Country Report:
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic which consists of fifty states and a federal district. [1] It has a total area of 3.79 million square miles and over 312 million people, making it the third or fourth largest country in the world. It is also one of the most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations in the world because of the large-scale immigration from many countries. [1]Washington, D.C is the capital of United States. [2]
Description: Map of US depicting state boundaries and their capital. [2]
"Flag of the United States consists of thirteen equal horizontal stripes of red alternating with white, with a blue rectangle in the canton bearing fifty small, white, five-pointed stars arranged in nine offset horizontal rows of six stars alternating with rows of five stars. The fifty stars on the flag represent the 50 states and the 13 stripes represent the thirteen colonies that rebelled against the British monarchy and became the first states in the Union." [3]
[3]
[3]Climate in United States varies due to its large size, big range of geographic features, and non-contiguous arrangement. [4] According to Wikipedia, " In the contiguous United States to the east of the 100th meridian, the climate ranges from humid continental in the north to humid subtropical in the south. The southern tip of Florida is tropical. The Great Plains west of the 100th meridian are semi-arid. Much of the Rocky Mountains, the Sierra Nevada, and the Cascade Range are alpine. The climate is arid in the Great Basin, desert in the Southwest, Mediterranean in coastal California, and oceanic in coastal Oregonand Washington. The state of Alaska—on the northwestern corner of the North American continent—is largely subarctic, with an oceanic climate in its southern edge and a polar climate in the north. The archipelago state of Hawaii, in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, is tropical." [4]
In United States, different regions have their own distinctive cuisine. For example: Midwestern Cuisine covers everything from barbecue to the Chicago-style hot dog. The cuisine of the south has been influenced by the many diverse inhabitants of the region, including Americans of European descent, Native Americans and African Americans. The foods in the west are mostly fast food hamburger and the San Francisco burrito. [5]
Description: Midwestern Cuisine [5]
Description: Cuisine in the West [5]
There are about 28 different religions in United States. [6] According to the imformation proveded by Wikipedia, the major religion in United States is Christian,which covers about 76% of American adults. Non-Christian religions cover about 3.9% to 5.5% of the adult population. Another 15% of the adult population is identified as having no religious belief or no religious affiliation. About 5.2% said they did not know, or refused to reply. [7]
Description: The Washington National Cathedral, in Washington, D.C., is a cathedral of the Episcopal Church. [8]
There are a lot of holidays in the United States. For example: New Year’s Day, Thanksgiving Day, Veterans Day and Christmas. Christmas is the holiday Americans celebrate the most. It is on December 25 and it is a holiday to remember the birth of Jesus. [9] The traditional colors of Christmas are green and red. [9] White, silver and gold are also popular. Christmas trees are used for decoration. [9] Exchanging of gifts is one of the most important things to do in Christmas. [9] Children believe their gifts are given by Santa Claus. A standard Christmas meal includes turkey or goose, meat, gravy, potatoes, vegetables, sometimes bread and cider. [9] Special desserts are also prepared, such as Christmas pudding, mince pies and fruit cake. [9]
Describe: Anbetung der Hirten (Adoration of the Shepherds) (c. 1500–10), by Italian painter Giorgio da Castelfranco [9]
Describe: A Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center, New York City [9]
Describe: Christmas pudding [9]
Preparation:
This was my second interview. I wanted it to be better than first one. I changed the order of the questions so that they could link to each other. I delete some questions like “what is a traditional food in your country”. I added some other questions like “what do your parents believe? Do you follow the same religion as your parents”, because I want to know if parents’ religion will affect children’s believe. I prepared some sub questions so that I could know deeper about the answer to that question.
I write down some examples of each question in case my interviewee couldn’t understand. I also printed out two copies of the questions that I was going to ask my interviewee and read them through. I was going to give my interviewee one of the copies so that he/she could read the questions before we get started. I made sure that I charged my cell phone. After I got ready, I went to Atwood. I found an American student sitting in the corner and using computer. I talked with him and asked him if I could have some of his time. I told him it may take him ten to twenty minutes. He was willing to take the interview.
Interview
Interviewer: Wenjun Wu
Interviewee: Karen Boeckermann
Location: First floor of the Atwood
Interviewer: Wenjun Wu
Interviewee: Karen Boeckermann
Location: First floor of the Atwood
Time: 11/10/11
Me: Hello, my name is Wenjun Wu. What is your name?
Boeckermann: My name is Karen Boeckermann.
Me: Where are you from?
Boeckermann: I am from Elk River, Minnesota.
