Preparation of my third interview:
I conducted my third interview on 09/11/20101 at Miller Center on third floor. The person whom I conducted an interview was the male student from Sri Lanka. His name is Nadun Gurusinghe. My friend Udara, who was also my first interviewee, introduced me to his friend Nadun. This really made it easier for me to approach him. While taking my third interview I had more time to prepare for it. As I have already taken interview with my two interviewee, I got chance to gain lot of information about Sri Lanka. The two interviews which I had already taken and studied made my third interview more perfect and in easy way. While taking my first and second interview, I knew that on which topic should I focus and how interview flows if I take this question. For, this time I prepared my interview focusing on following process:
A. Assessment
B. Planning
C. Implementation
D. Evaluation
A. Assessment: My first two interviews went very well which really made me feel more confident for my third interview. While doing assessment, I went back to my first and second interviews, read all the questions that I asked. I also read all facts about Sri Lanka and went back to some websites to learn more deeply about Sri Lanka. I believe doing this thing I will be able to make my questions more reliable than previous interviews. I assessed all my questions very carefully and recognized all my error that I did in my previous interviews. I tried to find what problems aroused while conducting previous interviews.
B. Planning: While planning my third interview, I decided to conduct my interview in the library because my third interviewee was very busy with his class assignments. To save some of his time, I planned to conduct it in the library’s third floor. As we were supposed to add eight more questions in our third interview, I decided to edit some questions. I planned to hand my questions at first to my interviewee like I did in past two interviews and gave some time to read so that it will make both party more comfortable. Similarly, being prepared with every necessary thing that is required in an interview is most important part and skill during interview. For this reason, I roughly calculated the time that the interview would last. Checking my Tape recorder was also one of the important parts of my planning process because if it did not function properly then it will definitely create problems. I plan to prepare my questions in intelligent manner so I planned to make it according to some specific facts about place, culture, religion, education etc.
C. Implementation: By assessing all my weakness and strength points on my first two interviews, I made my final questions ready for my third interview. Though the questions were simple and related to everyday life, I made a copy of my questions to hand to my third interviewee, Nadun. Then after making sure he was ready, I started my interview.
D. Evaluation: My third interview went in perfect manner. Both of us equally took part during the interview. I did not find any disturbing factors like cell phone ringing, which I experienced in my second interview. I had already requested him to keep his cell phone in silent mode and not to receive any calls during the interview which he had agreed upon. Both of us were relaxed and were comfortable talking with other. I asked all my questions with curiosity and he tried to answer them with his full effort and knowledge. The surprising fact that I came to knew from this interview was about marriage in their culture. According to my interviewee, they were allowed to marry with cross cousin and parallel cousin. That is they can marry with the children of their uncle and aunt. It is really surprising to me that they marry within their own extended family. This came as a surprise for me because in my culture cross cousins and parallel cousins are considered and treated like our own brothers and the marriage between us would be a taboo.
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| Map of Sri Lanka |
Sri Lanka is a small island of Indian Ocean that lies in the southern Asia with the area of 41,006 square miles. The capital city of Sri Lanka is Colombo and the neighboring country are India and Maldives. Most of the land is flat and rolling in which mountains in the south-central region rise to over 8,000ft (2,438 m). Large parts of Sri Lanka is covered with tropical forest with hundreds of rivers flowing through them and amazing waterfalls. While talking about climate, it has no marked seasons. The climate is tropical monsoon (December to March) and southwest monsoon (June to October). 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.
People of Sri Lanka and their Language and Religion:
The population is about 21.3 million with different ethnic group, in which Sinhalese 73.8%, Sri Lankan Moors 7.2%, Indian Tami l4.6%, Sri Lankan Tamil 3.9%, 10.5% Indo- Aryan emigration. Sinhalese came from India in the 5th century B.C and is the largest ethnic group of Sri Lanka. For this reason Sinhala is the most widely spoken language in the country. Sinhala is the constitutionally recognized official language of Sri Lanka with about 13 million people speaking this language. The interesting part of this language is, this language is not spoken anywhere else in the world, other than by a few traders in Chennai India. They also speak Tamil and is considered as a classical language and the oldest of the Dravidian language family. It is spoken by Tamil population of Sri Lanka. Similarly, while talking about religion, Sri Lankan people follow different religions. Sri Lanka has Buddhist 69.1%, Muslim 7.6%, Hindu 7.1%, Christian 6.2%, and other 10%. The majority of people in Sri Lanka follows Buddhism and is given a place of preference in the national constitution. In Sri Lanka there is a system of classes and castes as well as gender and ethnicity. Class is determined by qualities such as wealth and education and caste.
