Intercultural Interview

Hi guys,

I changed my address so Russ can't get into my empty bank account and all other relevant information. I'll pass it on next class unless you can see it on this - only slightly computer illiterate. I'm attempting to cut and paste in my interview. We'll see how that goes. Till Thursday.

TESL 303 Cheryl Dedels
Feb. 5, 2008 TRU #9558303

Intercultural Interview

Introduction

For my first TESL 303 intercultural interview, I had the opportunity to meet with two female TRU International students, one from Japan and one from China. Both girls were quite outgoing and articulate, probably more so than I had initially expected. Many of the Asian girls I have met or taught in the past have been relatively shy and quiet until they get to know you; however, both of these young women seemed very comfortable sitting down with me and sharing information about themselves. I focused on four main topics in the interview:
Identity and Culture
Language and Education
Adaptation to Life in Canada
Family and Family Values


Identity and Culture

Both of the girls I interviewed have been in Canada for five months, arriving in September 2007 to begin the fall semester at TRU. Neither had been to Canada previously, making their decision to move here based on positive information they had heard about our country. The students’ English skills are relatively proficient and they are now in Level 4 of the ESL program. The older of the two girls is named Yuri. She is 21 years old and comes from Shizuoka, Japan. The younger girl, Natalie, is 19 and comes from Guangzhou in Southern China. When asked what their culture is, the students respectively replied Japanese and Chinese. Neither girl was more specific than that and their religious beliefs, if any, were not referred to at all as being a part of their culture or identity. This is unlike other students I have spoken with who identify as being Sikh or Muslim, in addition to saying what country they come from. Yuri resides in a dorm on the TRU campus with three roommates, while Natalie lives in a home-stay with a Philippino family.

Language and Education

Yuri’s first language is Japanese. Natalie speaks both Chinese and Cantonese. Both girls have had 8 years of instruction in English as a part of their formal education, mainly focusing on grammar and vocabulary. In China, Natalie began to learn English in school after the primary grades. Yuri began English studies in junior high school at approximately 14 years of age. Though I didn’t ask, I got the impression that both girls had gone to private rather than public school, as money did not appear to be an issue for either of them or their families. Natalie had just graduated from high school before coming to TRU. Yuri, on the other hand, was a university student in Tokyo prior to attending TRU. It is Natalie and Yuri’s intention to complete a university degree in Canada before returning to their home countries. Natalie wants to get a business degree and Yuri is interested in the field of advertising.
Schooling in their native countries is more rigidly structured than what the students have experienced so far in Canada. The educational systems in both China and Japan are stricter according to the girls, though they have encountered one or two “very strict” teachers at TRU. At home, their lessons were teacher-directed and the girls were not asked to speak aloud in class. As a result, neither Yuri nor Natalie feels comfortable speaking out in her ESL classes. Group work is also not a favourite part of the instructional process, especially if they are not given a choice of partners. Yuri doesn’t like the fact that some of her classmates are so bossy and they won’t let her say what she wants even when she knows she is correct!

Adaptation to Life in Canada

When asked why each had decided to come to Canada, Natalie and Yuri’s reasons seemed somewhat similar. They wanted a post-secondary education while at the same time experiencing a different culture. Yuri said that she came specifically to TRU because she had met an exchange student from TRU while attending university in Tokyo. The exchange student told her all about TRU and Kamloops and Yuri liked what she heard. The girls both felt that Canada was a safe country to live in, even as a single woman.
Though neither girl was particularly shy, Yuri was the more extroverted of the two. When asked how she felt coming to Canada for the first time, Yuri replied that she was somewhat nervous but mainly excited. She was already used to living away from her family and hometown; therefore, she regarded the trip to Canada as an exciting adventure. Natalie had not been away from her family before, so she expressed feelings of nervousness and loneliness upon her arrival. The students knew what culture shock means and said that they did experience it to some degree for the first few weeks they were in Canada. They have both settled in now and appear comfortable living in a foreign country. Both have made friends at TRU through their ESL classes. The girls were questioned about whether or not they have encountered any experiences with racism or discrimination since coming to Canada. Natalie said that she has not and that people here have been very nice to her. Yuri agreed that most Canadians have been nice; however, she has heard comments about the abundance of “Asians” on campus. She also said that Caucasian students do not seem to make any distinction about the variety of cultures the Asian students represent.
During the interview, the students were asked to name the three things they like best about Canada. Natalie likes the fact that the people are so friendly, she is enjoying the snow very much, and she loves the fact that the “sky is so blue”. Yuri also lists the friendly people and powder snow as two of her favourite things in Canada. She has made two trips to Sunpeaks with friends to try snowboarding and would like to do this again. The weather when she arrived was still quite warm and she liked the beaches around Kamloops very much. As far as the aspects to living in Canada that have been the most challenging to adjust to, both students’ first response was the food. According to them, Canadian food is greasy and lacks variety. They much prefer the food from their native countries; in fact, this is one of the things they miss most about home. Since she is living on the TRU campus, Yuri has to get around town to do her shopping and other activities. She finds the public transportation system very poor compared to what she is used to in Japan. Natalie’s other difficulty has been the dry air in Kamloops, finding it hard on both her skin and hair. Yuri agreed with this and said she is used to a much more humid climate.

