The first person that I interviewed was my grandfather. He actually immigrated from the Soviet Union in 1978. He also has a very strong opinion about communism and politics, so I thought it would be interesting. It was. But what should I do for my questions? I didn’t want to say my sub questions word for word! So, I sat down with Mrs. Edwards. We thought, thought, and thought some more. We looked at my sub questions. “What questions should I do to help me answer these” I had thought. So we thought, and thought, and thought some more. Here are my sub questions:

1.  What comes to mind when I say the word “Communism”?
2. When and where you born and raised?
3. When did you become aware of the politics of your country?
4. What was your opinion then? What about now?
5. As you grew up, did your parents ever speak to you about the Soviet Union before WWII?
6. Was the experience the same in Kiev as other major cities in the Soviet Union at the time?
7. What did you study in college? What influenced your decision to study it?
8. If you could describe your life as a Soviet citizen in one word, what would it be and why?
9. How did being a Soviet Union citizen hinder your activities and daily life?
10. What big world events do you remember happening while you growing up?
11. Looking back, were you aware of the Soviet’s use of propaganda at that time?
12. What made you decide to move to America?
13. Was life in America what you imagined it to be?
14. How does life in America compare to life in the Soviet Union?
15. Did you ever say or do anything to express how you felt about the Soviet Union while you were living there?
16. If you could give advice to your 25 year old self, what would you say?
17. Did you ever consider moving to Moscow? Why or why not?

My grandfather had a lot of intelligent answers. I had more than 10 questions because some of mine could be answered in a sentence. Before my interview, my mom helped me write a timeline of my grandfather’s life. It was so I could have a little background information. When he started talking about college, I could picture when that was, and it made it easier. I hd prepared a whole binder with blank sheets of paper and a clean notebook (well, I had to rip a couple of pages out, but that’s not the point). It turns out I didn’t need them, for my computer didn’t run out of battery or anything. I think my interview was a success, and I am excited to go on my site visit. Where? I’m not telling. Let me leave on that note of suspense!