Interview Report
Joe Reece
Preparations:
First things first, I approached Xingyi and asked he would be willing to do the interview. He willingly obliged and we set up for Sunday at 1pm after spring break, due to him being gone over spring break. When Sunday rolled around, I texted him to confirm he knew to come over and do the interview, but he didn’t respond. It turned out that he was still away for spring break and only arrived home the next day. He apologized for being gone and asked if we could meet then on Monday. I had to go to work then, but I told him we could do it Monday night around 9:30 p.m. I jogged the 3 miles home from work in order to be home in time and then started to get things ready to record his interview. He called me and asked if it was okay if he brought his friend who also needed to interview. I said that was fine, completely understanding the need to get it done and I am not one to get upset over anything really. It took awhile for them to find my house, but once they did it went smoothly. I grabbed an extra chair and we discussed who would interview who. It was at that point that I switched to be interviewing Wenting and Xingyi to interviewing me. I got out my computer and opened up Garageband to record the interview. I also had the core questions up on my computer, but I knew it was necessary to improvise a little and add in questions to ease the flow, so I didn’t rely on them. We had some small talk before beginning and we all felt pretty comfortable together, so we began.
Interview Description:
Right from the start of the interview it was surprising how comfortable we were with each other in a room with strangers before that day. There is something in human nature that drives us to get to know things and people that surround us that we don’t fully know and that really made it a smooth process. As it went on, I was growing more interested in what Wenting had to say. She had some incredible ideas that I had no idea anyone thought. She spoke of Americans being passionate people compared to the Chinese. I had heard that foreigners think we are generally fat and lazy, but passionate was a very new and interesting concept to me. She thought it came from our freedom to go after our dreams. She sought that freedom and it was why she came to America: to achieve her dreams. This made me realize how many freedoms we take for granted in America. We complain about having to answer the question: “What are you going to do after high school?”, but she was willing to move across the globe just to be able to make that decision for herself. She could she that she was gaining my interest as we went on and that helped her answer more comfortably and honestly. It also surprised me that she preferred British food, especially the desserts. Being from South Africa, I have a bit of British background and it was nice that we both could appreciate their food. This was the first interview, but I feel like it was very successful and even made plans to go get Chinese food with them sometime.
Country Report:
I have previously studied China a little, so I knew a little about their history and the new shift from communism to capitalism and democracy. It is a very traditional country and also a very over-populated country. Their rulers had dynasties. They built the Great Wall to keep out the Mongolians. Many products are built in factories in China and a lot of people immigrate here from China. They are also known for their oppressive stance on controlling the Internet. I had thought they were generally religious people, but Wenting said she was not religious at all and sounded relieved to say it. My knowledge of China was not enough to give a full report though, so I dug deeper and did a good amount of research. China happens to be the fourth largest country in entire world.(CIA) It has a very diverse climate, from tropical in the south to subarctic in the north.(CIA) They only recently achieved their independence in 1949.(CIA) This hasn’t stopped them from having the world’s fastest growing economy for the past 30 years.(CUCAS) They have 5000 years of history and have led the world in philosophy, and technology for many years.(CUCAS) They also have vast diversity with 56 different ethnic groups each with their own customs and traditions.(CUCAS) So many things about this country make it desirable to visit, explore, and immerse yourself in. I definitely will travel there in the future.
References:
My Personal Knowledge
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ch.html
http://www.cucas.edu.cn/HomePage/content/content_141.shtml
http://i3atsea.blogspot.com/2011/02/oriental-dragon-run-chinese-new-year.html
Interview Transcript:
(W=Wenting)
ME: What’s your name?
W: My name is Wenting.
ME: How long have you gone to St. Cloud State University?
W: About 8 months.
ME: Do you enjoy it here at St. Cloud?
W: Yes, the environment is beautiful and the St. Cloud State offers me a good environment for study.
ME: What could SCSU do to make your stay on campus better?
W: Just offer more parking lots and sometimes it’s hard to find a place to park my car.
ME: Yeah, me too!
ME: Well, tell me a little bit about yourself; what is something that most people don’t know about you?
W: Actually, before I came to America, I had been studying music for almost 12 years. After I came here, I started finance. So it’s totally different 2 majors.
ME: When did you stop studying music?
W: About 5 years ago.
ME: What interested you in finance?
W: I don’t know, I just liked business!
ME: So you are from China right?
W: Yes.
ME: Which country’s food do you like the most, and what are similarities and differences between it and your own culture’s food; what is your favorite food?
W: My favorite food?
ME: Yes, where is it from and how does it compare?
W: My favorite food is the British food. I have been to England and I tasted the desserts in that country. It is really good.
ME: I agree. In China, what are typical greetings and what do they mean, when people greet each other, what do they say?
W: In China, when we meet friends we just shake hands and maybe if boys meet each other they may hit each other’s shoulders.
ME: What does it mean when they hit each other’s shoulders?
W: It means hello.
ME: Is that the most common?
W: Yes.
ME: In China do you know what government runs China and how did it affect your life and in America have you noticed the differences with democracy here?
W: I think that democracy in America in charge of government works very well. In China, people have few rights to do what they want to do and we can’t say what we want to say to our government.
ME: So you like the free speech?
W: Yes, and in America we feel free to chase our goals and say what we want to say to government and I think American people have more rights.
ME: How do people get around in China mostly, like what is the most efficient way to get around?
W: Maybe walk more or by subway or bus.
ME: Not as many people drive cars?
W: I think most people just take the bus and half and half.
ME: So you started music study when you were five years old?
W: Yes.
ME: When did you start school, when you were 5 or younger?
W: About 6 years old.
ME: Does everyone start when they are 6 years old?
W: Most children start at 6.
ME: In the years going through school since you were 6, is it more stressful in China, like how was the stress level when you were working through school up until now, were you very stressed like did you work really hard to get through school or did is feel like it was pretty easy?
W: I think we are under huge stress of study because we have in, when I was in high school I went to school at about 7am and had class until 7pm that evening. Almost 12 hours. And after that we still had a lot of homework to do, so we really had little time to rest and do what we want to do, so we just study, study, study.
ME: What holidays do you get off in School? Are they the same as here or different?
W: I think it’s different. There are two breaks: spring and fall. That is a holiday in my country.
ME: Do you have any traditions that go with those breaks?
W: We, our family members gather together and we have a big dinner and the children will get a lot of gifts.
ME: Is there anything that you do daily in regards to your religious beliefs?
W: No. I am not religious.
ME: Okay. What about sports in your country which are famous and popular?
W: I think it is table tennis and badminton and like basketball.
ME: Which did you play?
W: I don’t like sports.
ME: When you go though a day as a child in your country how does a typical day go?
W: When I was a child I went to primary school. I woke up at 8 am and had breakfast and we went to primary school and we went until about 4pm in the afternoon, we get home and I start doing homework and dinner and bedtime.
ME: What was your motivation to come to America?
W: I think American people have more passion and they have more rights to do what they want to do. I just wanted to feel free to chase my dreams, so I came to America.
ME: So now you are going to school for finance?
W: Yes.
ME: What do you want to do after that?
W: Go deeper into grad school.
ME: Do you have anywhere you want to go to grad school?
W: Maybe New York.
ME: Well, it was good to talk to you.
W: Yeah it was.
ME: Bye for now.
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