Cultural background related to festivals, foods and dress
Sri Lanka, in culture, is rich with different groups of people and ethnic background. Culture is highly embedded in Sri Lanka like other South Asian countries like India and Nepal. It is blessed with different culture in the aspects of life, food, costumes, traditions and religions. The culture of Sri Lanka has unique combination of practice and originality. The kingdom of Sri Lanka is multi ethnic and multi religious. Sri Lanka, in short, is country where art, culture and religion are a part of life of the inhabitants. Their traditional music and dance is also the aiding factors to rich their culture. Music traditions in Sri Lanka vary from folk music to religious one. Festivals are also a part of Sri Lankan culture. They can be either religious or National festivals. Sinhala and Tamil people celebrate Sinhala and Tamil New Year festival every year on April 13th where as Muslims celebrate Ramadan. Diwali is the festival of lights which is a national holiday celebrated by Hindu religion and Christian gets holiday on Christmas, 25th of December. Being predominantly a Buddhist country, Buddhist festivals occurs more than any other religion’s festivals. The Buddhist calendar is based on the moon’s phase, every Poya Dawasa, or full-moon day, is a holiday. Sri Lanka has no approved national dress because they have different communities like Sinhalese, Tamils, Muslims, Hindus and Christians. Though there is no approved national dress, male Sri Lankan wear long sleeved shirt without collars up to their knee and white Sarong is worn by male on some occasions or as the national dress. It is also worn by the members of parliament including the President of Sri Lanka. Majority of middle class males wear trousers and shirt. Females wear Sari, Osari (dress of Kandyan ladies), skirt and blouses. In wedding dress called Mul Anduma is worn by bride grooms with different ornaments and Crown Royal shoes.
Sri Lankan is great food lovers and their foods are hot and spicy. Rice is one of the most important diets in 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. The main meal usually begins with rice or bread, followed by curry or pulse and vegetables such as cabba. All meals are cooked on the base of coconut milk and flavored by liberal use of spices. The Sri Lankans are also expert in preparing fish dishes. Mallung, Sambol, Lamprais, Buriyani and Polos Pehi are some of the most popular dishes of Sri Lanka. They like several juicy sweet meals like Kavum, Halape, Thalaguli and Wattalapamge 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 chilies. Cakes and sweets are also an integral part of the country’s diet. Tea is served with most meals and as refreshment.
Society including Marriage, family and gender an Education:
In all ethnic groups, marriages are usually arranged by the families of bride and groom. Both bride and groom are expected to be of the same socioeconomic status, ethnicity, cast and religion. Also, the groom is expected to be slightly older, taller and educationally and professionally more qualified than the bride. According to religion, in Sri Lanka there is preference cross cousins marriage or parallel cousin marriage. Cross cousin marriage is the marriage between cousins and this marriage is especially famous in Tamil and Sinhala groups. Additionally, there is more preference of marriage between parallel cousin, marriage between children of two brothers in Muslim religion.
Normally family consists of father, mother and their unmarried children if that is nuclear family but if that is joint family then they usually have grandparents, parents, their children, uncles, aunts and their children. Joint family is more common than nuclear family. In Sri Lanka, men specially focus more on income opportunities and women focus on the household. Things have changed slightly these days and women have also started working in the professions such as nursing, teaching, tea picking, and garment construction. In manufacture and agricultural work, men are typically assigned tasks considered more physically demanding, while women are assigned the more repetitive, detail-oriented work at which they are thought to be better than men. Opportunity for foreign employment for women, while relatively available and well-paying, is restricted to domestic work, whereas opportunities for men are more varied, ranging from manual labor to engineering. Within the home, regardless of their engagement in paid labor, women and girls do all food preparation and most other domestic work.
Although most schools are segregated by gender, education has always been important for both boys and girls in Sri Lanka. The literacy rates for men and women are similarly high; the last census in 1981 found that 87 percent of females over the age of ten years were literate, compared to 91 percent of males. In Sri Lanka, education has always been highly valued and encouraged. School attendance is compulsory between the ages of six and fourteen, although children often attend preschool and typically continue until the completion of the secondary level. Academic competition starts early, as parents scramble to place their children in the better primary schools, and continues with three sets of standardized exams that determine access to subsequent.
Income source:
Sri Lanka's traditional economy has been agricultural with rice being the main food crop. Spices, tea, rubber and coconuts were especially encouraged by the British under the colonial system and are still an important part of the economy. Apart from these there were more exotic products like precious stones and even elephants and peacocks which were exported. However in recent years there has been a thrust on developing new areas. One of these has been textile and garment manufacturing which has overtaken tea as an export earner. Sri Lanka's economy is shifting away from its traditional agricultural base to include production for an international market, a shift accelerated by a major policy change in the 1977 transition from a socialist-style, state controlled economy to a free market economy lead by the private sector. By the mid-1990s, roughly one-quarter of the population was employed as skilled workers in agriculture, fishing, or animal husbandry; one-quarter in skilled craft or factory production; one-quarter in administration, medicine, law, education, accounting, sales, services, or clerical work; and one-quarter as unskilled laborers. In spite of this shift away from agriculture, Sri Lanka has recently achieved near self-sufficiency in rice production and other staple foods. References:
· http://www.mysrilanka.com/travel/lanka/nati_symbol/dress.htm
http://www.webquarry.com/~raditha/srilanka/
http://www.webquarry.com/~raditha/srilanka/
Interview Questions
Rashmi: Hi Nadun nice to meet you again.
