Interview
Mohammed: Hi. My name is Mohammed.
Mingyur: Hi. My name is Mingyur.
Mohammed: Thank-you for the chance you gave me to interview you and I really appreciate it. So, how was your class today?
Mingyur: You know evening class, you cannot wait to get out, and you have your eyes at the clock, thinking when it will strike 5:50 pm. However, it was interesting.
Mohammed: So, which class are you taking?
Mingyur: Right now, the class from 4 to 6 pm?
Mohammed: Yeah!
Mingyur: It’s a health promotion class.
Mohammed: So, what’s your major?
Mingyur: Mine, are a double major in Public Health, with Global Studies and a minor in Creative Writing.
Mohammed: Oh! Interesting! So, is this why you came from Vietnam, to Saint Cloud, to the United States?
Mingyur: Yes.
Mohammed: So, how long have you been here?
Mingyur: 3 years. It’s actually, 2 and a half since I had to take a semester off due to family emergency.
Mohammed: Oh! Its 3 years. So, how long are you planning to stay here?
Mingyur: I plan to graduate next fall.
Mohammed: Oh! That’s great.
Mingyur: Hopefully.
Mohammed: Hopefully.
Mingyur: And after that, I plan to do my MBA.
Mohammed: MBA? Where? Here?
Mingyur: I’m not sure because, I’m still not sure if I want to MBA or Masters in Public Health because that’s what I want to study. When I was little, I wanted to become a doctor, so I studied to be a doctor till the 12th grade. Then, I changed my plan because I don’t want to be waiting in the clinic for the patients. I rather be out on the place, especially in the villages where I believe I can be of more help.
Mohammed: So, are you originally from village?
Mingyur: Yeah. My maternal grandparents were from the village in the North Vietnam.
Mohammed: I myself love the villages. If you ask me where I would love to live with my family in the future, I would say the villages because, the life there is so simple, and peaceful unlike the life in the city.
Mingyur: I agree. In the city, we tend to buy things that we are not in need of, but rather for the sake of being fashionable. This thing I don’t understand why people do it. However, in the village, we are not hungry for materialistic things. Plus, in the village, you are contended with whatever you have and with the little you have and that’s what I call being at peace.
Mohammed: Do you want to start with our interview questions?
Mingyur: Sure!
Mohammed: First of all, you have mentioned to me about your major, and before we start, could you tell me about yourself and your family.
Mingyur: My family consists of 8 members. I have 2 brothers and a sister. My older brother is married, is a proud father of a 2 year old son and will soon be a father for the second time. We hail from the North Vietnam, very peaceful place situated amidst the exotic greenery and thrilling waterfalls.
Mohammed: Sounds awesome. So, do you live in the same house as your family?
Mingyur: Yes, I do. My older brother and his small family also live with us.
Mohammed: Is this your culture to live all together?
Mingyur: Yes, it’s my culture to live all together.
Mohammed: Oh! It’s the same with my culture as well.
Mingyur: Nice.
Mohammed: So, how about the girls in your country? Is it mandatory for me to live with their husband and husband’s family, once they are married off?
Mingyur: Well, in Vietnam, once a girl is married off, it’s our tradition for the girl to leave her parents’ house and go and live with her husband. But these days, with every country becoming more modernized, there are few families that allow having their daughter and son-in-law live with them instead.
Mohammed: Okay. My next question is do you have a religion?
Mingyur: Yes, we do.
Mohammed: What is it?
Mingyur: I am a Buddhist, so is my family and so are the majority of Vietnam. On the contrary, we have few percentages of people who are Muslims and Atheists.
Mohammed: So, you are from Vietnam, can you tell me a little bit about Vietnam?
Mingyur: Vietnam is an S shaped country, situated in the South East Asia, neighboured by Laos and Thailand. The majority landscape of Vietnam is hills and forests, hence bringing in the wild life, I would say.
Mohammed: Nice. So, my next question is what are the most common sports that people play in Vietnam?
Mingyur: In Vietnam, we play all the games, comprising of volleyball, soccer, tennis, badminton, swimming and basketball.
Mohammed: Oh! That sounds great. My next question is how did you involve with the new culture?
Mingyur: At the beginning, it was really difficult. Being so far away from home, I missed the food and my family the most.
Mohammed: Same here. What are some of the difficulties you have faced while in the US and how have you dealt with them?
Mingyur: Coming to a totally new place, with vast differences between the living styles back home and where I am now, was totally a big change. I would say, the difficulties that I faced the most, was not being able to have my family here with me. You are always in need of your motherly support and your fatherly advices when you need them, and while being here, I missed those the most. However, as time flew, I got around with people and I’ve been well settled here.
Mohammed: That’s good to hear. My next question is what are the differences between the education systems here in the US and your country?
Mingyur: In the secondary education, I have seen a lot of freedom in the US education system. For an example, back home, it was mandatory for us to study all subjects and we were given little choices whereas, in the high schools, children are given many choices. On the contrary, in the college systems in Vietnam was in such a way that if you were studying a particular subject like medicine, you were to concentrate and take classes only medicine. Meanwhile, the US College systems is broad in such a way that it is mandatory for all students to fulfil the 10 cores of the University requirements and I prefer this way, because it educates us more, enabling us to study subjects that later may be of help.
Mohammed: That’s true! Thank you so much Mingyur, for giving me the time and the chance to interview you again. It was my pleasure to have you as my interviewee.
Mingyur: I’m happy to be of help! Thank you.
