Second Interview

                                         My second interview

Preparations for the interview

For my second interview, I searched a lot of information to help me to do a good interview, especially for the ways to make interviewee feel comfortable. First, I choose another people who are from America to be my interviewee; second, I rewrote my questions for my second interview; third, I went back to my first interview, and I found my advantages and disadvantages in my first interview. I want to make some progress for my second interview. Finally, I printed two copies of my questions, and one is for my interviewee, and one is for me.

How did I approach people

I have a good friend, her name is Yuhwa, she is an exchange student in Saint Cloud, although we don’t have the same major, we took the same ESL classes together before. She is from South Korea. This Tuesday, when I finished my class, I gave her a call and asked her to help me with my interview. She agreed it with no hesitation.

When, where and how did I conduct and record my interview

On Tuesday, when we finished our dinner together, we went to the library and reserved a study room for our interview. At almost 7 am, we began our interview. First, we talked something about our classes. Then, I gave her a copy of my question, and gave her a few minutes to have a look for the questions. Final, we pay attention to our conversations. During our interview, we talked a lot of issues about the life in South Korea, such as: The education systems in the South Korea, the geography in South Korea, the language in South Korea and the religions in South Korea. We also exchanged our opinions about different issues.

Who did you interview?

My interviewee is my best friend, who is from South Korea She is an exchange student here and this is the last semester for her in this school, and her major is education. We took the same class together before, and we also met in the international student dinner. When I met her in the international student, I found we had the same class together. Although we didn’t have much talk before, we had a very nice talk during the dinner, and we exchanged our contact information. Day after day, we built a very deep relationship between each other.

Interview report

This is my second interview, I was more careful when I was doing this interview. I think we indeed have done a good job, because both of the interviewee and I are from Asian countries, we shared a lot of differences and similarities between our countries. And both of us as an international student, we exchanged our feelings and opinions about SCSU. Otherwise, this also gives us a good chance to know more about each other and know more about our different countries, and it will help us have a deeper relationship between each other.

Country report

Korea, a country which was built in the Middle Age. In the west, its neighbor is China, in the East, its neighbor is Japan and in the North, North Korea is its neighbor. The area in South Korea is 99392 square kilometers and its population is 50 million. Seoul is the capital of South Korea, whose population is 9794304 [1].

Education is one of the most important parts in South Korea. Education can be classified into Kindergarten, Elementary school, middle school, high school and secondary education.

Kindergarten is not a public administered program. Most children are sent to private schools, and some schools are taught in Korean while some taught in English. From the age of three to seven, children will attend Kindergarten and most children don’t attend preschool [2].

When children reach 6 or 7 years old, they will be moved to the first grade of elementary school, but 8 years old is the calendar system in Korea. From kindergarten to high school, students are not admitted by their grade level, instead, it is according to their age.

In general, the school year is divided into two semesters. From the beginning of March to mid-July, it is the first semester; and the second begins in late August and ends in mid-February. The summer vacation is from mid-July to late August, and they also have a Winter break from late-December to early February. Then they come back to school for a week and take another vacation from mid-February to early March [2].

Culture in South Korea is similar to that in China. According to the traditional culture of Korea, South Korea has developed a culture which is different from that in North Korea. The effects of economy and lifestyles make population concentrated in main cities, which is similar to China [3].

South Korea is affected by foreign counties. At the beginning, America and Japan have big effects on it. Many people in Korea enjoy watching American movies, and it also changed people’s diet habits. Many people prefer to Western food and other Asian food instead of traditional Korean food. Such as, Pizza, hamburger, chicken, coffee and ice cream become very popular in Korea.

Images of traditional Korean food.

 

 

Religions in Korea. Buddhist and Christian are the dominant religions in Korea. Going back to the Three Kingdoms Period, Buddhism came into Korea from China. Buddhism is stronger in the more traditional east of the country, where the population of Buddhist is up to half of the population. There are a lot of different schools in Korean Buddhism. Such as Seon. Buddhism in South Korea is leaded by the Jogye Order, a syncretic sect traditionally linked to the Seon tration [4].

Holidays in Korea. There are a lot of holidays in Korea, they are:

New Year’s Day: it is a day to celebrate New Year.

