Interview #2

Preparations
To prepare for the interview I made a list of ten open ended questions to ask the interviewee. With these questions I wish to gather as much information as I can about this persons country and culture. Along with the questions, I also constructed a set of objectives to follow during my interview. I found this to be much more difficult than making my list of questions. I used the help of my classmates objectives posted on their blogs to strengthen my own set of objectives. After this I began to look for an interviewee. I found this part to be quite easy; I just asked an international student in our class if she knew anyone that I could interview. She said yes her roommate could do it.

Interview
We met on November 2nd in the library at around 7:30 PM. We met on the third floor because that is where she was doing her homework. We then proceeded to the basement to find a place to do the interview. We found a nice secluded place perfect for two people to do an interview. The felt that the entire went very well I started it by asking her if I could record the interview and she said sure. I started the recorder and began the interview with a couple questions about her country and her background. I feel that the entire interview went well, at first I was nervous and I could tell she was nervous, but by the end of it we were both comfortable.

Biography
My interviewee’s name was Miranda. She is from South Korea and she has no family here with her. I also learned that she has been in the United States for about a year and a half. She is a sophomore here at SCSU and is working on her English so she can go back home and get a good job.

Interview Process
The interview process from my point of view was a success. We started the interview well; she was very friendly and willing to do the interview. We were kind of nervous at the start but progressively became more and more comfortable with each other. The interview process was first me preparing a list of questions and with those questions I made a list of objectives to follow so I could keep myself on track. I found that by the time the interview was over I had finished all of my questions, but did not just end the interview because it became more than an interview, it was just a normal conversation. This surprised me because I figured once I was done with my list of questions I would just end the interview. I was also surprised that she asked me a few questions or would just ask me the same question that I asked her. This made me feel more comfortable with the interview because I knew she was also interested in our conversation .

South Korea
South Korea is a small country, but it is the third densely populated country in the world with almost 50 million people, only following Bangladesh and Taiwan. South Korea is in East Asia and is neighbored by China, Japan and obviously North Korea. Seoul is the capital of South Korea. “The fifth largest city in the world, the Seoul metropolis has a population of about 10.3 million and is the center for economy, finance, the arts and culture.” (Asianinfo.com)
The typical landscape or geography in South Korea is mountainous. The Korean Peninsula, located in Northeast Asia, is bordered on the north by China and Russia and juts toward Japan to the southeast. The northernmost point is Yup'ojin in Onsong-gun, Hamgyongbuk-do Province, and the southernmost point is Marado island, Cheju-do Province according to Asianinfo.com
There are a couple ethnic groups that live in South Korea, they are Korean and Chinese. South Korean people do have their own language, but I learned in my interview that children are taught English and that English is very important to get a successful job. “Korea's population is one of the most ethnically and linguistically homogenous in the world. Except for a small Chinese community (about 20,000), virtually all Koreans share a common cultural and linguistic heritage. With 48.5 million people, South Korea has one of the world's highest population densities. Major population centers are located in the northwest, southeast, and in the plains south of the Seoul-Incheon area.” (CIA World Fact Book)
“South Korea shares its traditional culture with North Korea, but the two Koreas have developed distinct contemporary forms of culture since the peninsula was divided in 1945. Historically, while the culture of Korea has been heavily influenced by that of neighboring China, it has nevertheless managed to develop a unique and distinct cultural identity from its larger neighbor” (Wikipedia) Also I learned in my interview that the United States has a couple of differences, these including religion. South Korea has about half of it’s’ population is Christian and the other half is Buddhism. I also learned in my interview that people my age in South Korea like to go to the bars and drink just like people do in the United States.
CIA. "The World Fact." Central Intelligence Agency. September 30, 2009. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ch.html (accessed October 20, 2009).
Asian info.org (2009, November 3). Seoul, South Korea. Retrieved 2000, From Asian info.org: http://www.asianinfo.org/asianinfo/seoul/seoul.htm