Preparation of Interview:
Interviewing someone is always a challenge. So, for me, it was a challenge to interview someone who is from other place and has very different culture, religion and language. I am a girl from Nepal, which lies in south Asia. So, while comparing my country with other countries there are lots of differences regarding culture and other social values. I was in doubt whether I would be able to conduct my interview in respectful manner or not. For this reason before I start interview I decided to learn something about their culture, religion and the people how they live. So, I tried to learn it from internet and some people from the same country to facilitate my interview and make it success. I went through the questions that I prepared for the interview and make sure that I didn’t ask any offensive questions. My first interview was taken on 29th of October 2010.
Before Interview:
To interview someone it is very important to know that a person who is giving interview should be calm. If a person who is being interviewed has been suffering from fear or negative feelings then it may arouse conflict in our work. So keeping those things in my mind I decided to conduct an interview of a person that I knew. Interviewing a person that one knows will certainly eliminate the discomfort and would create and healthy environment for the interview. Luckily I got chance to conduct my interview with one of my international friend from Sri Lanka and his friends. I thought of conducting an interview in the Library but later I thought that it would be better if I will conduct an interview in my apartment and at the same time we can have homemade coffee.
During interview:
I first interviewed my friend. I let him go through the questions first and let him think about the answers. He was really calm and was ready to answer all the questions. Although it was a formal interview we had lots of fun. I conducted the interview in a respectful manner without offending him or his culture. The surprising thing that I knew from him was when people died in their culture they keep dead body for three or four days according to their religion. As interview was conducted at home we really had peaceful and homely environment and both of us enjoyed a lot sharing and knowing each other.
About Sri Lanka:
. Sri Lanka is extended in between the area of 65,610 square kilometer about the size of West Virginia. Colombo is the capital city of Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka rise to more than 2, 133 meters. It lies in the south of Asia and is one of the developing nations. While talking about climate, it has no marked seasons. The population is about 21.3 million with different ethnic group .Indo- Aryan emigration, Sinhalese came from India in the 5th century B.C and is the largest ethnic group of Sri Lanka about 74%. Tamils are the second largest group originally from the Tamil region of India about 18%, Muslims are of about 7%, and others are 1%. Religions are Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam and Christianity. Tamil is the official language of Sri Lanka and Sinhala and English are the other few languages commonly used. Literacy is 91 % with 96.5% % primary school attendance. Rice and curry is the most common food of Sri Lanka. However Middle Eastern influences and practices are found in traditional dishes. Sinhala and Tamil people celebrate Sinhala and Tamil New Year festivals whereas Muslims celebrate Ramadan every year. The constitution of Sri Lanka established a democratic republic of Sri Lanka. The government is a mixture of the presidential system and the parliamentary system. President is the chief of the country. The GDP of Sri Lanka is $41.32 billion with an annual growth rate of 3 %. Tea, rice, rubber, coconut, spices and garments are the most popular exports of Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka is full with natural beauties and tourism has been prevailing rapidly.
Interview:
Rashmi: Hi Udara nice to meet you again.
Udara: Hi Rashmi Nice to meet you too.
Rashmi: Ok, You know I am taking an interview with you so before I take an interview I would like to tell you that I am going to record this interview is it fine with you?
Udara: Yes that will be fine.
Rashmi: Thankyou, Can you tell me about yourself and your country?
Udara: My name is Udara Sri Vandara and I am twenty two years old right now. I go to Saintcloudstate University and I am doing Bachelor degree over here.
Rashmi: How long you have been here in United States?
Udara: May be three years.
Rashmi: Oh
Udara: Yes almost three years.
Rashmi: Oh it’s a long time right?
Udara: Yes.
Rashmi: So you are now used to being here huh?
Udara: Yes.
Rashmi: Why did you choose SCSU instead of other Universities?
Udara: Because for my major like Computer networking security I don’t find any other University they offer networking security that’s why I chose this University.
Rashmi: Can you please tell me about your experience when you first came here?
Udara: Yes, that was horrible, especially the food. I had many problems as I was a vegetarian and you can’t be a vegetarian here it’s very hard. I had garvey plans meals and stuffs like that.
Rashmi: So only the food was bad for you?
Udara: May be the weather too.
Rashmi: So, what differences did you find when you first came here and now?
Udara: Yes it’s a big difference because now I got used to everything. I am eating American food and I am pretty good right now.
