Interview with Matt (in Beijing)
Mark: Let me ask you some questions. What's your name?
Matt: My name's Matt.
Mark: Matt, Matt where are you from?
Matt: I'm from Los Angeles.
Mark: Cool, can you tell me about your family?
Matt: I have one sister, a younger sister. She's two years younger than me and she's a nurse. And she has a daughter and her daughter is 6 years old. And is just starting primary school. My father lives in Los Angeles still. And my mother, she lives in Missouri. They got divorced when I was eight. And I visit both of them maybe once a year.
(Mark nods and says "ok")
Matt: And I have been traveling around myself for about 4 years. So seeing my family, I don't get to do as often as I like.
Mark: Ok, let me ask you, why did you decide to come to China?
Matt: Uh, well I just enjoy traveling. And China is a special country, right now, in the world. Its developing very quickly and things are changing. Alot of, alot of action in China. Alot of..um.. alot of new ideas coming into the country. And you can see that, you can see the people changing right before your eyes.
Mark: Right, where have you been in China?
Matt: I haven't been to many places yet. I lived in Changchun for about 9 months and I've been here in Beijing for 3.
Mark: Alright, what did you know about China before you came here?
Matt: Very little. I knew they, they spoke Chinese. And they ate Chinese food. And um..and they have black hair. And a horrible fashion sense.
Mark: Ok, good. Ah..let's see. How long do you think you'll live in China.
Matt: Probably umm.. at least long enough for me to learn how to speak Mandarin. Which means about 30 to 40 years.
Mark: Why are you interested in...
Matt: I don't know, at least a couple years!
(Phone Rings)