2nd Interview- South Korea

Interview Preparation

My interviewee name is Seokyung Kim. Seokyung is the friend of my best friend, Tung. She is an exchange student from South Korea. She is a senior in St. Cloud State University now. Few days ago, I asked Tung if he has any Korean friends because I have to do an interview about Korea for my English class. After that, Tung introduced Seokyung to me. I told her that I wanted to interview about South Korea and she said yes right away. We decided to meet each other in the library at 6:30 pm on Thursday, November 1^st. The interview lasted for 35 minutes. I asked Seokyung questions about herself and about her home country, South Korea. The interview went well. I recorded the interview by my cell phone.

Interview Report

The interview between Seokyung and I lasted for 35 minutes started at 6:30 pm and ended at 7:15 pm. I started the interview with the greeting; followed by the questions about her daily life, her decision to study abroad, and so on. I asked Seokyung all the eleven required questions about Korean traditions, Korean music, Korean foods, Korean education and other questions that I wanted to asked her. Seokyung answered all the questions in details. I was surprised that Seokyung is an exchange student in St. Cloud State University. She came to the United States to study for only one year. After that, she will come back to South Korea. I also surprised that Seokyung does not like Kim chi, one of the most famous foods in South Korea.  In addition, I surprised that Korean Culture and Vietnamese culture (my home country) are very similar. Korean and Vietnamese have very alike tradition and educational system.

Country Report

My second country report is about South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea, is a sovereign state located in the southern part of the Korean Peninsula. The name “Korea” is derived from Goryeo, a dynasty that ruled in the Middle Ages. Its neighbors are China to the west, Japan to the east, and North Korea to the north. South Korea lies in the North Temperate Zone with a predominantly mountainous terrain. It covers a total area of 99,392 square kilometers and has a population of 50 million. The capital and largest city is Seoul, with a population of 9,794,304.

South Korea is a presidential republic consisting of seventeen administrative divisions and is a developed country with a very high standard of living. It is Asia's fourth largest economy and the world's 15th (nominal) or 12th (purchasing power parity) largest economy. The economy is export-driven, with production focusing on electronics, automobiles, ships, machinery, petrochemicals and robotics. South Korea is a member of the United Nations, WTO, and OECD. It is also a founding member of APEC and the East Asia Summit.

South Korea has one of Asia’s largest economies, one that resumed strong growth after a brief downturn as a result of the global economic crisis of 2008. But alongside that prosperity run continued tensions with North Korea, its sometimes-belligerent communist neighbor, with whom it remains technically at war. 

Education in South Korea is regarded as crucial to financial and social success, and competition is consequently fierce, with many participating in intense outside tutoring to supplement classes. In the 2006 results of the OECD Programme for International Student Assessment, South Korea came first in problem solving, third in mathematics and seventh in science. South Korea's education system is technologically advanced and it is the world's first country to bring high-speed fibre-optic broadband Internet access to every primary and secondary school nation-wide. Using this infrastructure, the country has developed the first Digital Textbooks in the world, which will be distributed for free to every primary and secondary school nation-wide by 2013.

As of 2005, just under half of the South Korean population expressed no religious preference. Of the rest, most are Buddhist or Christian. According to the 2007 census, 29.2% of the population at that time was Christian (18.3% identified themselves as Protestants, 10.9% as Roman Catholics), and 22.8% were Buddhist. Today, freedom of religion is guaranteed by the constitution, and there is no state religion. Christianity is South Korea's largest religion, accounting for more than half of all South Korean religious adherents. There are approximately 13.7 million Christians in South Korea today, with almost two-thirds of Christians belonging to Protestant churches, while about 37% belong to the Roman Catholic Church.

South Korea shares its traditional culture with North Korea, but the two Koreas have developed distinct contemporary forms of culture since the peninsula was divided in 1945. Historically, while that of neighboring China has heavily influenced the culture of Korea, it has nevertheless managed to develop a unique cultural identity that is distinct from its larger neighbor.

Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Korea#Culture

http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/international/countriesandterritories/southkorea/index.html

Image Source:
http://www.google.com/imgres?q=south+korea&um=1&hl=en&sa=N&tbo=d&biw=1279&bih=607&tbm=isch&tbnid=L20OycsTs7VYAM:&imgrefurl=http://www.worldstatesmen.org/Korea_South.htm&docid=nd8M5yteqbMS1M&imgurl=http://www.worldstatesmen.org/kr.gif&w=324&h=216&ei=2FebUNTJI-PVyQG_qYG4DQ&zoom=1&iact=rc&dur=282&sig=104032491894295845661&page=1&tbnh=148&tbnw=201&start=0&ndsp=20&ved=1t:429,r:9,s:0,i:180&tx=104&ty=120

Transcription

Me: My name is Trang and I am from Vietnam, the same country as Tung from. So what is your name?

Seokyung: My name is Seokyung Kim and I am from South Korea.

Me: Okay. Can you spell your first name and last name please?

Seokyung: (writing down her first name and last name on the paper).

Me: Okay. Thank you. So why did you choose America to study?

Seokyung: My school just has two programs. One was Canada and one was U.S.A. so I wanted to come to America rather than Canada. U.S.A is also a multicultural country.

Me: So… Back in your country, are you a senior?

Seokyung: Junior.

Me: How long have you been to the United States?

Seokyung: It has been two months and 10 days.

Me: Okay. So you count everyday?

Seokyung: Yes, sort of. Ha-ha.

Me: So when will you come back home? After the spring semester?

Seokyung: Yes.

Me: Okay. So I will start with the first question. What is the value of family in Korea?

Seokyung: Value? Mostly, we live together until we get married. We live with mom, dad, and siblings. I think, here, many people divorce easily, but in Korea; we value family a lot so it is hard to divorce. There are not many people who divorced. And I think we care about family a lot.

Me: Is the children in the family always listen to their parents? Like everything? Almost everything?

Seokyung: Yes. We should. Ha-ha. Some kids don’t listen their parents.

Me: Okay. What is your family structure like?

Seokyung: Structure? Like what?

Me: Like who is the head of the house? Is the father of the house always made the decision about everything?

Seokyung: Not really. My mom is in charge of financial things. I think she usually decides everything but still my dad is the captain.

Me: Do both of your parents go to work?

Seokyung: No, just my dad.

Me: Okay. So your dad earns money and your mother just kind of manage the money?

Seokyung: Yes. She manages the money.

Me: Okay. Another question is does gender matter in a family?

Seokyung: Gender matter? In my family or in general?

Me: In general.

Seokyung: It is disappearing but I think it still exists, like men are higher than women.

Me: You meant men have the rights to do more things than women?

Seokyung: Uh-huh but not for now. Nowadays, it is changing a lot.

Me: Oh so it becomes equal now?

Seokyung: Yes. Because women today are working so I think it is kind of equal now.

Me: So normally, do women in your country go to work?

Seokyung: Not in my parents generations, but younger people are both work mostly.

Me: Okay. And how many siblings do you have by the way?

Seokyung: One.

Me: Just one? Oh okay. And here are some questions about culture. How does your home country culture different from the US culture?

Seokyung: Just culture? We don’t say “Hello” to strangers. In here, when we have eye contacts, you say “Hello”, right? It is weird. And I think Koreans are more conservative. We don’t really talk about sexual things to people.

Me: What about the food culture?

Seokyung: Food? We share food together. We have main dishes in the middle of the table and we share.

Me: What about the holiday? Do you guys celebrate different holidays than the United States?

Seokyung: Halloween. We don’t celebrate Halloween.

Me: What about Christmas?

Seokyung: Yep. We celebrate Christmas and New Year’s Day.

Me: So do you guys has the same New Year with China or the United States?

Seokyung: I think we have the same New Year with China because we use lunar calendar.

Me: Yeah. We use lunar calendar in Vietnam too. What are the highlights in your culture? What things will make people immediately think about your country?

Seokyung: We have formal and informal language, like grammar. When we talk to senior, we have certain terms or grammars to show respect to them. We talk differently with friends and other people.

Me: So can you say some of those words in Korean?

Seokyung: Okay. If you are my friend, when I say “Hello”, I just say “An nyoung”. And if you are the older person or stranger, I will say “An nyoung ha seh yo”.

Me: Oh okay. I think I heard that in the Korean movie.

Seokyung: I also have to bow when I say “An nyoung ha she yo”.

Me: Are there anything else you want to tell my about the highlights in your culture? How about the traditional dress? What is it called?

Seokyung: Hanbok.

Me: How do you spell it?

Seokyung: (writing “Hanbok” on the paper).

Me: Okay thank you.

