Interview with Mohamed
Me: What is your
name?
Mohammad: My name
is Mohammad, but I prefer to be called Moh.
Me: Where are you
from?
Moh: Saudi Arabia.
Me: Where in Saudi
Arabia are you from?
Moh: Riyadh.
Me: Can you tell
me a little bit about Riyadh?
Moh: What exactly
would you like to know?
Me: The basics. Where
is this located? Is it a big or small city? You know, anything that will help
me learn about your home.
Moh: Well, Riyadh
is actually the capital and largest city in Saudi Arabia. It is located in the central region of the
country.
Me: So when you
say it is the largest city in your country, do you mean it is comparable to the
size of Minneapolis (the largest city in Minnesota), or even larger perhaps?
Moh: Oh no. Riyadh is MUCH bigger than Minneapolis. My hometown of Riyadh has a population of
more than 5 million people!
Me: Oh wow that is
a big city! So coming to an area like St. Cloud with a population of only a
little more than 60,000 must be quite a big change for you then, right?
Moh: Oh definitely!!
St. Cloud is more like a village than a city to me...ha ha ha!
Me: So what brings
you to St. Cloud?
Moh: Well my
mother is actually from Minnesota, originally from Duluth actually. And my aunt and uncle still live in the
cities. So my parents had arranged for
me and my brother to live with them while attending the University of
Minnesota.
Me: Why are you in
St. Cloud now then if your parents arranged for you to live in the cities with your
family?
Moh: I was living
with them for awhile, but living with family is difficult. They have an understanding with my parents to
make rules for me and keep an eye on me.
Really though, I wanted to have a life of a normal college student who
truly gets to live on his own, have fun whenever he wants, and not have a
curfew set for him. So my brother and I
decided to transfer to St. Cloud State.
Me: How would you
compare life here in St. Cloud to life
in the twin cities? Do you like it better?
Moh: Well the
cities is definitely a lot more fun and closer to the busy city life of back
home, and most importantly I always had something to do. I am not going to lie! St. Cloud is pretty
boring! But even though there is more to do in the
cities, I wasn't allowed to enjoy myself with having to obey the rules of my
aunt and uncle's house. St. Cloud has
been much more fun because I finally have the opportunity to live on my own and
experience the things that other college students get to. Also, with St. Cloud not having as many fun
things to do, it is easier to focus on my school work.
Me: Thank you for
a little bit of information on you background.
Now I would like to focus a little bit more about life back home in
Saudi Arabia. Can you tell me the
biggest difference about life here and life back home? How about the difference in college life here
and back home?
Moh: The biggest
difference I would say between here and Saudi Arabia is freedom. Here in America you have freedoms that we do
not have back home. And in college life
the biggest difference is here you have the ability to go out and enjoy
yourself with your friends, but in Saudi Arabia it is much more strict.
Me: You say we
have freedoms here that you do not have back home. Can you be more specific? What I mean is what is the main freedom you enjoy
here that you cannot enjoy in Saudi Arabia?
Moh: Well most definitely
I like the fact that I can go out and have a few drinks, party, or do whatever
with my friends. However, alcohol is
strictly forbidden in Saudi Arabia and the consequences can be pretty harsh. Another really big difference in the society
here and the society in Saudi Arabia is the difference in women's rights. Rights for women in the USA has been pretty
well established for years now, but in Saudi Arabia, our religion is a big part
of our families way of life and traditions.
Until recent years it was very uncommon for a woman to get a driver's
license or a college education, or even walk down the street without a close
male member of the family. Finally, that
is starting to change but very slowly.
Me: Do you have
any other brothers and sisters besides the brother that you live with?
Moh: Yes, I am
the second youngest, and other than my little sister, I have four older
brothers!!
Me: It sounds like
you come from a pretty big family!! Do all your family members still live over
there?
Moh: It's just my
parents, my little sister, and one of my older brothers that still live
there. I said earlier that I live with
one of my brothers. I also have a
brother that lives in North Carolina and one that lives in California.
Me: What does your
family back home do for a living?
Moh: My mother is
a stay at home mom, my little sister is in her final year of high school at a
boarding school, my father works for the Saudi Arabian government, and my big
brother owns a communication company over there.
Me: A lot of
international students that I have talked to have a plan set for their futures
by their parents. Do your parents have a
career plan set for you? Do you plan on
moving back to Saudi Arabia?
Moh: My parents do
hope that once I finish my college education, I will move back there to be with
them. My dad has a job lined up for me
with the government working with their computers and such. But I feel that better opportunities may
arise for me here in this country. We
have agreed that after I graduate, I will stay here for 1 year. If in that time I do not find a job, I will
move back home.
Me: You said your
dad has a job lined up for you working on the government's computers. Is the degree you are pursuing related to
computers? What is your major?
Moh: I am going
for computer programming with a minor in general business.
Me: That sounds
like it will be very useful, and you should have no problem finding a career in
that area. In pursuing your career, does
the English language pose a problem? I
mean being that all the classes are taught in a language other than your native
language, does it make the work more difficult for you?
