Works Cited Final Paper

http://www.fifa.com/classicfootball/history/game/historygame1.html December 8th, 2012

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Football_in_England December 8th 2012

http://www-cs-students.stanford.edu/~cale/cs201/apartheid.comp.html December 8th, 2012

http://www.theroot.com/views/soccer-and-south-african-politics December 8th, 2012

http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2010/06/07/how_soccer_defeated_apartheid December 8th, 2012

http://www.ussoccer.com/about/history.aspx December 8th, 2012

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soccer_in_the_United_States December 8th, 2012

Franklin Foer. How Soccer Explains the World. New York, New York, 2004. Print

Eric Sellin. The Inner Game of Soccer. Mountain View, CA. 1976. Print

Steven Tischler. Footballers and Businessmen. New York, New York 1981. Print

Miller and Toby. Soccer Conquers the World. 2010. Article

Final Paper

     Soccer is perhaps the most iconic sport in the entire world. It is something of a universal language that transcends all boundaries of culture. I can say from experience that there are few ways one can communicate fluently with someone of another language or culture, but sport is one of those ways. When working with children in the country of Guatemala, I found it to be nearly impossible to communicate verbally with them because I was not well versed in their language. It was not until we got to play soccer with them that I was able to interact with them in a way that felt impactful to both them and me. Something else that I found interesting was that there was no competition or debate as to what we were going to play. Soccer was the only option for these kids, and if they did not feel like playing they just sat on the sidelines and hung out with their friends. You would be hard pressed to find a group of elementary school kids in the U.S. that would all be in favor of playing a game of soccer, without some bickering about another sport being tossed into the mix. During each of my interviews I asked a question about sport in the country that the interviewees are from and what the most popular sport is in their countries. In all three cases, soccer was in the top two most popular sports. This was not necessarily surprising to me because I am well aware of the lack of popularity of soccer here in the U.S. This got me thinking about why it is that people are so much more passionate and enthusiastic about soccer in foreign countries. According to Footballers and Businessmen by Steven Tischler “football’s popularity among different social groups over time owes much to basic sporting principles”. There are many plausible explanations for this, but there must be a main thread or something that foreign countries have, whether it be cultural or otherwise, that boasts the popularity of soccer among the locals. It has been established that soccer is much more of a phenomenon everywhere else in the world except the U.S., but there are two main countries that seem to have a special bond with the sport that is especially unique. England is iconic for their soccer, or football as they call it over there, and have some of the world’s most passionate and loyal fans. South Africa has a very different relationship with football. In South Africa the terms football and freedom are somewhat synonymous because of the role soccer played in the freeing of many from the Apartheid rule. By looking at the cultural effects of football in these two nations and comparing them with the U.S. it should become clear as to why the popularity of soccer is still in its adolescence here in the U.S.

      England was the very first country to have established the playing of modern football. In 1863 the English Football Association (EFA) was founded and was the start of the largest sport in the world. There have been many claims by nations such as Greece or Rome that they were the first to play soccer but it is very well accepted that England was the first to institute the playing of football in public schools way back in the 19^th century. The EFA was very influential in the development of the game when it came to establishing the rules and regulations involved. With this unfair advantage it could explain why the English national team is always among the world elite. Many things have changed since 1863 and many things have stayed the same. England is also the birthplace of the one of the world’s oldest football clubs (Sheffield F.C.), the oldest national governing body (The Football Association), the oldest national elimination competition (the FA Cup) which is still around today, and the oldest national league (the Football League). England is also home to the English Premier League (EPL), which contains several of the world’s top clubs, and is followed by fans all over the world including me. Football is a very important asset to the English economy as well. The EPL is one of the richest sports leagues in the entire world. According to ESPN, in total merchandise sales, two teams from the EPL are among the top 3 worldwide. This makes football of very high value when it comes to the English economy and there is no doubt that football plays a key role in the wellbeing of those living in England. Today, English football has grown to contain over 40,000 association football clubs and has more clubs involved in the code than any other country.

