My Third Interview (30-45 minutes in length)

Interview preparations:

Preparing for my third interview, I wanted to learn about yet another country different than my own and my goal was to receive as much information as possible. I had my questions in a list for both myself and the interviewee. I now know how to work my recording program on my computer, and have gotten better at transcribing the interviews. I messaged JB and asked when meeting to do my interview would work best. I got a reply right away about later that night, so we set it up for 8:30pm. As I thought about the time more, I decided to ask if we could meet earlier. That way we wouldn’t be too short for time, and we could talk more about the topics we came upon. I had my laptop charged, and power cord just in case my computer battery died also. I made plans to meet JB about 6 in the library. I was very excited about my third and final interview.

Interview report:

My third and final interview was probably my best interview. I felt like I was prepared more than ever and felt confident in my questions. Also, my interviewee was open and honest. I learned a lot about Rwanda and the culture it has within the country. Before our interview even started we were talking about everything. Earlier in the week I had went to a Lip Sync at the ballroom in Atwood, and I say JB with one of the fraternities. I am going to join a sorority this fall, and it was fun to be able to talk about his point of view, and the night of the Lip Sync. We all had a great night, and he did as well. I was surprised to learn about JB knowing English for his job back in his home country of Rwanda. I felt like I know much more than most about the country’s battles for independence as well. It was interesting to know that he is also a Christian, like me, and he prays before bed, or tries to anyways! That has always been important to me, and I thought it was interesting that he does too. I have enjoyed my final interview because it has installed the knowledge that we are all human beings, and our cultures are so very similar yet different. We all generally have the same goal, and that is to live our life as fully as possible. I liked talking to JB about life in general and how going out and doing activities and being in clubs is one of the best ways to get to know others, and in general live life to the fullest. I am thankful that I was able to interview JB, and I felt like we both got a lot out of the interview.

Country Report:  

Rwanda is located in central Africa; total area of the country is 26,338 sq km, which is slightly smaller than Maryland.[1] Population is about 10.7 million.[2] There are three major ethnic groups in Rwanda, the Hutu, Tutsi, and Twa. The Hutu is the largest, over 3/4 of the people belong to it. There are 4 common languages, including Kinyarwanda, French, English, and some Kiswahili. Kinyarwanda is universal. Rwanda is a Republic and gained its independence on the 1st of July in 1962. In Rwanda there is two rainy seasons, which range from February to April, and November to January.[1]  In the mountains there can be frost and snow. Natural resources include gold, cassiterite, and methane. Natural disasters that can occur in Rwanda are droughts and one active volcano.The volcano that is active is called Visoke.[1] Most people in Rwanda have an occupation related to agriculture.[2] Most of the land is grasslands. Rwanda has 3 military defenses which are the Rwandan Defense Force, Rwandan Army, and the Rwandan Air Force. [1]

(1) (2)    

[1]https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/rw.html# April 1, 2012

[2]http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/2861.htm April 1, 2012

   

Transcription:

J: Hello!

T: Thank you for meeting with me.

J: No problem.

T: Can you tell me your name and where you’re from?

J: My name is Janvier, and I am from Rwanda. It is in the middle of Africa.

T: Cool. I’ll tell you about myself and we can begin. I am from here, born and raised in Sauk Rapids. I have 3 siblings. A brother who is 5 and sisters who are 3 and 8.

J: Nice!

T: I’m currently doing PSEO here at SCSU to get some free college out of the way! So that is how I ended up in this English class. So far I really like it. It is nice getting out of the high school. It is a different place, especially from the schools, especially elementary schools. What is a typical day like for a child in your culture?

J: A typical day back home is, well we don’t have too much to do, so many kids do not have much to do so they wake up early morning, go to school, then they can come back home and play. Sometimes they watch TV at night before they sleep. Otherwise if they do not have school, they play like all day.

T: Do they play outside?

J: Yep.

T: What are some games that they play?

J: Most play soccer, they really play soccer. And then yeah, soccer is the popular one I guess.

T: Is it like a famous sport in your country too?

J: Yep!

T: What is a game like? Do you have stadiums like we do here?

J: Yeah, just a little bit. But, other than that it is like the same.

T: Okay. When you came here how was schooling different?

J: From Rwanda? Actually it is different from here because you have to do like a test to get into a university or high school. You have to do a national exam.

T: Oh wow. What is on it?

