Interview to results

interview two leaders

1st. Nicholas S. 19pts
2nd Tiffany S. and Justine B. 18pts
3rd Janaka R and Ashley K. 17pts

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AgVcM1Nggu5mdE1HY1djLWYwcU1oN1JtMHVOZURsU1E

Presentation on first interview

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1TbmQ86mWF2pUxM7NV-54At7fOFjN_lq9YmhQkAmFNwU/edit

interview two

Interview Preparations

I was interviewed by WentingC. and I asked her if I would be able to meet with her friend XingyiZ. I meet with XingyiZ. In the library on Monday in the evening. We talked in the coffee shop. Which had some noise but worked for our interview.

Interview Report

I was in a group with XingyiZ. a couple times in class but I didn’t know much about him or his culture. I felt the interview went well I learned many new things. Even though the US and China are so far apart there are still a good amount of similarities. The buildings here are similar to the buildings there. The modes of transportation are the same, and family matters a lot in the Chinese culture.  The government is different and they have different holidays.

China

China is located in Eastern Asia, bordering the East China Sea, Korea Bay, Yellow Sea, and South China Sea, between North Korea and Vietnam. They are just a little bit smaller then the US in size and their climate is similar to the US’s. Their land is mostly mountains and high plateaus, and deserts in the west. In the east it is mostly plains, deltas and hills. China has many natural resources they are; coal, iron ore, petroleum, natural gas, mercury, tin, tungsten, antimony, manganese, molybdenum, vanadium, magnetite, aluminum, lead, zinc, rare earth elements, uranium, hydropower potential (world's largest). There population 1,343,239,923 (July 2012). The capital on China is Beijing.

The government in China is communist but the people get to elect their president who can serve up to two five-year terms.

China has many different festivals but the most important one is the Chinese New Year. This is the time when debts are settled and houses are cleaned. Time is spend with family and friends. People honor the "God of Wealth", hoping he will bring great fortune to the family in the coming months.

References

http://www.edunetconnect.com/categories/originals/chinafest/chinesef.html

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ch.html#top

Transcript

D= ZingyiZ

T= me

D-hi

T- hi could you tell me a little bit about your self, like your name and where you are from?

D- my name c.. you can call me D. I come from china the capital city is Beijing.

T- ok

D- I came to the us for 4 years after I finished my high school

T- ok so did you just come to the us for school or..

D- Ya for first year just for the language study in St. cloud state here there is a center call the iec. We all I think all the chines international students should/ need to study English one year then they let you go to college

T- what are some typical greeting in your culture ? I don’t know a lot about the Chinese culture so?

D- for friends did you ask did you eat today ya it is very common for that before you say hi and for the cultural we will hit each other breast which shows friendly and for the most people just say hi.

T- can  you tell me a secret about yourself that very few people here know about and that shows us , who you are and what you stand for?

D-  for the the other people don’t know me much when I get to college I wanted to major in the arts. Now my major is finance so before this if I go college. I was smart about the arts like painting I didn’t  really know much about the knowledge thing before this so for the college studies I need to study hard and that is a little bit hard for me.

T- um what made you change your major or did you change your major?

D- no I in my high school I wanted to major in arts after high school my family told me I should go abroad and study. My family gave me thee options which was Canada Australia or America. Finally I chose America and this is why I came here?

T- And there did you chose to study finance or?

 D- I choose to study finance.

T- Ok umm do you wish you could study art here?

D- I wish but I didn’t choose it.

T- Can you describe a typical day for a child in your country?

D -when I was a kid before elementary school we felt free we get up at noon which is 12 am and after that we can get a breakfast of a lunch and then after that in the afternoon time we will play with other children and in the we will have dinner and watch cartoons  then around ten pm we will go back to our rooms for sleeping. After we get to the el school we have to get up at 6 am in the morning and school starts at 8 am and we finish in the afternoon at 5 pm and we have a lot of homework to do after diner we have like 2 or 3 hours of homework to do

T- wow that’s a lot of homework

D- yes that’s a lot of homework

 T- At what age do you start school then?

