into their own unique distinct characteristics. Most of the people in my country have their own religion so they have their food habit.

Me: How do you greet to each other on the street? Do you use any body language or just eye contact?

Mota: Well, I always say “how are you” in Urdu. If this friend is the first time to meet we will shank hands with them. And tell my name to them.

Me: So what is your favorites sport when you lived at home? When you came here do you change you habit?

Mota: Sure in my country, my friends always play the English football. Because football can play anywhere, in my country the fundamental facilities are very poor. We have no court to play basketball and American football.

Me: I think Pakistan is like China, they are all developing country. So this is why we need to work hard here. Not only for ourselves have a bright future but also we can contribute to our knowledge to the build a new age.

Mota: You are right. I want to learn more knowledge in the university. As returned scholars we will try our best to make our mother country more and more strong day by day.

Me: Thank you for all your time and information.

Mota: You are welcome.

Korea Culture

Korea

The current political separation of North and South Korea has resulted in divergence in modern Korean cultures; nevertheless, the traditional culture of Korea is historically shared by both states, and is more than 5000 years old and is considered one of the world’s oldest.

Contents:

Home: Sites of residence are traditionally selected using wood. It is believed that any topographical configuration generates invisible forces of good or ill. The negative and positive energies must be brought into balance.

A house should be built against a hill and face south to receive as much sunlight as possible. This orientation is still preferred in modern Korea. Geomancy also influences the style of the building, the direction it faces and the material it is built of.

Traditional Korean houses can be structured into an inner wing and an outer wing. The individual layout largely depends on the region and the wealth of the family. Where as aristocrats used the outer wing for receptions, poorer people kept cattle. The wealthier a family, the larger the house. However, it was forbidden to any family except for the king to have a residence of more than 99 kan. A kan is the distance between two pillars used in traditional houses.

Music: Apart from the instruments used, traditional Korean music is characterized by improvisation and the lack of breaks between movements. A pansori performance can last for over eight hours during which a single singer performs continuously.

Rather than contrasting different speeds as it is common in Western music, most traditional Korean music begins with the slowest movement and then accelerates as the performance continuesly.

Korean music, called jeongak, is closely related to the literate upper-class, and has a strong intellectual emphasis. Jeongak is played at a very slow speed, with single beats taking as long as three seconds. The beat matches the speed of breathing rather than the heartbeat as in most Western music, and feels static and meditative.

Dress: According to social status, Koreans used to dress differently, making clothing an important mark of social rank. Impressive, but sometimes, costumes were worn by the ruling class and the royal family. These upper classes also used jewelry to distance themselves from the ordinary people. A traditional item of jewelry for women was a pendant in the shape of certain elements of nature which was made of  gemstones, to which a tassel of silk was connected.

Common people were often restricted to un-dyed plain clothes. This everyday dress underwent relatively few changes during the Joseon period. The basic everyday dress was shared by everyone, but distinctions were drawn in official and ceremonial clothes.

During the winter people wore cotton-wadded dresses. Fur was also common. Because ordinary people normally wore pure white untied materials, the people were sometimes referred to as the white-clad people.

Cuisine: Rice is the most popular food of Korea. Having been an almost exclusively agricultural country until recently, the essential recipes in Korea are shaped by this experience. The main crops in Korea are rice, barley, and beans, but many supplementary crops are used. Fish and other seafood are also important because Korea is a peninsula. A number of menus have been developed. These can be divided into ceremonial foods and ritual foods. Ceremonial foods are used when a child reaches 100 days, at the first birthday, at a wedding ceremony, and the sixtieth birthday. Ritual foods are used at funerals, at ancestral rites, shaman's offerings and as temple food.

Tea: Tea in Korea dates back over 2000 year. It was part of a number of worship recipes, hoping that the good scents would reach the heavenly gods. Tea was introduced in Korea, when Buddhism was introduced from China, and later gave rise to the Korean tea ceremony, of which Korea has over 3000.

Originally tea was used for ceremonial purposes or as part of traditional art. Green tea, as it is used in China and Japan, is not the only kind of tea drunk in Korea. A great number of teas made of fruits, leaves, seeds or roots are enjoyed. Five tastes of tea are distinguished in Korea: sweet, sour, salty, bitter, and pungent.

Reference List:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Korean_tea_ceremony_DSC04095.jpg

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture_of_Korea

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Korea-Seoul-Namsangol-02.jpg

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Korea-Honrye-The_bride.jpg

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Korean_cuisine-Bibimbap-08.jpg

First Interview

First interview

Interviewer: Zhe Wang

English 191

Interviewee: Shane

Interviewee's country of origin: Korea

Interview date: 10/24/2010

Me: Would you tell me some information about yourself for instance: your name your family structure look like and your major?