J: You need to do when you want to be a graduate, that kind of thing. You have to score really high, because they want to make sure you know what you do, when you want to graduate. It is not really hard, but it is kind of.

T: So like the ACT here? Just general knowledge?

J: Yeah the ACT actually.

T: Okay. Do you have any daily rituals that you do here with your beliefs? Well actually, I should ask first, do you have beliefs?

J: Yeah, I am a Christian. I pray every day, when I go to sleep. Otherwise, it’s really hard. Ya know? I try to do it. That is the main thing, if you’re able to do it.

T: I always pray before bed, that is the best time for me.

J: I just even put my alarm clock on my phone to remember! Just to make sure I don’t forget.

T: That is a good idea. What holidays do you celebrate in your culture? Are a lot of people Christian?

J: Yeah, a lot of people are Christian, and then the second one would be Muslim. We don’t have any other cultures actually. I mean other religion cultures. The strongest ones are Christian and then Muslims.

T: Does your culture put a lot of stress on religions?

J: Yep, sometimes.

T: Okay, what about on school?

J: There are some schools that have some rules like that are to the religion thing. Like Muslim schools, they have to follow Muslim rules. If it’s a Christian school, they will have lots to follow, that kind of thing. It depends what school and what religion they believe, there are also some schools that don’t have any religion thing either.

T: Do you and your friends talk about religion a lot? Or is it something that you really do not talk about?

J: We really talk about it. Because we want to know we are on the right path, you know?

T: Yeah, definitely.

J: Yeah we talk about it every day.

T: Good! So a lot of people come here and really like the fast food and whatnot. What kind of food do you like most? Our country’s food or yours?

J: I would say my country’s food, because I don’t like fast food.

T: Oh really?

J: Yeah. The reason I do not like fast food is because I’m used to eating like a buffet. Back home we don’t have fast food.

T: Okay.

J: If you want to eat, you go to the restaurant or you go home and cook. We don’t have any fast food.

T: Is there any kind of dish that you miss the most?

J: Yep.

T: What would that be?

J: It would be Isomer.

T: What is that?

J: It’s the name of the food. It’s kind of like rice mixed with chicken. They put something like chicken and then put eggs on it, and they mix a lot. They mix like potatoes, like onions. Just a mix of everything we have. It’s so good, and maybe a little bit spicy. Really good.

T: Do a lot of people eat it? Like a famous dish?

J: Yep!

T: So going back to traditions, does your family get together a lot?

J: Yeah, sometimes. When the New Years comes, that is the famous one. At the end of the year we kind of meet, every family has to meet. We get together and talk and see what we have achieved. Something like that. We kind of hang out, to finish the year.

T: That is neat!

J: Yeah.

T: What different modes of transportation are used in your country?

J: We do have a lot, but the popular one would be buses, cars, bicycle, and then some people walk as well. It depends on where you are going. Most of the kids if they want to go to school, they want to go to school which is in the same area, close to where they live. So they can go walk. We have something that depends on the day. We have the morning shift and a afternoon shift for like when you have to go from 8:00 to 12:00, and then another one from 1:00 to 6:00, something like that.

T: Okay. What kind of government is in control of your country? How has it affected your life?

J: It is a Republic. I would say it affects my life right now; we have been in a big problem, like war.

T: With whom?

J: Like people getting mad and killing each other.

T: In your country?

J: Yep. Right now it is better, people are well instead of fighting and doing the crazy stuff, people are doing well. It’s a good government right now. You can create a business right now at home, you can do whatever you want. We have freedom right now.

T: How was it like before? Did the government take charge of what you all did?

J: Yes, actually before it was like they divided the people. That was what caused the genocide. If you type Rwanda in Google, you will see seriously a lot of people have been killed in Rwanda because of the ethnic groups and stuff. What happened exactly is that because we have been colonized by Belgian guys, they divided the people in kind of different parts so in the parts they made conflict with each other. They have been in trouble because of the conflict, like if I am in the part and they tell you you’re terrible, you’re a terrible human being, you’re not good. Those kinds of things make you angry and make you do what you don’t want to do. Actually the government before that was terrible also because they were following the rules of the religion guys. So what happened is they made conflict with each other. People had been killed. But right now it is okay.

T: There is some peace?

J: Yeah. You can do whatever you want right now.

T: That’s good! What do you think about everything here that’s been happening with the elections that are coming up and all the political information that you probably have seen? Are you following it much?

