2011年3月29日星期二

Regional Culture Report --------- South Korea and Japan

Group Members: Yao Hu, Shan Lu, YunFei Hua, Hui Zhang, Mengfei Xu



Regional Culture Report
·        Cuisine
·        Military regulations
·        Wedding Cultures
·        Entertainment
·        Contemporary  issues in South Korea
Cuisine of Japan and Korea:
1)    Kimichi
2)    BBQ
3)    Street food
4)      Sushi
5)    Sashimi
Military regulations of Korea:
1)    At what age to service the military
2)     What do they need to do when they are in military
3)    How many years do they need service the military
Wedding Cultures of Korea:
1)    At what age to get married
2)    Wear traditional cloths when get married
3)    What’s the specific step of  hold a wedding
Entertainment of Korea and Japan:
1)    E-Sports: Star Craft
2)    Clubs: Korean like drinking
3)    Korea Dramas, TV shows and some singers.
4)    Soccer
Contemporary issues in Aisa
1)    South Korea V.S. North Korea
2)    The Impact of Earthquake in Japan

Winner for the second interview

No.1 Walcheski, Lukus J

No.2 Van Houtan, Stephanie L & Klaphake, Christopher L

No.3 He, Huiyu & XiaoPing Zhao & BeiBei Wie


Congratulations!

Spreadsheet for the second interview

https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0AojeRNAW951fdE90alkySFkwVjNZMExFdnhrdHVRa2c&hl=en&authkey=CLDcsIcO#gid=0

2011年3月22日星期二

My Second Interview

IInterview #2
3/20/2011
ENGL191
Interviewer: Shan Lu
Interviewee: Jiwon Lee

Preparation of Interview
        My preparation for the second interview looks similar because I have finished preparing the entire fourteen questions in class. Before the interview, I have printed two pages of questions. One is for me, the other one is for interviewee. I started to review each question, and consider which two questions can be connected naturally because I want to seriate all questions that make interviewee feel comfortable to be asked. In addition, I estimate the time that to be used in interview. I thought the time of interview can’t be very short, so I need to prepare counter plan. I also prepared some another questions about personal life.
 

a)    How did I approach people? When? Where?
 

               This is girl who I interviewed is Miryung Sung’s friend. Sung was my first interviewee, and we enjoyed our outcome of the first interview. Later I asked her to introduce a Korean for me to carry out the second Interview. Actually, Jiwon Lee who is the girl in my second interview, and we already know each other because we went to Mall of America for shopping during summertime. I contacted her on face book, and leave a message to her about interview. Later, she really interested about this interview and replied to help me finish my work. We decided to meet in her dormitory at 3:00 p.m. on Sunday. Before the interview, I stayed in my home to review all the questions that I need to ask. Then I went there on time, and meet her for interview. I also brought a small gift for her because she will go back to Korea this summer.  
 

b)    How did I conduct and record the interview?
 

              I met her in her dormitory at 3:00 p.m. on Sunday. Firstly, I gave her the list of questions that I have prepared. I hope she was able to have a preview about the questions. She was really happy when she saw some questions. She told me there are some questions that really interesting. Secondly, I told her that I would record the whole interview by my cell phone and make sure about her agreement. Thirdly, I started the interview from simple questions. I thought this may be make her feel in relax and informal condition.
 

c)    Whom did I interview?
 

          My interviewee was from Korea as well, and her name is Jiwon Lee. She is a pretty girl because she is slim and tall like a model.  I like her style of cloth in daily life. She really enjoyed shopping and doing some sports. She told me she played Taekwondo in her own country. Taekwondo is a really traditional and popular sport in her country.




Country Report
During the whole interview, I noticed that Junhyeon can recognize the meaning of national flag. He told me a lot about his country’s military and political reason with North Korea. These are exactly what I am always curious and what I want to know. 

Geography:
           South Korea occupies the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula, which extends some 680 miles (1,100 km) from the Asian mainland. This mountainous peninsula is flanked by the Yellow Sea to the west and Sea of Japan (East Sea) to the east. Its southern tip lies on the Korea Strait and the East China Sea. The country, including all its islands, lies between latitudes 33° and 39°N, and longitudes 124° and 130°E. Its total area is 38,622.57 square miles (100,032.00 km2).  South Korea's terrain is mostly mountainous, most of which is not arable. Lowlands, located primarily in the west and southeast, make up only 30% of the total land area.