Korean New Year’s Day: The first day of Korean lunar calendar, it is regarded as the most important holiday in the tradition of Korea.

Independence Day: It is memory of March 1^st Movement in 1919.

Children’s Day: The day for children to share their happiness.

Buddha’s birthday: Bucheonnim Osinnal.

Mid-autumn Festival: Korean traditional harvest day.

Christmas day: The day for Christmas [5].

 

[1]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Korea

[2]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_in_South_Korea

[3]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture_of_South_Korea

[4]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion_in_South_Korea

[5]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_holidays_in_South_Korea

Audio record:

My second interview--South Korea 
http://soundcloud.com/he-xianping/vn620244                                 

 

Transcript

X: xianping

T: Yuhwa

X: Hello, Yuhwa, thanks for helping me with my interview. How is your day going?

Y: You are welcome! I’m glad to help you. I have a nice day, because I’m prepared for my wedding, and everything goes well with us.

X: Great! I’m glad to hear that. Are you ready for our interview?

Y: Sure. Let’s begin.

X: Where are you from?

Y: I am from South Korea.

X: Sounds nice! Why did you choose this school?

Y: Ok, I am an exchange student here. When I decided to attend this school, I heard many suggestions from my friends who studied here before, and they said this is a good place for studying. Besides, my school in South Korea has cooperation with this school.

X: Good, what’s your major?

Y: My major is Education.

X: Great, I have many friends who have the same major with you, it is indeed a good major and teacher is an excellent career. Would you want to talk something about your family?

Y: Sure, please.

X: Thanks. What’s the value of family in your country?

Y: Family plays an important role in my country, and people usually want to stay with their family, because it always brings a lot of laughter when we stay with family.

X: Good, it sounds similar with my country. Yuhwa, I am a little curious about one thing: Both of us are from Asian countries, and then I guess we should have a lot of things which are similar. Such as, when children are over 18 years old in your country, do the children find part-time jobs to support themselves or their family will continue support them?

Y: In my family, I did not find part-time job even when I was 18, and my parents support me. But I knew some of my friends found part-time jobs when they entered college. They thought this could a good chance to get some experience, and they can also help their family reduce the financial stress. I agreed with their opinions. I did not do as well as them because my major has much stress and I need to pay attention to my study.

X: Good, it is similar to that in China. Compared with the children in western countries, there are fewer students who will find part-time jobs when they are studying. But I think both of them have the advantages and disadvantages. Thanks for talking so much about family. Could you talk something about education?

Y: Yes, what do you want to learn about education?

X: What do you think of the education system in South Korea?

Y: Nice, I like the education system in my country. Because we can have a lot of freedom to choose our professor and class, and the class schedule is very flexible. Then, we can have a chance to get what we need.

X: Sounds attractive. Do you find some differences between high school study and college study?

Y: Yes, they are very different. In high school, we have more class than college, and if we want to apply for a famous school, we need to get higher score in a very important exam. But when we enter college, we can have more activities, we can choose the majors we are interested in, and we can also join a lot of interesting clubs.

X: Good, what do you think of the college you attended now?

Y: Good, I like everything here, and the education program is awesome, and the professors are very nice and patient here.

X: I’m glad to hear that. Do you know how many people can have a chance to attend college in your country?

Y: South Korea has wonderful education system; we can get free education from elementary school to high school. And if we have satisfied score, we can also apply for the scholarship when we are in college. Then, most people can have the chance to go to college if they like.

X: Excellent! Education is very important to everyone. Thanks for talking so much about education! Can we move to culture? I know, there must be a lot of differences between Asian countries and Western countries. As an international student in America, do you find some differences between America and your home country?

Y: great! I’m glad to help you. Yes, you are right; cultures between Korea and America are so different. Such as, when we hang out with our friends, we usually keep a little space between each other, but in Korea, we can hang out hand by hand.

X: Yes, China has similar situation with Korea. Which points of culture make you be proud of your country?

Y: Korea as the developing country in the world, it has its unique economy development. And it has inclusionary culture; we can have many chances to contact with diverse people.

X: Sounds interesting! It will be really helpful to get on well with diverse people. Yuhwa, I knew Korea is also famous of food; could you give me some introductions of food in your country?