     As mentioned before, South Africa has a special relationship with football and the birth of football in that country is one that is both eye opening and humbling. South Africa was colonized by the English and the Dutch in the seventeenth century. When diamonds were discovered in 1900 the English invaded the Dutch which sparked the Boer War. Following independence from England, there was an uneasy power struggle between the two groups until 1940, when the Afrikaner National Party was able to gain a strong majority. Members of the National Party invented apartheid as a way to cement their control over the economic and social system. The purpose of the apartheid was to maintain white domination while extending racial separation. In an article by Nicholas Griffin it says “Much attention has been paid to President Nelson Mandela’s role in South Africa’s 1995 Rugby World Cup triumph. But Sean Jacobs, a Cape Town native, historian, and author, describes that tournament as “a blip” in the history of racial conflict. “The real story,” he says, “is soccer”.” The story takes place on Robben Island prison camp where after many years of petitioning, prison authorities finally agreed in 1967 to let the inmates establish their own soccer league, the Makana Football Association. After years and years of arduous waiting and hoping, the imprisoned oppressed had a small but important victory in regaining any resemblance of freedom. The thought rang out that “if we can run a league in these extreme conditions, then maybe we can run a country.” There was still a long road ahead for those imprisoned on Robben Island but the fact remains that soccer was not only a sport but also a symbol of freedom for the oppressed. For anyone who watched the World Cup 2010 in South Africa it was impossible to ignore the passion and emotion that was shared by everyone during every match and was perhaps one of the more fitting venues for such a spectacle to be held.

     Soccer in the U.S. was founded in 1913 as the United States Football Association and was one of the world’s first organizations to be affiliated with FIFA, soccer’s world governing body. Though it does have a relatively early birth, soccer is very low on the list when it comes popularity here in the U.S. Even Wikipedia cannot get excited about it. According to Wikipedia, “soccer in the United States is a popular spectator sport for certain demographics”. This is a stark contrast to that of England and South Africa. The United States does have Major League Soccer (MLS) as a first-division league but is more of an afterthought for spectators who would much rather enjoy a football or baseball game. However, with arrival of foreign superstars like David Beckham and Thierry Henry, soccer is beginning to gain some ground on other competitive sports. In 2012 attendance reviews show a higher per game attendance for the MLS that basketball and ice hockey. However, MLS is much younger in comparison with countries like England and is doing surprisingly well in terms of attendance for its youthful state. Soccer did not really begin to show rapid growth in the United States until the 1990s when the 1994 World Cup was held in the U.S for the first time ever. Men’s national soccer continues to do its best to progress at a steady but slow pace and has struggled to place high in any of the recent national competitions. However, U.S. women’s soccer is a very prominent world power and was in fact runners up the most recent women’s World Cup. This can be attributed to the fact that women’s rights have been around for much longer in the U.S with women still not being allowed to participate in many of the popular sports in countries all over the world.

     In conclusion, it is clear that people have an emotional connection to athletics, and athletics play an important role in any culture. Sport provides an outlet for many people to get away from everyday stresses and gives them something to look forward to each week. In England people find football to be the favored pastime and treat it with reverence and loyalty. This is not too dissimilar to the way Americans view baseball. The U.S. also carries many other sports that vie for fan’s attention, this is not to say that England does not either, but soccer is such a spectator sport that it demands attention and it is built up in such a way that it cannot be ignored. In the United States, soccer is just another sporting event to watch on the television. Whereas, in England football is like a religion and people follow it and treat it as such. It is not rare to see fights breaking out in the stands and fans cussing and players from opposing teams with true passion and feeling. In South Africa soccer has such a profound beginning and is rooted in the very fiber of modern South African culture. South Africans view soccer as a saving grace that has given them the ability to live and to choose. This sort of emotion is not something that can be manufactured and is it not something that can be duplicated or hyped. It is highly unlikely that soccer in the U.S will ever reach that level of reverence. In general sport plays a very pivotal role in societies everywhere, and more specifically soccer or football ranks among the top in worldwide attention. However, in the U.S. the popularity of soccer is lacking, and when comparing it with two juggernauts of soccer in England and South Africa it is not very difficult to see why. Soccer is a very emotional game, anyone who has played it before can attest to that fact. The players share an emotional connection with the fans and because of this the fans are as much a part of the game as the players. Without an emotional connection, fans will not go out and see the matches. The U.S simply lacks that emotional past that is shared by England and South Africa. As a result, it is very easy to see why the soccer in the U.S. is a struggling phenomenon and will continue to be. I hypothesize that this will remain constant unless there is a dramatic event that shifts national attention in the direction of the American soccer. Without an event, the popularity of soccer in the U.S. will continue to pale in comparison to countries like England and South Africa. 