D- I start school at 5

T- When you were 5 did you get a lot of homework like that or did it just increase as you got older?

D- ya, I got a lot of homework when I was in elementary school I wasn’t in Beijing I was in my mothers town which is in the south part of china. We have a different education system in bejin we have a little bit of stress and for the other states we have much homework and much stress. so like for example week we just have a half-day to break, which is Sunday afternoon. So for elementary school till you finish high school its all week and you just have half day to break . a lot of homework to do because the score to get enter to  university Beijing is like a 500 and other states you need to get 600 hundred. So other states need to work very hard. That is the reason why  we have a lot of stress.

T- So I guess you have been in school both in china and the us now for a while so ah. So you would say there is more stress back home then there is in the us?

D- Mhm yes

T- do you like ehh I guess do you like being here do you like not having as much stress on your schooling?

D- yes yes.

T- What are some famous sports in china?

D- famous sports are. The most famous should be table tennis, ping pong it is a national sport in my country and ah in my country we like to play on small board which is like a table tennis, badminton something tennis. For most years the popular sports are basketball and for old people they like to play with small ball, which is like table tennis better.

T- Did you play any sports growing up?

D- I stated to play basketball in jr high.

T- do you play table tennis then?

D- yes I’m pretty good I started when I was five

T- ya cause back in the dorms we used to play table tennis

T- Which country`s food do you like the most? What are the similarities and differences between it and your own culture`s food?

D- the one for favorite food it should be chines food and for other things I like Italian and Japanese food I like sushi and Korean food I like most Asian ones and we like to eat rice and we cook the dishes like and I like sushi very much.

T- do you get to eat a lot of Chinese food being food being here? Do you eat some American food?

D- for the fist year I live in shoemaker and I think I have no choice I have gravy and Atwood for the American food. For the after that I go with my friends we move out to aptments and we cook a lot for ourselves.

T-  What different modes of transportation are used in your country?

D- ah it depends in a big city people like to bus use subway, public transportation and for the small states people with choose cars and motorcycles because it’s a small town there aren’t a lot of busses. And for the big city there are a lot of tracif jams so to drive your own cars it is very expensive.

T - What kind of government is in charge of your home country?

D- my government I think people have no much right or feel free to speak and do things. An example is like a when we go internet we can’t say bid words for government. It is forbidden if you say you will be moved out and if you say it in public place the cops will take you out we cant say any bad words for government it is very forbidden in our country.

T- do you like that or do you like having more of a say?

D- I like what is happening in America, American people say what they like they feel free to do to say whatever you want right.

T- do you feel that ah you don’t have to answer this question if you don’t want to but, do you feel like the way your government is people have more pride for their country? Then they do  in America?

D-Yes yes

T - Do you have any daily rituals in regards to your religious beliefs?

D- I think not I don’t have any beliefs religion but most people have the same we don’t have any religious beliefs.

 T-  do you have any special holiday or cultural events that you guys get together like Christmas?

D- Yes yes most three important events is spring festival, which is like new year Christmas eve in us it is a national day. National day is a  is the governments say everyone have a week break and for the spring festival it is a new year day where the family gets together and have a big dinner and people always celebrate this holiday during maybe a span of 15 days just 15 days which is the most big event in you country.

T- with you being here do you still celebrate here with friends?

D- yes, every year we celebrate when we the spring festival  I think almost all Chinese students will get together and see the my country is typical. Then we go to small party for each small group and have a big diner.

T - What could SCSU do to make your stay on campus better?

D -ah I think scsu should open more online classes and open more parking lots cause I got a 20 tickets for last semester

T- wow

D- Ya

T- being here do you think ah is it tough being here with a language barrier.//?

D- yes it is it think about how people to abroad and study my family my parents tell me I must and I have no choice I just finished m entrance exam I have very good grades I could have went to a very famous college in Beijing but my parents so no you cant. I can remember when I first came here I got lost in the Chicago airport for one day.

T- wow ya that’s a big airport

D- ya just for one day just cause I cant speak and understand what the people are saying about so I missed two flights and I stay here for one day and I remember the first three months I cant understand what teacher is saying and I start at very low level for English. It is very hard for me.

