Hi Everyone,
Please post your synthesis of your cultural interview below by clicking on the comment box below.
Don't forget to email me your pictures. I've decided to post them on our website rather than the blog. See the schedule and follow the link to the pictures page to view the photos of the cultural interviews.
Jane
Rosa Berhe(Interviewer) Interviewee(Angelica)
ReplyDeleteI learned alot about myself and Angelica when interviewing her. I learned that I struggled with alot of the stumbling blocks, and understanding Angelica cultural backround. I was suprised that my idea of what her culture was, wasn't actually how it is. I would change the types of question I asked her so I could of had an even deeper idea of her culture.
Angelica T. Cruz (Interviewer),
ReplyDeleteRosa Berhe (Interviewee)
Rosa and I met in the NSCC library. She was a dream to listen to and took great thought into all my questions.
By interviewing Rosa I was surprised that there were alot of questions I asked about her Eritrea culture that she may be now asking herself as well. Before the interview I knew her culture to be of Eritrea and based questions solely on this but by the end of our interview I had learned she had a very different culture of being Eritrea/American and receiving the best of both cultures. I soon felt a closer connection as I also have a migrant parent.
If we could do it again I would have fewer prepared questions. Responses seemed to flow from beneath the ice berg once my questions were more appropriate to her previous answers. I would also give us lots more time, I definateley felt as if it flew by.
Subject: Jamie Reynolds (Inerviewer) Sasha Glenn (Interviewee)
ReplyDeleteI interviewed Sasha, At first i thought we wouldn't have a lot in common with our age difference, but having the same ethnicity we had more than i thought.I learned that regardless of age, life experinces brought more of a connection then expected. One thing i would change is be more opened minded and don't judge people's life exposure, based on age.
Jamie
I interviewed my group member Mezmur Assreu last Friday.
ReplyDeleteI was surprised to learn that Mezmur used to be an avid motorbike rider in Ethiopia before he moved to Seattle in 2009. Mezmur told me of a time he and his close friends from the International school he attended decided to rent some bikes. Racing through the narrow streets of Addis Ababa Mezmur found himself on on the wrong side of the street. He flew over a speed bump and was forced to swerve in between a wall and parked cars. He was balancing on one side of his bike and made it past one car, the second was was much too close and Mezmur was caught. His leg stuck on the scorching hot exhaust pipe, he was lucky to get out of the bind without any burns.
I think this experience will help me in the future as a multicultural interviewer to be careful in my assumptions of different culture's values.
The only thing I might change next time is to bring a recording device, so many good stories were shared!
Thanks for the chat Mezmur! Thanks for the assignment Margot and Jane.
Subject: Cecilia Budiman (interviewer), Jessica Flanagan (interviewee)
ReplyDeleteI was having a good conversation with Jessica. It was intense and awkward at first though, since I have a lot of questions on my mind and trying to follow the handout guideline. We were enjoying our conversation until an employer at starbucks where we met up told us that they were going to close the store in 10 minutes, later then we realized that we had been talking for about two hours!
Our conversation started with basic questions at first about her origin and her family history. I was thrilled that she was willing to share her life experiences that I have never heard before which broadens out my knowledge about her culture. As our conversation went by, we talked about our hobbies, movies, and our passions, and I found out that Jessica has been learning Japanese for a year!
Things that I would change for our interview would be that I put away all my chaotic questions on my mind so I could be more concentrate in listening to her and also I wish that we had more time for our conversation since I still have more further questions to ask about her passion in Japanese language and culture!
I met with Grace on Saturday afternoon for about two hours. I was surprised at the lack of awkwardness between us,and how comfortable I felt sharing with Grace. We had a really great time sharing stories with each other. We found that despite our differences in the way we were raised, we have many similar views and life experiences, and that we have much more in common than we originally thought. For the interview, I prepared a brief list of questions, but also had a list of general topics to discuss and figured I could probe deeper as Grace spoke. At times I would get so involved in what she was saying, I would forget to ask questions. If I had to do the interview over, I would have a more detailed list of questions to help me stay more focused on my role as Interviewer.
