Interview @ the Office of Tibet
My Observations:
Upon getting there I was welcomed into the office. Everyone had their own desk, four desks in the main office room with one desk in the entry way (and what looked like some stored office supplies also in the entry area). Main room had a big bookcase to the right, a backyard, some kind of incense in the air, and a round table in middle of the desks. All desks faced toward the middle of the room (no one faced the wall). Calm/peaceful atmosphere, even the lighting was comfortable - soft lamps etc, no led stuff (lighting in the entry area was dimmer).
I took a wrong turn off the subway and ended up getting there 20 minutes late. I called at three to warn them that I was lost and would be late, they said it was no problem (possibly p-time). When I got there I waited for some time, maybe 20 minutes, as the woman I was interviewing completed some work (again p-time?). They were considerate and allowed me to look through a booklet about the Dali Lama in North America as I waited. It seemed like the people around us were aware of our conversation (one man perked up from his work when I remarked that the woman I was talking to sounded like she knew “everything,” he smiled and chuckled a bit). That man was also the man who told me that I could keep one booklet. Felt like accepting people, no one looked at me weird. It was almost as if my presence wasn’t unusual. They greeted each other in the usual Tibetan style “tashi delek”. They spoke Tibetan, I didn’t understand their conversations as I waited, but still felt comfortable at my table with my book.
The woman I was interviewing looked to be in her mid to late twenties. Everyone in the office appeared clean cut. My interviewee was the only woman in the office when I came, there were four other men.
Refugee Info :
Most people travel through Nepal when they are existing China. There are three possible escape routes for a Tibetan refugee: Nepalese border, Indian border, or Bhutanese border. Most refugees travel through Nepal because the Indian border is heavily monitored, and it’s often easier to cross over unguarded mountain points to Nepal. Takes about 2-3 weeks of walking across the mountains to reach Nepal. Once in Nepal they go to the Tibetan Reception Center. The TRC acts as a transition station which gets the new refugees to the main Dharamasala. There are about 2,000 refugees coming from Tibet each year, however since 2008 that number has trickled. Part of the reason being that the Nepalese police have started to crack down more on Tibetan refugees, even sending them back to China occasionally. This complicates the journey because potential refugees don’t know if they can trust the Nepalese government. The Nepalese receive a certain amount of funding from China, to appease the Chinese they have sent more Tibetans back to China.
Once in Dharamasala, new refugees are sent to school. The school is determined by age. If they are young than they go to regular schooling, if older than it’s off to a three year transit school (one reason being to learn English), also have the option of going to a vocational school, or a monastery. The schooling for new refugees is paid for by the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA).
Informant’s personal story:
She said that she was “born in exile,” meaning born in India but definitely a Tibetan. Lived for five years in one Tibetan settlement in India, then moved to Dharamasala. Moved to Boston with her family in junior high (I think, but I’m not sure if I’m remembering that right and I didn’t write it down). Has visited Tibet for approximately a month. Got the job because she saw there was an opening and decided to apply. Took classes in Boston with the Tibetan community.
Miscellaneous Tidbits:
Celebrating cultural/national events helps the community to stay tight knit. There are 25 Tibetan Associations in the US. The Office of Tibet in New York plans the Dali Lama’s trips when he comes to the US.
When I asked “what are the political goals of the Tibetan government today?” my interviewee responded that Tibetans wanted complete political autonomy.
I then asked, “If they received complete political autonomy in Tibet would most Tibetans leave their current homes and move back to Tibet?”
“Yes,” she believed that many Tibetans would go back.
“Is that because they’d like to be, or live, close to the Dali Lama?”
She believed the presence of the Dali Lama would be a bigger factor for the older generation, but for the younger generation he would have less of a pull. The greatest pull being that Tibet is their country.
“Even though you’ve never lived in Tibet for an extended period of time, do you still feel like Tibet is your home?”
“Yes.”
Sources she recommended investigating:
www.Tibet.net
www.savetibet.org
Reception Center
TCV Suja (the main school - there’s actually two of these schools in Dharamasala at opposite ends of the city - my friend when to the second TCV)
Tibetan Library @ Gangchen Kyishong
Tsukla K’hang (main temple)
Gu Chu Sum Association
Methods Practice #1 Analysis
When I interviewed I went with the unstructured approach. I had a plan that I wanted to know more about the refugee process for Tibetans, and the system that they used to integrate those refugee’s into society. However I didn’t plan a number of specific questions to ask, just a few general questions. After this first interview, I think I would prefer the semi-structured approach. I like going into a meeting feeling like I have a distinct purpose for meeting with this person, and while I felt like I had a purpose in the unstructured approach, I felt like I could have come away with more information had I gone in with an outlined plan.
One thing I really liked about the unstructured interview was the freedom to ask unplanned questions. As I listened to this woman, than my curiosity was peaked about Nepalese police, political autonomy, the power of the Dali Lama over the younger generation, and a number of different issues. I liked following the conversation wherever it led us. That being said, I think you could get the same kind of freedom with a semi-structured approach, and when you reach a dead point in the conversation then you can fall back on those planned questions. We’ll see how the next interview goes.
I felt as though I had used the uh-huh probe and the long-question probe the most. My interviewee was excellent because she was willing to give me the long answer to my long-question probes, which was fun. Something I feel like I can work on is the silence probe. There were times when she would pause to think of a name, or bit of info, for me and I felt a little uncomfortable. I remained silent, but was unsure of what I should be doing during those pauses. I really enjoyed the experience. It has helped me to feel like this project is more real, and I’m excited about my future research.