Y: Of course. We can different taste restaurants in Korea, such as Asian food restaurants, Indian food restaurants, and American food restaurants.

X: Nice. It will give us a satisfied feeling when we taste different delicious food. What is your favorite food? Do you taste other countries’ food, such as American food?

Y: Of course! I think Pizza is my favorite American food. Maybe most people will think Pizza is a common food in America, but it is very delicious and convenient, especially when we have a lot of classes. When I lived on-campus, I met a lot of students who were from different countries, and they made different tastes of food for me. But I think Asian food is my favorite food, such as tofu, noodles. They are indeed spicy and delicious.

X: Yuhwa, I am glad to hear that. Yes, I love Asian food too; they are very spicy and delicious. Religion will be another important issue in Korea. Do you have any religions? What do you think of them?

Y: Yes, I am a Christian. When I was in high school, I chose to be a Christian. God is always awesome person. Every time, when we need any help, he always stays with us, and give us support. And you don’t need to care how well you did. Sometimes, when you were in plight, you don’t need to give up, you just need to talk with him, and he always has a plan for you.

X: Good, do you know how many people is Christian in Korea? Is it the dominant religion in Korea?

Y: Yes, many people are Christian in Korea, and I think it is the dominant one.

X: Thanks, what kinds of activities do you have as a Christian?

Y: Well, we need to go to church every Sunday, and we sit together and study Bible together. We share our opinions about Jesus. And sometimes, we also bring some snacks to church and share them together.

X: Sounds good! Do you have your favorite holiday in your country?

Y: Yes, I think Christmas Day is my favorite holiday in my country. Because it is connected with Christian, and we will have many activities to celebrate.

X: sounds nice, could you give me some examples of the activities you will do on that day?

Y: Sure. At first, we will sing Christian songs, and then we will read bible together. Final, we will go boating, and we will have dinner together.

X: sounds attractive! I can image the joy when you celebrate it. Tracey, thanks for your sharing, it is indeed helpful. We have done an excellent job!

Y: You are welcome! I’m glad to help you, and I also have fun.

 

 

 

 

Toppest one

The first one：
Tran Quyen H. This one attracted my eyes deeply. It has sufficient preparation, and it also applies a good country report. Finally, the most important advantage is it includes the Audio files recorded. Then, I gave it 20 points.

The second one:
Sun Yihao. He talked about Japan, and we can have a clear cognition about Japan through the country report, and he also has a vivid interview.

The third one:
Gong hua. His interviewee is from America, as an international student, we can know more about America from his interview, it will give us a lot of help to make more American friends.

Review interview

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Au5ITEC7cSrqdFJTV3dVU0tOaENwTTlKcVFHVXRPZ1E#gid=0

The first interview

The first interview

                                                    
                                                       Interview preparation

                          Where, when did we conduct and record the interview

   My first interviewe is about America. I have been here for almost one year, and sometimes I will meet some culture shocks, I don't know how to deal with the situation when I stay with my American friends. I want to learn more about America through this interview, and as an international student, I want to have a closer relationship with my American friend by learning their culture. My first interviewee is Nick, he is from Minnesotyear, sometimes a. On this weekend, we decided to meet each other in the library and finished our interview together.

                                                     How did I conduct my interview

 Last sunday, I met Nick in the library at 10 am. This was the first time for us to meet each other, and both of us were very excited. We introduced each other first, and we got the general information. Then, he began his interview first. Although we hd the same class, but we were in the different section. Then, we had different questions. He was very interested in China, but he just had a few ideas about China. Then, he asked a lot of questions. Such as, the food in China, the religion in China, and the education in China. I gave him my answers one by one. And after 20 minutes, I bagan my interview. As an international student, I want to know many information about America, and I want to have a more close relationship with my American freidns. Then, I asked him about the education, the custom, the religion in America. He gave me all the answers patiently.

 

                                                    Approaching interviewee

  Nick, who was born and grew in Minnesota. Currently, he is a junior in SCSU, and his major is computer science. He took the same class with me, but we chose different section. Although we don't know each other before, we just contacted by email. He was interested in China, and I was interested in America, then we become partner to do our interview together.