Rough Draft Sources

http://www.fifa.com/classicfootball/history/game/historygame1.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Football_in_England

http://www-cs-students.stanford.edu/~cale/cs201/apartheid.comp.html

http://www.theroot.com/views/soccer-and-south-african-politics

http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2010/06/07/how_soccer_defeated_apartheid

http://www.ussoccer.com/about/history.aspx

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soccer_in_the_United_States

Rough Draft

     Soccer is perhaps the most iconic sport in the entire world. It is something of a universal language that transcends all boundaries of culture. I can say from experience that there are few ways one can communicate fluently with someone of another language or culture, but sport is one of those ways. When working with children in the country of Guatemala, I found it to be nearly impossible to communicate verbally with them because I was not well versed in their language. It was not until we got to play soccer with them that I was able to interact with them in a way that felt impactful to both them and me. Something else that I found interesting was that there was no competition or debate as to what we were going to play. Soccer was the only option for these kids, and if they did not feel like playing they just sat on the sidelines and hung out with their friends. You would be hard pressed to find a group of elementary school kids in the U.S. that would all be in favor of playing a game of soccer, without some bickering about another sport being tossed into the mix. During each of my interviews I asked a question about sport in the country that the interviewees are from and what the most popular sport is in their countries. In all three cases, soccer was in the top two most popular sports. This was not necessarily surprising to me because I am well aware of the lack of popularity of soccer here in the U.S. This got me thinking about why it is that people are so much more passionate and enthusiastic about soccer in foreign countries. There are many plausible explanations for this, but there must be a main thread or something that foreign countries have, whether it be cultural or otherwise, that boasts the popularity of soccer among the locals. It has been established that soccer is much more of a phenomenon everywhere else in the world except the U.S., but there are two main countries that seem to have a special bond with the sport that is especially unique. England is iconic for their soccer, or football as they call it over there, and have some of the world’s most passionate and loyal fans. South Africa has a very different relationship with football. In South Africa the terms football and freedom are somewhat synonymous because of the role soccer played in the freeing of many from the Apartheid rule. By looking at the cultural effects of football in these two nations and comparing them with the U.S. it should become clear as to why the popularity of soccer is still in its adolescence here in the U.S.

      England was the very first country to have established the playing of modern football. In 1863 the English Football Association (EFA) was founded and was the start of the largest sport in the world. There have been many claims by nations such as Greece or Rome that they were the first to play soccer but it is very well accepted that England was the first to institute the playing of football in public schools way back in the 19^th century. The EFA was very influential in the development of the game when it came to establishing the rules and regulations involved. With this unfair advantage it could explain why the English national team is always among the world elite. England is also the birthplace of the one of the world’s oldest football clubs (Sheffield F.C.), the oldest national governing body (The Football Association), the oldest national elimination competition (the FA Cup) which is still around today, and the oldest national league (the Football League). England is also home to the English Premier League (EPL), which contains several of the world’s top clubs, and is followed by fans all over the world including me. Football is a very important asset to the English economy as well. The EPL is one of the richest sports leagues in the entire world. According to ESPN, in total merchandise sales, two teams from the EPL are among the top 3 worldwide. This makes football of very high value when it comes to the English economy and there is no doubt that football plays a key role in the wellbeing of those living in England. Today, English football has grown to contain over 40,000 association football clubs and has more clubs involved in the code than any other country.

     As mentioned before, South Africa has a special relationship with football and the birth of football in that country is one that is both eye opening and humbling. South Africa was colonized by the English and the Dutch in the seventeenth century. When diamonds were discovered in 1900 the English invaded the Dutch which sparked the Boer War. Following independence from England, there was an uneasy power struggle between the two groups until 1940, when the Afrikaner National Party was able to gain a strong majority. Members of the National Party invented apartheid as a way to cement their control over the economic and social system. The purpose of the apartheid was to maintain white domination while extending racial separation. In an article by Nicholas Griffin it says “Much attention has been paid to President Nelson Mandela’s role in South Africa’s 1995 Rugby World Cup triumph. But Sean Jacobs, a Cape Town native, historian, and author, describes that tournament as “a blip” in the history of racial conflict. “The real story,” he says, “is soccer”.” The story takes place on Robben Island prison camp where after many years of petitioning, prison authorities finally agreed in 1967 to let the inmates establish their own soccer league, the Makana Football Association. After years and years of arduous waiting and hoping, the imprisoned oppressed had a small but important victory in regaining any resemblance of freedom. The thought rang out that “if we can run a league in these extreme conditions, then maybe we can run a country.” There was still a long road ahead for those imprisoned on Robben Island but the fact remains that soccer was not only a sport but also a symbol of freedom for the oppressed. For anyone who watched the World Cup 2010 in South Africa it was impossible to ignore the passion and emotion that was shared by everyone during every match and was perhaps one of the more fitting venues for such a spectacle to be held.

