Preparation
I interviewed an international student from Burma or Republic of Myanmar. I knew him for long time but never had a chance to talk about the stuffs from the question list especially about his country. It was a great opportunity for me to know him better especially the cultural and religious aspects. It was a very casual interview and earlier I just asked him whether he can give me 30 to 45 minutes of his time. So my friend didn’t have any preparation for the interview but to the best of my knowledge it went really well. We both enjoyed the interview and I found a lot of similarity between our countries which was very interesting as well. The interview lasted little more than 30 minutes and we were really glad to complete the task as expected.
Country Report - Burma
Introduction
Burma is officially known as Republic of the Union of Myanmar with an estimated population of 42,909,000 (2005), area of 261,789 sq mi (678,033 sq km) and located in the south east Asia. It is bounded on the west by Bangladesh, India, and the Bay of Bengal; on the north and northeast by China; on the east by Laos and Thailand; and on the south by the Andaman Sea. The traditional capital and the largest city is Yangon (Rangoon), but in late 2005 the government began transferring many government ministries to a new capital at Naypyidaw, near Pyinmana, in central Myanmar.
Independence
Following a 1947 conference in London, Burma gained its independence from the United Kingdom on January 4, 1948. Attempts by the non-Burmese minorities to secede from the Burmese state were prevented, but the Burmese government had no more control over the hill territories than the British had done.
Cultural , traditional and language
The culture of Burma (or Myanmar) has been heavily influenced by Buddhism and the Mon people. Its neighbors, particularly India, China, and Thailand, have made major contributions to Burmese culture. In more recent times, British colonial rule and westernization have influenced aspects of Burmese culture, including language and education.
A few regional dialects of Burmese are associated with subgroups. Closely related is the “Southern Burmish” languages. Burmese is the national language. It is spoken as a second language by most educated members of other ethnic groups, but some of those groups have little contact with the national language. Many educated urban residents speak English as a second language, but English is not widely spoken among the population as a whole.
The number of languages of Burma (Myanmar) is 107.Burmse spoken by approximately 65% of the populace, is the official language However, a wide variety of languages are spoken, especially by ethnic minorities. Other major languages spoken include Shan Karen , Kachin , Chin , Mon and Rakhine Today, Burmese is the primary language of instruction, and English is the secondary language taught.
Religion
In Union of Myanmar, majority of the population are Buddhist, Theravada Buddhism is professed widely. Religious intolerance or discrimination on grounds of religion is non-existence in the Union of Myanmar throughout its long history. The main religions of present day Myanmar are Buddhism (89.20%), Christianity (5.05%), Muslims (3.78%), Hindus (0.55%), and Animism (1.27%) and other faiths such as Bahai Sikhs, Lipian fujianhal, Chinese, etc.(0.61%).
Government system
Burma’s leader is the military junta, which means that the military has the control of the government. After the military coup in 1988, the constitution was suspended. Although there was an election held after the junta took over, the result of the election was not recognized by the government. The convention was reconvened in 2004, but in the absence of their primary opposition party in the country, the National League for Democracy, as well as other minor parties. The highest organ in the country has been the State Peace and Development Council ever since the military coup. The Senior General Than Shwe is the chairman and also the head of state. Having been a British colony, the country has preserved some of British’s legal systems, but the regime now rules by decree so it might be a fair one.
Although there are other parties in the country, they are not treated fairly. Most leaders of the opposition parties are either imprisoned or put under house arrest to prevent them from going against the government. This has created fear amongst the people and thousands of people have quit their parties. Although the National League for Democracy won the election, but the convention was never convened.
Report Source
http://library.thinkquest.org/07aug/00540/myanmar.html
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/bm.html
Interview Transcript (Edited Form)
1. Do you think it will be easy to find a job after college?
As an international student, I tried to find jobs which were related to my major and I figured out that, it was not hard as I thought. I got internship job offer from several companies.
2. What was the hardest thing about transitioning to the U.S.? (Culture shock)
I would say that cultural shock is the hardest thing I faced while transitioning to the U.S. Learning different cultural is very hard to adapt at the beginning. Not only that, it is also interesting to learn how other cultural acts, believes and behaves.
3. Why did you decide to come to SCSU instead of studying or working in your own country?
To explore the American cultural and to pursue higher studies, I decided to come to SCSU rather than working in my own country.
4. What is your opinion of the American diet?
Different countries have different tastes. It is hard to learn from the beginning but sooner or later I got used to it, and I love delicious greasy pizza.
5. How does the climate in your home country compare to here?
As an Asian country, my country’s weather climate is very warm most of the time. Compared with central north American weather it is totally different .
6. What are some cultural differences between your country and here?
In the United States, they call the person by their last name regardless of their status. But in our country we have to pay attention on person status such as “ sir “ or “ u “ or “Ko”
7 Who takes care of the finances in your family?
In Burma males are expected to take care of the financial needs of the family. In my family, my father takes care of the finances.
8 At what age do men and women spend private time and at what age do they consider marriage?
Dating and marriage is very different in my country. Boys and girls usually get married at the age of 18 although it varies on depends on a lot of conditions.
9. What are your personal experiences with racism since coming to the US?
I did not see any racism since I came to United State. As I believe American cultural is mixed with other culture, the young generation is easily able to mix with people from other cultures. I didn’t see a lot of racism in United State yet; at least not in Minnesota.
10. What were your preconceptions about the US before coming here and how have they changed?
I had a lot of preconception about the USA. After coming to the US I found many of them true and few not true at all. I knew people are fast in terms of efficiency and they are well ahead in technology. I found those very much true. But some of the stuff I saw in Hollywood movies and used to believe are true were actually not true at all. Like cops chasing criminals with choppers and cars all the time, and some of the stuff from the science fiction movies I used to believe really exist and available in USA were really not true.
11. What are the main religious groups in your country?
The main religious group is Buddhism. There are other groups too but I don’t know much about them.
12. What are the major festivals in your country?
The most well-known festival is Thingyan, a four-day celebration of the coming lunar New Year. This festival is held prior to the Burmese New Year (first day of Tagu, around 17 April). Similar to other Southeast Asian countries, in New Year festivals (e.g. Songkran), people splash water on one another.
13. What is your country’s climate?
As Burma is near the equator it’s always warm and humid; the temperature is around 55F to 98F.
14. What are the main sources of transportation in your country?
Roads are the main sources of transportation in my country.