                                                         
                                                    Country report

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its forty-eight contiguous states and Washington, D.C., the capital district, lie between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, bordered by Canada to the north and Mexico to the south. The state of Alaska is in the northwest of the continent, with Canada to the east and Russia to the west, across the Bering Strait. The state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific. The country also possesses several territories in the Pacific and Caribbean.

At 3.79 million square miles (9.83 million km2) and with over 312 million people, the United States is the third or fourth largest country by total area, and the third largest by both land area and population. It is one of the world's most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, the product of large-scale immigration from many countries. The U.S. economy is the world's largest national economy, with an estimated 2011 GDP of $15.1 trillion. Per capita income is the world's seventh-highest.

Education in the United States is mainly provided by the public sector, with control and funding coming from three levels: local, state, and federal, in that order. Child education is compulsory. There are also a large number and wide variety of higher education institutions throughout the country that one can choose to attend, both publicly and privately administered.
Public education is universally available. School curricula, funding, teaching, employment, and other policies are set through locally elected school boards with jurisdiction over school districts with many directives from state legislatures. School districts are usually separate from other local jurisdictions, with independent officials and budgets. Educational standards and standardized testing decisions are usually made by state governments.

Religion in the United States is characterized by a diversity of religious beliefs and practices. Faiths have flourished, as well as perished, in the United States. Those include faiths imported by the multicultural immigrant heritage, as well as those founded within the country. These have led the United States to become one of the most religiously diverse countries in the world. A majority of Americans report that religion plays a "very important" role in their lives, a proportion unique among developed nations.
The majority of Americans (73%) identify themselves as Christians and about 20% have no religious affiliation. According to the American Religious Identification Survey (ARIS), those who identify themselves as Catholics make up about 25% of the adult population, while "other Christians" account for another 51%. The same survey says that other religions (including, for example, Judaism, Buddhism, Islam, and Hinduism) collectively make up about 4% of the adult population, another 15% of the adult population claim no religious affiliation, and 5.2% said they did not know, or they refused to reply. According to another survey, 36 percent of Americans state that they attend services nearly every week or more.
Despite a high level of religious adherence, only 9% of Americans in a 2008 poll said religion was the most important thing in their life, compared with 45% who said family was paramount in their life and 17% who said money and career was paramount.

References:  
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States   
    
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_in_the_United_States 

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

                                                       Transcript
Nick: N
Xianping: X

X: Hello, Nick, my name is xianping. Thanks for coming to library for our interview.
N: You' re welcome! Xianping, I'm glad to be your partner.
X: Me too. How about beginning our interview now?
N: Sure.
X: Ok, which state are you from in the U.S?
N: I am from a big city in Minnesota, and it takes almost an hour from my home to campus by car.
X: Sounds great! Do you usually go back home on your weekend?
N: Yes, I will go back home if I have time, and I enjoy the laughter and happiness when I stayed with my family.
X: I see. I have the same feeing with you. Do you have brothers or sisters?
N: Yes, I have a older sister and a older brother, we don't live our parents, but we usually come back on weekends.
X: Wonderful! I admire it. Do you have any religions? If you do, who affected your decision?
N: To be honest, I am a non-religion person. But when I was young, my parents usually brought me to church every sunday, I thought it was very boring when I stayed in church. Then, when I grew up, I didn't go to church anymore.
X: Ok, sounds interesting. Now, let's talk about food. Food will be regarded as an important part in our life, because we need to have food everyday. What's your favorite food? Do you cook by yourself?
N: Good question! Yes, sometimes, when I have time, I will cook by myself. For me, I like pizza very much. Because it is easy-made, especialy when we were busy with our homework.
X: I see, did you taste other countries' food before? Such as China, Korea?
N: Yes, you know, there are a lot of Asian resturaunts in Saint Cloud, and they offered a lot of delicious food which are very different from American food. But I enjoy them.
X: Wow, nice. I missed Chinese ffod too. They indeed have a delicious taste, and they are vey spicy. Ok, can we talk something about the education in America?
N: Sure, I'm glad to do that! As a native speaker in America, I don't have lanuage problems when I attended my class. I think America has a wholesome education system, and the peofessors are very experienced in their field. What's more, practice is one of the most important part in our education. Then, when we graduate from our study, we can own a lot of experience before we work. All in all, I think America has a scientific education system.
X: That's nice. I agree with you. You mentioned your major is computer science, woud you mind talking about the reasons why you chose your major?
N: Definitely not! For me, before I attended my college, my sister was graduated from this major. She shared a lot of things about her major with me, and I am interested in computer. What's more, this major is well-paid job, and it is easier to find a job.
X: Good idea! What's your hobbies when you are free? What kinds of activities would the American people choose when they are free?
N: Ok, I have a lot of hobbies. Such as hang out with my friends, watching TV at home, playing Video games, and playing the guita. Sorrounding my friends, I found most of my friends like having parties when they are free, and sometimes, they also enjoy inviting their friends to do sports together.
X: Sounds interesting! It should have a lot of fun. Maybe some Americans will regard Christmas Day as one of their important holiday. Which holiday is your favorite? And why do you like it best?
N: I like this question. I think I have the same opinion with other people. I like Christmas Day most, because we can have a long holiday, and I come back home and stay with my family. Besides, my sister, my brother and my cousins with stay with me, and we can have a lot of fun. That is a wonderful time!
X: Thank you, Nick. You gave me a lot of ideas about America. I appreciated it very much! Nice to meet you!
N: Nice to meet you too. We indeed had a good time together!

