At first I had a very hard time finding an international student to interview. I had trouble trying to go up to people and finding out where they were from, because I am a rather shy person. I then contacted my friend Jackie, who had made many friends and also went to China to for studing abroad. She then contacted a friend of her's name Chen Mo. He then contacted me and we communcated via text message to meet at The Crossroads Mall at 3:30 p.m. Before we met, I had typed out a list of all the questions that I was going to ask in the Interview. I provided him with a copy for him to follow along with.
Transcript of Interview
Me: How are you doing to doing today?
Mo:
I’m good
Me: Can you tell me your full name
Mo:
My full name
Me:
yes
Mo:
Chen Mo. Chen is my last name and Mo is my first name.
Me:
How did you come to be in Minnesota and how do you like it here?
Mo:
I came here like three and a half years ago.
The reason I am here was to study in the U.S. and actually one of my
friends graduated from here a long time ago.
She told me that it SCSU was a pretty good college and it’s very safe
here.
Me:
Yes it is.
Me:
What are some things that you like to do on your free time, like any sports or
hobbies
Mo:
I like fishing
Me:
Where do you like to go fishing at?
Mo:
I go to the river.
Me:
You go to the Mississippi river?
Mo:
Yes I like to go to the river and sometimes to the lake; Clear Lake and I wish I
could go to Millacs
Me:
They have some nice fishing up there.
Me:
What do you go fishing for?
Mo:
Walleye and Pike
Me:
What are some of the likes and dislikes about the United States so far?
Mo:
So far I like everything so far. I like
the democracy here.
Me:
You like the democracy here that’s good.
Mo:
So the U.S. is like the first country, I think it’s the leader of democracy
actually.
Me:
I believe we are up there.
Mo:
I can just feel the freedom everywhere. It’s
a pretty nice place.
Me:
Everyone gets to be themselves.
Mo:
Yeah kind of and for example: you can go to the White House and a couple of
years ago you could say that George Bush is an idiot. You can say this and you won’t have any
problems.
Me:
Yes freedom of speech is nice
Mo:
I like freedom. I think the true meaning
of freedom is society and a person doesn’t have to be afraid of another
person. In china, it’s kind of
different. If you did the same thing in
China, you could get into big trouble.
Me:
OK, so where do you originally come from?
Mo:
I’m from Shanghai, China
Me:
That’s like one of the biggest cities in china right?
Mo:
Yeah, it’s one of the biggest. The population
is 30 million. When you wake up in the morning, there is just people and more
people walking the street everywhere.
Me:
Can you describe it a little to me?
Mo:
yeah, Shanghai is kind of the financial center of china, except Hong Kong. I believe Shanghai is the second largest financial
centers of china behind Hong Kong. Hong
Kong is kind of different though, because it was under foreign rule.
Me:
British rule right?
Mo:
Yeah, and the society isn’t communism.
It is capitalism. So Hong Kong is
pretty different than the rest of China, it is also the biggest financial
cities. If you go there it’s a really
big city (metropolis). One can purchase anything
there if you want.
Me:
Ok, is there anything that you miss about China?
Mo:
My family and the food. The real Chinese
food.
Me:
Yeah I bet it’s a lot different the American Chinese food.
Me:
What is the value of family in china, are you really close knit
Mo:
Yeah basically, but I think I’m the exception to the rule. I’m not very close to my family, ever since I
was little I usually spent time on my own.
I also lived in Japan for 7 years and 4 of those years I lived on my
own. Most the time Chinese people like
to live by each other and have family talks.
For example, Chinese New Year follows the old Chinese calendar and its
tradition for all the family members to come and sit together and have dinner.
Me:
I was wondering why you lived in japan for four years?
Mo:
My family moved there and so did I.
Me:
I’ve been to japan too.
Mo:
what city?
Me:
Fukuoka, Japan
Mo:
I believe that the city has a serious problem because of the nuclear plant
meltdown. Oh no, I think that’s actually in Fukushima sorry about that.
Me: I was there back in 2010; it was a very nice
place
Me: What is your family structure like, do both
parents go out to work?
Mo: Yes both parents usually work. It also
really depends on the family. The city I’m
from is very modern city and in different cities they may keep their very old traditions
(old fashion). They say Shanghai is like
the window of china, but there is a lot of foreign influence. You can really feel the American culture, McDonalds,
KFC, and Subways.
