My First Interview; Japan

On Wednesday, October 21st, I walked to Atwood in order to look for an international student who would seem as they are Japanese since the Japanese is the culture that I will be interviewing on, besides the other cultures that I want to learn about, whether through this assignment, this class, or anytime in the future.
I found a Japanese lady sitting in Atwood and reading a book. I thought of how I will introduce myself and how to tell her what I am looking for. Here is what happened between me and her:

-Interviewer: Hello there, my name is Mohammed. I’m taking an English class and I have an assignment which is to find an interesting culture and interview someone who comes from that one. Would you mind if I asked you where you are from?
-Interviewee: It is okay. I’m from Japan.
-Interviewer: Awesome! Actually I am interested in the Japanese culture, and I am glad that I found you! I am also looking for other students from other cultures, too, but I am planning on starting off with Japan.
-Interviewer: I don’t mind having an interview with you. I will do my best to give you the information you need for your assignment.
-Interviewer: I really appreciate that you are welcoming and being helpful with me. I honestly hate this assignment because I am afraid if I told you that I need to record it, you might get frustrated about it.
-Interviewee: If you are recording, it is okay with me. But without pictures or videos, I am sorry.
-Interviewer: No, no, only recording, and I will transcribe everything and nobody will listen to it except for me.
-Interviewee: Okay sounds good, let us start the interview. I have two hours left for my class to start.
-Interviewer: Oh don’t worry about it. I don’t think it will take that long. I will ask you these questions that you have in this paper (giving her a copy). I want this to be a lovely conversation not an investigation.
-Interviewee: (laugh), that is good. Now you make me relieved. I’m ready for the interview.
-Interviewer: First of all, which I should have asked you before, what is your name?
-Interviewee: My name is Yurie Ishii. Please don’t ask me about my age (smile).
-Interviewer: (laugh) No, I won’t. In my culture we never ask, except when we are about to date that person (smile). So, I know you are from Japan, but which city? And were you born there or somewhere else?
-Interviewee: I am from Yokohama. And I lived my whole life there until 2007 when I moved to the United States.
-Interviewer: Interesting. I would love to go to Japan someday.
-Interviewee: Maybe you will not like it, unless you like the cold weather like in here.
-Interviewer: My new friend, I am a champ; I live anywhere and I can get used to it as long as I am having fun. So do you only speak Japanese and English? If you asked me, I only speak Arabic and English.
-Interviewee: I speak Japanese, and I am in college now but I still learn English because it is really hard. In Japan, we do not need to learn other language for our daily life.
-Interviewer: Your English is clear enough to me, and I am a foreign student too, so I know what you mean. I know Japan is far from here obviously, but do you miss home? How do you contact your family and friends back there?
-Interviewee: I sometime miss my hometown and Japanese food. I often use Skype and other sources to contact with my parents and friends, but it is not enough because of the time differences between two countries. I know your country is far from here too, right?
-Interviewer: Oh yes I know what you mean, and I kind of have the same thing. My home country is far from here, too!
-Interviewee: Yes I have Saudi friends and they tell me about it.
-Interviewer: That’s wonderful. So how is the education system in Japan comparing to the American one?
-Interviewee: Elementary school, Junior high school, and high school systems are similar. Japanese children often go to a cram school or after-school lessons to supplement schoolwork, because many people think they should go to high level school for their future. The rules of Japanese universities are not so strict compared with American universities. In Japan, some people skip the class or work hard for their part-time job. People say “It is very difficult to enter the good university, but it is easy to graduate from the school once you enter a school”.
-Interviewer: This is so interesting. In my country some people have the same thought too, but most of us do not work until we graduate from college since our parents pay for us. Anyway, how do you like life in America? And where do you think it is better?
-Interviewee: I prefer to live in Japan. I can eat healthy food and stay with my friends who know very well about me rather than meeting new people because is hard for me.
-Interviewer: Well, I am a new friend of yours now, and you just made a new friendship! (smile). So besides all of that, how is the politics system in Japan?
-Interviewee: Thank you. Saudi guys are friendly and they make friendships easily, but like for me I am shy. Japan is governed by a Prime Minister and his cabinet. There is elections but I do not like politics or talking about it.
-Interviewer: That is fine. I understand. So tell me, why did you choose Minnesota? You told me it is cold in your home country but is that the reason why you chose this freezing state?
-Interviewee: I checked some items, such as peace of order, school fee, and my major. Then Minnesota fit almost what I need and what I can afford.
-Interviewer: Exactly; it is mostly about the cost because it is very expensive in other states. But if you have the chance, where would you move to? Why?
-Interviewee: I would like to move to another state like Florida because it is possible to know other people and state characteristics and to enjoy the beach.
-Interviewer: That makes sense to me. I might get sick of this cold anytime and decide to go somewhere warm even though I enjoy the snow. Since you moved to the United States, have you ever been laughed at? If so, what was your reaction and how did you deal with that?
-Interviewee: Fortunately, this never happened to me even though I was expecting it. If it happened, I might feel sad and maybe transfer to somewhere else. But the good thing is that Minnesota’s people are very friendly. -Interviewer: Yurie, you got me excited with what I knew. I am still interested to know what you are planning to do after you graduate.
-Interviewee: I’m studying Marketing, and I’m planning to go back to Japan and work for a global company there. I will see what happens that time because I cannot predict the future.
-Interviewer: Well, thank you very much Yurie. You helped me gain knowledge and friends. And if you ever have an assignment like mine which will give you a headache, please let me know if I can help. And let’s have lunch or dinner sometime!
-Interviewee: You are welcome, and thank you as well. Yes we should eat together! I have to go to class now so good bye.

And we exchanged numbers. This is pretty much what went between us in the interview, and took us somewhere around an hour. I had fun doing it and I look forward to interviewing the second person and hope it will turn to be as great as this one.