Seokyung: Hanbok is colorful. It has white sleeves and white skirt. The skirt starts from the chest.

Me: Is there a bow in the back or front?

Seokyung: I don’t know. I don’t know what it is. Ha-ha.

Me: So you haven’t where Habok before?

Seokyung: I did wear it before.

Me: What day you have to wear it?

Seokyung: When? New Year day or Thanksgiving Day. Few people wear it in special days.

Me: Okay. So you guys do celebrate Thanksgiving?

Seokyung: Yes. Not Thanksgiving like the United States but Chinese Thanksgiving.

Me: Like just the day family gather?

Seokyung: Yes.

Me: So what is your hometown and where do you live?

Seokyung: I live in Incheon.

Me: Oh. I have been to Incheon International Airport.

Seokyung: Oh yeah. Ha-ha.

Me: Is this how you spell Incheon?

Seokyung: Yes, that is right.

Me: So that is your hometown and you live there since you were born?

Seokyung: No. I live in another city, Bundang.

Me: Can you write it down?

Seokyung: Yes. (Writing “Bundang” down). Both of them are near Seoul.

Me: Okay. How far is that from Seoul?

Seokyung: Bundang is 30 minutes from Seoul and Incheon is 1 hour.

Me: Could you tell me a little about the city? Oh wait. How long have you live in Incheon?

Seokyung: Incheon? 2 years.

Me: And the rest of the years you live in Bundang? So can you tell me a little about Bundang?

Seokyung: Bundang is a new city. It was built 19 years ago and it is close to Seoul. There are many apartments in the city. Most of Korean live in apartments, not houses like this. (Pointing to the house near SCSU) Ha-ha.

Me: Is that a modern city?

Seokyung: Yeah. It is new. Everything is quite new compare to other cities. There are so many institutions for education. People in Bundang are very crazy about education.

Me: Are they all smart people and they like to study?

Seokyung: Parents want their kids to study a lot.

Me: Is that the reason why you move form Incheon to Bundang?

Seokyung: No. I lived in Bundang and move to Incheon.

Me: So… Were you born in?

Seokyung: Bundang.

Me: And now you are living in Incheon?

Seokyung: Yes.

Me: So what about Incheon?

Seokyung: Incheon is where Incheon International Airport is placed. Incheon is near the sea so I can eat raw fish. It is not a new city so it is not as modern as Bundang.

Me: So why did you move form Bundang to Incheon?

Seokyung: Because I went to university which is in Incheon.

Me: So just you move to Incheon, not the whole family?

Seokyung: No, the whole family.

Me: Oh okay. How a young person considered troublemaker in your country?

Seokyung: Drinking and cigarettes, smoking and not studying.

Me: What about people who go to nightclubs and bars?

Seokyung: Yes.

Me: So what do you think about the music culture in your country? Is it significant in your country?

Seokyung: Music culture? Do you know K-pop?

Me: Yes!

Seokyung: There are so many idols

Me: I think Vietnamese people are crazy about Korean music. So what is your favorite idol?

Seokyung: I like band music.

Me: So you don’t like music of Big Bang?

Seokyung: Oh I like Big Bang though.

Me: What about Super Junior?

Seokyung: Nah… Not really. Ha-ha.

Me: Ha-ha. Okay. Is marriage important that everybody pursue?

Seokyung: Yep.

Me: What about… a woman is over 30 years old and is not married… do people discriminate her?

Seokyung: Not discriminate but people will always ask her “Why aren’t you married?”

Me: Are they going to have bad thoughts about her?

Seokyung: I don’t really know about this topic because I am only 20 years old. If she has good jobs and good properties, maybe people think it is cool; maybe she is enjoying her life. If she does not have any jobs, people will think that she can’t get married. It depends on persons I think.

Me: So are there a lot of people get married after a certain age like 30 years old?

Seokyung: Yes, I think so.

Me: Okay. Here is another question for you. Is there still gender/race discrimination in your country?

Seokyung: Yes.

Me: Are there black and white people live in your country also?

Seokyung: Not many. But we have people from Southeast Asia such as Thailand, Malaysia, Philippines, and some from Saudi Arabia. We don’t have many Whites or Blacks.

Me: So you guys treat people from other countries not the same as Korean people?

