Preparation of my second Interview:
As we were supposed to take an interview with the people from the same country, I have already chosen three persons from Sri Lanka. One of them was my friend and the others were his friends. Though taking an interview from other international country was a challenge for me, however for my second interview I was more confident and ready to conduct my interview with less fear. I reviewed my previous interview and read some more articles about Sri Lanka so that it would be more helpful to conduct my interview and could relate those topics in my second interview. And I don’t want to lose any opportunities to make my interview more successful asking and gathering all facts about Sri Lanka. I read all my questions and made one copy for my second interviewee too like I did for my first interviewee. As, I conducted my first interview in my own apartment I feel very comfortable and my friend also enjoyed being there. I asked him to come over to my place. He also agreed with my request. I tried to recognize the errors I did in my fist interview so that I can improve them.
Describing the Interview:
My second interviewee, Ajida Bikram Surya is also from Sri Lanka. As we were already introduced by my friend we did not have to face any awkward situation during our meeting. I gave a copy of my questions to him so that he can read it and don’t have to be lost by not understanding what answer I am expecting from him. Our conversation went in a respectful manner and in a good environment. I also tried to put pertinent questions to him which helped me to create a conversation between us. He was cooperative and was willing to answer the question to his knowledge. The flow of my second interview was really good. However, in some of my questions my interviewee got confused so that I had to repeat some of my questions to make him understand. Though he did not understand sometimes but when I made him understand he gave me the answer with full of information. During the interview he forgot to put his cell phone off so it rang couple of times which I feel little disturbing factors. Other than that everything went smoothly and in good manner. The interview was really exciting and knowledgeable. I really enjoyed asking questions and collecting more information about Sri Lanka.
After Interview:
I felt the interview was a success. Though I asked the same questions there were few things that were answered differently than my first interviewee. Since the culture and traditions of the south Asian countries are similar my interview didn’t had any surprises. However the fact he mentioned they still follow arranged marriages and the husband and wife meet each other just couple of days before marriage and a good conversation occurs only after the marriage can be a surprise to people from other countries. I was satisfied with the way I conducted the interview and am hopeful to bring the best out me in my third interview.
Some more facts about Sri Lanka:
Rice is the one of the important diet in the Sri Lanka and is the basic food for all meals. Each ethnic group in Sri Lanka has its own type of dishes. In Sri Lanka several different curry are popular, from mild to very spicy. Sri Lankans typically consume little meat, but eat large amounts of pulses. A main meal usually begins with rice or bread, followed by a curry or lentils and a vegetable such as cabbage or carrots. Their favorite foods include “Pol sambol”, which is scraped and spiced coconut, and katta sambol, which is a very spicy mixture of fried onions and chillies. Cakes and sweetmeats are also an integral part of the country’s diet. Tea is served with most meals and as refreshment. Because the Buddhist calendar is based on the moon’s phases, every Poya Dawasa, or full-moon day, is a holiday. In addition, each major religion has at least one holiday that is also a national holiday. For example Christian gets holiday on Christmas, 25th of December, for Hindu, Diwali is the festival of light which is also a national holiday. Similarly Sri Lankan people do enjoy some outdoor sports such as elephant racing or wrestling and indoor games are enjoyed by women. Approximately one quarter of the people are involved in agricultural sector.
Interview 2.
Rashmi: Hi Ajida, how are you today?
Ajida: Fine, how are you Rashmi?
Rashmi: I am good. Thank you for coming.
Ajida: No problem.
Rashmi: You know I am taking an interview with you today for my English 191class and I am going to record this interview, is it fine with you?
Ajida: Yes, no problem.
Rashmi: Thank you very much. First of all can you please tell me about yourself and your country?
Ajida: I am Ajida Bikram Surya and I am 22 years old and I am Electrical engineering major. I am from Sri Lanka.
Rashmi: How long you have been here in the United States?
Ajida: This is my fifth semester.
Rashmi: Oh! that is long time. Why did you choose Saint Cloud State University instead of other University?
Ajida: The tuition fee in Saint Cloud State University is affordable and they give us scholarship that’s why I chose Saint Cloud State University and also the Electrical engineering program in here has a reputation compared to other universities.
Rashmi: Can you please tell me about your experience when you first came here in the United States?
Ajida: I experienced lots of differences. Weather and food were the hardest problem for me. And I was used to spicy food in Sri Lanka but here I got Burger, Pizza which I don’t like much. Weather in Sri Lanka was always hot, but here they have winter, fall everything so it was really hard during that time for me.
Rashmi: So are you used with all those things now?
Ajida: Yes pretty much.
Rashmi: What differences did you find when you were in first year and now?
Ajida: Now I think I am pretty much O.K with it because I am used to it. As I already told you, when I came here initially I had several problems with food and weather.
Rashmi: You told me that your major is Electrical engineering right? Why did you choose this subject? I mean what scopes did you find choosing this subject?
Ajida: Actually, Electrical engineering now has good salaries and there is a good scope for job opportunity, there are many job opportunities and I am good in math. Also my father is Electrical Engineer so I am following his footsteps.
Rashmi: Why don’t you think that it’s not good in your country or why you came here instead of continuing your study back to your home?