1. Seoul (Special City) 2. Busan 3. Daegu 4. Incheon 5. Gwangju 6. Daejeon 7.Ulsan 8. Gyeonggi-do 9. Gangwon-do 10. Chungcheongbuk-do(Northern Chungcheong)11. Chungcheongnam-do(Southern Chungcheong) 12. Jeollabuk (Northern Jeolla) 13. Jeollanam (Southern Jeolla) 14. Gyeongsangbuk-do(Northern Gyeongsang) 15. Gyeongsangnam-do(Southern Gyeongsang) 16. Jeju-teukbyeoljachido(Jeju-do)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Provinces_of_South_Korea.svg
Visted: 03/20/2011

Climate:
          South Korea has four distinct seasons; spring, summer, autumn and winter. Spring usually lasts from late-March to early- May, summer from mid-May to early-September, autumn from mid-September to early-November, and winter from mid-November to mid-March. In Seoul, the average January temperature range is −7 °C to 1 °C (19 °F to 33 °F), and the average August temperature range is 22 °C to 30 °C (71 °F to 86 °F). Winter temperatures are higher along the southern coast and considerably lower in the mountainous interior. Summer can be uncomfortably hot and humid, with temperatures exceeding 30 °C in most parts of the country.

Economy:
         South Korea has a market economy which ranks 14th in the world by nominal GDP and 12th by purchasing power parity (PPP), identifying it as one of the G-20 major economies. It is a high-income developed country and is a member of OECD. South Korea is one of the Asian Tigers, and is the only developed country so far to have been included in the group of Next Eleven countries. South Korea had one of the world's fastest growing economies from the early 1960s to the late 1990s, and South Korea is still one of the fastest growing developed countries in the 2000s, along with Hong Kong, Singapore, and Taiwan, the other three members of Asian Tigers. South Koreans refer to this growth as the Miracle on the Han River. The South Korean economy is heavily dependent on international trade, and in 2010, South Korea was the sixth largest exporter and tenth largest importer in the world.





Government:
      Like many democracies, South Korea's government is divided into three branches: executive, judicial, and legislative. The executive and legislative branches operate primarily at the national level, although various ministries in the executive branch also carry out local functions. Local governments are semi-autonomous, and contain executive and legislative bodies of their own. The judicial branch operates at both the national and local levels. South Korea is a constitutional democracy. Lee Myung-bak is a president of South Korea. The government type is republic. The national holiday is Liberation Day, 15 August (1945). “The nationality flag of Korea, the blue section represents the negative cosmic forces of the yin, while the red symbolizes the opposite positive forces of the yang; each trigram (kwae) denotes one of the four universal elements, which together express the principle of movement and harmony.”

Culture: 

           Korean cuisine, hanguk yori (한국요리; 韓國料理), or hansik (한식; 韓食), has evolved through centuries of social and political change. Ingredients and dishes vary by province. There are many significant regional dishes that have proliferated in different variations across the country in the present day. The Korean royal court cuisine once brought all of the unique regional specialties together for the royal family. Meals consumed both by the royal family and ordinary Korean citizens have been regulated by a unique culture of etiquette.
Korean cuisine is largely based on rice, noodles, tofu, vegetables, fish and meats. Traditional Korean meals are noted for the number of side dishes, banchan (반찬), which accompany steam-cooked short-grain rice. Every meal is accompanied by numerous banchan. Kimchi, a fermented, usually spicy vegetable dish is commonly served at every meal and is one of the best known Korean dishes. Korean cuisine usually involves heavy seasoning with sesame oil, doenjang (된장), a type of fermented soybean past, soy sauce, salt, garlic, ginger, and gochujang (고추장), a hot pepper paste.
Soups are also a common part of a Korean meal and are served as part of the main course rather than at the beginning or the end of the meal. Soups known as guk (국) are often made with meats, shellfish and vegetables. Similar to guk, tang (탕) has less water, and is more often served in restaurants. Another type is jjigae (찌개), a stew that is typically heavily seasoned with chili pepper and served boiling hot.


