The highest scorers are
1. Valerie Mattson
2.Liu Yipeng
3.Fan yu
I thought these people really put an effort to do a good interview and learn more about other culture.
Here is the link to the Evaluation Sheet
Tuesday, October 22, 2013
My first Interview
My
first Interview with Olivier T
Interview Preparation:
Most
of the friends I have are international students. We always talked about
assignments or classes and nothing else. When this project was assigned, I
realized that I have so many international friends about whom I don't know much
about except what class has what assignment. So I decided to take interviews
with them. More than just a project, this interview is an opportunity for me to
know more about them as an international student rather than my classmates.
Olivier
T was my first interviewee who is from Burkina Faso. He planned to achieve an
undergraduate degree in Computer Engineering. We took calculus class together.
I told him about this project and asked him if he could be one of my
interviewee. We had a hard time setting up a time that would work for both of
us. However, we managed to meet in Atwood at around 10 pm on Oct 21st. Along
with the ten core questions, I added some of my own questions to get more
information about the topic. With the set of questions in my hand, I gave him a
detailed explanation about his project and asked him if it was ok to record
this interview. I used the "voice memo" app in my ipod to record this
interview.
Interview Report:
At first he seemed nervous but then he
eventually got comfortable and open towards the questions when we went deeper
into the conversation.
His
answers weren't much of a surprise to me because most of his answers were the
answers that I would have given about my culture. When he talked about how
different things are here in the US, the political condition of his country and
how deeply his religion affects his life, I could actually relate to him. This
interview unfolded that the culture and
values of people in his country are different than that of people here in the
US. However, though his country (Burkina Faso) is located in Africa and my
country (Nepal) located in Asia, some of our cultural aspects and social norms
are similar to quite an extent.
Country Report:
Burkina
Faso was a French colony which achieved its independence in 1960. Blaise
Compaore is the current president who came to power in a 1987 military coup and
has won every election since then. Ouagadougou is the capital and largest city.
With high population density and limited natural resources, Burkina Faso has
poor economic prospects for the majority of its citizens.
Burkina
Faso is located in the Western Africa, north of Ghana. It is a landlocked
country. This country experiences droughts. Rainfall is heaviest in the
southwest, covered largely with Savanna whereas rest of the country is semi
desert. It has a tropical climate. The winter is warm and dry whereas the
summer is hot and wet.
The
people of this country are called Burkinabe. The majority of the population
live in rural areas. French is their
official language. It has about 50 ethnic groups. The principal group is Mossi
who account for almost half of the population. Most of the population follow
Islam. Catholic, Animist and Protestant are some of the other religion that
prevails in this country.
Burkina
Faso is a landlocked country that relies on cotton and gold exports for revenue.
About 90% of the population is engaged in Agriculture. However, less than 10%
of the country's land area is cultivable without irrigation and drought makes
the condition even worse. Moreover, the annual cost of Burkina Faso's imports
is usually higher than it earnings from exports which results in a poor
economic condition of the country. It relies on debt servicing from other
countries.
Burkina
Faso is a Parliamentary Republic. The executive branch is headed by a
president. The president is elected by popular vote for a five year term and is
eligible for a second term. The head of the government is the prime minister
who is appointed by the president. The flag of this country has two equal
horizontal bands of red and green with a yellow five pointed star in the center.
The red color recalls the countries
struggle for independence, green represents hope and abundance and yellow
represents the country's mineral wealth. White Stallion is the national symbol
of the country.
Works
Cited:
Interview
Transcription:
Me:
How do you communicate with each other in your
home country?
Olivier:
We speak French in my country. We have
some dialects but the official language is French.
Me:
What
is the clothing style for Men and Women?
Olivier:
We are colonized by French people we
dress like the way the French people do. For men, it is simple shirt and pants
and for woman its simple dress.
Me: Are women and men treated differently in your
country?
Olivier: Of course yes. In my country man have
priority and more power so woman should respect and do whatever they say.
Me: So, Do you agree with that?
Olivier: I grew
up in those kind of condition so I am kind of used to it. I don't see it in bad
way but sometimes in the
villages, men bit their bit their wife.