     Soccer in the U.S. was founded in 1913 as the United States Football Association and was one of the world’s first organizations to be affiliated with FIFA, soccer’s world governing body. Though it does have a relatively early birth, soccer is very low on the list when it comes popularity here in the U.S. Even Wikipedia cannot get excited about it. According to Wikipedia, “soccer in the United States is a popular spectator sport for certain demographics”. This is a stark contrast to that of England and South Africa. The United States does have Major League Soccer (MLS) as a first-division league but is more of an afterthought for spectators who would much rather enjoy a football or baseball game. However, with arrival of foreign superstars like David Beckham and Thierry Henry, soccer is beginning to gain some ground on other competitive sports. In 2012 attendance reviews show a higher per game attendance for the MLS that basketball and ice hockey. However, MLS is much younger in comparison with countries like England and is doing surprisingly well in terms of attendance for its youthful state. Soccer did not really begin to show rapid growth in the United States until the 1990s when the 1994 World Cup was held in the U.S for the first time ever. Men’s national soccer continues to do its best to progress at a steady but slow pace and has struggled to place high in any of the recent national competitions. However, U.S. women’s soccer is a very prominent world power and was in fact runners up the most recent women’s World Cup. This can be attributed to the fact that women’s rights have been around for much longer in the U.S with women still not being allowed to participate in many of the popular sports in countries all over the world.

     In conclusion, it is clear that people have an emotional connection to athletics, and athletics play an important role in any culture. Sport provides an outlet for many people to get away from everyday stresses and gives them something to look forward to each week. In England people find football to be the favored pastime and treat it with reverence and loyalty. This is not too dissimilar to the way Americans view baseball. The U.S. also carries many other sports that vie for fan’s attention, this is not to say that England does not either, but soccer is such a spectator sport that it demands attention and it is built up in such a way that it cannot be ignored. In the United States, soccer is just another sporting event to watch on the television. Whereas, in England football is like a religion and people follow it and treat it as such. It is not rare to see fights breaking out in the stands and fans cussing and players from opposing teams with true passion and feeling. In South Africa soccer has such a profound beginning and is rooted in the very fiber of modern South African culture. South Africans view soccer as a saving grace that has given them the ability to live and to choose. This sort of emotion is not something that can be manufactured and is it not something that can be duplicated or hyped. It is highly unlikely that soccer in the U.S will ever reach that level of reverence. In general sport plays a very pivotal role in societies everywhere, and more specifically soccer or football ranks among the top in worldwide attention. However, in the U.S. the popularity of soccer is lacking, and when comparing it with two juggernauts of soccer in England and South Africa it is not very difficult to see why. Soccer is a very emotional game, anyone who has played it before can attest to that fact. The players share an emotional connection with the fans and because of this the fans are as much a part of the game as the players. Without an emotional connection, fans will not go out and see the matches. The U.S simply lacks that emotional past that is shared by England and South Africa. As a result, it is very easy to see why the soccer in the U.S. is a struggling phenomenon and will continue to be. I hypothesize that this will remain constant unless there is a dramatic event that shifts national attention in the direction of the American soccer. Without an event, the popularity of soccer in the U.S. will continue to pale in comparison to countries like England and South Africa. 

Final Paper Outline

Introduction:

Thesis Statement: There is a large discrepancy between the popularity of soccer in the U.S and the popularity of soccer throughout the rest of the world.

While conducting my interviews I asked the question: What is the favorite pastime of activity in your country? In all three cases soccer was among the top two favored activities. I hypothesis that if you were to ask that question of an American, there response would include sports like Nascar, Football, Hockey, etc. Why is this? Why is soccer the renowned worldwide sport but that’s just not the case here in the U.S.

Body:

I will begin answering these questions by studying the culture of soccer in three different countries.

