The Country for My Interviews

When trying to decide what countries to consider for my interviews, the first problem I ran into was finding out which countries actually have students attending St. Cloud State University. After some searching I found a report from St. Cloud State University in 2011 detailing the breakdown of international students, found here: http://media1.stcloudstate.edu/slideshows/chart_InternationalStudentEnrollment2011.pdf. I was interested in choosing one of the Asian countries, as these would best represent a culture in contrast to any western country. I focused on the countries that had higher numbers to ensure I would be able to find interviewees on campus. The main choices I considered were China, Nepal, and India.

Both China and India are large countries that are more industrialized, while Nepal is a small country located between the two of them, and is largely non-industrialized. Although China and India would both be interesting countries, I felt like they were both more commonly known and their cultures are a clear part of the world stage. The fact that Nepal was in an interesting position of being a small country landlocked between two major powers, and the fact that more of our international students come from their than any other country even though it is so small, drew me to choosing Nepal for my interviews. I feel that by choosing Nepal, I will be able to explore a more traditional, collective culture that might be less impacted by the melting pot of world culture created through modern communication technology.

I used both Google and library search databases to find several resources that were fairly up to date and relevant to the general state of the country. The first source I found was the CIA World Factbook, which gives an overview of the country with up to date facts and statistics, at https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/np.html. Next, I found a resource on international travel from the United States Bureau of Consular Affairs, which gives information about Nepal and advice and procedures for travel. This source can be found here: http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis/cis_980.html. After that, I found a country profile report for Nepal from the Library of Congress Federal Research Division. This report is fairy detailed, and contains a variety of information about the infrastructure, economics, and government as well as information in many other important areas. This report can be found here: http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/profiles/Nepal.pdf.

I was able to find some database entries on Nepal from our library including a country report from Our World: Nepal, which consisted of a general overview of the country. This resource can be found here: http://search.ebscohost.com.libproxy.stcloudstate.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=f5h&AN=17603157&site=ehost-live. The second resource I found through the library was an entry from the Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th Edition, found here: http://search.ebscohost.com.libproxy.stcloudstate.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=f5h&AN=39023909&site=ehost-live. This encyclopedia entry gives a broad overview of Nepal. The third resource I found was a Credo Reference entry on Nepal. This entry, found here: http://www.credoreference.com.libproxy.stcloudstate.edu/topic/nepal, gives a reference book overview of Nepal. The final resource I found was a library book on the customs and culture of Nepal. The book is called Culture Smart!: Nepal, from the essential guide to customs & culture series. This book is small, but contains details on a variety of issues and topics for everyday life, traditions, culture, and customs in Nepal.