Interview Number One
Preparations Made for the Interview
In preparation for the interview I did a number of different things. First of all I made up a list of questions that I wanted to ask my interviewee. I tried to make sure that I had a variety of different questions ranging from a number of different topics. I ended up revising my questions after my classmates looked over them because they suggested that I make them a little more specific and detailed. I then came up with a list of objectives that I wanted to follow prior, during, and after the interview. We were required to do this but I think that it was a good idea because it made you think over the little things like how you were going to present yourself at the interview, or what you were going to wear. I also decided upon things such as where I thought would be some good places to hold the interview, and how I was going to record it so that I would be able to transcribe it afterward. Once I had an idea of how I wanted my interview to go it was time to find some international students to interview.
How I Approached People
First I went to Atwood and I found a group of girls visiting on some couches. I was very shy but finally I approached them and asked them if any of them would be willing to let me interview them for my English 191 class. Two out of the three of them agreed to interview with me and we exchanged e-mail addresses so that I could e-mail them with further information. I still needed at least one more person to potentially interview so decided to take Roland’s advice and headed over to Lawrence Hall which is where many of the international students live. I was really nervous at first about going around from room to room asking people if they would let me interview them but then I met a boy in the hallway and he brought me around and introduced me to some of his international friends. I ended up meeting two more people to interview and got their e-mail addresses as well.
When, Where, and How I conducted the Interview
After e-mailing the students, the first interview I was able to set up was with a girl named Wenjia Pu. After struggling to find a time that both of us could meet up to do the interview we ended up doing it on Monday October 26th. We both have pretty full schedules so we ended up doing the first half of the interview at the front desk in Lawrence hall in the afternoon and then the other half in the stairway in her building later that night. The first half was a bit chaotic because she was sort of running the desk at the same time so she couldn’t leave and it was sort of loud but we managed. I ended up just leaning over the desk to speak with her. It wasn’t the ideal situation because it was a bit uncomfortable but it worked. She seemed to be very at ease so that is what mattered more. Later we moved to the stairway which was a much more casual and at ease environment. It was actually really nice because the stairway amplified our voices so on the recording I was actually able to understand some of it. My computer ended up failing at the last minute so I ended up recording the whole thing on my cell phone instead and when I got home I realized that much of our voices had been lost.
Biography of Wenjia Pu
Wenjia Pu comes from a town called Suzhou, in the providence of Jiangsu, China. She is an only child because of the laws that are enforced in China restricting the number of children each couple can have. Because both her mom and her dad have siblings of their own there were only allowed to have one child. When she left China to come to America her family lived in one of China’s many apartment complexes. Since she has come here her parents have moved into a small house. She said that it’s nothing compared to the houses we have here and is more comparable to the size of the average apartment in the U.S. She has been here in the U.S. for two years now and has been attending college here since she was done with high school in China. At home she enjoys shopping, singing karaoke with her friends at the local karaoke lounge, and going to the movies. She said that these things are all much cheaper and more affordable in China compared to the U.S.
Interview from my Vantage Point
I really ended up enjoying the interview process so far but preparing for it was very stressful. I had a really hard time finding somebody to interview because I am very shy. I paced around Atwood for about an hour before I gathered up the guts to approach anyone. When I did it wasn’t so bad. The girls were very nice, but I did feel sort of uncomfortable asking them to let me interview them completely out of the blue. After Atwood, going to Lawrence Hall was a breeze. It was helpful to have someone to take me around and introduce me to people instead of me, a complete stranger, knocking on their doors. The girl that I found to interview was very sweet and I was totally comfortable while talking to here to set up the interview.
When it came to the day of the interview I was sort of frazzled and nervous. After starting the interview I realized that my computer was not recording any sound and I was really upset that I had to do it on my phone, because I didn’t think it would be very high quality to listen to later. Once the interview got going though, all of my nerves faded away. It was pretty frustrating being at the front desk in Lawrence Hall though because it was sort of hard to hear each other and stay focused. I was very impressed though at how easily our conversation flowed over all of the noise though. This part of the interview was pretty dry though and we didn’t get into very deep conversation. That completely changed when I came back that night to finish the rest of the interview.
We were going to do the interview in her room, but her roommate ended up coming home when we were about to start. After realizing there were people in the lobby we moved to the stairwell which actually ended up being a very good place for an interview aside from sitting on the cold cement stairs. Now that there were not so many things going on around us we really got to talking. At this point it really did become a fun experience. Instead of the short and to the point answers I had been getting earlier, she was really talking to me like a friend and going into a lot of detail which made me happy. I was really shocked at some of the things she told me like that they have restaurants there like T.G.I. Fridays and McDonalds. I guess that makes sense but I had never really thought of it. One of my favorite parts was when she showed me a bunch of traditional Chinese dishes that she ate often back in china. They looked nothing like the Chinese food we have here in the U.S.! I laughed because she kept on asking me if I thought the food looked icky. Some of it I did like the whole fish on a plate (eyes and all), and I was honest with her about it, but I did think a lot of it was really beautifully prepared.
About China
China is located in Eastern Asia. Some of its major bordering countries include India, Mongolia, and Russia; all boarding it by at least 3,000km (CIA World Fact Book). 14,500km of China's boarder is made up of coastline (CIA World Fact Book). China has a total area of 9,596,961 sq km and is a little bit smaller than the United States (CIA World Fact Book). It is the fourth largest country in the world (CIA World Fact Book). China's climate is diverse and goes from tropical in the South to subarctic in the North (CIA World Fact Book). Some of China's natural hazards include, "frequent typhoons (about five per year along southern and eastern coasts); damaging floods; tsunamis; earthquakes; droughts; land subsidence"(CIA World Fact Book).
China is a prospering country and as of July 2009 China has a population of 1,338,612,968 people and is the most populated country in the world (CIA World Fact Book). 91.5% of the population is part of the ethnic group Han Chines, with 8.5% of the population belonging to a variety of other ethnic groups including, "Zhuang, Manchu, Hui, Miao, Uyghur, Tujia, Yi, Mongol, Tibetan, Buyi, Dong, Yao, Korean, and other nationalities"(CIA World Fact Book). They have a 90.9% literacy rate for people over the age of 15(CIA World Fact Book). The main religion of China is Buddhism with around 100,000 people belonging to it (U.S. Department of State). China's government type is communism, and their capital is the city of Beijing.
The Chinese Civilization is thought to be one of the “four ancient civilizations of the world, according to Chinese scholar Liang Qichao” (China Highlights). This is no doubt why it has developed in to such a rich and interesting culture. Some of the things that really caught my eye were the Chinese food, lanterns, and festivals. The most Important Chinese Festival is the Chinese New Year(Wenjia Pu). It is also known as Spring Festival (China Highlights). Its date is always different because the Chinese calendar does is not follow the 365 day year. Families come together from all over to be together on this special day (China Highlights). Both families and the whole towns celebrate this holiday by hanging lanterns everywhere and preparing large feasts (China Highlights)! Wenjia Pu said that this was her very favorite holiday!!
I did not do a transcript for this interview because of technical difficulties.
Works Cited
-https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ch.html(CIA World Fact Book) 10/20/2009
-http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/18902.htm (U.S. Department of State) 10/20/2009
-http://www.chinahighlights.com/travelguide/culture/ 10/20/2009 (China Highlights)