1.       England

a.       Has perhaps the most loyal of followings in the whole world

b.      Soccer has been a tradition there for well over 100 years

2.       South Africa

a.       Soccer is a symbol of freedom

b.      The 2010 Fifa World Cup

3.       The United States

a.       Far more diversity in culture

                                                               i.      Attributes to the variety of sport

b.      Lack of talent

                                                               i.      Low excitement for the sport

4.       Fifa

a.       How does the organization affect the popularity of soccer in the U.S and the world

                                                               i.      Positively

                                                             ii.      Negatively

Conclusion:

There is no argument that there is a lack of popularity of soccer in the U.S in comparison to the rest of the world and a variety of reasons for this. By studying the three aforementioned countries I am finally going to get an understanding as to why that is.   

2nd Interview Evaluation

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Akr-rHeg13iLdG5wRDBwd2ZqUWxLVDFzSGlYU1FlOFE#gid=0

Final Paper Topic

The topic I have chosen is soccer and comparing the popularity of soccer between the U.S and the countries that I interviewed on. The reason I have chosen this topic is because all three interviewees answered with soccer being the most popular sport in their home country. This has always been something that has interested me because to so many foreign countries, soccer is the driving activity or past time that they celebrate most.

3rd Interview Evaluations

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Akr-rHeg13iLdFV2MUxFNHNaVjF5amJVWkV1SEp1QlE&pli=1#gid=0

Interview 3: Top 3

1. Gerry, Jonathon (20 Points)
2. Chancelvie ( 19 Points)
3. Murray, Patrick (18 Points)

Second Interview: Top 3

1. Jamaa, Abdalle M (20 Points)
2. Madden, Jonathan (20 Points)
3. Rahman, Labib (20 Points)

Country Report 3: Works Cited

Sources:

http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0107407.html.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chile.

Country Report 3: Chile

Chile is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow strip of land between the Andes Mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far south. Chilean territory includes the Pacific islands of Juan Fernandez, Salas y Gomez, Desventuradas and Easter Islands. Chile also claims about 1,250,000 square kilometers of Antarctica, although all claims are suspended under the Antarctica Treaty. Chile's distinctive shape makes it the longest country in the world in terms of length-to-width ratio, with the fifth lengthiest coastline at over 78,000 kilometers. The northern desert contains great mineral wealth, mainly copper. The relatively small central area dominates in terms of population and agricultural resources and is the cultural and political center from which Chile expanded in the late 19th century when it incorporated its northern and southern regions. Southern Chile is rich in forests and grazing lands, and has a string of volcanoes and lakes. Prior to the arrival of the Spanish in the 16th century, northern and central Chile was under Inca rule while independent Mapuche inhabited central Chile. Chile declared its independence from Spain on February 12th 1818. In the War of the Pacific, Chile defeated Peru and Bolivia and won its current northern territory. It was not until the 1880's that the Mapuche were completely conquered. Chile endured an over 16 year long military dictatorship that left more than 3,000 people dead or missing. Today, Chile is one of South America's most stable and prosperous nations, a recognized middle power and an emerging economy. It leads Latin American nations in human development, competitiveness, income per capita, globalization, economic freedom, and low perception of corruption. On a bit of a side note, Chile is emerging as one of the world’s soccer powers as well and as such they are beginning to gain a lot more international attention because of it. Chile also ranks high regionally in sustainability of state, democratic development, and state of peace. However, it has a high rate of economic inequality. Overall Chile is doing very well in their development and as you can tell by reading my interviewee's responses to my questions he is very fond of his country and didn't really have anything negative to say.  

Interview 3: Chile

Me: What is the value of family in your country?

Interviewee: Family is prioritized before anything else in the Chilean culture. Unlike the United States youth try to live at home with their parents as long as possible. They rarely move out during college and only move out once they either find a spouse or get a job that takes them away.

Me: What is your family structure like?

Interviewee: Women are a lot more submissive and embrace the idea of the woman being in charge of cooking, cleaning and taking care of the household. It is accepted and embraced.

Me: How does your home country’s culture different from the US culture? 

Interviewee: Like the previous category talked about it is a lot more family oriented culture. One of the biggest differences in these two cultures would be the drive to success. It seems to be weighed by two different categories. The drive of the Chilean people is not to be wealthy and just hold a prestigious title but community and providing for the needs of those around you (even if not immediate family) come before so many other things.