Preparations for the interview
The interviewer, Mohammed and the interviewee, Mingyur are friends. I, Mohammed had asked Mingyur, who is from Vietnam to spare some time and help with my project. She agreed to be my 2nd interviewee and we had planned to meet on the 3rd November, 2010 at 4 pm in Atwood. She informed me of her class which ended at 6pm and therefore, we decided to postpone our meeting to 6 pm. We met at Atwood at 6:15 pm and we started the interview. After that, I came up with ten questions along. My objective for the interview was to have Mingyur give me as much information she could about Vietnam and about being an international student. I wanted to learn about the pros and cons of the Vietnam and American university system. I also wanted to learn more about German traditions.
Country report
Vietnam
Vietnam is among the most stunning nations situated within the South East Asia. Its capital city is Hanoi. According to Dirk (2004, p. 34), Vietnam has a total area of 329,560 square kilometers, and its typical time zone is UTC/GMT +7 hours. Into the North, the country divides up the extended borderline with China. In the South West, Vietnam is bounded by the Gulf of Thailand, in the East by the Gulf of Tonkin, by Laos and Cambodia in the West, and by South China Sea in the East and South. Vietnam has an exclusive shape of a stretched out S together with an elongated coastline of 2,140 miles with numerous amazing sites.
History
The history of Viet Nam began 2,700 years ago. It served as a state ruled first by China, then followed by Mongolians and finally, undertaken by French. It got its independence from the French on September 2, 1945. However, Viet Nam was separated into North and South and unfortunately, led to the Viet Nam War. The North side ended up winning the internal war.
Demographics
The results of the 2001 “Survey on Population Dynamics and Family Planning” (Dirk, 2004) indicate that Vietnam is 3rd very populous state within Southeast Asia and the 14th very populous of more than 200 territories and nations in the world. In 2001 the total population was 78.7 million people, but in 2009 the population was over 85.8 million people. The swift population increase is not only as a result of the hard work of poverty cutback and hunger eradication at the local and national level but also on individuals at the family level. The entire fertility rate is 1.87 children born per a woman. According to Sharmar (2001), the country’s birth rate is rather high, 16.47 births per two populations. On the other hand, the death rate goes up to 6.18 deaths per 1000 population. In a total of 71.33 year, her life expectancy on birth, male can live up to 68.52 years whereas female upto74.33 years. Vietnamese administration identifies over 54 ethnic groups in which the “Viet” group is the leading with 85.8% of the whole population. Viet are concentrated in the coastal plains and alluvial deltas. Vietnam people mainly speak the so-called Vietnamese; all the same there are other languages such as Chinese, Tay, Khmer, Nung and Muong.
Topography
Vietnam is mainly made up of hills as well as mountains that are densely forested. In essence, a large percentage of her population lives on level ground which is only 20%: out of 40% of her 331,688 Km2 is mountainous, while the other 40% is hills. Just about 25% of the total land is under cultivation. The fraction may seem small, but with the use of bio-technology the agriculture sector is able to produce enough food for the country’s population. Back in history, forest occupied 75% of the country, nevertheless during the Vietnam War the US Army cleared most forests and the figure reduced to 23% in the year 1980 (Sharma, 2001, p. 6). Currently, plans programs are underway to put back at least 5m hectares. Up to now, 0.6m ha is already reforested. The following diagram illustrates a portion of the mountains in Vietnam.
Government and politics
The Communalist Republic if Vietnam comprises of a single-party state. In 1992 precisely in April a different state constitution was officially approved therefore taking the place of the 1975 edition. The key function of the “Communist Party of Vietnam” (Zirk, 2005) was later on reasserted in every organ of politics, society and government. During contest election, only political groups united with the Communist party are allowed to take part. They include trade and worker unionist parties and the “Vietnamese Father Front.” Like any other nation, Vietnam is headed by a president who is also the “Commander in Chief of the Military of Vietnam” He or she is also expected to chair the “Council on National Defense and Security.” Currently, Vietnam has a prime minister called Nguyen Tan Dung who is the top of the government, supervising over a committee of ministers comprising of three delegate prime ministers together with 26 commissions and ministries.
International relation
At present Vietnam has her own foreign policy. The policy is of diversification and openness as well as multi-lateralization of foreign relation. Also, it talks about actively and proactively engaging in oversea economic corporation which intensifies foreign togetherness in other fields. In reality, Vietnam is an associate and reliable colleague of every country within the international community. Actively, she plays a significant role in regional and international cooperation processes. As of 2007, Vietnam had recognized ambassadorial relations with exactly 172 nations such as the United States. What is more, she embraces relationship of 63 international parties including ASEAN, WTO, United Nations and other 650 non-government parties. In a nut shell, Vietnam has a sound international relation.
At times an individual may wish to carry out a business in a certain country, say Vietnam. Another person may have plans to visit and explore a country. In such scenarios, it is beneficial for one to have an understanding of the people and geography of the country he or she wants to visit or do business. It is only through a country report that this can be accomplished. Consequently, the above Vietnam report is very significant when it comes to understanding the Republic of Vietnam, her people and environment.
References
Dirk, A. M., Brownlie, A. L., & Bease, D. L. (2004). A study of the countries in the world. Journal of Vietnam, 9(3), 10-19.
Sharma, P. (2001). The committee for population, family and children of Vietnam.
New York: Routledge.
Zirk, A. (2005). Global dimming: global isssues,49. Retrieved from http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:LW4LYcAhidQJ:www.unescap. org/esid/psis/population/5appc/doc/Vietnam_country_report.doc+vietnam+country+repor t&cd=10&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=ke&client=firefox-a
Objectives:
1. Learn a little bit about Vietnam.
2. How people live in their country and what they usually do beside their jobs.
3. Learn about their families and how they treat elderly people
4. Learn more about marriage/dating and when people start dating.
5. Traditions in their country.
6- Compare the similarities and differences between Vietnam and the United State in areas such as education, culture and lifestyle.
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