3/24/2011
en191s11
Interviewer: Maggie Schwagel
Interviewee: Gamir Nrestha
Date of Interview: 3/23/2011
Preparations:
1. Determine Objectives
2. Update my interview questions.
3. Pick a date, time and place to meet and interview.
4. Get my recording system set up, (make sure it's working!)
5. Meet and itnerview.
6. Transcribe and condense recorded interview.
7. Research (more) information about Nepal.
8. Write the interview and country report.
9. Post to blog.
My main objective for this interview was to get another story from another student from Nepal. I wanted to get another point of view about their government, educational facilities and family life.
Because my second interviewee is also from Nepal as my first was, the preparations I made for this interview were a little different than those for my first. After my first interview I decided that the 14 base questions I had had originally were just not enough, there needed to be more depth. I decided to take my original questions and build from them; instead of asking one vague question I would ask three or so related to it. Being that my first interview was too short, adding these questions helped the length of my interview greatly. For my recording device, (since my last try with my sister's camera failed miserably), I decided to try out the voice recorder on my laptop, it worked perfectly.
Gamir and I decided to meet at the library at 9:30p.m., because he was already there studying for a quiz. After deciding that we didn't want anything from the cafe, I met him up in a quiet area where he had been studying. I showed him the basic questions I would be asking him and then asked, (off camera), if it was alright that I recorded the interview. After agreeing to the recording, we began the interview and continued on with our conversation. When our interview was complete, we were not able to talk for as long as I had hoped because of how late it had gotten and also because he still had a quiz to study for. So after the recording had ended I thanked him a bunch of times and we agreed to add eachother on facebook to keep in touch.
Country Report:
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, but over 20 total in the entire country, broken up into various dialects. Currency is the Nepalese Rupee, with the current exchange rate, as of 2/11 being 74.5 NR to 1 USD. 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. There is also a small amount of Christian belief in Nepal as well. (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. Nepal also relies strongly on tourism in the capital city of Kathmandu. The only international airport, Tribhuvan, is located there. One of the country's biggest issues today is illegal trafficking. "Lured by promises of employment in big Indian cities like New Delhi, Mumbia and Kolkatta, large numbers of Nepali young girls are smuggled by flesh traders and forced into prostitution." 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 02/28/2011
http://www.nepalgov.gov.np/?option=ngdir&page=countryprofile 02/28/2011
http://www.nepalhomepage.com/society/festivals/festivals.html 02/28/2011
http://www.nepal.com/national-holidays/ 02/28/2011
http://the-voyagers.tripod.com/factsabout.htm 03/29/2011
Transcribed Interview:
I did not transcribe this interview.
Personal Review:
I personally felt that my second review went wonderfully compared to the first. Gamir was very open and very talkative throughout the entire interview, it was not tough at all to excede the length of my last. What I enjoyed so much about our conversation was that he was so down to earth and funny. He wasn't nervous to go into details about his family life, political views and opinions about certain American trends.
During the duration of our interview we talked about his life back home, which consists of an older brother and his parents. He explained to me how the living situations back in Nepal are a lot more laid back than those here in the States. Many people in Nepal will end up living with there parents for years, even after they get married. We also talked about Nepal's government, which made me feel good that I know nothing of my government, because to be honest, he didn't know much his own! He knew the main topics going on back home, but past that, he admitted to me he knew very little.
We continued to talk for a half hour about his interest in swimming, video games and like most boys in Nepal, biking. He played basketball for his highschool, and also swam on the swim team. We joked around about past interview experiences and his fear of animals, but also talked about more serious subjects such as racism. He told me that Minnesota has over really good with it's lack of racism, but in larger cities such as New York he had to deal with angry shouts and looks daily.
Overall, Gamir has really enjoyed the past couple of years here and does not plan on moving home anytime soon, or at least not until he has a degree from the university. I feel that this interview went perfectly, and I also made a life long friend out of the deal as well!
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