Kimichi from Korea


http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=9018550327611751363&postID=6304529304791138064
Visited:03/20/2011
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic_of_Korea#Culture
Visited: 03/20/2011

Below is my transcription of entire interview:

Me: Hi, Jiwon. Long time no see. How do you feel today?
Jiwon: Hi Susan. I am good and interested to join your interview.
Me: Thanks a lot. Before I have interviewed Sung, I told her that I will interview you in my second interview.
Jiwon: yeah I know. Lol.. You know, I like talking with people, and be interviewed because my major was mass communication.
Me: Oh really?! Nice! Ok can you introduce yourself please?
Jiwon: haha, I don’t want coz you already know me friend.  Can you introduce me to your classmates and teacher?
Me: lol, sure! This beautiful girl whose name is Jiwon Lee. She is my friend and from Korea. She is 22 year old, and she likes shopping and travelling so much. This spring break, she went to Chicago with Sung who appeared in my first interview. Is enough? You wanna add something?
Jiwon: Oh! Susan! Nice job! You know me a lot! Haha, let’s change the role of interview right now. You can replace me in this interview.
Me: haha, yes I will coz I can read your mind. Just kidding. Ok, first question is why did you decide to come to SCSU instead of studying or working in your own country?
Jiwon: Um.. I like the life America. It’s a freedom country before I came here when I knew it. I can wear special clothes that I dare to wear in my country. I can talk with others through different address. You know, in my country, I must use respective address for some people who are older than me. Although it is a traditional culture in my country, I really don’t want to do that. When I came to this school, I studied in Intensive English Center, I was able to made friends with people who were from different countries. That’s awesome!
Me: Yup, same as me. I appreciated god that I meet you here. Haha. Do you miss your home here?
Jiwon: yeah! Really really… I missed my home, my three sisters and my boyfriend.
Me: Oh! You never told me you have three sisters?! Oh my god!
Jiwon: Oh I didn’t? haha yeah, I have three sisters. I am the second girl in my home. The oldest sister’s name is Su-a shin, and the youngest sister’s name is Ye Chan Kim. My third sister’s name is Ye Sol Kim. They all are very cute. I missed them.
Me: Wow, Jiwon, you have a big family. Is there a policy about limitation of children about a family in your country?
Jiwon: No, we never have, so I have three sisters.
Me: Do you have any cousins?
Jiwon: I have two cousins, and they are all boys. They are in Korea’s universities right now.
Me: Oh, you must have a wonderful life in Korea coz you have a lot of friends and family members. What is something unique you and your friends do for fun?
Jiwon: Haha.. We like hanging out with friends on every Friday coz we need study at school from Monday to Saturday. Actually, we often go to some clubs and play games with friends. You know, many Korea girls are good at drinking. I like inviting many friends to my home; we play cards games and PS3 for fun. That’s really cool for everyone who joined our parties coz we have a lot of drinking games for fun!
Me: Yah… I know a game from Korea.. It’s like this( do some postures for her) It’s really good! If someone lose the game, someone need to drink all the cup of alcohol. Is there a policy about the limitation of age on drinking in your country?
Jiwon: Not really, we don’t have a clear and specific policy on drinking age like America. We can drink when we are at age of eighteen. Actually, it all depends on ourselves coz some family will blame children who drinks alcohol. Different families have different condition.
Me: All right, so you are able to drink right now in America?
Jiwon: Yes! For sure!
Me: lol..What’s your opinion of the America diet?
Jiwon: I like eating healthy and delicious food in America, but I don’t like fried chicken and fries coz they are able to make me fat. Lol.. I like keeping slim ever. Um.. I think some kind of America food is pretty good and attracted by me. For example, I like eating steak and salad. The steak in some restaurant is very fresh and good taste; it doesn’t like the steak in my country. They are different taste from different countries.  You know, I like eating salad every day coz it looks healthy for our lives.
Me: Sounds really good! You have good habitat for food. My friends recommend me to red lobster next week, you need join us!
Jiwon: Yea.. Sure!
Me: How does the climate in your home country compare to here?
Jiwon: The climate in my country is not cold like Minnesota. Compare to here, it’s too cold to go outside in winter. I just wanna stay warm in my room in winter. However, we can a lot of thing for fun in winter; I still wanna go outside. For example, we can go ice-skating in winter. In summer, the weather is so good, but doesn’t have high temperature like here. Frankly speaking, there are four seasons in my country, but I am think about Minnesota almost have two seasons one year. Spring and Fall is too short, and winter is too long. Haha.
Me: Yea, I agree with you. Here is too cold, the weather makes me feel cold a long time. Do you like life here?