Seokyung: We have many strangers who are half-blooded. When they come to Korea, they get married with Korean. There are many Korean Filipinos. One of the biggest problems in school is they have different color of skin, different face. I don’t think Korean discriminate other races but it is premature. We have educated students to not discriminate friends.

Me: But somehow if a person with different skin color walk by, are you guys still have a thinking that…

Seokyung: Yes, for foreigners because we are just one race, just Korean.

Me: About the food, what is the most famous food in your country?

Seokyung: Kimchi.

Me: Do you know how to make it?

Seokyung: No. You need many ingredients and many spices so I don’t know.

Me: So have you eaten Kimchi since you came here?

Seokyung: No. I don’t really like Kimchi… Ha-ha.

Me: Oh you don’t like Kimchi? I ate it once and it was so spicy… I meant it was really hot; there were a lot of peppers. What food do you think is the best? What is your favorite food?

Seokyung: Korean food? I like seaweed soup.

Me: Oh seaweed soup? I know that.

Seokyung: Oh really? It is good for health. People eat seaweed soup when women gave birth to babies.

Me: You guys eat it in your birthday, right?

Seokyung: Yes, right.

Me: Okay. So what is the famous food?

Seokyung: Bibimbob.

Me: Can you write it down for me?

Seokyung: I don’t know how to spell. (Trying to write down “Bibimbob”)

Me: Okay. And what are your meals like? What are the size, number, and times of day?

Seokyung: Three times a day. Number?

Me: I meant how big of a meal it is. Do you guys eat less than American?

Seokyung: Yes, absolutely.

Me: So did you gain weight after you came to the United States?

Seokyung: Yes, Ha-ha.

Me: Yeah… After three months living in the states, I gained 20 lbs. After 2 years, I lost 18 lbs.

Seokyung: Wow. It is good.

Me: Yeah. I was too food.

Seokyung: They made fries.

Me: And they put a lot of cheese on the food. Does most of Korean eat spicy food?

Seokyung: Yes. People like spicy food.

Me: About the education, what is the education system in your country?

Seokyung: You meant the elementary and high school?

Me: Yes.

Seokyung: We have 6 years of elementary school, three years of middle school, three years of high schools, and then university.

Me: How many years of university?

Seokyung: 4 years. There are colleges that we just need to go for 2 years.

Me: Like community college?

Seokyung: Yes.

Me: So do you guys have the colleges entrance examinations?

Seokyung: Uh-huh.

Me: So what subjects are in the exams?

Seokyung: Korean, Math, English. You have to school either Science or Social Study for the fourth subject. If you choose Science, there are Physics, Chemistry, and Biology. If you choose Social Study, there are Politics, History, and Geography. I can’t really remember.

Me: So what did you choose?

Seokyung: I chose Social Study. I have to study four of them.

Me: Were the exams hard?

Seokyung: Yes, because we have to memorize so many stuffs. It was hard to study all.

Me: What is the name of the university that you are studying?

Seokyung: Gyeongin National University of Education.

Me: Is it famous in Korea?

Seokyung: Hmm… In Korea, if you wanted to be in elementary school, you must go to university, which is, specialize in education. There are 10 education universities in Korea.

Me: So you came there to become a teacher?

Seokyung: Yes.

Me: So what is your major now?

Seokyung: Elementary education.

Me: You wanted to be a teacher?

Seokyung: Uh-huh.

Me: Okay. What is the most important subject in your country generally? Are they Korean, Math, and English?

Seokyung: I think it is English. If you are good at English, you can go to the universities that you wanted.

Me: How long have you been studying English?

Seokyung: Since I was 8 years old.

Me: Okay. Do students have to wear uniform in every school?

Seokyung: Not every school but most of them.

Me: How many days that you have to wear uniform?

Seokyung: Everyday.

Me: Is it just depends of different schools?

Seokyung: Uh-huh. Most of them have to wear uniform.

Me: Do you prefer to wear it or not?

Seokyung: Yes, I prefer to wear.

Me: Why can’t you wear short or flip-flop to school?

Seokyung: Why can’t you wear short? We need to wear uniform. Ha-ha.

Me: Do a lot of people get a chance to attend college in your country?

Seokyung: Yes.

Me: Do a lot of people pass the college entrance examination?

Seokyung: We don’t really pass the exams. We just have high scores and low scores.

Me: So you get to go to better universities if you have a higher score?

Seokyung: Uh-huh.

Me: About social, what are the top three social pastimes or hobbies? What are the top three sports, group events, and various activities in Korea?

