Interview # 1
This English 191 class is different than other classes that I have taken. The whole process of giving an interview was new to me. I was very scared and excited for this project. The process of interviewing initially started with making the questions. As I am an international student myself, it was easy for me. I had to brainstorm the questions. Basically, I jotted down the questions that I felt I had and I would answer. My questions focused on the culture and what was the differences in their native country and America. The main objective behind the interview was to learn about an international student, Tsenten Dekhany, who is from Tibet. I tried my best to make the interviewee feel comfortable. I was prepared with all the necessary equipment. I used my laptop to record the interview. In order to make it more reliable, I checked my laptop’s sound recording system properly. We decided to take an interview on October 21st, 2009 at the Miller Center.
According to Where is Tibet, "Tibet Autonomous Region lies in the southwest of China and in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. It is bounded to the north by Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region and Qinghai Province, to the east by Sichuan Province, to the southeast by Yunnan Province, to the south and west by these countries: Burma, India, Bhutan, Sikkim and Nepal.” It has an average height of 4,000 meters attitude. It covers 1.22 million square meter area. (http://www.tibettravel.info/explore-tibet/location.html, October 21st, 2009)
When I first knew about giving an interview to an international student I was happy thinking I would interview someone from my own country. Later on, when I found out I could not interview more than one person from my own country, I was feeling a little worried. Then, I started to look for other interviewees. I first approached an Indian lady who was in her mid 30s, who is here for her graduation. I also took her contact number and email address. At first, she said she was fine with it, but later she said she would not feel comfortable with it. I then started to look for other interviewees, and came across Tseten Dekhany. I met him in the library. He was with his friend, who was also my friend. I asked him whether he would like to give me an interview and he said, “I will think about it.” After a few days when I saw him again he asked me, “Did you find anyone?” I said, “No.” He further asked, “How long will it take?” and I said, “No more than one hour,” then he agreed. And in our convenient time, we met and conducted the interview.
We at first decided to meet on October 20th, 2009 at 9 o’clock in the morning, but due to some problem, he informed that he could not come. So, I asked him if he could come the next day. He emailed me, it was fine and we at first met on the second floor of the library, and then eventually went to the third floor as we thought it would be wise to go there as there won’t be any disturbance.
As Tibet is an Asian country, there are many similarities in Tibetan and Nepalese culture. People in Tibet value family. Tibet is a Buddhist country, but there are also Muslim people who have been living there. It is believed that Muslims have migrated from Kashmir, Ladakh and Central Asian Turkic countries. According to Wikipedia, “The Dalai Lama is a lineage of religious officials of the Gelug sect of Tibetan Buddhism.’Lama’ is a general term referring to Tibetan Buddhist teachers. In religious terms, the Dalai Lama is believed by his devotees to be the rebirth of a long line of tulkus, who have chosen to be reborn in order to enlighten others. The Dalai Lama is often thought to be the director of the Gelug School, but this position belongs officially to the Gandan tripe which is a temporary position appointed by the Dalai Lama (who in practice exerts much influence.” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dalai_Lama , http://www.spiritus-temporis.com/tibet/culture.html, October 21st, 2009)
The economy of Tibet widely depends on agriculture. The railway has been build to join Tibet with China. Tourism is also an important aspect in Tibetan economy. Tibetan males used to leave their hair long, but due to Chinese influence, they have started to cut their hair. The females there tie their hair two plait and the girls one plait. Due to the climatic conditions, people there wear thick clothes. Tibetan people have a great value for Loshar in their life. Loshar is their main festival. Everyone participates in the birth, marriage and death of other people. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tibetan_people#Clothing, http://www.spiritus-temporis.com/tibet/economy.html, October 21st, 2009)
Tseten Dekhany is an international student, who is from Tibet. He comes from a big family, with three siblings. One of his brothers is studying here in Texas. In his country, people live in joint families, but as his grandparents chose to live alone, he grew up in nuclear family. His religion is Buddhism. He has been here for three and half years now. As he says, America has been treating him well. The only differences he felt about America from Tibet were the education system, the individualist culture and the food. The education system in his country is teachers centered, where teachers take control over the class. Here he says the education system is more optional rather than compulsory. He thinks students who are not motivated to study cannot do well. The culture in America is more individualist as here people need to ask for help rather than to expect to get help. The food he used to eat in Tibet is different than the food he eats here. About the food he tells, he likes burgers and pizzas. In conclusion, he says he has liked what America has taught him. He has learned how to balance studies, work and every day to day life like cooking food, doing laundry and others.
The whole process of giving an interview was new to me. I am from Nepal and the education system there is more theoretical, so we do not need to do anything close to this. I was a little excited as well. At the beginning, I felt I was going to run out of words, but as I remember what the interview is supposed to be like, I think I then took my time. The practice that we did in class helped a lot. When we started the interview, I thought I should give my interviewee time to answer. So, whenever he paused, I was counting inside my head. I just let him talk and I peacefully listened to whatever he had to say.
There were a few moments in the interview where I paused. Being an international student myself, when Tsenten talked about the incident where he was walking in Time Square with his cousin when a stranger came up to him, at that particular moment I felt really bad. I do not know why people choose to hurt others, rather than just being polite or if not polite just ignoring the person. I thought I could be more related with him, as he was also excited about going back to his country and spending time with his family and relatives. Though, it has not been long that I came here but I have started to miss my family and I am also excited about going back to Nepal. In my opinion, in many ways international students can relate with each other. The differences in the culture, education and foods are also the same differences that I felt. As a whole, the interview went well and I tried my best.
As we practiced a little about how the interview should be conducted in the class, it helped a lot when I was giving the interview. I was very excited and nervous as well. As we were taught in the class, I was counting in my head when I asked the questions in order to give a chance for the interviewee to speak. I considered what we were taught, like clothing, the way we should dress, and even the way to sit. The interview went smooth and I was very prepared. I even recorded my voice and heard what it sounded like before the interview. I felt The interview was good as a whole.
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