Second Interview

    After my first interview i kind of know more information about South Korea, but i have to do the interview with 3 persons, so i talked to Bomi the person who i made the interview with to find me another person from Korea.Bomi was really helpful and she helped me. Bomi talked to her friend ji seon and Bomi explained everything to her,but i talked to her and i explain the interview and what are my questions about just want to make sure she understand everything.i got Ji seon's phone number and we agreed about the time and the place.


   Me and Ji Seon chose the library to make the interview because it's quit place. In my interview i was really relaxed because i just knew more about South Korea and knew the Korean people are really nice. I met Ji Seon and we sit in the second floor. I gave her the questions before we get started so she can read and be prepared. We started with the questions that about herself and her country, she told me her name is Ji seon and her family name is Lee and she said her family name is very general name back home.She is 22 in the US calendar and 23 in her country calendar.Also she is from the same city as Bomi Seoul and she likes her city. We talked about her major and she is majoring in elementary education , she wants to be a teacher. Since we are talking about school and her major i asked her about the different between her country and US in schooling and she said mostly is the same. In Korea the have special event called Buddha's birthday and most of people celebrate it even if they don't believe in Buddha. Most of Korean food suppose to have rice in it like their popular dish (bibimbap) and it means mix with rice. The way the get marry is kind of smiler as Western countries . Ji Seon thinks it does matter the way you date or marry and the meaning of her answer is you have to be gentle with her/him to prove that you want her/him. Most of Korean people believe in Buddhism and Christianity also some people believe in nothing. Boys and girls have the same right except one thing for boys that the have to do 2 years on duty for the army. the holidays and the clothes in Korea is very similar to US because the effect of the Western. The normal size of family in Korea is 4 include the father and the mother and they prefer small family. Ji Seon has one brother and he is older than her. Ji Seon doesn't agree with Bomi that the most important sport in her country is soccer, she thinks alot of people like baseball and basketball. At the end of the interview i thanks her so much and appreciate her help.


    Ji Seon was kind person and i thought i have learned everything about South Korea from my first interview, but i learned more information from my second interview. it was easy and i enjoyed talking with her.

Country report 


    South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea and sometimes referred to simply as Korea, is a country in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, and North Korea to the north. Its capital is Seoul. South Korea lies in a temperate climate region with a predominantly mountainous terrain. Its territory covers a total area of 99,392 square kilometers[5] and has a population of 50 million.
•Full name: The Republic of Korea 
•Population: 48.3 million (UN, 2009) 
•Capital: Seoul 
•Area: 99,313 sq km (38,345 sq miles) 
•Major language: Korean 
•Major religions: Buddhism, Christianity 
•Life expectancy: 76 years (men), 83 years (women) (UN) 
•Monetary unit: won 
•Main exports: Electronic products, machinery and transport equipment 
•GNI per capital: US $21,530 (World Bank, 2008) 
•Internet domain: .kr 
•International dialling code:  82


Interview


M:Tell me about your self and your country?
J:My name is ji seon lee. I'm from south Korea. Not north. Ji seon is my first name and lee is my family name. lee is very general family name in Korea. Jiseon means wisdom and beauty. I'm a junior in my university. My university is Geong-in national university of education. I'm 22 years old in us. In my country I'm 23 years old. Because Korean people consider that embryo is also human being. So when baby is born, he/she is already 1 years old. I'm from Seoul that is capital of the south Korea. Seoul is very crowded and complex city. 10 million people live there. But I like this city. 


M:What are you going school for?
J:I major in elementary education. In my school I study how to teach children in elementary school theoretically and practically. Especially my major is elementary music education. So I have to pick one musical instrument to graduate. My university is specialized in raising elementary school teachers. 


M:How is schooling or education in back home?
J:It’s is same system in us. We have elementary school for 6 years, middle school for 3 years and high school for 3 years. They are all compulsory except high school. After graduating high school, we have annual exam for entering university. Almost 60 ~ 80 thousands of students take this exam every year. Also some of middle schools and high schools are established for special purpose as arts, acts, sports, science and languages. They have slightly different curriculum for their purpose.