Moh: No, not
really. Back home Arabic and English
were both my first languages, and they were spoken equally in my
household. I mean, being that my mom is
American and doesn't speak Arabic, my parents had no other option but to
communicate with each other in English.
And my dad's first language is Arabic, so he would try to speak it to us
children as much as possible so we would be able to speak his language as
well. I feel very lucky compared to
other international students that have to learn the English language and then have to
read complicated textbooks in a language that is not their native
language. I can't imagine how difficult
that would be. I feel that my main
problem is forgetting the Arabic language while I am in this country and
everyone around me is speaking English. Therefore,
my brother and I speak Arabic to each other as much as possible to keep it
fresh in our minds.
Me: I have one
last question that I forgot to ask earlier but it will help to learn more about
the Arabic culture. Do you guys play
sports in Riyadh? What is the main sport
you play?
Moh: We play
football, ummm... I mean soccer. It is called soccer in the US. It is a big deal over there and pretty much
everyone is into it.
This is the end of the interview, as I had to hurry to
fit the last question in as time was an issue.
Moh had to get to his class.
Preparing for the Interview
While
preparing for this interview, I thought of questions I wanted to ask that would
be of interest to me. I wanted mostly to
know about life, culture, and family back home.
So I thought of 15 basic questions I wanted to ask Moh. The interview was conducted on my tape
recorder that I use to record lectures in a few of my classes.
Approaching People
Luckily,
this interview was very easy for me to arrange being that Moh has been an acquaintance
of mine for some time. I called a good
friend of mine and asked for Moh's phone number. I then called Moh and left him a voice
message describing my assignment and
asked him if he would be willing to sit down with me and help me on this
assignment. Within a few hours, he called me back and we set up a time to meet
that was at his earliest convenience.
Conducting the
Interview
I
conducted the interview with Moh at Caribou on campus. I arrived
a few minutes early to find a quiet spot to sit and to get my notes and
recorder set up so that the interview could start on time. The interview was scheduled for 10:00 am,
however, Moh was 10 minutes late arriving.
This area was really quiet at this time and turned out to be a great
spot to interview Moh. I started by
explaining to Moh that I had a few very basic questions to ask him about his
home in Saudi Arabia and that I just wanted to learn a little bit more about
his lifestyle, traditions, and culture back home. I also explained to him that the interview
was going to be recorded so that I could go back and refer to it later to write
my paper. He agreed, and then I turned
the recorder on and conducted the interview.
The interview was completed quicker than planned due to the late arrival
of Moh, and then he left early to get to his class. Because of this, not all of the questions
that I had planned on asking were able to be asked.
Who was
Interviewed?
I
interviewed Mohammad (Moh) Bakri. Moh is
from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and is located in the central area of the country. He is 24 years old and will graduate next
semester from St. Cloud State University with a degree in computer programming
and a minor in general business. He
comes from a big family, having one younger sister and four older brothers. His family hopes that after college he will
move home, where his family has a job lined up for him. However, Moh believes that the USA will have
better opportunities for him. Therefore,
he hopes to find a job in his field here within a year after his graduation.
Description of the
Interview
Considering
the unexpected time constraints, I thought that the interview went really
well. I learned more about Saudi Arabia
in the few minutes I had talked with Moh than I have known in my entire life. I was very intrigued with the majority of the
information he had shared with me,
especially his information about women's rights. Another thing that was also very interesting
to me was how he has concerns about forgetting his native language of Arabic
while going to school in America due to everyone around him speaking English. To try and prevent this, he speaks his native language with his brother
as much as possible. I am grateful that
I have many friends in St. Cloud that I speak French with every day so that I
as well do not have to worry about forgetting my native language.
Report on Country
and Culture
Saudi
Arabia in the biggest country on the Arabian Peninsula, with about 27 million
people residing within its territories1. Its capital and largest city is Riyadh,
comprising just over 5 million people, is located in the central region of the country2. Saudi Arabian traditions are rooted in their
religious teachings of Islam. During the
Islamic "holy month" known as Ramadan, fasting happens from dawn
until dusk. Going without food makes
Muslims thankful for the food that they do have and teaches them how to
sacrifice. This leads to other
traditions that teach generosity and hospitality towards strangers, friends,
and family1.
Education
in Saudi Arabia includes 24 public and 8 private universities, with religious
teachings of Islam being at each of these universities' academic core1. These schools today are available to all
citizens, male and female. Females were
first allowed to attend college in 1964 when the first school for girls was
built, and it was not until the 1990's when girls' schools were prevalent in
every area of the country. Today,
females comprise about half of all the students in the Saudi Arabia school
system1. In fact, Riyadh has
the largest all female university in the entire world2.
Works Cited
1. Royal Embassy
of Saudi Arabia in Washington, DC.
2012.
www.saudiembassy.net/about.
2. Riyadh. 2012.
Wikipedia Encyclopedia Online.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riyadh,_Saudi_Arabia. Interview #1
No comments:
Post a Comment