The challenges and benefits of interviewing an international student

The challenges and benefits of interviewing an international student

The world is more and more connected, then we need to communicate with multicultura peole. Understanding the people from different cultures and dfferent countries is important in our life. The only way to get on well with people who are in different cultures is learning different cultures from distinct people. Interviewing students from different countries will be very helpful, however, it is a rapier, on the one hand, it will bring many benefits to us; on the other hand, it also has a lot of challenges. 

There are many benefits when we interview students from different countries. First, we will gain our friendship. When we were doing our interview, we can have a lot of communications with interviewee, and we can undestand them well by knowing their cultures. Then, we can learn from the experiences and skills of others by asking the questions we are interested in, and we can also open our eyes. (1)

However, it also brings a lot of challenges. For example, language is a big problem. Language difficulties can be compounded in the interview setting if the interviewer uses metaphors or jargon. Metaphors inevitably cause miscommunication. (2) The interviewee will misunderstand our questions or we can't understand the answers of interviewee. We must be patient and friendly when we meet this situation, we can use examples to explain the meaning, or we can try to speak slowly. All of these will be helpful. Moreover, there may be many culture shocks during our interview. Instead of being angry with the culture difference, we should listen to the interviewee carefully . Because we were raised in different cullture, maybe we will have many different habits or actions.

Works cited
（1）http://www.winningtheweb.com/advantages-interviews.php

（2）http://www.malkam.com/en/CultureShock/Issue07.asp

challenges and benefits of interviewing an international student

Benefits:

1.  We can know more information about different cultures;

2.  It can give us many suggestions if we need to travel to these countries;

3.  We can avoid many culture shocks when we interact with the people who are from different countries;

4.  We can have more ideas about different education systems;

5.  We can know different delicious food in different countries;

6.  We can know different holidays in different countries;

7.  We can know different religions in different countries;

8.  Maybe we can have friendships each other.

Challenges:

1.  We are not familiar with these countries;

2.  There are too many culture differences between different countries;

3.  Some people don’t want to talk about their family situations.

4. When they have opposite custom with me;

5. Language problems;

6. Some people will have big challenge shock during their interview.

http://www.malkam.com/en/CultureShock/Issue07.asp

 

 

Categories

Category 1: Family
What is the value of family in your country?
What is your family structure like?

Category 2: Culture
How does your home country culture different from that in US?
What are the highlights in your culture? (What things will make people immediately think about your country? Please tell more about its history)

Category 3: Food
What is the most famous food in your country?
What are your meals like? Size, number, times of day.

Category 4 : Education
What is the education system in your country?
Do a lot of people get a chance to attend college in your country?

Category 5: Social
What are the top three social pastimes? (Sports, group events, various activities)
Category 6: Religion
What are the different religions your country? And what is the predominant religion?

Category 7: Special Occasion
What are some holidays that you celebrate in your counrty and what do you do when you are celebrating?