Me: Yeah, there are a lot of American companies
there.
Me: Do you have any siblings?
Mo: Yes, I have a younger brother.
Me: can you tell me a little more about him.
Mo: He just graduated from elementary school
and is going into high school now. My
mother really pushes education on my brother and me. He is in the top of his class. In China, education is very important.
Me: Ok, how is U.S. culture different than
China’s Culture?
Mo: It’s totally different, culture is
everything. For example, in America to
friends start talking and the topic is different like sports like the football
game, baseball game. In China, it’s a bit
different.
Me: Can you explain whys it’s different?
Mo: Cause we are not good at sports ha-ha. We usually talk more about food. Each region has their different traditions
Me: This
is sort of broad question but what are some of your highlight of your country?
Mo: Maybe Chen Zheng Ping, he’s been on the cover
of the Times magazine. I believe it’s quite the honor to be on that and have a
dedicated article on you.
Me: What are some things that will make people
immediately think about China?
Mo: The President of china Hu Jintao. I believe he can represent Chinese
culture.
Me: Can you tell me a
little of China’s history.
Mo: That’s a long,
long story
Me: What in your
history makes you proud?
Mo: The Great Wall,
perhaps. The Great was started in the first empire of China and kept adding to
it. It makes me proud because you can
see it from space.
Me: What are some
famous foods from China? Foods you like that you can’t get here?
Mo: There is so much
food in China and there are five styles of food in China. I like spicy food
Me: How many meal do
you have a day?
Mo: Three meals a
day. I try to have a big breakfast and
smaller lunch and dinner.
Me: What is the
education system like in China?
Mo: Your duty for attending
school is only 9 years and in the U.S. its 12 years.
Me: Do a lot of
people get to attend college?
Mo: Yes a lot because
the population in china is very high population creates serious competition. That’s why you see a lot of Chinese students always
studying because they have to push themselves pretty hard.
Me: So you attended
SCSU? What are your future plans?
Mo: I’m obtaining my
masters in computer science and information insurance. Try to get a job in the United States for
possible a bank, making the information secure on online banking.
Me: What are the
three social pastimes in your country? Any sports? Group Events?
Mo: In China, we like
soccer. There are a lot of teams that
compete with each other just like the NBA for example.
Me: What are some holidays
that are celebrated in China?
Mo: The biggest is
Chinese New Year, it celebrates the spring beginning.
Me: Is it fair to say
that religion is practiced often in China?
Mo: I don’t think
that there is any true religion in China.
The first thing you have to do is to except the Chinese Government and
your religion can go against the government. So I don’t really believe its true
religion. They do have all the religions
that the U.S. has though Buddhism, Christianity, Islamic.
Me: How is China’s government?
Mo: The government is
getting better and you are getting more freedoms.
Me: back to the
Chinese New Year, how do you celebrate it?
Mo: Lots of
fireworks, the whole house hold gets together and eats together?
Me: What American holidays
do you like?
Mo: Probably
Thanksgiving because everything gets cheaper.
Me: Do you have any
questions for me?
Mo: What do you think
about China?
Me: I think it’s one
of the biggest countries in the world and it’s one of the top economic powers
in the world too. The reason why I choose
China was interested in because we do a lot of business with China.
Mo: A lot of China’s
output is cheap labor so I think that it will never be at the top as long it
stays that way.
Me: I understand why
you say that and I thank you for giving me this time. This concludes my interview.
After Interview Thoughts
I thought the interview went well for being my first time giving an interview. At first, I was really nervous about the interview, but after I got through the first couple of questions the feeling of nervousness went away. I learned quite a bit from Mo, he was very easy to interview, because he was really open to all my questions. He also game me plenty of examples on how U.S. culture is different than Chinese culture. Also, I learned that we had many common interests and hobbies. Mo and I both enjoyed the interview and meeting each other for the first time.
After Interview Thoughts
I thought the interview went well for being my first time giving an interview. At first, I was really nervous about the interview, but after I got through the first couple of questions the feeling of nervousness went away. I learned quite a bit from Mo, he was very easy to interview, because he was really open to all my questions. He also game me plenty of examples on how U.S. culture is different than Chinese culture. Also, I learned that we had many common interests and hobbies. Mo and I both enjoyed the interview and meeting each other for the first time.
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