Interview #1!

Interview #1
2/26/2011
En191s11
Interviewer: Maggie Schwagel
Interviewee: Sudip Manandhar
Date of Interview: 2/26/2011


    The preparations I made for this interview were fairly simple. I wanted my interviewee to feel comfortable so I choose a place that most students have probably been to multiple times; what better than the campus library? I also chose to dress casual; not too grubby, not too professional to give my interviewee the impression that I wasn't trying to interrogate them, rather just casually get to know them. My objectives for the interview were to simply learn some things about my interviewee and their culture. I wanted to compare and contrast their culture to my own, from what they do on a daily basis back home, to what their family situation is like. The questions I chose for the interview were simple and to the point, hitting the main points that I was curious to learn about. The recording device I decided to use was my sister's digital camera, and though we charged the battery, checked and re-checked all of its functions to make completely sure that it would run flawlessly throughout the interview, it still managed to shut off on me a minute into the interview. I made sure to keep notes throughout the entire interview after that and will turn those in separately.
    I decided to interview a friend of my boyfriend, Sudip Manandhar. I had never met him in the past and I figured he'd be the perfect interviewee. We decided to meet at the library at 12:30p.m. on Saturday, March 26, 2011. We met in the front entryway where we then decided to go to the cafe first. He was very sweet and offered to buy my drink as well. We then went and found a quite little corner of the library where we sat down and set up the camera. He was nervous, (as I was), to have his face on film, so we decided to run it facing the floor. We began the recording and literally two seconds after Sudip agreed to being recorded, the camera unexpectedly shut off. From there on out we began talking about his life back home and why he came here, 
    Sudip is from the capital city of Nepal, Kathmandu. He lived with his grandmother most of his life, because when he was young his parents moved to Connecticut in order to open a small gas station. He then told me that his uncle moved to Connecticut as well and together they began a chain of small groceries and markets. Sudip finished high school, and from there decided to move to the United States to be with his and because there are very few good schooling buildings in Nepal. When he moved, the government back home was shaky. After they lost their king, their government turned to electing a president instead, and since he has left he hasn't kept up with the politics back home, he doesn't know where his government is at. He also told me that good education facilities are hard to come by in Nepal, because of the government everything is too expensive to keep up. Back in Nepal they celebrate festivals 160days of the year with Dashian and Tihar. We didn't really go in depth with what those specific festivals were really about, but I decided to research them later on. Throughout the remainder of the interview we talked about his home life and his hobbies, where he has traveled in the world and the four different languages he can speak. We also talked about how he really doesn't like it in central Minnesota because it is so cold and boring. He wants to move away from here once he has his degree in Computer Science. I wish we could have sat and talked for another half hour, I was learning so much! It was very interesting.
    I feel and wish that the interview would have ran a lot smoother. Not only with my technical difficulties but with the planning and timing of the interview as well. The time that we had set up to meet had been the last available time to get together, (the day we actually planned he had to bring a friend to the hospital), so when my camera shut off I had to make sure I was taking notes so that I would remember what was said. Even now after the camera died, we can't yet seem to figure out how to turn it back on so I can get the first little clip of the interview uploaded. The only thing about the interview I would have changed would have been the order of my questions. I feel that they could have run together a lot smoother than they did. Sudip was awesome with answering my questions, and was a great interviewee. From this interview I will definitely know what to work on better next time.
    Also, Sudip really gave me a lot of information about his country, but researching about it gave me more of a visual point of view. Nepal is a land-locked country in Southern Asia right between China and Northern India. Nepal is a small country, with only 147,181 sq. km, it is only slightly larger than Arkansas and contains eight of the world's ten tallest mountain peaks, including Mt. Everest and Kanchenjunga. Though it is a small country, it has a population of 28,951,852 people. There are eight main languages spoken in Nepal, including Newar, Nepali and Maithali. The climate in Nepal varies from cool to sub-tropical summers, in certain areas to severe to mild winters in other areas. (1) Nepal's largest metropolitan city is also its capital, Kathmandu. Nepal's history is very closely related to the birthplace of Gautam Buddha, and is very strong with religion and culture. The four main religions in Nepal are Hindu, Buddhist, Muslim and Kirant, in that order. (1) 
    Nepal has recently become a federal democratic republic, but claimed it's independance back in 1768. Their two national holidays, Republic Day and Democracy Day land on May 29 and April 24th. Nepal celebrates 160 days of festivals between 21 different holidays. (1) Holidays in Nepal are a "Kaleidascope of color, and should definitely not be missed!" according to the Nepal Channel. (1) Nepal though, is also one of the poorest and underdeveloped in the world. Agriculture is it's main source of income, supporting three-fourths of the population with the growth of pulses, jute, sugarcane and tobacco. Being a landlocked country also causes problems for the economy of Nepal, including its suseptability for natural disasters including flooding, landslides, drought and famine depending on the timing of the summer monsoons. (1)  


Sources:
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/np.html 2/28/2011
http://www.nepalgov.gov.np/?option=ngdir&page=countryprofile 2/28/2011
http://www.nepalhomepage.com/society/festivals/festivals.html 2/28/2011
http://www.nepal.com/national-holidays/ 2/28/2011


