Interviewer: Boshi Chen
interviewee: S H
date: 04/02/2012
Interview Preparation:
My third interviewee is named S H, she is a Japanese. I know her from one of my Chinese friends. This time, I invite her to come to library, I want to learn about their cultural traditions, to learn how they live their daily lives to learn how they date and marry, to learn what the overall family structure is like. Second, I made a list of questions. I chose the questions our class decided on, and I also create some question from myself, I made a few of my own though. The questions I created were more specific to for my purpose.
Third, last time, I just did a small talk with my friend; I did not ask the whole bunch of questions either. However, this time, I did it more formal. I prepared a voice recorder, and get so SH’s permission in advance.
Interview report:
This interview was made in library at 3:00 pm on Monday, Apr. 2. The interviewee is named S H; she is an international student, from Japan. We know each other through one of my Chinese friend. So I have a little knowing about her and her country. The all the conversation went very well. In this report, I prepared 10 core questions to ask, aiming to know whether it has differences in life style between America and Japan.
At the beginning of our talking, we greeted, and chat. The whole conversation she looks very comfortable about my asking, so we had very happy talking.
Through these 3 interviews, I learned a lot from these 3 friends. I learned new culture and new country and cities. It was fun for me.
Country report:
"Japan (Japanese: 日本 Nihon or Nippon; formally 日本国Nippon-koku or Nihon-koku, literally the State of Japan) is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south. The characters that make up Japan's name mean "sun-origin", which is why Japan is sometimes referred to as the "Land of the Rising Sun".
Japan 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. 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."(1)
Food:
Chilled Tofu
Chilled tofu is simply served with various toppings. This is a picture about it.
It's a traditional tofu dish called hiyayakko. They can be a wide variety of fresh or cooked ingredients of your choice. Common toppings are katsuobushi (dried bonito flakes), grated ginger, green onion, shiso (perilla), and so on. I like to use silken tofu for this dish. When it's too hot to cook, hiyayakko is a quick appetizer to prepare.
Miso soup
Miso soup (with tofu, wakame and scallion).
"Miso soup (味噌汁 misoshiru) is a traditional Japanese soup consisting of a stock called "dashi" into which softened miso paste is mixed. Many ingredients are added depending on regional and seasonal recipes, and personal preference."(3)
Wedding:
"Japanese wedding customs fall into two categories: traditional Shinto ceremonies, and modern Western-style weddings. In either case, the couple must first be legally married by filing for marriage at their local government office, and the official documentation must be produced in order for the ceremony to be held. Traditionally, marriages were categorized into two types according to the method of finding a partner—miai, meaning arranged or resulting from an arranged introduction, and ren'ai, in which the principals met and decided to marry on their own—although the distinction has grown less meaningful over postwar decades as the proportion of miai matches has dwindled. The Japanese bride-to-be may be painted pure white from head to toe, visibly declaring her maiden status to the gods. Two choices of headgear exist. One, the watabōshi, is a white hood; the other, called the tsunokakushi, serves to hide the bride's 'horns of jealousy.' It also symbolizes the bride's intention to become a gentle and obedient wife."(2)
Transcription
Me: hi SH so nice to meet you.
SH: yeah, how are you doing?
Me: I am good, how are you
SH: I am good too.
Me: well, as I said in the email, today I am going to ask and talk some questions about your life and your country. And I am going to use this voice recorder, is that ok for you?
SH: yeah, sure of course you can.
Me: ok, here is the list of questions; you may keep one of it.
SH: um, ok.
Me: how many family members you have?
SH: there are my mom, my dad, my little brother and me. My dad is an editor, and my mom is a house wife. My brother, he is 16 years old, he is at a high school.
Me: wow, that is a median size family, so what is the normal size of family members in Japan?
SH: I think 4-5 is media.
Me: ok, you said your mom is a house wife, does that mean your father takes care of your family??
SH: oh, our family main income is from my dad, but my mom also takes care of us, including cooking, buying new items for family, and what is the most important is when there is a big decision should be made, then my parent will talk with my mom first. So I think both of them goanna take care of our family.
Me: yeah, that makes sense. As I know that you are an international student, Which country`s food do you like the most?
SH: I guess for me it should be Japanese food, and Chinese food. Actually all Asian food is my favorite.
Me: that our common view, haha, what are the similarities and differences between it and your own culture`s food?
SH: Japanese food got more fresh cuisine, you must know sushi, right? I guess that was because we living near the sea. By the way, did you go to Fuji? That restaurant is great, you should have a try.
Me: I love Fuji! Japanese food is my favorite either, delicious and delicate.
SH: I deeply agree with you haha.
Me: you know what I saw some Japanese film, it looks like Japanese bowing a lot, is that truth?
SH: er, actually bowing is not so common today, especially between our young people. We prefer shaking hand to bowing. But Old generation still doing that a lot I guess.
Me: oh, I never know that, next question could you tell me a secret about yourself that very few people here know about?
SH: ok… for me, I think it is the language, and the way we think. my English was not that good when the first day I came to here, it is hard for me to make American friends, and also hard for me to express what I want to talk about, so that was a hard time to get used to. Then it is the way we think, nowadays, i am doing a project with my group members, they are amercing, in Japanese, we are always doing things together, and discuss problem, and making decision together. But in U.S., I found that most of American prefers to do the work individually, not for whole group. That is kind of hard, and I rarely to talk when we have meetings.
Me: yeah, I have the same situation before. But I found we can try to do other things, like searching information that kind of thing.
SH: yes. I will try, but I am not sure they will assign me to do that or not.
Me: yeah, good luck!!! Why did you decide to come to SCSU instead of studying or working in your own country?
SH: I just found there is a program for going to U.S. to study, so I decide to come to here, time went very fast, I learned a lot, and SCSU is a great school for me.
Me: talk about this, I am interested that at what age do you start school? Are you under a lot 8b.Can you describe a typical day for a child in your country?
SH: in this question, I guess we are kind of the same, under huge stress in school, and have gone to school under 8 years old. Even finding job is hard, we got too many people in japans in America that is will be much harder for us too, we don’t have the language advantage, ... that is a big problem disturbing me.
Me: Depending on you have been here almost half year, can you tell me some things about what are culture differences between your country and here?
SH: as I mentioned before, the thinking way, and the food must be the most different! There is a lot of fast food, and in Japan, people eat fish, and vegetable almost every day, and our main food is rice and noodles.
Me: the same with china, it is hard for me to get used to American food. At what age do you consider marriage?
SH: for girl. It may be at 22-25, for men, it probably at 25-27. That depends on.
Me: I see. I was wondering you guys would do what for fun as usually?
SH: we will go to the night club, karaoke, or stay at friends’ place having parties. Or hang out with friends, watching movie, shopping and so on.
Me: that must be a lot fun.
Me: so at what age did you start to learn English? And what was the most difficult thing about learning English?
SH: well, I began learn English when I was at middle school, for now, the most difficult thing is speaking, Asian people are shy, I am not good at talking with people first. So I may don’t have problem to write or read, but I do have problem to listen and talk.
Me: Asian are shy, that right. Moving on! What could SCSU do to make your stay on campus better?
SH: I feel good in SCSU, I like studying here, everyone was kind, people always smile to you, even you are shy, and don’t like talk too much.
Me: Same feeling! So how would you describe famous sports in your country?
SH: actually, I am not a big fan of sport, but I think skate and skiing are very popular, some boys also like baseball.
Me: it is a lot baseball competition in your country, I have done with my questions! So nice to talk with you.
SH: hah, have a nice one.
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