Shane: Okay, my name is Shane. I come from Korea. I am 21 years old. I have one younger brother and younger sister. I had been there one and half year. My major is Mass Communication. I don’t like the winter weather in Minnesota because it is very cold whatever the daytime and midnight (ha ha).

Me: My name is zhe I come from China. In my country we always said "你好”when we greeting each other. So my first question is that when you meet each other what you say or what you do, when you first meet others what you say.

Shane: Well, we have the same way like Chinese meet each other. But we shank hands with a polite bow to each other. In the same way we will have to hug with each other. If the person who is the first time to meet you have to bow and hug each other. This is our greeting way when we meet on the road. Actually I like the way which is like American do greeting each other.

Me: why you like this greeting way?

Shane: Because this way makes me feel very comfortable. Sometimes my friends greeted me in the street with a friendly wave of the hand and asked me “how are you today?” . I felt very good actually. So I like this greeting way.

Me: What city do you live in your country?

Shane；Inchon

Me: what do you think of this country like the weather, temperature population and location?

Shane: Actually this city is beside the ocean so I feel is not very hot in the summer and not very cold in the winter. Because the oceans can decalescence from the dry land so the Inchon is the most popular city in Korea. This city is a most comfortable place for people to live. So most Korean choose here to live and some of them in order to provide for the aged. There are 246million in this city so this is a big city in Korea.

Me: If I want go to Korea to visit what city do you want bring us to visit?

Shane: Inchon is the first city because here is my hometown. Next I think is Seoul because this city is the capital of the Korea. The last city is Cheju because this is city is a island in the Korea. But I think in these cities the Inchon is the most popular city above the three cities.

Me:  Why you want to choose American university?

Shane: I like the study way in the USA. The students are very free here they have more personal time whatever they study in the middle, school high school even university.  They have more free time than the student who studies in the Korea. They have opportunity to feel the world and their life. I think the Chinese students have the same feeling like the Korean students.

Me: Yes this is why I chose the overseas study here. I felt free too. And have more time to do some sport and do some cook at home. I like this life style.  So when you graduate from university were you go home or stay here?

Shane：I want to get higher level education. I want to get the master degree when I graduate from university. Or I will find a job to work first, when I earn the money can offer me the all tuition when I take the master degree. Then I will go back to school to take class for master degree.  This is my dream I can get the master degree in the USA. But if my parents ask me to go home, I have no choice I have to go home after graduation.

Me: I think many international students will meet this questions so hope you can solve it successfully. So in American what you usually do in your free time? What you usually do in Korea when you have free time?

Shane: in USA I always go to fitness in the fitness center in the school. Sometimes I will go to mall with my roommate. But in the Korea I like outdoor activities. For example I can play basketball and football. Sometime I will play baseball in the garden. In the night I like watching movie in the cinema. Because I have few American friends so I just stay in the dorm in the night. Sometimes I felt lonely and fear. The students began to feel homesick after they had been here for a month.

Me: what do you think of the American food? I mean you can compare the food between Korea and USA and list some difference.

Shane: Basically, I do not like American food. Not only it had a lot of fat but also it too sweet to eat. So at the weekend I also go to Cash Wish to buy some Korea food or some vegetable cook by myself. In my opinion the biggest difference between Korea food and American food is the test. In Korea we like the spicy food. In the same we like rice noodle and pickle actually. But in America we have no opportunity to eat these foods in the restaurant. Other hands American always like fresh food, Korea often eat the cook food. I think Chinese students do not like the American food as well, right?

Me: I agree with you. I usually cook food by myself. Can you talk about your class, such as what problem do you meet, and what class do you think it is very hard to learn.

Shane: My major is Mass Communication, I always do the presentation in the class. You know as a international student we will meet the biggest problem is the language problem. The students who study the Mass Communication they need have good language performance. It is easy for the American students but sometimes it is very hard for the international students. This is why a few of international students to choose this major.

Me: I think the students who choose the Marketing have a lot of presentation too. I want to know what the most important festival in your country is.

Shane: In my country the Mid-Autumn Festival is the most important festival. On that day the family will get together to have dinner, and communicate each other. This festival the civil have 3 days off. But this Mid-Autumn Festival I have to stay here and ate the moon cake alone. Actually, every time celebrate a festival I will call my parents and blessed them. At the same time I felt lonely as well. So I usually call my parents when I heard their voice I felt very worm from my heart.

Me: I have the same feeling. What do you think of your roommate? I know he is also an international student right?

Shane: Yes, he is coming from Pakistan. He is really nice, we always talk each other about our country and family. Sometimes we study and solve the problems together. I think he always feels lonely too, he called his parents every week I at the weekend. I am sure he missed his parents very much. But he chose the overseas study, he had to keep going until successfully.

Me: How is the education here compare to back home?

Shane: American students have more time to do what they want, whatever in middle school high school and university. After the class they can play the football basketball and baseball together. This is why the American students are good at sport. But in Korea we have to work hard every day in order to get high grade. And we can do the things which are asked by our teacher. It means we have no chance to do any things what we want.