Ajida: I think United States they have new technology but Sri Lanka is developing country we don’t have more practical stuff, coming here I can gain practical knowledge which I can apply there and develop my country.
Rashmi: Did you find any more differences in education system between United States and back home?
Ajida: Yes, in Sri Lanka theoretical side is better than here but here we have more practical side which is very important when you go to field.
Rashmi: You like everything here right?
Ajida: Not everything because the food I don’t like.
Rashmi: Will you tell me something about your culture back to your home?
Ajida: Umm, Like what kind of?
Rashmi: Like what type of culture do you have, what religions people are following, what customs do they have?
Ajida: Our country is multi religious and multi traditional country, majority of the population is Buddhist and then we have Hindus, Muslims and Christians.
Rashmi: Oh! most of the people are Buddhist, are you from Buddhist religion too?
Ajida: Yes.
Rashmi: Would you like to tell me something about your family?
Ajida: Umm, like what kind?
Rashmi: Like how many people are living together? Is your family is joint or nuclear?
Ajida: We are joint family. In Sri Lanka we normally have joint family and I have a sister, father and mother they are working. Also, we live with grandmother, grandfather, uncle, aunt
Rashmi: Yes, I know it’s really good to live with them
Ajida: Yes, and I miss them a lot.
Rashmi: Can you tell me some more about the parents and children relationship in your country?
Ajida: Yes, they have a good relationship.
Rashmi: How much they are close?
Ajida: Normally like parents and children have good bond there, till children get married they used to stay with parents.
Rashmi: Though they get married they stay with parents?
Ajida: Yes, some people.
Rashmi: In our country also we do the same thing, though we get married, we don’t separate with our parents.
Ajida: Yes, same in our country too but sometimes they live separate and sometimes it depends.
Rashmi: Ajid do you have international friends?
Ajida: Yes, I have lot of international friends.
Rashmi: How much do you get together with them?
Ajida : A lot.
Rashmi: Do you get together with female friends too or you just get together with male only?
Ajid: I get together with everyone. There is no difference between male and female for me
Rashmi: Is there any differences how a man and woman contact with each other? Is there anything that is considered improper?
Ajid: In Sri Lanka we normally don’t have mixed school, we have separate school for girls and boys and normally we don’t exchange ideas and we don’t meet girls. In tuition classes only we meet each other, both boys and girl are shy to talk with each other and they take time to know each other. It’s not like United States
Rashmi: How do you interact with them then? Is that similar that how you interact with your male friends with female too.
Ajid: no there is huge differences. As I said in our culture boys stay with boys and girl stay with girl so when we mix with opposite sex, we take more time.
Rashmi: If couple is going to meet with each other then how do they meet?
Ajida: Usually we don’t have date in our country, we mainly have arranged marriages. The parents go and talk with each other and then the couple meets and they talk and exchange the ideas, if they understand that it’s okay to live with each other then they will go for the next step like marriage.
Rashmi: Are the females are equally treated like a man in your country?
Ajida: Yes but my country is male dominant country.
Rashmi: Can you explain how your country is male dominant?
Ajida: If you take the family, in family father is the leader, if you do something then father takes a decision after discussing with mother.
Rashmi: In your culture how do you celebrate different festivals and occasions like birth and wedding?
Ajida: Our country is more religious and we Buddhists celebrate differently than Christian. Mostly we celebrate having big parties.
Rashmi: What are your main festivals?
Ajida: Single Hindu New Year.
Rashmi: Do you have culture similar to other countries:
Ajida: Most of the south Asian countries have similar culture like India, Nepal and Pakistan.
Rashmi: Is there any norms and values that should be strictly followed in your country?
Ajida: We respect our elders and to show that we don’t have any direct eye contact with elders. Man and woman respect each other. When talking to a girl we always maintain a certain distance and do not touch them unnecessarily.
Rashmi: What do they do when people die in your country? Are they burnt of buried?
Ajida: We practice both ways. It is a religious thing, Buddhist keep the body for couple of days but Muslim can only keep for 24 hrs and they bury it.
Rashmi: Can you tell me about your daily schedule and your diet like breakfast, lunch and dinner?
Ajida: For breakfast we use bread and for lunch and dinner we mostly use rice and curry. Srilankan people wake up at 5 am because school and offices opens at around 8 am.
Rashmi: Can you tell me the roughly percentage of employed and unemployed people?
Ajida: I don’t know exactly but may be the employment is 70 % and the unemployed is 30%.
Rashmi: What is the most common source of income in your country?
Ajida: Import, Export (mainly garments) and tourism.
Rashmi: How is tourism in your country and how do feel that your country is related to the outside world?
Ajida: We have a nice culture heritage and have a long history. Tourists are attracted to our country as the weather is very nice like summer all year round and have nice beaches. We have lots of statues and beautiful cultural heritage.
Rashmi: Can you tell me about the political situation in your country?
Ajida: A civil war recently ended which had last for about 22 years. Because of that we had economic problems and now it is progressing as there is peace and people are working together.
Rashmi: This is all the questions that I have for you. I really appreciate you giving me your time.Thank you very much Ajida.
Ajida: Thank you Rashmi.
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