J: Not really. I’m not following it because I don’t really like politics that much. So I don’t want to follow anything like that. The only think I follow is that you have peace and everything is working well. Other than that, I don’t follow. I just want to know that everything is okay, that is all I care. If you have a good government that is all I need.

T: That makes sense. What could SCSU do to make your stay on campus better?

J: I would say provide more opportunities for international students, to meet and get to know each other. I would say providing more activities, and maybe provide more international food. I miss my food! Mostly providing more activities though, so people could get to know you really well.

T: How was your first week here? Were you blown away by the English language or could you understand pretty well?

J: No, I knew the language pretty good. Just a little bit hard though. I understood because back home I used to work, and where I was working I was able to communicate in English so, that is how I learned English.

T: Another student I have talked to said they cried when they first got here. I felt so bad.

J: Me as well! The first week I was shocked to see what was going on, because I was not used to it, this kind of environment.

T: What most surprised you?

J: You can meet with people every day, and you can say hi to them and get to know each other, but the next day you don’t talk! Ii was like oh my god what is this. You don’t talk! Usually back home when you say hi to somebody that means you already know them, which means every time you see them you’re going to say hi. You cannot ignore him or her, you know? If I meet someone and talk, that means we are friends now.

T: I see.

J: So I was used to that, and then when I came here it was different, I think back home it is in our culture, when you meet your friend you kind of hug, or when you meet your family members you give a hug too. But here is different!

T: Is hugs the typical greeting?

J: Yeah.

T: Do you ever do a handshake or anything like that?

J: Yeah we do also have that, but the handshake is not like a big thing. Usually hugs or kiss, just a little kiss.

T: Do most people do that? Even people you don’t know?

J: Yeah, I can introduce you to someone, like if we’re going somewhere, and I can introduce you to my friend and there going to give you a kiss.

T: When I went to Costa Rica they did that too, I thought it was really neat. I think it is more personal, and you feel like,

J: You feel like you’re with them already, not some stranger.

T: Like they are accepting.

J: Yeah.

T: So, what about a secret that you can tell me about yourself that nobody would know?

J: Okay, I would say my secret is I’m the kind of person who is a little bit different if I see that you are a really easy going person, I will be as well. I am going to be an easy going person. If you are going to be a little crazy, so will I. If I find out that you are a little bit quiet, I will be quiet as well.

T: So you can adapt.

J: Yeah, it depends on who you are and how we talk. I’m going to find out then try to imitate you. Try to do; we’ll try to match you.

T: What is your fraternity like, are they crazy?

J: Yeah, they are really really crazy. We talk a lot of stupid stuff. Just hang out, and talk.

T: What do you think is being more you, outgoing or quiet?

J: For me, it depends on the situation I am in. Sometimes I can be quiet, and sometimes I can be really somebody who is really crazy. Not crazy like doing stupid stuff, but crazy like talk a lot. Try to get competitions going on.

T: What is something that you are for, like something you are really for, or against? Like some people are for gay marriage, or against abortion.

J: I would say something I am really against is someone who thinks that they are useless. I would say I am against those people. I’m kind of a person who encourages those people to do, what they think they cannot do.

T: We need more people like that.

J: That is how I am! If I find out you have something that you don’t use, I am going to encourage you to do that. I will be there for you and try to, you know, motivate you to do something that you didn’t think you could. I always try to help people.

T: What clubs or organizations are you in?

J: Kung fu, dancing, salsa classes, and I like soccer, and basketball.

T: Fun!

J: I know!

T: Does that take up a lot of your time?

J: Yeah, like my schedule every week is really busy. I do have a lot of things to do every day. It’s not like I sleep, I have a lot of activities to do every day. That helps me to get to know people and have an experience that I really would like to know.

T: Definitely! What is the most influential thing that you have done?

J: I would say going out. Most people here go out, every Thursday or Saturday. Then dancing also, because I really like dancing. I am an easy going person when it comes to stuff like that.

T: That’s good. Do you have any plans for tonight?

J: Well I was wondering what to do; a friend of mine told me he was going to go out. I’m not sure if I want to do that, but I don’t know. I’ll think about it, I’m tired. I worked then I had class, and I didn’t sleep well last night. So tonight, I’m not sure.

T: Well sometimes it is good to have a quiet night too!

J: I like to listen to classical music, think about a lot of things that I need to work on. Things like that.

T: Me too. Well thank you for your time!

J: Yeah no problem.