Me: What are the highlights in your culture?

Interviewee: When people who know Chile think about it, they think about the hospitality people provide and how warm the people are. It is extremely welcoming and has the mentality that everything that is theirs is also yours.

Me: What is the most famous food in your country?

Interviewee: They eat very simple kinds of food. They eat tons of rice, potatoes, chicken, pasta, tomatoes, avocado and BREAD. Every single meal consists of bread and coffee or bread and tea plus whatever else they want to serve. The most famous Chilean dish is called Casuela. It’s a soup with chicken, potatoes, carrots, corn and a few other vegetables.

Me: What are your meals like?

Interviewee: People usually have tiny breakfast, bread and coffee. Lunch is BIG usually they close their businesses for lunch. Then at like 6 they have "Once" which is like an evening snack, usually bread and coffee, then Dinner at like 9pm which is a good healthy size. Portion sizes are not huge for each meal.

Me: What is the education system like?

Interviewee: There are public schools like the US as well as Private schools. The public schools education system is known for being terrible. The middle and upper class all go to private schools. College is very common because it is not very expensive and most people just live with their parents. There are very low level colleges that don’t cost much and get you simple jobs. There are a few large universities where the smart kids go.

Me: How does your country view the US?

Interviewee: They view the U.S as a prideful superpower who is hungry for control and money.

Me: Do a lot of people graduate college in your country?

Interviewee: A lot of people do graduate. It’s viewed as a necessity to live. 

Me: What are the top three social pastimes?

Interviewee: Every kid grows up playing soccer. Rich or poor. The few people who do play basketball or tennis which are about the only two other sports you see are upper class people. The lower class mostly just plays soccer. People love going to the stadium on Sundays and watch soccer matches.

Me: What are the different religions in Chile?

Interviewee: Catholic is the main religion of Chile. Everyone, whether they go to church or not, will claim to be catholic and love Jesus. There is a decent base of Evangelicals and Baptists but Catholics are predominant.

Me: Is it difficult to practice your beliefs freely?

Interviewee: Practicing Christianity or any religion is not looked down upon and freedom of religion is very open and accepted. 

Me: What are some holidays that you celebrate?

Interviewee: 18 September is our biggest holiday. It’s our independence day. It consists of A LOT of drinking and A LOT of eating. A lot of cultural foods like empanadas and other little things. There are cultural dances and parties. May 21st is also a big holiday of a famous Battle against Peru that we celebrate to this day.

Interview 2

Me: What is the value of family in Papua New Guinea
Interviewee: Its a support system, it's a group of people standing by each other through thick and thin. They nickname Papua New Guinea "the land of unexpected" because since there's always a bunch of different things going on the family is then required to be flexible and help each other out.

Me: What is your family structure there?
Interviewee: Definitely the dad is the provider or the king in the household. It's definitely a king queen relationship so my dad always has the final say but he respects my mom's input more than his own. And it's very mutual like that.

Me: How does Papua New Guinea's culture differ from U.S culture?
Interviewee: The main one is the lifestyle, a lot of people talk about like coming over here to America to live the American dream and i feel like that has a lot to go with it like materialistic views or materialistic things like a car, job, or money. Whereas in New Guinea you grow your own crops, you eat your own crops. So the labor you put in, the more product you will receive. So with that New Guinea's lifestyle is much more simplistic than American lifestyle so with that it's very easy to live there because you don't have much so you are more content with what you have.

Me: What are some of the highlights in New Guinea, like what are the things that make people think about New Guinea?
Interviewee: Definitely the climate and the landscape like where i grew up it's like 80 degrees year around and the only precipitation you have is rain here and there. The climate as far as you can plant any like tropical fruit or when you go to school you can just grab a banana off a tree for a snack and then definitely the land and having the ocean to swim in and what not.

Me: What role do women play in the culture there?
Interviewee:  Definitely they're the providers because they are the workers like they go into the gardens, they chop the fire wood and carry it back, they are the workaholics of the family.

Me: What is the most famous food?
Interviewee: Coffee, coffee is the number one cash crop you can go over to any Starbucks and they'll have New Guinea coffee.

Me: What are your meals like there?
Interviewee: Usually we try to have breakfast lunch and dinner but if that's not happening we usually just eat when we're hungry.