M:What are the special events in back home?
J:We have some special holiday, Buddha's birthday like a Christmas. It is big event all over the country. We decorate special right on the road. Even people who don’t believe in Buddha, they go to the temple to celebrate and see the sights. In public places , there are lots of decoration for buddha's birthday. On that day, we enjoy this celebration. 


M:What are the popular dishes in your country?
J:one of the most popular dish is bibimbap which means to mix with rice. Many foreigners knows this dish. Because Korean airplane serve this dish as a meal for passengers. It consists of some kind of vegetable, egg, meat, and rice with red pepper paste. And another popular dish is bulgogi, which is made from pork. Usually Korean dishes are spicy and hot, but bulgogi


M:What are the tradition of weeding in your country?
J:our wedding ceremony is really important event in our lives. If someone starts date with others and they want to marry, then they should meet their parents. If their parents allow their marriage, the process starts. First, both sides of parents meet each other and talk about their lives and appreciating for them. Share their own tradition and atmosphere. Second, groom's parents prepare jewelry for wedding and bride's parents prepare special clothes for groom's family. Third, before the wedding, there is important event. Groom and his friends visit bride's house with big box. This is pretty big event, so bride's mother prepares foods for them, and they pretend not to want to go inside. Then bride's family persuade them to come to the house. When they come, they open the box – there is a sheet of paper with groom's birthday and something which can bless their marriage like red bag, blue bag with grain. It means their property and long-life span. Our wedding ceremony usually is held outside with traditional clothes. They bow each other and drink some alcohol for celebrating their wedding. After the wedding, groom's parents throw some grains and fruits on bride's skirt for hoping multiparous.




M:Does it matter the way you get marry or date?
J:most Korean people  think that there's the rule for men and women to be expected when people go on a date. For example, on a first date, men should pay for food and decide where to go some good place. But, there are no exact rules. I think that it is common in the world. It does matter when and where we get marry.  As I told before, it is very important ceremony in life. 




M:What’s the main religion in your country?
J:In Korea, there is many believers in Buddhism , Christianity and Catholicism. Our belief in religion is free. So we can choose whatever we want to believe. Nobody cannot force somebody to believe in god. 




M:How are the boys and the girls treated ?
J:Apparently, we have same right to get chances all of the area. We are equal in all field. And we have to be treated equally by the law. But there is one different thing for guys. They have to serve the army for 2 years on duty. 




M:What are the holidays in your country?
J:There are two biggest national holidays in Korea. One is seol-nal which means happy new year, the other is chu-seok which is similar to thanksgiving day in us. 
These are counted by lunar calendar. On seol-nal, we have commemorative rites for ancestors. And we bow to our cousins and family who are older than me and then they give money them in the meaning of allowance. And we eat special food, dduck-guk,which is made from rice cake, to celebrate getting older. On chu-seok, we have commemorative rites for ancestors also. And we pray our hope to the full moon. 




M:What is the dress code in back home?
J:There's any special dress code in Korea. But, We wear school uniform when we are in middle school and high school. In university, we wear what we want to wear. Women usually are well-dressed entering university. We wear suit or formal clothes in working places.  




M:what is the size of normal family?
J:in general there are 3 or 4 members in one family. Father, mother and 1 or 2 children. We don’t live with our grandparents these days. We usually visit them to say hello. There is no limit of giving birth to child, but we prefer those numbers of child. 


M:how many member in your family?
J:There are 4 members in my family. My father and my mother my older brother and me


M:What kind of things you do when you are free?
J:I usually watch television. I like reality programs. I don’t like fantasy dramas. Or I read book, go to the movies and take a walk at park near my house. 


M:What is the most important sport in back home?
J:I think there is noting the most important sport in my country. We love soccer baseball and basketball. some people answer this question that is soccer, but some people baseball. So I think that it depends on person who answer the question.