Eng 191
11/09/2011
Interviewer: Wenda Qian
Interviewee: Chinami Kuriki
Date of Interview: 11/08/2011
Country Report
Chinami’s hometown is Fukuoka, it is located on Kyūshū Island, and also it is the biggest city over there. Japan is an island nation in East Asia, It has four main islands; they are Honshū, Hokkaidō, Kyūshū and Shikoku, also” 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."
Japan is a major economic power in the world, after the Second World War, Japan got very poor as a loser in the war. However, Japan's economic growth very fast from the 1960s to the 1980s has been called the Japanese post-war economic miracle. Japan developed fast because The Vietnam War and the Marshell plan. Also, Japan's auto-mobile industry and electronic industry are very advanced. This is why Japan revives so quickly. The other important reason is that Japanese government focus on education, thus even under the poor situation after war, Japanese children still had a good study condition.
Japan is not a big country, but climate varies greatly from north to south. "Japan's geographical features divide it into six principal climatic zones: Hokkaidō, Sea of Japan, Central Highland, Seto Inland Sea, Pacific Ocean, and Ryūkyū Islands." Sakura (cherry blossom) is a famous flower in Japan, like Fiji mount and Ninja, Sakura is a representative of Japan, it is getting ripen on July. Every year, most tourists come to Japan to enjoy the beautiful Sakura. Mount Fuji is the highest mountain in Japan. It is also the representative of Japan. There are many viewer and climber go to the mount every year. "It is one of Japan's "Three Holy Mountains" along with Mount Tate and Mount Haku."
Japanese food is poplar over the world; I remember my first interviewee said that food makes him proud of his country, I can understand, because many people like Japanese food. In my hometown, there are many Japanese restaurants. The typical Japanese meal consists of a bowl of rice (gohan), a bowl of miso soup (miso shiru), pickled vegetables (tsukemono) and fish or meat. While rice is the staple food, several kinds of noodles (udon, soba and ramen) are cheap and very popular for light meals. As an island nation, the Japanese take great pride in their seafood. A wide variety of fish, squid, octopus, eel, and shellfish appear in all kinds of dishes from sushi to tempura.
Preparation of the Interview
For the second interview, I planned to interview my friend LuLu’s Japanese friend, but for some reasons, she didn’t reply my request. Fortunately, my other friend Wang introduced a Japanese girl to me, her name is Chinami Kuriki, and she also lives in Lawrence Hall. We make an appointment that interview would happen on two pm. However, she did show up on time, I tried to knock her door, and then her roommate told me that she is not there. After a while, Wang come to my room and told me that Chinami is very busy, so the interview will happen on ten pm.
On ten o’clock, I went to the second floor of Lawrence Hall, she was waiting for me. Chinami is a cute girl; we shaked hands and then introduced each other. We decided to take the interview at the lounge on the second floor. Before the interview begun, I showed her the questions, she nicely accepted all questions. She apologized that she was late in the afternoon. Her attitude was better than my first interviewee, she liked to talk and gived me many ideas about Japan. Perhaps because she is cute girl, I really enjoyed this interview. I recorded this interview by my smart phone, it almost took 30 minutes; I didn’t know we can talk so long. After interview, we have a short talk about Chinese words. As a Japanese, Chinami can figure out many Chinese words, because these word are same in Japanese. In a way, China and Japan have some similar culture.
Interview #2
Interviewer: Wenda Qian
Interviewee: Chinami Kuriki
Place: Lawrence Hall 2rd floor, lounge.
Wenda Qian: ok, let’s get start. My first question is what is your name?
Chinami Kuriki: My name is Chinami Kuriki, C-H-I-N-A-M-I K-U-R-I-K-I.
Wenda Qian: It is very complicated…
Chinami Kuriki: it is simple to Japanese name.
Wenda Qian: The second question is where do you come from?
Chinami Kuriki: Japan.
Wenda Qian: I know that, I mean which part of Japan?
Chinami Kuriki: Fukuoka, it is in the south of Japan. The city name is Kurume.
Wenda Qian: Can you tell me about the education system of Japan?
Chinami Kuriki: You mean how many years in elementary school……?
Wenda Qian: Just like how many years you spent in each schools?
Chinami Kuriki: Ok, six years for elementary school, three years for middle school, three years for high school, and four years for most college.
Wenda Qian: Uh…what is the form of government in Japan?
Chinami Kuriki: Form? How can I explain it?
Wenda Qian: Like how many parties Japan has?
Chinami Kuriki: I think there are many.
Wenda Qian: How many? What is the most powerful one?
Chinami Kuriki: Uh…two are very power, one is Democratic Party and the other one is Liberal Democratic Party. Now Democratic Party takes Japan. The party will change in two or three years.