T- is that why you would want more online classes? Is that easier for you to understand is that easier cause you can kind of go at your own pace and stuff like that?

D- umm  not really I want to  go back to my country on summer vacation and I would also want to take classes in the summer time. So  here’s rule on summer classes I cant just take one class so if I could do more online I could do it back in my country that’s the reason why.

T- I was thinking about my paper and I am a construction management major and which has to do with building and managing people that are building stuff and ah how would you describe building in  your country compared to building in America?

D- yes it is similar I think it is similar a lot of the buildings are tall and in the smaller cities. It is like St Cloud.

T- thank you that is all I have.

Interview one results

Interview one
Nicholas S.-  17 pts.
Mengyao D.- 17 pts.
Janaka R.- 15 pts.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AgVcM1Nggu5mdG53OFoyaUF6R0VoMENNelRhSXpjQUE

interview one

            For my first interview I interviewed Karnaa12. This interview was the hardest for me to do not because it was the first but because it was due right after spring break. I went out of town for spring break and Karnaa12is a friend from class. I was able to send her a text asking if she would be free when we got back from break. She knew what I needed to do so she gladly agreed. Even though she isn’t from a different culture I still felt I could learn from her and her experiences. To get prepared for the interview I printed off the list of questions I was planning to ask and on my computer there is a recorded that I could use. We meet in the library and found a spot away from people so they wouldn’t be disturbed. Then we just socialized a little bit about break and whatever else came to mind to easy the tension and create a sense of comfort.

            Karnaa12 and I have talked in class and built a little bit of a friendship. The interview was a little bit different. Our relationship isn’t a very serious one we like to joke around and tease each other and joke around. Which make the interview hard at times because it was a side we haven’t seen from each other yet. We were able to get thought all the questions and over all the interview went very well. There was a couple things that had surprised me. Even though we both grew up in the US we had a large amount of differences in the way I would have answered the questions. Another thing was I thought I knew her pretty well but when we really started talking I learn so much more that I never knew and don’t know if I would have known if we didn’t do this interview.

The US “the melting pot” it is always said how people want to move here and start the “American dream”. Like Karnaa12 I am also from America, but she is from Minnesota and I am from Wisconsin. There isn’t much of a difference between Minnesota and Wisconsin but there is some. First and for most, the Green Bay Packers are better than the Minnesota Vikings. On a serious note Minnesota known as the land of 10,000 lakes or the North Star State. Their sate bird is the common loon, their tree is the red pine, the flower is pinkand white lady’s-slipper, and their capital city is St. Paul. Minnesota is also known as the hockey state. If I were to describe Minnesota to someone that has never been there before I would begin by telling him or her about the weather. Minnesota has four distinct seasons; cold bitter winters with large amounts of snow, warm humid summers, vivid falls where the leaves on the trees change color and the bugs come out, and last but not least warm rainy springs. One thing that all the seasons have in common is the wind always seems to blow.

The US in general is known as somewhat of a lazy culture, but also the best of the best is here. Just about every culture is represented in one way or another here.

1. What are the typical greetings in your culture and what do they mean?

·      There are a couple typical greetings I have noticed in American culture. There is a wave, basically saying hello. Next there is the finger you can give people, which is sticking up your middle finger while all the others are in a fist. This is mostly used when driving and people are mad. It can be you or another person. There is also the smile which is another way of saying hello, but I don’t have time to talk. There are many more but these are the three basic ones I notice most often or use.

2. Could you tell me a secret about yourself that very few people here know about and that shows us well, who you are and what you stand for?

·      One secret that no one really knows is that I hate the wrinkles you get in your feet and hands after swimming. It creeps me out. Anytime anyone gets near me with them I want to smack them away, but I don’t along with many things that gross me out. The reason it says who I am is because I am a strong person I am able to do many things that freak, or gross me out. Some things are better not shown on the face if it grosses you out because it can offend people. Working in a clinic there are many things that I face that gross or creep me out so I have to not show any emotion on my face while facing them, and other people should do the same things in certain situations.

