Interview #2

Interview Transcription

Me: Hi, let’s start our interview. First, what is your name?

Elisa: My English name is Elisa Kwon, but in South Korea I am called Soonjeong Kwon.

Me: Second question is where are you from?

Elisa: I am from Seoul, South Korea.

Me: Can you tell me the education system of your country?

Elisa: Sure, that is an interesting question. We have 6 years of elementary school, 3 years of middle school, and 3 years of high school. Elementary school and middle school are mandatory.

Some prestige schools are required to take entrance exams, but other than that, students go to the adjacent schools.

Almost all students go to college, I think almost about more than 80%. People generally agree that students who graduated high school have to go to colleges.

Me: That sounds familiar. Could you tell me how has your culture influenced your people/family values?

Elisa: We used to have extended families in the past. As the society gets urbanized/ modernized, nuclear families are increasing.

Probably it is not a correct answer you want since I didn't get the word, "family values", but may be useful for you.

Me: That is fine, I think your answer is worthy for me as well.

Elisa: Great!

Me: What is the form of government in your country?

Elisa: Government? I think South Korea is a democratic nation because North Korea is a communism society. We have president who is elected by South Korean citizens. The term for president is 6 years.

Me: Please tell me one thing that makes you proud of your country.

Elisa: I am proud of Korea when the name of the country is well known to foreigners compared to the past. If I ask anybody about my country, sometimes they know much more than me. Especially, as the celebrities are getting popular to the foreigners, Korea gets famous after all.

However, I have a lot of negative aspects about Korea. I am skeptical whether it is a good trend that Korea is only famous for celebrities, dramas, cosmetics and things like visual oriented ones. More like Korean culture such as traditional costumes, houses, food, and more authentic cultural things are neglected by the things are not really a Korean things, westernized, which is recently booming. This is just my thought. You don't need to add if you need just academic statistics, but I thought it is really necessary to express my idea how I, a real Korean person, feel about Korea itself.

Me: I think that is pretty useful for me since you are talking about your own thoughts about your country, and it is a good thing for both of us!

Elisa: Thank you!

Me: Would you like to recommend me some places or sites for traveling in South Korea?

Elisa: Seoul is the best place I would like to recommend. All the cultural events, restaurants, modern facilities, museums are gathered in the capital city. The old palace is a good place to go because there will be a lot of tourists, and all the good things are exhibited in and around the palace.

Me: What festivals do you celebrate in your country?

Elisa: We have a lunar new year which is called, Sulnal, and lunar thanks giving, Choosuk, as holidays. Those are really important for Koreans for family gatherings. We cook different food from normal dishes. We wear nicer clothes than the other normal days.

Me: Could you tell me what the weather like in your hometown?

Elisa: There are four seasons in my hometown which are spring, summer, fall, and winter. The weathers are a year round, and rotate again as another New Year starts.

Me: What are the most popular sports in your country?

Elisa: Actuall, Koreans don't enjoy sports. However, I would choose soccer, ice skating and swimming. Those are popular because we won some medals from Olympics in swimming and skating and we went to the semi final in World Cup for soccer. Some people are enjoying athletics, others are not.

Me: What's the traditional food in your country?

Elisa: The biggest difference between Korean food and the other food from other countries is spiciness. We tend to eat spicy. Kimchi is called the most popular side dish which is seasoned cabbage with red hot pepper powder and other spices such as minced garlic, minced ginger, fish sauce, salt and so on. It is a healthy food.

There are a lot of food rather than Kimchi. We eat Bulgogi which is beef, or Galbi, which is pork, marinated with soy souce. Bibimbop, which is richly with vegetables and hot sauce.

Me: I really like those foods; I miss those kinds of food.

Elisa: Me too.

Me: The last question is, could you tell me what do most women do after they get married in your country? (House wife, working?)

Elisa: It really depends, many people say getting married is kind of like getting jobs for women because the house works are hard and require a lot of times, but many people want to get a real job rather than just being a house wife. My mom was a full time house wife, but now she got a job as a restaurant owner, and she is doing her job wonderfully.

Me: What about you?

Elisa: My independent idea about marriage is not just being a house wife.

Of course, I do want to be a best wife and a wonderful mother, but I just don't want to be in a house and not develop myself. That is the reason why I came to the US. I guess? Ha-ha. I just want to do something what I want to do. That is the reason why I came here

Me: Thank you very much!

Elisa: You are welcome!

Process description:

Because of the first interview, have more experience and courage to find a Korean student to do my second interview. Fortunately, I met a South Korean girl in Malaysia Cultural Night and mad appointment in November 9^th night to do the interview. She was so nice and seemed interested in the interview, when I asked for her and she replied with yes immediately. Her name is Elisa, and I know she is a Korean since we came to SCSU at the same time. We met in library on Wednesday night and she dressed up formally since she said she wanted me know that she really paid attention to the interview. I printed twelve questions with a paper for her and started our interview immediately.

Personal review:

The interview went smoothly, and we were pretty happy in the interview. She said she had a great chance to express a lot about her home country, and I said I learned a lot from her in which something cannot be found in books. I also felt some difference from my first interview since the first interviewee was a boy. Because of that, they have some different viewpoints about South Korea, and Elisa was pretty willing to express her thoughts which are pretty amazing for this interview. I think this interview was successful, not only I learned a lot, but also we had fun in the interview which would be important for any interviews.

Report on Country and Culture

South Korea, in the east of Asia, the official name is the Republic of Korea. South Korea is near by China but separated by North Korea. South Korea is different from North Korea, almost, in public, but for people’s custom and country’s culture, they are similar. The territory of South Korea is 99,392 square kilometers and South Korea has a population of almost 50 million. The capital of South Korea is Seoul.

South Korea has a long history, which is almost as similar as China. In South Korea’s legendary, this country was built in 2333 BC, but it was unified in 668 AD. This dynasty was lasted for long time; it had almost one thousand and thirty years. In 1910, South Korea was occupied by Japan. After the civil war in Korea, South Korea was separated and charged by the United States. After that, South Korea was established with democracy and its economy is developing very fast.

The politic in South Korea usually is unstable, but this country is still performs as democracy. South Korea is a developed country; it has a lot of famous brands, such as Samsung, Hyundai, and LG and so on. The most developed industries in South Korea are automobile and electricity. The culture in South Korea is based on Chinese culture, but right now, its culture is affected a lot by the modern society.

cite:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Korea