Mock Interview
Description
Vocal Characteristics
Language
EnglishVoice Age
Young Adult (18-35)Accents
North American (General)Transcript
Note: Transcripts are generated using speech recognition software and may contain errors.
Hello. My name is Sarah Stevenson. It is 1 42 PM on monday March 7th 2022 I am here with chris sailors who lives in winter park florida. Um I was originally going to interview his wife anna but she was not able to make it today. Chris was kind enough to let me come into his home to hear a story on how he has survived. Flash flooding in Thailand with his wife and a chain chris. Please tell me your age and where you live. I see her, thank you for having me today. I am 35 years old and I currently reside in winter park florida. Can you tell me a little bit about your childhood, where you were born, where you have lived in the past and any other details you'd like to share? Yes. So I've pretty much lived in winter park florida my whole life and I graduated Winter Park High School in 2000 and five. Unfortunately my family was poverty stricken so we're unable to do much outside of the house, but I've always had dreams of traveling. I got into UF in 2005 and I'm the graduating class of 2009. I have my bachelors degree in computer science and I was able to graduate debt free to do several scholarships and the fast to pell Grant. I believe it is because of my family's extenuating financial circumstances. I was in college, I got a job at Olive Garden and I was able to save enough of my tips to be able to give myself the opportunity to travel europe asia. After I graduated I was able to travel to countries like Germany, Denmark Thailand amongst many other countries, wow! Was this trip when you met Anna? Yes, actually I met her in Bangkok, Bangkok Thailand in the end of May in 2011 I believe I met her in a restaurant in Bangkok and she happened to be the person who was serving me and she spoke relatively good english. So we started talking and we hit it off from the start despite her cultural differences. I learned that we had a lot in common. Can you tell me a little bit about the cultural differences between the two of you? Yes, so I was surprised to see the huge emphasis on family they had in Thailand on his parents, take care of her grandparents in the same household and all of her extended family lives nearby. I remember one story she was telling me about all of her siblings and I was shocked to hear that she had 11 brothers and sisters. It wasn't until I asked her how her parents were able to provide for all those Children that she um told me that her brothers and sisters are from aunts and uncles, but they don't really have a word for cousin and tie. So they're all considered siblings, wow, that is pretty neat. I know another odd thing I notice is tight culture, very rarely display strong negative emotions in public. There's no crying yelling, arguing and even public affection, like hugging and kissing is looked down upon. There are very private with their emotions, however, they're usually always smiling and seemed pretty laid back. I've never had a bad experience with a thai person, you know, that actually reminds me of something that almost got me in trouble. Uh you are allowed to point with your fingers out in public. I was walking with ana back to your home and I saw a beautiful dress in a shop window in Bangkok. I think there was lotus flowers on it. Well, I pointed to it from across the street and Ana smacked my hand and told me to never do it again. At first I was confused until she explained to me that I could only point with my lips puckered or with my palm did pointing with your lips feel uncomfortable, You know, it did because it felt like I was making um you know, a funny face of sorts. Oh gosh, is there anything else that you'd like to share about the differences in culture? Yeah. My wife also has a buddhist shrine in our room that she meditates to daily whenever she's over. Um she told me I'm not allowed to point at it with my feet because in Thailand feet are seen as extremely dirty and disrespectful. Um also I have to take my shoes off before entering her family's home. Even our own home in the States, it's uh it's a matter of respect. I think this is amazing information. I will definitely be sure to remember these pointers when I go to Thailand and may hopefully, you know, you definitely should have will save you a lot of trouble. Well, can I ask you about your experience with flash flooding in Thailand? Yes, I think it was in July in 2011. Um It was about a month and a half after my landing in Thailand. I had two more weeks until I was supposed to go back to the States and there's a a huge monsoon that hit Bangkok which is um relatively near like the gulf of Thailand. Excuse me. And we all know how the gulf of Mexico gets hit, gets hit with hurricanes here in florida. Um The monsoon was awful and it was just very abrupt. It didn't seem like anyone knew it was coming because of the monsoon though, flesh flooding flooding began to devastate Bangkok in the surrounding areas. The erosion from the floods, destroyed homes, it swept away cars and hurt just so many people. The government told us to get to higher grounds. So I did my best to help Ana and her family moved their belongings. There's a shelter nearby. I think that harbored thousands of citizens including us. Um but that flash flood, it put us out of power and running water for about two weeks. I am so sorry to hear that. Have you experienced flash flooding before 2011? You know I I haven't I to be honest with you I didn't even know what it was when Anna was explained to me what the government was saying. I was shocked. How could they be so unprepared for something that happens all the time in Thailand. You know flash flooding seems to be one of the most destructive disasters that occurs there. And yes before you ask I did so much research afterwards to try to understand everything. I definitely agree with you. How long did the disaster last? And do you think the government was prepared to handle the disaster? You know I think the devastation lasted until 2012. I definitely think the government could have done a better job in informing the people to evacuate sooner. Um I just don't think they realized how devastating the flooding was going to be at this time. Um My flight was canceled and it got rescheduled four weeks after my original departing date. So I was I was able to stay with Anna and a shelter until they cleared everyone to go back to their homes. But when we got back to honest child at home it was basically destroyed. I mean luckily it wasn't as bad as some of the other homes I saw on the way but I still helped her family clean up as much as I could and when I traveled back to my home in winter park, I began to work to help financially support Ana and her family? Um I was and I still currently am a freelance web designer for small business owners and some of the money that I've made um has helped me be able to accomplish this and helping Anna and her family. Um Eventually they were able to move to a nearby neighborhood and was able to rebuild their home on a more elevated ground. I want to show you a picture sometime. Yes, you definitely should. That is amazing that you were able to do that for him. Thank you. I just, I really just care about her and her family and going through something as disastrous as that really brings everyone together. Her family allowed her to come to the states and we ended up getting married in 2013. She lives with me now and her family visits about once a year in a way. I'm grateful for the monsoon. I'm not too sure where we would be as if we would be even as close without it happening. They even got a really nice house out of it. That is so inspiring. I am sure her family absolutely adores you. Have you experienced any other similar events to flash flooding? Well, you know, I have had few occasional florida hurricanes that are, my belt are hurricanes can get pretty bad. But the media seems to over prepare us as opposed to Thailand so I am always overstocked and ready to go when something happens here in the States. I absolutely agree with you. Is there anything else we didn't talk about that you would like to add? You know? I don't think so. Um Is there anything that you would like to ask? No, I'm not sure that there is. It was nice talking to you and thank you so much for your time and telling me about your experience. Of course. Any time it's honest. Turn Next. For sure. I would love to hear her story sometime. Alright, well, thank you chris. It was a pleasure. Likewise.