3.Can you describe a typical day for a child in your country?

·      A typical day for a child in our country varies. If you are in daycare time is spent mostly playing and doing arts and crafts during the day. If you are in kindergarten you will spend either a half day there or a full day. The day consists of school work and play again. Depending on when parents get off at night, dinner gets served. After that it is usually play time, or homework time until bed time. A normal bed time for me was 8 when I was young, between, 5-8.

4.  At what age do you start school? Are you under a lot of stress in school??

·      At age 5 I started school, when I began college I was 18. When I started at SCSU I was 22 and I have never been under as much stress as I am at this school. I have many teachers that I can’t understand because of an accent, or other students. There is not much help from some teachers because they have too many students, or don’t care. There is also the school work which, there is never enough time in the day for.

5.  How would you describe famous sports in your country?

·      Football, grown men who tackle each other over a ball. Hockey people who like to beat each other to get a puck into a net. While watching them there is lots of booze involved with crazy fans. We all know one. The sports Americans love are contact sports where there is a lot of fights and tackling.

6. Which country`s food do you like the most? What are the similarities and differences between it and your own culture`s food?

·      I love Italian food, pizza, and pasta. However, I can’t really tell you the difference between American food and Italian food. Since to me there is really no difference and I don’t know what is really considered American food. Is it Burgers and fries and freaky, greasy, fast food? If it is then the Italian food I like is not deep fried or caked in grease. I like the pizzas and pastas that don’t have a ton of grease where I have to take my napkin to dab grease off. I like it more on the healthy side. So I guess the difference is carbohydrates and grease.

7. What different modes of transportation are used in your country?

·      The different modes of transportation are walking, riding a bike, moped, car, bus, or a train. The different modes of transport depend on where you live. If you are in the city a lot of people take the bus. If you have to travel a significant distance and a train goes to both places, that can be taken. Most people drive their car when they live in the suburbs. Then there is also the college campus many people ride their bikes, walk, or ride a moped.

8. What kind of government is in charge of your home country, how did it affect your life and how has democracy in America been a change?

·      I don’t know much about the government all I know is they make laws, take money out of my paychecks and that I get a small amount back once a year. There is also a president, and a vice president, and more people than I would ever want to think about running the country. I don’t know how the democracy in America been a change, nor do I really understand what this question is trying to get at. All I know is I don’t get a say in how I would like the country ran, or how the money gets spent. I do know is I don’t get help from the government for my college, housing, or anything for that matter.

9. Do you have any daily rituals in regards to your religious beliefs?

·      We don’t have any rituals for our religious beliefs. Church would be the only thing and we are not there often.  If you want to there is prayer, but there isn’t any set times to do it or how many times it is needed. I was baptized Lutheran but don’t know much about the difference of it. I pray to god and not to mary, or any other idols.

10. What religious holidays or other cultural events do you or others celebrate; can you explain your traditions for each? 

·      We don’t really have any traditions in my family. We celebrate Christmas by putting up a tree and lights. Christmas morning we open gifts and if there is snow we go snowmobiling and sometimes we will go to my grandma’s house. The other holiday we celebrate thanksgiving, my dad and bother are usually up hunting so it’s usually just me and my mom. If we feel like cooking we will make a turkey or steak. If we don’t feel like doing anything we will order a pizza. Easter we usually go to church that morning. Halloween, ,my family dress up the dogs and cat in their costumes, and then we pass out candy to the kids. Fourth of July is usually different every year. It involves lots of alcohol and fireworks. Sometimes I am camping, the lake, or at a party.

11. What could SCSU do to make your stay on campus better?

·      There are many things SCSU could do to make my stay better. First the computers should work a little faster. It is fustrating when it takes ten minutes to wait for a computer to finish logging off. Next, it would be nice to be able to see an advisor in a reasonable amount of time instead of having to wait a week. Then, there needs to be more teachers for certain classes, for example, philosophy it is so hard to get in a class unless you have early registration. If all of these changes were made it would make my stay on campus for school easier.

Sources- http://www.50states.com/minnesot.htm