Jiwon: Although the weather doesn’t look good all the time, I like the life here. I have many friends here, like you. I like sharing some interesting thing with them on face book. I like eating and talking with them during meal time. Sometimes, I go to Helenbeck to do some sports.
Me: lol.. I know. What are some cultural differences between your country and here?
Jiwon: First, we speak different language, and we have different habitats. I know some people like hanging out with friends from Thursday night to weekend here. It’s an informal habitat. However, we just work and study till the end of Friday evening coz the weekend is waiting for us. Second, we need address in formal way to someone who is older than us. That’s a kind of respect. It depends on what age we are and what age you are. Third, we eat different food. I like eating Kimichi. Kimichi is a traditional food in Korea, but many American don’t like eat.
Me: All right. Some habitats are same like you. Do you know at what age do men and women spend private time and at what age do they consider marriage?
Jiwon: You mean when are we going to fell in love with someone? Haha, I have eageged to my boyfriend. We knew each other during high school, and then we fell in love. So that means we don’t have specific time for men and women to be together. Actually, for men, the age of getting married is around 30 year old; for women is at the age of 28.
Me: Ok, it is a little late to get married in my country. In my country, for men is at age of 25; for women is at the age of 24.
Me: What are your personal experiences with racism since coming to the US?
Jiwon: I never encounter any racism till I came here.
Me: That’s really good. I heard some friends who told me they face racisms in US.  What were your preconceptions about the US before coming here and how have they changed?
Jiwon: I thought there is a good environment here coz there are many people in my city, so the transportation is always busy at morning. However, you will not see many people who walk on the road. Everyone almost drive their car on the road. That’s really different. I feel a little bored sometime coz I can’t see many people who walk outside. Before I came here, I thought there might have a lot of person using public transportation here. When I went to Chicago, I felt like in my own country. Almost many people go to work by subway, bus or other transportation.
Me: Yea.. There are large differences from here. Chicago is a big city in U.S.  If you could visit any place in the U.S., where would it be? Why?
Jiwon: I prefer to work in big cities, not like here. Although St. Cloud is a peaceful place, here is too cold, and it’s a little boring for me. I would like to New York or Chicago coz there are many opportunities for work, and we have more entertainments during weekend.
Me: I can imagine your life in the future. Did you face any language barriers? How to solve it?
Jiwon: When I came here, I was studying in Intensive English Center. That’s a good place to learn American Language. I am not good communication with others coz my listening and speaking are not good as native people. I just learn English by many ways. For example, I often talk with my American roommate. She is very nice, and she told me a lot of interesting things that happen here. I cherish every talking in life.
Me: Talking with others is really a chance to challenge our English skills. We should do that. What‘s the most interesting thing you have experienced during your time studying at SCSU?
Jiwon: um… The most interesting thing happens on Halloween last year. I never have a wonderful time like that in Korea. I like Halloween coz we are able to do a lot of things for fun, and join different activities on campus. I went to Haunted House during Halloween. That truly makes me feel scared, but fortunately I with many people. I expect to the Halloween day this year.
Me: Me too… That’s my favorite festival. How many countries have you visited?
Jiwon: This is my first country that I have visited.
Me: Ok, can you tell me what your dream job is and which state would you like the job to be in?
Jiwon: My major is mass communication. I like talking with others, and observing on different news in my life. That do enjoys me. I want to work in a National studio in the future. That’s my dream job.
Me: Wow! I like your job coz we will know different news from different countries by you. Hope you will accomplish your dream as soon as possible.
Jiwon: yea. Thanks!
Me: That’s my entire interview. Thanks friend!
Jiwon: Nice talking. Lol..


Description of interview
       
       During the whole interview, I also found some interesting topic to talk about. For example, we talked a kind of Korea food, it is called Kimichee. We talked about the steps to make it. That’s truly interesting. I do learn a lot about Korea’s culture and educations. This make me feel impressed. As I am an international student, when we talked some question, I also felt we have understandable similarities. Interviewee’s experience made me find some similar point. Last but not least, interviewee might not good at to describe the history of Korea. She told me she doesn’t know a lot nationality flag’s meaning. Anyway, I felt achieving a lot knowledge from the interview.
     

2011年3月2日星期三