Me: So man and women can study in one classroom? How to contact each other?

Shane: Yes, we can have the class in the same classroom. In my country just a few school was separated into two areas for man and women. So in the class we have time to communicate each other and solve the problems together. However most of time in the class we have to listen to teacher carefully.

Me: I am very curious to wedding like?

Shane: It is the familiar to the American wedding.

Me: The wedding was holed in the church?

Shane: Depends on the personal requested.

Me: Okay will end our interview, thank you very much for all your time and information.

Shane: You are welcome

First Interview

Preparation for my Interview

            I had picked some questions for my interviewee. My questions include their country's food culture and history. I will ask all the questions what I had perpetrated. I will remember most of these questions when the interview began. Because I will ask more questions which is not on the paper. 

           Last semester i took the ESL class. I know a lot of international students. It worked well for me because I will not feel nervous when I make the interview. I will make sure the recorder will be fine during the interview moment. So test my recorder a few days ago. After everything is ok, I made a appointment with my interviewee on 24 Oct on the first floor in the library. It is a good place for us make communication with each other. It quite and peaceful when I interviewed. It is easy for me to ask questions to my interviewee and good for recording. I interviewed one of my friends from Korea, his English name is Shane. He had came here one half a year and finished IEC class last years. I will show more information about their country in the report.

Describing of the interview

I enjoyed this interview very much because he did not mind answer any question what I asked. And always like to answer more information about any question when I interviewed him. I had told him he can ask me any question when we make the conversion. Both of us were felt relaxed and we always tell the joke through the interview. Sometimes we got off the topic and talk about his family his dreams and his future. At the same time we also talk about my family and my schooling in China. It made us feel the time was going so fast during the interview. Sometimes we talked the interesting story together and we have the many interests when we talk each other. This is a good experience for me.

During the interview I found he had many religions in his country like the religions in China so we have many same customers between China and Korea. He would like to give me more information about his country about the country’s history. The most interesting question for him is that “what is your schooling system” he gave me a lot of information about the Korea education system. We talked about this topic about 12 min. There are big difference between Chinese school and Korea school. I found they have more time to do sport during the weekdays instead of Chinese students we have no time to do any sport in the weekdays actually. In the weekend most of them will study at home and review their class what they learn in this week so he told the weekend is time for catching up, I think it is very sense for me. Because I should study hard in the weekend in order to catch up other students in my class.

At end of the interview we go to Govery had dinner together so I found he kike Coke very much. Last but not least he told me that he felt the USA is a free country because of that he can do everything what he want. So I have the same feeling like him because I feel here is freer than I lived in China. This interview gives me more confidence to keep going to make other two interviews in the next two weeks. I think I will make better than I did the first. In the same way it is also a good experience during my school life.

Interview Report

Today we have interviewed two persons in the class. I learned a lot of information about the China and America. I know the difference between the China and America, for example the history background and sport.
My first interviewee is LongFei, he is a Chinese guy. This is his second semester here, he can adjust to his university life easily. His major is finance he wants to find a job in the America. He want finished the class here, then find a job in the Minnesota. He thought there are a lot of difference between China and America. He likes Chinese food but here he can eat the American food only. So sometimes he feel unhappy and lonely.
My second interviewee is a American boy. His name is Kyle. This is his second years in the St cloud state. His major is sport management, but he want to change his major into technology management in the next semester. His favorite sport is football, he likes the baseball too. He wants to find a job in Minnesota when he graduated from university. He thought the government is good now but not enough.
This two interviewees give me different experience. Because they come from different country and have different culture background. American is a open country in the world instead of China, China has a long history about 5000 years so some people have some traditional rules. These rules affect the thinking of the people in China, because of these rules some people are not have open mind. The America guy have a open mind he can did part time job in the high school but we are not. We have to work 16 hours a day in high school but they have no home work in the evening. So I can find the different culture have different education system. I can get more information from the interview. This is good opportunity for me to make friends with international students.

Interview Questions

Interview Objectives

I would like to know
-some information about their cultural background and cultural difference between china
-Where are they coming from?
-What are their native language?
-what are they usually do at weekend？
-Do the people have to work from monday to friday?
-What are they usually learn at high school and university?
-Does everyone need have religion ?
-What age can they have married?
-How they raise their childern？
-What the family structure is like?
-How much money they need to pay for their tuition fee?
-Can the students do the part time job on campus？
-How many hours the students have to spend in the evening？
-What they usually do for free time?

Top Three

1.Matti, Kyle W
http://191s18kylem.blogspot.com/
2.Ren, Longfei
http://191s18longfeir.blogspot.com/?zx=8377acfed40aef21
3.Lee, Pa Kou
http://191s18pakoul.blogspot.com/