Interview:
M: Me (Maggie)
S: Sudip


M: Hi, my name is Maggie. What's your name?
S: Hello, my name is Sudip Manandhar.
M: So, Sudip, how old are you?
S: I am 21 years old.
M: And where are you from?
S: I am from Nepal, and live in it's capital city Kathmandu.
M: Nepal is north of India correct?
S: Yes, it is a landlocked country, meaning it is surrounded by mountains.
M: So do you live near the mountains?
S: (Laughs), I don't live near the mountains, but I can definitely see them.
M: That's awesome! So what do you do for fun back home?
S: I bike, but not like bicycles, motorbikes. I also play basketball, video games and bungee jump.
M: Really, you bungee jump??
S: Yes! Nepal has the second tallest bridge that you can bungee jump off of. I think it is about 1000 ft. tall? It is very dangerous, and sometimes people will just swing back and forth upside down underneath the bridge,
M: I could never do that! So, Sudip, why did you decide to come to the United States for schooling?
S: Well, when I was young my parents moved to Connecticut so they could open up a gas station. I lived with my grandmother for most of my life, and so a couple friends and I decided to move here. Three of my cousins also went to St. Cloud State a few years before me so that's what made my decision a little bit easier. Also, education facilities are not that nice in Nepal, because of the government everything is so expensive. The land and the facilities themselves cost a lot of money so they aren't nice. Buildings in Nepal are all made of stone and have no heat, not like the ones here. Plus in Nepal, festivals are celebrated 160 days of the year. 
M: Wow! What festivals?
S: Our two main festivals are the Dashian and Tahir. It's a lot of family time and get-together. A lot of firecrackers too.
M: So it's kind of like the Fourth of July here?
S: Yes, kind of.
M: Very cool, so how is the climate in Nepal?
S: It is a lot like your spring here. It doesn't snow.
M: That's got to be nice. So what was the hardest thing about transitioning to the U.S.?
S: Um.. (pauses then laughs),  the food. Also, the driving. We drive on the opposite side of the road in Nepal.
M: Ha, that was my next questions for you, what is your opinion of the American diet?
S: Eh.. Ha.
M: Not so good, huh? Ha. How is the food back home?
S: Well, it's just tastier.
M: Could you explain? I love food!
S: (Laughs), It's just very spicy, a lot of flavor.
M: Now, I have a more personal question for you now. What are your personal experiences with racism since coming to the
U.S.?
S. Well, this one time I was at a party with a few friends, and my friend who is shorter was standing next to me. This guy came up and starting calling him a 'short little Asian.' So we fought back, and stood up for ourselves.
M: Good for you, I hate it when people do that. It makes me so mad. But on to a lighter question, do you have any pets back home?
S: (Laughs), yes I do. My sister, who is still back home with my grandmother just got a dog. And when I was younger I had fish too.
M: Fun! So where in the world have you traveled?
S: I have been to Bangkok, Japan, China, India, Canada and Tibet. I went to Bangkok with friends on vacation. It was a blast.
M: That's awesome. So you've been to so many different places, how many different languages can you speak?
S: I can speak four different languages: Hindi, Newari, Nepali and English.
M: What exactly is Newari?
S: Newari is my ethnic language.
M: Oh, OK! So switching the topics on you, how's the love life? Do you have a girlfriend back home or here in the states?
S: I do have a girlfriend, here actually.
M: How long have the two of you been dating?
S: We've been dating for three months now. This is her, (and then he showed me a picture of his girlfriend).
M: Is she from around this area?
S: She is actually from Albany, and lives up here in the dorms.
M: Oh very cute, so switching the topic again on you, but is tourism pretty big in Nepal and around your area?
S: Yes, tourism is quite big in Kathmandu. Nepal relies on agriculture and tourism for it's main source of income. Every year we get about.. oh, one million people visiting?
M: Wow, and for such a small country that's amazing! So you say Nepal relies on agriculture as well as tourism? Is there quite a lot of farm land right around Kathmandu or is it mostly suburbs?
S: Well Kathmandu is a very large city, like LA or New York. But right around the city there are no suburbs, it is just all farmland, yes.
M: Now, what is your family life like back home?
S: Well my parents who live in Connecticut, and then my grandmother and sister who live together back in Nepal.
M: So do you have a very large extended family?
S: Well my grandmother had seven children, so I have quite a large family, yes.
M: Alright, so I have one final question for you. What were your preconceptions about the U.S. before coming here and how have they changed?
S: Well, before I came here I thought that all of the U.S. was large cities like New York and Miami. Not ... like this (laughs). I also didn't realize it snowed this much in Minnesota before I came here.
M: Ah, yeah. Well thank you so much for letting me interview you Sudip.
S: Thank you.




After the initial questions were over, we continued to sit and talk for another half hour about his opinion of the United States, politics and even his girlfriend. It was really cool how he opened up to me, and I enjoyed our conversation quite a bit. We exchanged numbers and plan to keep in contact in the future.