Olivier: It's not right in the way because it's bad treatment, they hurt a woman. But in
cities I think it's normal. I don't
really believe in equality between men and women because It's just the way it
is. Men should respect woman.
Woman is the one who is in charge of
children, family and everything. So she should be more feminine. She should listen to what husband says.
Me: How
has your experience here helped you interpret and respect cultural differences?
Olivier:
It's totally different here. That equality thing took over I guess. Men
and women have pretty much the
same right. When I see that, it's good but that's also a reason for a lot of
divorce cases. In a couple when
everyone says that" Ok , I have the same power as you" and if there
is something we can just go to the
lawyer" and they are done like that. I don't judge it. Its good but I just see the bad part.
Me: How long
have you been in the US?
Olivier: Almost
two years now. I came here in January 20th, 2012.
Me:
Have you been able to visit any other parts of
the United States?
Olivier:
Yes. Before I came to Saint Cloud, I
was in Texas, I stayed 3 months there. Then , I went to Tennessee. just to visit. I went to Wisconsin too.
Me:
What influenced you to come to the US?
Specially Saint Cloud?
Olivier: To
the US first because the way the education is here is one of the best place to
get a good education. In my
country, I was doing civil engineering, It was kind of boring because I was
just doing physics and
mathematics. I didn't see things in real way. We don't have labs there. It was really hard to see the real things.
So I thought that it was really good to come to United States and get good education.
Me: Do you follow any religion?
Olivier:
yes, I am a Catholic, Christian.
Me:
How important is religion in your life?
Olivier:
Religion is the base for me. It is the base
for everything. I can't do anything without saying God's name because I think for sure there is some guy,
some spirit who is guiding us, giving us power
and the strength to fight in this life. I don't believe in atheism. I think
everything is based on God's name. So it's very important to me.
Me: Do you
country has any social evils or taboos that you found are acceptable here in
the US?
Olivier: Oh,
definitely. For example: during summer here, girls were short clothes. But in
my country if you were that, people
will think you are bad person. We kind of see in a bad way but here, it's totally different. Even a two or three year old kids wear it.
Its fine here.
Me:
What is the political condition of your
country?
Olivier: Oh..
man. I mean it's crazy. My president is
there since 1987 which makes it like 26 or 27 years now and they say it's a democratic country. The politics is not
right. There is nothing going on.
Me:
How is dating and marriage taken in
your culture/country?
Olivier:
It's pretty much same thing like here
but we don't say " ok u r dating this guy so take him to the restaurant". It just goes faster. Here
they just text each other and say I like you and you like me, so let's be together. And for marriage,
important thing in my country is that parents/family of both should agree that you guys can stay
together. But I guess here, if you guys love each other, go ahead and get married. That's a difference.
Me: Do you
mean here, The dating process is faster here?
Olivier: Its definitely faster here. Everything is so
clear here. Ok, if I sat I m dating you that means ok going out sometimes. That means I want to have a
relationship with you but in my country, you can
talk to a girl and she would say "I like this guy" but at the end if
ask her "Where are we?", she'll
just be like "We are friend, what do you mean?". It's just different.
Me:
Is there any compulsion that is you
guys are dating then you are thinking to get married eventually?
Olivier:
Yah, in my country it's like that. If
you are with GIRL , you are faithful to
her, get to know her and be with each
other like for some years and then marry.
Me:
DO you enjoy speaking with exchange
students?
Olivier:
Yes, I enjoy it. Since it's kind of
talking to people from somewhere else. It's good to know that when you go to some other country one day
at least there is someone you know which will make it easier for you.
Me: Is
there anything more that you want to tell
about yourself and your country that people might not have a general idea about?
Olivier:
One of the thing is that my country is
a very small country. People usually don't know where it is? So I have hard time telling people that
it's near Ivory coast and this and that. It is an unknown country
so I am proud to be one of the person from this country. So people are knowing
that there is small country somewhere
is Africa. I don't want people to think that we still live like in 80's. Some people think that in Africa, we
live with Lions. It's just weird how people think that. Not exactly United States but similar. We don't
live with animals.
Me:
Do you have any questions for me? I
have asked so many of you?
Olivier: I am
asking myself that since I know that you are not from United States, If it's
same thing in your country? Is it
different ?