Me: What is the weather like in your hometown?
Boeckermann: It is pretty much like here. It is only like twenty minutes south of here.
Me: Oh, then you must be familiar with the winter here. It is so cold.
Boeckermann: Yeah, I know.
Me: Could you please describe the education system of your country?
Boeckermann: I went to a public school and I have really been enjoying it. It was kind of underfunded I believed.
Me: How many years are there for the primary school?
Boeckermann: Four years.
Me: Do you have to pay for your primary school or the government pays for them.
Boeckermann: Well, there are taxes. So I suppose but you have to pay for it a little bit.
Me: Ok. How many students are there in your school?
Boeckermann: At my school, there had to been over four thousand.
Me: Wow.
Boeckermann: Yeah, it is a big school.
Me: How has your culture influenced your family values?
Boeckermann: I guess my culture would be very German because my grandparents came from Germany, so I guess that’s all the influence.
Me: What do your parents believe?
Boeckermann: Oh my parents are really religious. I didn’t really get into that as much as they did. I guess they can be kind of agnostic.
Me: Ok. What is the form of government in your country?
Boeckermann: It is democracy, capitalism democracy. I think it just depends whom you ask. I see it as election of officials. Officials implement our will as a government. But I guess it is not always the case.
Me: Tell me one thing that makes you proud of your country.
Boeckermann: Well, I guess we have had a lot of problems and we have yet gotten through it.
Me: Is there anything that particularly you are proud of? Like people, food?
Boeckermann: Yeah. People are great. Everyone is different no matter where you go. Compare someone from Deep South to someone from New York. You know they all have good qualities.
Me: Yeah. I found people here are nice and friendly.
Me: What places would you recommend to tourists?
Boeckermann: Well, I know area pretty well, especially Minnesota. Our north is beautiful. I have been to Arizona, which is a wonderful place. It is very close to the desert.
Me: Ok, then do you like to travel?
Boeckermann: I love traveling. I have been to a few other countries.
Me: Have you ever been to Germany before?
Boeckermann: I have been to Germany. Actually it has been pretty cool.
Me: Have you ever been to China before?
Boeckermann: No, I have never been China before.
Me: Yeah, it is very far away from here. But there are a lot of fun places to go too.
Boeckermann: Oh yeah. That’s a place I really want to get to.
Me: What festivals do you celebrate in your country?
Boeckermann: Probably the bigger American holidays will be the Fourth of July. Well, it usually consists of going to the lakes and eating great food. Yeah, that will be like number one I’d say.
Me: Ok. What is the biggest sport in your country?
Boeckermann: Well, the big one is probably football.
Me: Do you like football?
Boeckermann: I like watching and I used to play it and I got really hurt.
Me: Do you often read newspapers or magazines?
Boeckermann: I never really read magazines, but newspapers I do read a lot.
Me: Which sections do you like best?
Boeckermann: I usually read international sections or more local from my area. Other than that, I just skim through anything else.
Me: Ok. What do you usually do in your free time?
Boeckermann: Usually I will get together with some friends or go back home and see everyone.
Me: I have heard that American do parties a lot.
Boeckermann: Oh yeah. We do parties a lot. Depending on what kind of party are you talking about. Usually getting together with a lot of friends and have couple of beers. Typical American weekend I guess.
Me: Ok. What do most women do after they get married in your country?
Boeckermann: For now, I guess after they get married, it is kind of depended on the family. I know people who have kids right away or don’t have kids at all. Most women I know do work.
Me: Yeah. In China, there used to be a lot of house wives. But more women prefer working nowadays in China.
Boeckermann: Yeah. It is same here.
Me: I think that’s all I need. I had a great time talking with you. Thank you for the time.
Boeckermann: No problem.
Personal impressions:
This is the second interview. It went quiet well. I interviewed someone I don’t know before again, but I am not as nervous as the first interview. I find an American student in library last time, but I changed place this time. Library is nice and quiet but I am afraid I will disturb other students in the library who are studying there. I think I do improve a little bit in the second interview. My second interviewee is more talkative than my first interviewee. I prepared more questions than the first one and they are more organized. I get more information than the first time. My instructor also told me some hints to improve on the second interview. There are things I can improve next time. Sometimes, I don’t know how to respond to my interviewee after they answered my questions. I should ask some other people and get help with this. I also said a lot of “OK” in the interview. I think I should change it to other words like “nice” or “cool”. I learned something more about United States in this interview. It is very good experience and I will try to improve further on my third interview.
Work Cited:
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