Family and Family Values

Natalie and Yuri both say that they have a close and loving relationship with their respective families. Natalie’s definition of family is “love”, while Yuri defined a family as a “small supportive community”. Before coming to Canada, Natalie lived with her parents and her fifteen-year-old brother. Natalie’s father is a businessman and her mother is a housewife. She said that her family was able to have two children because her brother was born “after the one-child policy”. Since the one-child policy is still in effect in China, at least to a certain degree, I’m not quite sure what she meant by this. It sounds like her family probably has enough money that they would be willing to pay the fine to have an extra child. Yuri is the middle child in her family. She has an older brother who goes to university in Tokyo and an eight-year-old sister who lives with their parents. Yuri shared an apartment with her brother in Tokyo before she moved to Canada. Yuri’s mother is also a housewife and her father has a number of jobs. He is a businessman, an investor, and a teacher at a university. According to Yuri, her father has “many faces” when it comes to his career endeavors.
Natalie and Yuri both grew up in traditional households where the mother is responsible for taking care of her husband, the children and their home; whereas, the father is responsible for financially providing for his family. They both agreed though that the traditional roles and responsibilities expected of males and females in their respective countries are changing. Natalie says that many women work outside the home in China and that is perfectly acceptable. In fact, even when she marries and has a child, Natalie wants to continue being a workingwoman in the business world. Yuri thinks she will stay home with her children until they are three or four and then go back to her advertising career on a part-time basis. It is interesting to note that while the girls feel that male/female traditional roles are changing, they both named their fathers when asked to identify an important family member. Natalie said her father was the most important to her because he taught his daughter all the skills she needs to know about how to behave in society. Yuri referred to her father as the “big tree” who supports the family.
The students were then asked what their parents’ expectations are concerning their daughters’ academic success in school and their social activities, dating, and marriage. Neither of the girls felt any pressure from their families to get high grades in university. They both replied that their parents “don’t care” about this aspect of their schooling, even though both sets of parents are footing the bill. It appears that an education in Canada is as much about cultural exchange as it is about academic success, at least for these two young women. Yuri enjoys trying new outdoor activities, such as snowboarding, with her new friends in Canada, as well as going to movies. Natalie was less specific about her preferred social activities stating that she “plays” with her friends. Both girls thought that their parents would be okay with interracial dating, and even interracial marriage; however, it is not a topic that has been discussed much between the young women and their parents. Yuri said that her parents were quite strict about dating and curfews when she was in high school but do not interfere now that she is an adult.

Conclusion
While there are obviously many adjustments that foreign students must make when coming to a new country and culture, the two young women I spoke with appear to be adapting quite well. Natalie and Yuri seem to enjoy life in Canada, with the one exception being the food! They miss their families; however, neither girl seemed particularly homesick. Yuri was already accustomed to living away from her family before coming to Canada; she comes across as being a confident and independent individual. Natalie does not seem quite as grown-up as Yuri; however, she is happy and comfortable with her home-stay family. Natalie and Yuri appear to be prime examples of a “new breed” of young Asian women who are well educated and financially well off. They want to do something with their lives besides being wives and mothers, and they have their families’ support in pursuing their personal and career goals.