Rashmi: why did you choose computer networking security as your major? I mean what scopes did you find choosing this subject?
Udara: When I was a kid actually I was just wondering how computer connect each other so that’s why I chose this major.
Rashmi: Do you find any differences in education system between United States and your home country?
Udara: Yes, it’s big difference because in back home they do all their theoretical part but here in United States they do have technology and they do all the practical stuffs.
Rashmi: Why did you choose coming to United States than other countries?
Udara: Obviously because of the technology. I mean they have the best technology than other countries that’s what I think.
Rashmi: So are you going back to your country?
Udara: May be yes.
Rashmi: So you want to utilize all your knowledge from here.
Udara: Exactly I am going to gain all the knowledge from here and I am going to go back to my country and I am going to open may be network company or network firm over there.
Rashmi: So I think you like everything here?
Udara: Yes, I do.
Rashmi: Do you miss your family?
Udara: Yes, sometimes.
Rashmi: What type is your family is it joint or nuclear?
Udara: It is a joint family.
Rashmi: So you have your grandparents, parents all living together?
Udara: Yes.
Rashmi: How much do you hang out with other international friends?
Udara: A lot.
Rashmi: Do you hang out with female friends too or you just hang out with male only?
Udara: That does not matter I have female friends and male friends. I have lot of friends.
Rashmi: In your country, how do you interact with your female friends? Is that similar how you interact with your male friends with female too?
Udara: No, we have to show them who we are because there are bad people too. They are shy to talk with us so we have to get to know each other then we will start talking with each other.
Rashmi: Anything that is considered which is not proper way?
Udara: No.
Rashmi: How does new couple meet each other?
Udara: We don’t have dates. Mostly we have arranged marriages. Girl’s parents and boy’s parents meet together and talk about their sons and daughters about their marriages then after they will share the ideas when they are going to get married.
Rashmi: Are female groups equally educated like male?
Udara: I am not pretty sure about that.
Rashmi: I am just wondering how forward they are compared to male?
Udara: Some girls are forward but not everybody. Generally male do good jobs in Sri Lanka than females.
Rashmi: What are your famous festivals and how do you celebrate it?
Udara: On April we have New Year festival. We have cultural festivals like Baishak in August. Mainly all are related to Buddhism as 90 % of people are Buddhist.
Rashmi: Is your culture similar to any other countries?
Udara: Like your country Nepal and may be India, Pakistan.
Rashmi: Is there any norms and values that should be strictly followed in your country?
Udara: Not really, we don’t have to follow what they really say. Mostly because of the religion girls are not suppose to wear short clothes. We respect our elders and we don’t call our professors by name.
Rashmi: Do you have different rules of eye contact and body language in your country?
Udara: As I said that when we talk with professor we don’t have any eye contact. We do respect them a lot. When we talk with friends we don’t care about eye contact.
Rashmi: If people die in your country how they are ended (buried/burnt)?
Udara: We have a very big occasion for that. We keep the body for three days and lots of people attend the funeral. We give food to the people who come. We bury the body and sometimes we burn the body.
Rashmi: How is your daily lifestyle back to your country? What do you have for your diet (breakfast, lunch, dinner)?
Udara: We wake up at about 6 in the morning because every school starts at about 8 in the morning. For morning breakfast we have rice and rice as lunch and dinner too.
Rashmi: Do you cook rice here too?
Udara: Yes.
Rashmi: What is the political situation in your country?
Udara: Now it’s pretty good. We had a war and we had a terrorism problem but the war is over now and there is peace.
Rashmi: What is the most common source of income?
Udara: Tea, coffee, rubber and coconut. As well as import and export. Especially tourism is the main source of income for our country. Mostly British and American visit our country because it is a small island with good environment.
Rashmi: How is tourism in your country and how do you feel that your country is related to the outside world?
Udara: We have more than 2000 years old history and there are lot of things to see in our country like cultural values, statues. For tourist the weather condition is very good as it like summer all year round. Lot of people when they have winter come to our country.
Rashmi: Can you give me roughly, the percentage of employed and unemployed people?
Udara: There are lot of unemployed people over there because it is a developing country.
Rashmi: These are all the questions that I have for you, if you have any questions for me you can freely ask me.
Udara: No problem, I don’t have any questions.
Rashmi: Thank you very much. I really appreciate for your time.
Udara: Thank you.
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