Nadun: Hi Rashmi, nice to meet you too.
Rashmi: Here is your question?
Nadun: Thank you
Rashmi: before I start this interview I would like to let you know that I am going to record this interview, would you mind if I record this interview?
Nadun: That’s fine.
Rashmi: Before I ask you any questions, Can you please introduce yourself ?
Nadun: My name is Nadun Gurusinghe and I am from Sri Lanka and I am 22 years old.
Rashmi: How long have you been in United States and why did you choose United States over other countries?
Nadun: I have been here for almost 3 yrs and I chose United States over other countries because it is the most developed countries in the world. The degree I would obtain here is highly regarded in my country and I would have better chance to get job than the degrees from other countries
Rashmi: What were the things that came as a surprise when you first arrived?
Nadun: When I first came here the first thing that was a surprise for me was the weather. I am not used to cold weather and I have never seen snow before I came here. So that was a big surprise and the other thing was the food. I have been used to eating home cooked food and here it is hard to find the home cooked food and here we have to eat all junk food like burgers and I am not used to all these things. So food and weather was a surprise for me.
Rashmi: Why did you choose SCSU over other Universities?
Nadun: When I applied to United States, I applied to couple of colleges and I picked SCSU over those Universities because SCSU provided me the cultural scholarship and my tuition fee was lower than other universities. On top of that I had few other Sri Lankan friends that were attending SCSU at that time so I thought that it would be easier for me to adjust in SCSU.
Rashmi: By the way Nadun, what is your major?
Nadun: My major is Aviation.
Rashmi: Can you explain about it?
Nadun: Aviation is about designing, production of airplanes and includes how you fly those things and you just read about airplanes and lots of stuffs regarding that.
Rashmi: What made you chose this subject as your major?
Nadun: Actually my parents wanted me to be a doctor but from childhood I always wanted to be a pilot coz seeing airplanes fly in the sky was a fascinating thing for me. I just chose Aviation.
Rashmi: Do you find any differences in education system between United States and your home country?
Nadun: Oh yes, there is lot of differences in education system between Sri Lanka and United States. In Sri Lanka basically it is all theory knowledge. I mean they teach all theory stuffs and there is hardly any practical but out here there is lot of practical knowledge so that you understand actually what is going on rather than memorizing things. So I like it here.
Rashmi: Where do you see yourself in next 5 years?
Nadun: I would see myself working in Sri Lanka in some aviation industry. Within next 5 years hopefully I will graduate and then I would do something in my hometown.
Rashmi: What made you think that you are not going to live here in U.S after 5 years?
Nadun: The main reason I came to United states was to complete my undergrad. As I already told you it is highly regarded in my country and then basically in 5 years I will be done with that and my objective of coming to united states would be completed and I will go back to my country.
Rashmi: What is the thing that you miss the most about your country?
Nadun: Of course my family that would be the most important thing that I miss. Secondly I would say food.
Rashmi: Why don’t you tell me something about your family?
Nadun: My family includes my parents. I have one elder brother and one elder sister and I am the youngest one.
Rashmi: Do you miss your family?
Nadun: Oh yes I do.
Rashmi: How much?
Nadun: A lot, I cannot explain in words.
Rashmi: What type is your family is it joint or nuclear?
Nadun: I would say it is a nuclear family because it is only my parents and we brother and sister. My grandparents live in my village, that’s like 3 hrs drive from my place.
Rashmi: Can you tell me about the parents and children relationship in your country?
Nadun: I would say parents and children are more bonded in my culture because there is a sense of responsibility for the parents towards their children till they are married. Children do respect their parents a lot and there is lot of things they have to follow whatever their parents say even if they want to do different things. Parents have all the control over their children.
Rashmi: How is your daily lifestyle back to your country? What do you have for your diet (breakfast, lunch, dinner)?
Nadun: Our days start with morning tea in lot of cases. Personally I don’t like teas but mos t people start their day with tea and bread. We have meals which is usually rice and curry.
Rashmi: Do you cook your own meal?
Nadun: Back home I didn’t even knew how to cook meals but out here I do cook sometimes.
Rashmi: What type of food do you serve in your special occasions like in festivals, weeding ceremony etc?