Me: Is food pretty available then?
Interviewee: Yeah depending on the climate there I mean if there's a drought obviously food is less available but for the most part we always had something to eat.

Me: What is the education system like?
Interviewee: It's really terrible, it goes back to the government like as far as education goes, teachers pretty much can decide if they want to go to class or not like you can have students showing up to class where the teachers don't show up because they get paid by the government so they can just be like i'm not going to school. So it's definitely poor because there isn't really a desire to teach.

Me: So then there wouldn't be much of an opportunity to go to college then or are there even any colleges there?
Interviewee: Um, no not really it kinda goes from high school into businesses and you can graduate and go work for a business I mean you can learn but for the most part you just go straight into a business. For the most part people will go to Australia or New Zealand for college.

Me: How do people from Papua New Guinea view the U.S?
Interviewee: To be honest they want to be like the U.S, the culture is slowly starting to westernize so pretty much let's say if skinny jeans come in style here it might take a couple years but it will become popular in New Guinea too. So the desire is definitely there.

Me: What are some of the top past times there?
Interviewee: Random rituals for each tribe are huge, like people will just deck out in tribal outfits and pretty much they find a reason to celebrate anything there like sports, rugby and soccer are big there probably the top two. And also holidays like Christmas they'll definitely have a huge celebration for that.

Me: What are some of the different religions there?
Interviewee: Christianity is huge there but New Guinea shares there island with Indonesia so there's a lot of Muslim or Islamic beliefs that come across. But before missionaries came there it was definitely spiritual like black magic and witch doctors there. But mainly now it's Christianity.

Me: Is it difficult to practice your beliefs there or is it pretty free?
Interviewee: It's difficult because we don't get challenged because there aren't a lot of different views so it's tough to learn new things by talking to people.

Me: What are some holidays?
Interviewee: Well their independence day when they won there independence from Australia the whole island will celebrate that. And like Christmas, and New Years and pretty much any time there's a celebration like a wedding or a sporting event victory.

Country Report: Papua New Guinea

Papua New Guinea is a country in Oceania that occupies the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and many offshore islands. It is located in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. The capital is Port Moresby.

Papua New Guinea is one of the most culturally diverse countries on Earth. PNG has 841 different languages listed for the country, although 11 of these have no known living speakers. PNG is a relatively small country of about 6 million people. It is also one of the most rural, with very few of its people living in urban areas. The country is one of the world's least explored, culturally and geographically, and many undiscovered species of plants and animals are thought to exist in the interior of Papua New Guinea.

Growth in the mining and resource sector has led to PNG becoming the 7th fastest growing economy in the world as of 2011. Despite this, the majority of the population still live in traditional societies and practice subsistence based agriculture. Many people live in extreme poverty, with about one third of the population living on less than $1.25 per day.

After being ruled by other countries since 1884, Papua New Guinea gained its independence from Australia in 1975. It remains a realm of Elizabeth II, Queen of Papua New Guinea.

My Top 3 Interviews

1. Jonathon Gerry
2. Jonathon Madden
3. Patrick Murray

Jonathon Gerry's entire interview process I thought was above and beyond what I was anticipating. His country report was thorough and well thought out and everything was formatted in a way that was easy to read and intriguing.

Jonathon Madden's process was also very interesting. I actually thought that he edged out the above interview just because his blog was formatted a little bit better. It was spread out a little more making it easier to read and comprehend, even though his content wasn't quite as up to par as others.

Patrick Murray's blog posts were also very good. The reason I liked his was because it wasn't quite as lengthy as some of the others I came across. He kept his posts concise and to the point, but still managed to squeeze in the information necessary to get his point across.

Scorecard

Post Interview Thoughts

After the interview was completed I had a very positive feeling. My interviewee was very thorough in giving good information as well as examples and personal stories to add to the responses. The interviewee I thought remained completed at ease throughout and I think that attributed to his answers.

Pre-Interview Thoughts

Going into the interview i didn't really know what to expect since I have little to no interview experience. However, I did try to prepare myself as much as possible with learning my questions and the country. I didn't have any trouble whatsoever lining up an interviewee since the first person I contacted being more than willing to help me out. Other than not knowing what to expect I really didn't have a whole lot of anxiety going into the interview process.