Me:
I
would say many things are different, Just like you said, we are not allowed
short dresses. When girls wear shot dresses
and stuffs, they are looked upon as bad or due bad parenthood. And another thing is dating is not that common
in my country. It's not accepted by the society yet. We still believe in arranged marriage. But we are moving on and
there are lots of people who do love marriage.
Me: Is there anything else you would like to
know about?
Olivier:
That's pretty much it.
Me:
Ok, Thank you for this interview. I
appreciate your giving a time for this.
Olivier:
No problem, you are welcome.
Tuesday, October 8, 2013
Challenges and Benefits
Challenges and Interview
During the interview we might encounter both the challenges
and the benefits.
There are several challenges that an interviewer might encounter
during the interview. The interview may
turn out to be difficult if there is no proper communication between
interviewer and the international student. Some international students indeed
have accents that are very difficult to understand. Another challenge could be
the cultural difference. Students might find some of the interview questions
offensive from their cultural and religious point of view. Furthermore, we might
have a case when an interviewee is very reserved and uncomfortable with
interacting.
Taking interview with international students helps us learn
more about their culture. It is indeed an opportunity to do a meaningful
interaction with them. The interview helps to get us involved diversely. Furthermore,
it enhances interest towards global issues. It is a good opportunity to meet
new acquaintances and make friends. Moreover, taking interview with
international students helps us compare and contrast their opinion to our own
and look at certain things from a different perspective.
We chose this essay because it covered the topics we discussed coherently with a sense of structure.The strengths that the paper had were an introduction and a conclusion following the body of the paper.
objective
My objective is to take interviews with at least three
international students. The purpose of
this interview is to learn, compare and contrast the opinion of the
interviewees with my own. I plan to ask
questions about their family, their hometown, their religion, culture, everyday
life and so on.
Some of the questions that I plan to ask are:
1.
Where are you from? How long have you been here,
in the US?
2.
Do you follow any religion? What religion? IS
religion an important part of your life?
3.
What is the political condition of your country?
4.
Do you
find your culture different from that of the US?
5.
Is there anything more that you want to tell
about yourself and your country that people might not have general idea about?
6.
How is Dating and marriage taken in your
culture/country?
7.
What is the daily diet in your country?
8.
Does your country have any social evils/taboos
that you found are acceptable here in the US?
9.
How important is your family to you?
10.
Do you have any questions for me?
Link to the Words "Group topic Challenges and benefits"
Link to the Words "Group topic Challenges and benefits"
Summary and expansion
Summary and Expansion
The page 15 of the book life lesson talks about how people
see life clearly when they are at the edge of it. Sometimes the greatest lessons in life lies
in the greatest pain. Life is a journey
where you discover yourself. You learn lessons from your mistakes and try to
improve. However, the dying teaches us about the importance of life. When we
are pushed to the edge of the life, we realize the preciousness of it.
While I only summarized the topic of life and it's teaching,
I expanded on the concept with some additional research. I found the following book "Judgement and
Choices" by Robin Hogarth that deals with the choices that we make in our lives
that affects us and helps us live life in a better way. This book like the earlier one has a purpose to
help people make better decision and help them love their life.
Furthermore, I found "Smart Choices" by Ralph
Keeney. This book deals with life, happiness and choices. Like the first book,
it aims to tell it's reader to make smart decisions, know the importance of
life and live life in a better way.
Tuesday, October 1, 2013
Review
Review
I read the blog of Sukri Aden. He chose the book “Peoples
and Policies of South Africa”. He said that the book has historical background,
government, education and so on about South Africa.
Fan yu chose “Chinese-Japanese War, 1937-“ by Julia E.
Johnson. He mentioned that he chose this book to get more detailed history from
than what he already knows.
Adam Block chose the book “Minotaur” by Joseph Alexander
Macgillivray. He picked this book because it is about
Greek mythology and a major person, Sir Arthur Evan.
Valerie Mattson chose The Birth of Christianity" by
Maurice Goguel. She chose this book because she is a Christian and she loves to
learn more about her faith and its impact in different places.
Ahmed Allabas chose "the shadow of the sun"
because he found the topic to be interesting.
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