Nadun: I would say it depends on family whoever is celebrating those occasions but from the place where I am usually we cook spicy meats, lots of different kinds of curries, and flavored rice, sweets and drinks.
Rashmi: Will you tell me something about your culture?
Nadun: Sri Lanka is multicultural and multi ethnic country. Buddhist includes the most population, secondly Hinduism and then Christians and Muslims.
Rashmi: How diverse is your country? Is your culture similar to any other countries?
Nadun: As I told you Sri Lanka is multicultural and multi ethnic group with different communities and religious groups living together and comparing my culture to other countries I would say it is similar to other south Asian countries like India and Nepal.
Rashmi: Is there any norms and values that should be strictly followed in your country?
Nadun: In my country people are encouraged to love the juniors and respect their elders mainly their parents and teachers. That’s what the parents teach their children.
Rashmi: In your culture how do you celebrate different festivals and occasions like birth and wedding ceremony?
Nadun: Birth and wedding ceremony is considered as a occasion where people come together and celebrate. It depends on different religions and communities. In my community we call our friends and relative whoever can attend. We believe that if we celebrate it together then it is worth more so we call our friends and relatives, cook different kinds of foods. Sometimes we even dance and sing songs and cherish those moments.
Rashmi: Your culture is Buddhist, right?
Nadun: Yes
Rashmi: Does different culture celebrate these occasions differently?
Nadun: I would say yes.
Rashmi: How do they do it?
Nadun: In Buddhist usually it is the monk who gives the name to the new born baby whereas in Hindu it is the priest who gives the name to the baby but I don’t really know about other religions.
Rashmi: If people die in your country how they are ended (buried/burnt)?
Nadun: Usually either they are burnt or they are buried. In my culture the dead body is kept for 3 days and friend and relative come to give farewell to the body and then it is burned.
Rashmi: What you do during your leisure time?
Nadun: During my leisure time I usually hang out with friend and sometimes I go to Helen beck to play soccer and cricket.
Rashmi: How much do you hang out with your female friends? Do you have female friends or not?
Nadun: Yes I do have few female friends but I don’t hang out much with them, sometimes during the weekend but not much.
Rashmi: (Any difference how a man and a woman contact with each other, anything that is not considered “proper”)? How do you interact with female friends? Is that similar how you interact with your male friends with female too?
Nadun: It is not certainly the same way I interact with my female friends. I am a shy person and if I don’t know the person that well then I don’t really talk much. I feel more comfortable with my male friends rather than my female friends.
Rashmi: Do you have different rules of eye contact and body language in your country?
Nadun: Yes we do have different rules. Generally we do not have eye contact tour elder person when we talk to them , and it is considered disrespect which is totally what we are doing here. And the body language is kind of similar what it is here.
Rashmi: If it doesn’t offend you , can you explain me how does new couple meet at first?
Nadun: If it is arranged marriage then it is basically parents who arrange the meetings but now a days there is Love marriage too and ih that case they can meet in college or they can just set up their time and meet, it is up to them.
Rashmi: Can you explain about marriage in your culture?
Nadun: Generally there is arranged marriage in my culture but these days people are doing Love marriages too. Insome culture we have cross marriage and parallel marriage that is marriage between cousins. And specially this marriage is preference in Muslim religion.
Rashmi: What is the status of female in your country?
Nadun: Female status is lower than the male inmy country because it is male dominant society but people working on making females equal to males
Rashmi: Are female groups equally educated like male?
Nadun: I would say female group are educated but they are not equally educated like male.
Rashmi: What is the most common source of income?
Nadun: Tea , coffee, rubber and the coconut is the main products that we export and apart from that tourism is the main source of income because there is a lot of British and American people they visit our country every year.
Rashmi: How has unemployment affected your country?
Nadun: Unemployment has been a problem because being unemployed will certainly bring the economy down. But there is not much unemployment copmpare to other south asian countries.
Rashmi: How is tourism in your country and how do you feel that your country is related to the outside world?
Nadun: As tourism is one of the source of income. There is a lo of tourist coming to our country. There is lot of beautiful beaches , monumentsand lot of beautiful landscapes, that is how I guess our country is related to outside world.
Rashmi: What is the political situation in your country?
Nadun: Recently a along war has been ended, the civil war and the political situation is getting better and my country is now republic country.
Rashmi: I would like to let you know that this question will be the final question for you today so at last I would like to know that in what way do you think that you can make an influence for your country?
Nadun: As I told you after I graduate I will be going back to my country and I would like to work in my related study field. And also I would like to promote the Aviation field in my country which needs a lot of improvement in this modern age.
Rashmi: These are all the questions Nadun that I have for you today, if you have any questions for me you can feel free to ask.
Nadun: Not really Rashmi.
Rashmi: Ok thank you very much for your help Nadun, I really appreciate.
Nadun: You welcome.
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