Wenda Qian: Good, next one is to tell me one thing that makes you pound of your country?
Chinami Kuriki: Uh…Everything is OK?
Wenda Qian: Yeah, everything is OK.
Chinami Kuriki: I think is food.
Wenda Qian: Food?
Chinami Kuriki: healthy and delicious.
Wenda Qian: I like Japanese food, too. There are many Japanese restaurants in my hometown. Next, what place you would recommend to tourists?
Chinami Kuriki: Uh….How many?
Wenda Qian: It matters nothing, you can say as much as you like.
Chinami Kuriki: I think is Kyoto, because there are many traditional building, It is kind of middle of Japan, many foreigners like to visit Kyoto. Kyoto was a capital city in Japan.
Wenda Qian: What about Houshu?
Chinami Kuriki: Houshu is just an island.
Wenda Qian: Very good, what festivals do you celebrate?
Chinami Kuriki: I think the biggest one is New Year, January 1st. In my hometown, we eat some special food for celebration.
Wenda Qian: Special food?
Chinami Kuriki: Osechi, there are many food within it.
Wenda Qian: Ok, what is weather like in your hometown?
Chinami Kuriki: Very humid, in the southern Japan, so the weather is high humid.
Wenda Qian: What is type of sport in your country?
Chinami Kuriki: Baseball and soccer, we also have karate.
Wenda Qian: what will you do?Wenda Qian: what is traditional food in your country?
Chinami Kuriki: Sushi and sashimi, lisecake.
Wenda Qian: So, what do most women do after they get married in Japan?
Chinami Kuriki: In the past, most women stay at home and do housework. But now, it has changed, many women still work after marriage.
Chinami Kuriki: I hope I will work.
Wenda Qian: What about your mother?
Wenda Qian: What is your major?
Chinami Kuriki: My major is communication study.
Wenda Qian: Why you select this major?
Chinami Kuriki: Because I am interest in other culture and different view point.
Wenda Qian: What reason takes you to America?
Chinami Kuriki: Uh….firstly, I want to improve my English, secondly, I want learn different culture and different values. If I am in Japan, I would have so many chances.
Wenda Qian: Would you like to find a job on campus?
Chinami Kuriki: No! Because I am just an exchange student, I will only have one year in America, so I focus more on studying.
Wenda Qian: That is sad to me. Uh...how many children does each family usually have in your hometown?
Chinami Kuriki: Now I think avenge is two for each.
Wenda Qian: Do you have sister or brother?
Chinami Kuriki: Uh..I have a younger brother.
Wenda Qian: How old are people in your country by the time they got married?
Chinami Kuriki: Uh, I think is from 25 to 30.
Wenda Qian: Do you have any plans about marriage?
Chinami Kuriki: HAHA…..maybe three years after graduate from college, then I want to get a marrage.
Wenda Qian: That is a good plan, what is the relationship between you and your American roommate?
Chinami Kuriki: It is quite good, really good. We respect each other, sometime; we have different lifestyle, I will tell her what I think, like “can I sleep? Or can I wake up ”, just take care of each other. Keep the room clear. I think that is it.
Wenda Qian: It is enough, what is the most difficult problem you have faced after you came here?
Chinami Kuriki: To follow the class, because my English sill is not enough. I can’t come up with many ideas. Ok, for example: in Japan, the bus comes on time, but in America, the bus is often late. The most difficult problem is still English problem.
Wenda Qian: So do I, I think English is a problem to international student. Ok, the last question, what is your plan after graduation?
Chinami Kuriki: after I graduate from Japanese university?
Wenda Qian: Uh. Yeah!
Chinami Kuriki: I want to concern for students, I will go abroad. I want to help poor students.
Wenda Qian: Cool! How many years remaining in you college life?
Chinami Kuriki: This is my third year, so I still have one year left after I leave America.
Wenda Qian: Thank you very much for your help! You really make me enjoy this interview.
Chinami Kuriki: You are welcome.
Personal review
This is my second interview. This time, I recorded the talking by my smart cell phone. So I can clearly write down the information. Chinami is very easy-going, I felt a little bit shy at the beginning. She makes me comfortable and relaxes. It is hard to make appointment with unknown people. This time, I am luck because we all live in Lawrence Hall, Chinami’s answer is good and detail, compare the first one, I think I have done better. But there are some special Japanese words I feel confuse, it is complicated spelling. In the first interview, I didn’t make jetia answer me too much, but Chinami is patient, she happily answer me every question I asked him, so it made the interview clear. I have learned more about the Japanese culture. I also fix some mistakes from the first one, like how to set the resource of picture. In order to make the interview fluency, I skip some unimportant information from the talking.