ReplyDeleteSubject: Eddie Plana (Interviewer) Jenn Ellerton (Interviewee)
ReplyDeleteJenn and I met on Saturday morning. Initially I thought how can we spend at least forty five minutes with somebody I barely know. This was more than easily accomplished. Neither of us came into the interview with prepared questions or agenda aside from any general questions outlined in the assignment. Before we knew it our forty five minutes each had come and gone. I learned that her and I have very different cultural backgrounds. I am a Washington transplant, first generation American. She however has had her family's presence in the US for several hundred years and she and several generations have lived in the Pacific Northwest. . I found that we both put a high value on family time and enjoy spending time with them. We have some similar experiences growing up with family and some different. I find it hard to have a preset list of questions because I felt it was best to let her do most of the talking.
I interviewed Ebrahim on Friday, January 14th and we met at the Racer Café in Roosevelt at about 11:30. Both Ebrahim and I are very comfortable talking (as is probably evident to our table mates in class!) so I was not concerned about having something to say. However, I was a little concerned that I wasn’t going to ask the right questions or questions that would be interesting enough to sustain our conversation. I quickly found out that our conversation flowed smoothly and information was shared freely. One of the things I found the hardest to do was to continue to listen and not try to formulate another question to ask before he was finished talking. I tried my best to keep eye contact while he was talking but also take notes. I can see where a tape recorder would have been helpful. The next time I do an interview I think I will have to invest in one.
ReplyDeleteI learned that it is harder than it looks to be fully present in a dialogue with someone. As much as I wanted to be there I couldn’t help but worry about what I was asking or saying and what my body language and facial expressions were conveying on my behalf. It was helpful to keep in mind the listening skill of clarifying. It made me feel more comfortable with the thought that little distractions might creep in but that’s ok. You just need to refocus your thought on your partner and go back to listening.
Through our conversation it is evident that we have similarities when it comes to family but there are also many differences. I was surprised how much Ebrahim knew about the history of Bahrain and the surrounding countries. You could tell this was a source of pride for him and he seemed happy to talk about it. I wish I would have done a little research before we got together so I would have had that knowledge as background, but it was fascinating to listen and learn from a person who grew up there. I hope he enjoyed our time as much as I did.
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ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI had the great pleasure of interviewing Raisa Asriyants for this project. Having not met her before we began or knowledgeable of her background, I was in for a surprise. Raisa and I definitely have different cultural backgrounds, even the language barrier was something to work around. Despite that, we had a great conversation, and I was privileged to get to know Raisa and hear about her life in Armenia and Russia. Raisa has only lived in the States for a year so daily she is struck with the difference in our cultures. She is constantly surprised with how people in the states are so friendly, even with strangers. It is not so common in Russia. One thing that is important in the Russian and Armenian culture is how elders are treated; they are treated with great respect, something Raisa doesn’t always see here in the states. Another surprise I encountered is that she is an accomplished violinist and plays in the Seattle Symphony. I’m excited to attend and see her play. At first thought, I would change my preparation for the interview providing intentional questions, but I am now thankful that I didn’t have a schedule and allowed the conversation to flow naturally. This interview turned out to be much more than I thought it would, and I’m thankful to have been able to hear a piece of Raisa’s story.
ReplyDeleteTia and I Niklas Barde-MacNamara, met at the Northgate Barnes and Nobles on Wednesday around 4pm. The atmosphere there wasn't exactly quiet, but due to time constraints it had to do and it didn't really seem to affect our interview. I found that it went surprisingly smooth, neither of use seemed to have any problems/inhibitions talking about how we felt concerning family, friends, culture and the deeper issues therein. Whether this was due to us knowing that it is part of the assignment, the skills learned through our readings, a general understanding about what we went through, or all of the above. Either way I think we responded well to each other and seemed to get a feel of what the other meant, allowing us to the ask deeper questions and attempt to dive into the mind of the other. The one thing that was too bad was that we only had a limited amount of time and that there was only one interview session. It would have been nice, after looking back over the notes, to talk some more. All in all I felt that we got into the deeper feelings, views, experiences of the other with the time that we had.
ReplyDeletePS: Is it me or does this sound somewhat cliché?
Niklas
(I thought I posted this yesterday :( Must not have gone through.)
ReplyDeleteDue to my trip out of town over the holiday weekend, I interviewed my grandmother Jean. We talked over smoothies at her dining room table, like we have many times before - and yet, it was a wholly different experience. I learned things about my grandmother that had somehow never come up in the 30 years we've known each other, and I came out of the experience feeling much closer to her than I had been before.
I feel like I should say something about how, if I could change something, I would have been able to interview one of my classmates instead. And yeah, I do think that would have been interesting, you guys all seem like really cool people - but as it is, considering my gran's getting on in years, I am very very glad to have had this opportunity to bond with her.