Interview Proper - Case Study Example

Cultural Interview Introduction In this particular study, the interview type of research method was used in order to directly elicit information from the source. As accurate as it may seem, such method may also be prone to biases and inconsistencies in the course of time. Furthermore, contradictions may also manifest from the interviewee’s answers and its bodily and facial movements. To reduce any research error from such inconsistencies and biases, the interviewer made sure that the selected interviewee is very engaging in answering critical questions. At the same time, the interviewer made sure that proper acquaintance has been conducted prior to the interview conduct. Interview Proper Please state your name and other personal information: My name is Jimboy Hernandez. I’m 25 years old, single, and have been living here in the United States for eight years. I was born in Quezon Province, Philippines near the mountainous side of Mt. Banahaw, said to be the Holy Mountain of the Philippines. My parent’s names are Jaime and Carmen; my father work as a Civil Engineer and my mother is a housewife. I have a younger brother named Ruben. What brought you here in the United States (US)? My father petitioned me. He works as an engineer in a large construction company. Since he has spent most of his life working here, my family and I decided to join him to keep him company. What did you first noticed when you arrived here? Of course, the climate! Coming from a tropical country, the climate here is quite different as compared to the Philippines. No offense meant, but I find the people here very inhospitable. In our country, foreigners and balikbayans (these are Filipinos who visit the Philippines after a long respite) are very much welcomed anywhere they go. In terms of buildings and infrastructures, the establishments here are very advanced. Skyscrapers are everywhere. I thought I had a stiff neck a few days after my arrival. I was looking straight up for every signs, billboards, astonishing lights, and mirrored buildings in the place. I only got used to it after a month of stay. The people here are so workaholic, like everything is all about work and money. In the Philippines, most of the Filipinos spend Sundays as family day. After work, parents focus their time on assisting their children with their assignments and stuff like that. The laidback lifestyle of Filipinos may be attributed to the fact that they tend to focus more on the non-material welfare of the family. Here in the US, parents barely have time with their children. It’s always work, work, and more work. How did you adjust with the lifestyle in a foreign country? I was able to adjust with the help of my family and friends. My family, especially my parents were the ones who helped me keep myself well grounded, become proud of my roots. On the other hand, my friends taught me and guided me on how to adjust to America’s social upbringing. They were the ones who also taught me how to deal with the hardships and the cultural barriers that I had to contend with. I was also able to make new Filipino friends here, Filipinos like me who had experienced the same struggles I went through and was able to survive and adjust to the way of living in the United States. Aside from those you have previously mentioned, what other things have you found to be the biggest difference between your culture and the traditional American culture? The Filipino and American cultures are quite different from each other. First, let me define my perception of traditional American culture the way I perceived it to be: independent, liberal, and aggressive. American children are being taught to become aggressive, liberal, and independent at an early age of 18; either they are allowed to move out or make it out on their own, may it be against the wishes of their parents. In the Philippines, teenagers at the age of 18 are still with their parents, struggling to keep their parent’s rules and regulations but old enough to speak out their opinions and criticisms. At the same time, Filipinos try their very best to discipline their children, sometimes they spare the rod just so children could bear in mind that parents must respected at all times albeit in a strict sense. Generally speaking, Filipinos are shy and timid. We prefer to hit the bush, rather than directly speaking out our minds to avoid confrontation. On the other hand, Americans are aggressive; in the way they talk, move, confront people, and even in terms of making crucial decisions. As opposed to Americans’ aggressiveness, we Filipinos are very conservative in terms of family and social values. Filipinos prefer that men do the courting. In the US, courtship has become a fad. The people here are more liberal towards dating, courtship, and most especially about sex. What tradition or practice do you like best about your culture? I guess it’s the traditional family values that we Filipinos have. I like the way we place our foreheads against the hand of our elders as a sign of respect. I also find it unique for Filipinos to say po or opo, also as a sign of respect. In the holistic sense of Filipino tradition, it’s our conservativeness that makes Filipinos far different from Americans. We may be able to speak the same language, write the same set of words, ideas, and views, but the Filipino conservativeness is something that sets much of our feet on the ground. Honestly, most Filipinos lack the sense of nationalism; maybe because of our history and the way our conquerors tried to instill their own values with that of ours. But being conservative is something that can neither be changed overnight nor be exchanged by any material things. Being conservative is something that makes me proud of being a Filipino inside out. I don’t really know why I feel this way. But I know deep inside that it is something that sets me apart from other cultures. Is there anything else youd like to say about cultural differences or similarities? It would be difficult to further enumerate all the cultural differences between Filipinos and Americans. In terms of similarities, maybe it’s something that has been inherent in most Filipinos since the US conquered the Philippines from the Spanish Regime. It’s the conquest for the American Dream, a dream of a prosperous, wealthy life. In my hypothesis, I guess the Filipinos’ admiration for the American Dream started when the former compared the way things ran during the Spanish and Japanese Regimes. Among the conquerors in Philippine history, it was the Americans who made a significant impact in Philippine Society. It was the Americans who taught Filipinos the value of education. And because of this education, a lot of Filipinos began to admire Americans. And during the course of history, the American Dream began to persist in the hearts and minds of Filipinos who wanted to make a big difference in life. Conclusion After the interview, I was very pleased that Mr. Hernandez was very entertaining in answering my questions. He did not show any signs of hesitation or gestures of exhaustion from the interview. Instead, he was very helpful in the interview process, as well as very engaging in answering critical questions that may sound derogatory or discriminatory in the process. He also assured me that what he had said was not meant against the Americans but only as a means of clearly differentiating the Filipino against the American culture. He said that he would not have stayed for so many years had he hated the US and the American culture. In the process of his stay in the country, he has learned to embrace the diversity that lies within every culture in the world, wherever he may be. Surprisingly, I did not expect that the interview would push through that easy. I thought it would be difficult to converse with someone as conservative as Mr. Hernandez. Honestly, Mr. Hernandez instilled to me some degree of respect for the Filipino people. In our short conversation, he also made me realize some things that we Americans are missing, the essence of the family and the values associated with it. Because of our conquest to build the façade of the American Dream, we almost forgot the very meaning of our existence, our role with our family and the future generations to come. Read More