Country Report: Uganda

Uganda is a somewhat small country that is right in the heart of Africa. It is bordered by Kenya, the Congo, Rwanda, Tanzania, and South Sudan. Uganda is a relatively small country with the majority of the population being farmers and gatherers. Most of Uganda's people are in poverty and live a very simplistic lifestyle. Ugandans usually have some sort of religious affiliation and the majority of the people there are Catholic.

Interview Transcript

Me: What is the value of family in Uganda? Is family put on a pedestal?

Interviewee: Yeah I would say family is pretty important, pretty up there. Family members tend to live together, I lived with my mom and my dad at my grandfather’s farm, and a lot of my family was nearby too so we didn’t really want to move away. Family is really close together.

Me: What’s the family structure like?

Interviewee: I would say that it is usually the male, like when we lived with my grandfather he was kind of the oldest so most of the time everything had to go through him.

Me: How does Uganda culture differ from US culture?

Interviewee: I would say that in America there’s a lot more emphasis on material things, whereas in Uganda it was more about like people, like relationships and like here it’s more about what you have. I feel like there life was more simple and people didn’t worry about things as much and people were more content than here where you don’t worry about what house you have or what car you have.

Me: So what are some highlights in your country, like what are some things that make people think about your country?

Interviewee: A big place I would say is right next to Lake Victoria it’s like a big tourist place because they have a couple zoos and wild animals there and when you’re there you can see like lions and other animals you wouldn’t normally see. Like for example, where we lived in Uganda at my grandpa’s farm you’d see like monkeys in the back yard.

Me: What role do women play in the culture?

Interviewee: I would say that the women are kind of less because usually the man is supposed to like provide for the household and the women stays home with the kids, like my dad worked and my mom stayed at home.

Me: What is the most famous food in Uganda?

Interviewee: They have these things called Posho, where they have flowers and I don’t know how to describe it but it’s really good and you usually eat it with like beans and chicken and I used to eat it a lot.

Me: Is food pretty available in Uganda?

Interviewee: For me and my family it was pretty available because we lived on a big farm that my grandfather owned with a lot of land so we had a bunch. But back when I was little I would see like other people who didn’t have as much.

Me: What is the education system like?

Interviewee: I went to a school with uniforms, and you would get spanked in class and stuff. But learning was pretty big there but if you didn’t have money you couldn’t really go to school. We learned English and math but I would say that the teachers weren’t really as good as here like they didn’t know as much as the teachers in the states.

Me: So do a lot of people have the chance to attend college?

Interviewee: Yeah there’s the University of Nairobi and my mom went there but usually it’s like really slim for people to make it, you were either really smart or you had the money. My mom would tell me stories of how there was one guy who was a father and his son was starting middle school but they were in the same grade because he never had the money before. It’s usually just middle school and high school that people go to.

Me: How do people there view the US?

Interviewee: They think that it’s a country that is really wealthy which is true but like back in Uganda everyone thought that the people going to the states were like going to be rich and that everyone is rich in America. But coming here you realize that it’s not like that like you have to work for it, so that’s what a lot of people think, and my mom still has family there and they think she like has a lot of money so they always call and ask for money but that’s just not the case.

Me: So what are some of the top social past times in Uganda like sports?

Interviewee: I would say that Rugby is really popular there like my mom played in college. Soccer is really popular there but we don’t really have a team or anything there, but just like me growing up I didn’t really sports until I came here like all I did was go to school and then work on my grandpa’s farm, like all I knew was work.

Me: What about religion, what are the different religions there?

Interviewee: There’s a lot of Catholics like my dad was Catholic so I grew up Catholic but there’s like witch craft and stuff, like my mom told me a story about this one time when she was at school and this girl cast a spell on her and her roommate and they couldn’t move at all. For me I don’t really believe it but she says it happened. But there are just a lot of evil or evil things happening there.

Me: What is the dominant religion there?

Interviewee: I would have to say it’s Catholic for the most part.

Me: And is it pretty tough to practice your religion there?

Interviewee: There were a lot of attacks from the government that you wouldn’t push your religion on anyone else like just to keep it to yourself.

Me: What are some holidays that are celebrated there?

Interviewee: Christmas is really big there but for Christmas we didn’t really exchange gifts, it was more about just being with family and celebrating Jesus. In Uganda we didn’t really celebrate birthdays there so that was really new to me coming here because people are like “oh it’s your birthday let’s have a party”. But I would say Christmas is really big, and Easter, and I don’t really remember any others.