Thursday, October 27, 2011

First interview

1) To see interview transcription please click here

2) Process description:               
        About preparation, first procedure is I need to decide which country’s people I am going to interview. I planned to interview three Americans with my own 20 questions at the first place. But what I did not expect was that class decided the 12 core questions for us. We are familiar with American culture a little bit. I know almost all answers of 12 questions about America. So finally I decided to change the target to Japan which is another country that I am interested in. I want to know everything about Japan, especially, this 12 core questions. Secondly, I did research about the 12 questions on internet before the interview. I prepared my own answers in my mind in order to compare with the answers which the interviewees give to me later. Thirdly, about the equipments that I need for interviews, I took my recording pen and printed paper with 12 questions to the interviews. The final procedure is about searching interviewees, I went to the library in which is the good place for students to gather. I found a Japanese girl in the second floor whom I saw at the parties or activities several times, but I did not know much about her. I approached her and ask her whether she has time or not, could I interview her due to my assignment of ENGL191 course? She accepted happily. After I gave her printed paper with 12questions, she said the questions were a little bit difficult and needed time to prepare. 30 minutes later, when she was ready for interview then came to me, I asked her could I recorder the interview, she felt excited about it and agreed to it

3) Country report:
               
         My first interviewee is from Japan. The country is an island located in Pacific Ocean, and “is separated from the east coast of Asia by the Sea of Japan” (1). Japan is famous for islands; it is called the country of thousands of island,which is an archipelago of 6,852 islands. The four largest islands are Honshū, Hokkaidō, Kyūshū and Shikoku, together accounting for ninety-seven percent of Japan's land area. However, the land area is 37.73 Sq.km. “Japan has the world's tenth-largest population, with over 127 million people. The Greater Tokyo Area, which includes the de facto capital city of Tokyo and several surrounding prefectures, is the largest metropolitan area in the world, with over 30 million residents”(2).
        Japan has thousands of history. “Legend attributes the creation of Japan to the sun goddess, from whom the emperors were descended. The first of them was Jimmu, supposed to have ascended the throne in 660 B.C., a tradition that constituted official doctrine until 1945.”(3) Japan also has anther name as country of the sun. The national flag of Japan is the sun flag. It is a white rectangular with a red big circle represented the sun in the middle.
       “The economy of Japan is the third largest in the world after the United States and the People's Republic of China, and ahead of Germany at 4th. According to the International Monetary Fund, the country's per capita GDP was at $33,805 or the 24th highest in 2010” (4). Japan has advanced technology; and it is famous for movies, cartons, automobile and mobile industries. Japan also is called the country of sakura, since sakura is Japanese national flower, which blooms in spring. Country holds party and festival for people to appreciate sakura, enjoy the spring.


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4)Personal impressions report:

        The first interviewee is a kind and lively person, so the interview was successful beyond my expectation. I knew a lot about Japan by a good and long conversation. The festival she mentioned was the first time I heard about. And I appreciate their culture of appreciation and spirit of solidarity. I can see those characters from Japanese news and Japanese movies which are same as she talked about. What disappointed me is the place she recommended, since I am not interested in the temples. My favorite place in Japan is Hokkaido. The answer about women’s career choices after they get married was different from the answer I searched on line. I found majority of women in Japan still prefer to be housewives nowadays.
Overall, the interview was great. Kaori and i know each other better through this interview, and we have more opportunities to contact. We bacome friends now, and even plan to have potluck party and go to Japanese restaurant sometimes









 Work citation:

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