Seokyung: Generally or for university students?

Me: Just generally?

Seokyung: Oh… It is so hard. Ha-ha.

Me: So do you know the famous sports in Korea?

Seokyung: Soccer and basketball.

Me: What about the events?

Seokyung: Can you give me example?

Me: Hmmmm… Do you guys have events for sports or events for music? Just famous events. It is just a famous day.

Seokyung: K-pop concerts! Do you know the Korean programs on TV? The music likes Big Bang or something like that.

Me: Yeah. I watched a lot of them but I don’t remember the name of the programs.

Seokyung: I think it is either Inkigayo or Music Bank.

Me: Yeah. I cannot pronounce it. Do you think that people in your country generally reserve when meeting new people? Do they talk to new people easily or not?

Seokyung: Not as much as here.

Me: In which way people pay a bill? “Separate” or “together”? If you go out to eat with your friends, is one of them going to pay the whole bill?

Seokyung: In my case, we just separate. I think it is too wide broad question.

Me: If your family and your family’s friends go out and eat together, is one of them going to pay the whole bill, maybe your father or the father of another family?

Seokyung: Yes, I think so. I think one of them will pay?

Me: Is it just a traditional thing? In Vietnam, most of the time, just one people pay the bill.

Seokyung: Yes. And next time, other people will pay the bill.

Me: So who would pay the bill?

Seokyung: The men.

Me: What way do you prefer personally? Would you like to pay separately or together?

Seokyung: I think separate is better.

Me: Yes, okay. Do you think girl’s pay for boys is normal in your country?

Seokyung: Girls pay for boys? No. Ha-ha. I think it is opposite.

Me: So how many children can each couple has?

Seokyung: There is no limitation. Government encourages people to have more children.

Me: Okay. We just have few questions left. What are your views on tattoos? Do you like tattoos?

Seokyung: Yes.

Me: What are the views your country has on tattoos? Is that considered as bad if girls have tattoos?

Seokyung: I don’t think young people will think it is bad. may be old generations people will think it is not appropriate.

Me: If you have a tattoo, are your parents going to mad?

Seokyung: Yes, probably. Ha-ha.

Me: Yes, Ha-ha. My parents will be really mad if I have a tattoo. Where would you suggest other traveling to when they come to Korea?

Seokyung: Seoul.

Me: Why?

Seokyung: Because it is the biggest city. There are so many things to see. You can see traditional buildings and modern building. You can see both sides of Korea. So I think Seoul is a good place to travel to.

Me: Are there a lot of famous Koreans live in Seoul?

Seokyung: Yes. There are subways and buses. Transportations are very convenient.

Me: which age is considered adult in your country?

Seokyung: Ahh… 20? Let me think. I am 21 now… so 20.

Me: So how old can you smoke and drink alcohol?

Seokyung: When you are freshman in college.

Me: So it is 18?

Seokyung: 18? Is it? Yeah so it is 18. Ha-ha.

Me: Do you think that people in your country are hard workers?

Seokyung: Yes.

Me: I saw a lot of Korean singers have to go to the hospital because they have to work too much. Ha-ha. About the religion, what are the different religions in your country?

Seokyung: Christian and Buddhist.

Me: Which one if more popular?

Seokyung: Christian.

Me: So what is your religion?

Seokyung: I am a Catholic.

Me: Okay. What are some holidays that you celebrate in Korea?

Seokyung: There is Independent Day. Korean was the colonial of Japan so we put Korean flags outside of the house.

Me: What about New Year?

Seokyung: New Year? We made certain foods and we pray before the ancestors. We bowed.

Me: Okay. The last question, what things do you not like about your country? And what you feel proud of?

Seokyung: It is too hard. Ha-ha. Hmm… I think people too care about the universities. I think life in Korea depend on where are you study. Children feel big pressure on studying, even when they are young.

Me: What do you feel proud of Korea?

Seokyung: Do you know the history of Korea?

Me: Not really.

Seokyung: Okay. We were so poor 50 years ago. In short time, we developed a lot. I think it is a pretty proud of thing.

Me: Okay. So those are all the questions. Thank you for being my interviewee.

Seokyung: Oh, no problem. If you need to ask more questions, just text me.

Me: Okay, thank you!

Audio file recorded

http://soundcloud.com/user643942237/interview-2-south-korea