Grading

Grades

1-) Schleif, Nicholas E
2-)Abdullaev, Farrukh K
3-)Alali, Faisal H

Comparing my first and second interview

Interview is always important for our future life. The training we did in class is really useful and it is going to help us a lot. Every interview we do gives us more skill to do the next one better and better. My first interview wasn`t that good because it was our first assignment. For me, my way of asking questions improved when I compare with the first one. Plus, I was more relaxed and comfortable because in the second one I understood what to do. It helped me to ask my questions easily and create new topic to talk about. Actually, it is always easy to ask questions to a person who you know before.  Only different thing that I noticed is, I felt that I am improving.  My interviewee was from Cameroon which is way to different to Arabic culture. The conversation was so fluent because my interviewee was so cool when he was answering my questions.  The new thing for my second interview was the way I ask questions has changed when I compare to the first one, because I felt that in the first one it was so basic. However, his culture was contradictory and because of that it was hard to compare with the other cultures. I have spent at least one and half hour to transcript the recording. The reason of that is, his pronunciation was a little bit hard to understand.  I`ve satisfied with my interview, but I think I need to practice to be natural when I am asking questions. What I mean from natural is I shouldn`t just focus on the questions which I have to ask. The introduction part should be like a normal conversation rather than starting with questions directly. That`s something I have to fix. I felt this when I read my classmates interviews. I hope my next interview will be better.

Preparation, During the interview, Country Report

Preparation

I`ve decided to interview Mark when I was in library. I`ve asked Mark is he available or not. Then, when he sayed he was available I reserved a room in library on March 26th 2012. After that, right before the interview I reviewed the questions and rearranged everything. I called him to meet me in room 234 and we started interview.

During


The person whom I`ve interviewed with was my roommate so he wasn`t stressed when we started the interview. He was so confortable when he was answering the questions. Plus, I was so confottable to ask questions because he was my roommate. However, there was some questions that makes him think about. For example, he was so depressed when I asked about a secret of his. I think it was his privacy, so I just told him to say anything that makes him confotable. That was the hardest part of the  interview but other than that it was a great interview to know more about Mark and his culture.

Country Report

COUNTRY DESCRIPTION

Cameroon is a developing country in central Africa that offers many natural and cultural attractions, but lacks modern tourism facilities. The busy port and commercial center of Douala, its largest city, contrasts with the relative calm of inland Yaounde, the capital. Cameroon is officially bilingual. French dominates as the language of education and government in all regions except the southwest and northwest, where English is widely spoken. Most educated people and staff at major hotels speak both languages. In February 2008, social and political discord led to civil unrest; however, since that time the country has experienced relative stability and peace. Crime continues to be a significant concern throughout Cameroon. National elections are expected to be held in late 2011.

Geography

Cameroon is a Central African nation on the Gulf of Guinea, bordered by Nigeria, Chad, the Central African Republic, the Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, and Gabon. It is nearly twice the size of Oregon. Mount Cameroon (13,350 ft; 4,069 m), near the coast, is the highest elevation in the country. The main rivers are the Benue, Nyong, and Sanaga.

Government

After a 1972 plebiscite, a unitary republic was formed out of East and West Cameroon to replace the former federal republic.

History

Bantu speakers were among the first groups to settle Cameroon, followed by the Muslim Fulani in the 18th and 19th centuries. The land escaped colonial rule until 1884, when treaties with tribal chiefs brought the area under German domination. After World War I, the League of Nations gave the French a mandate over 80% of the area, and the British 20% adjacent to Nigeria. After World War II, when the country came under a UN trusteeship in 1946, self-government was granted, and the Cameroon People's Union emerged as the dominant party by campaigning for reunification of French and British Cameroon and for independence. Accused of being under Communist control, the party waged a campaign of revolutionary terror from 1955 to 1958, when it was crushed. In British Cameroon, unification was also promoted by the leading party, the Kamerun National Democratic Party, led by John Foncha.

Cameroon Becomes an Independent Republic

France set up Cameroon as an autonomous state in 1957, and the next year its legislative assembly voted for independence by 1960. In 1959 a fully autonomous government of Cameroon was formed under Ahmadou Ahidjo. Cameroon became an independent republic on Jan. 1, 1960. In 1961 the southern part of the British territory joined the new Federal Republic of Cameroon and the northern section voted for unification with Nigeria. The president of Cameroon since independence, Ahmadou Ahidjo was replaced in 1982 by the prime minister, Paul Biya. Both administrations have been authoritarian.

With the expansion of oil, timber, and coffee exports, the economy has continued to improve, although corruption is prevalent, and environmental degradation remains a concern. In June 2000 the World Bank agreed to provide more than $200 million to build a $3.7 billion pipeline connecting the oil fields in neighboring Chad with the Cameroon coast. In Aug. 2006 Nigeria turned over the disputed oil-rich Bakassi peninsula to Cameroon—Nigeria had been resisting the World Court ruling since 2002.

Sources
http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0107382.html

http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis/cis_1081.html#country

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/cm.html

Interview -2-

Mark K.

Furkan A.

F: Hey Mark ! How are you?

M: Hey Furkan ! Good, how about you ?

F: I`m pretty good. Thank you for helping me out with my interview by the way.

M: No, problem man.

F: If you don`t mind I want to start asking my questions now because I`m excited to hear your answers to my questions.

M: Let`s do it.

F: Okay then, my first question is can you describe a typical day for a child in your country?

M: Of course, I will go with my brother to explain a typical day for a child in my country. First of all, children in my country likes playing football a lot, because it`s one of the famous sports in my country. When his friends are free my brother calls their friends to play football or other cultural games that belongs to our culture.

F:Nice, so you guys have your own games that belongs to your culture?

M: Yes, I can`t explain them without showing but every person in my country used to play these games.

F: Cool ! There some cultural games in my country too, but recently we are losing our culture because children are started playing pc games, so they are not interested in playing football outside anymore.

M: Yeah ! I agree that but anyways there are some kids that enjoy playing football rather than playing games on pc.

F: Definitely, but just saying. However, in the future it`s going to be different than what happened in the past.

M: Right.

F: How about your typical day in SCSU what can they do to make it better?

M: Okay, for that I have some thoughts for benefit of students. The biggest problem in SCSU is parking fees. They are a little bit expensive for students. For example, if a person have 15 credits classes that means he or she has to pay 15 dollars per week for parking to go classes with the car. Another thing for SCSU is they can build some entertainment places such as game rooms or something like that.

F: You have nice thoughts. I wish we can see them until we graduate. Also, there is no football field to play soccer. I hope one day it will take a place in the campus.

M: That`s something I wish too , but soccer is not famous in the U.S. so I don`t think so.

F: Since we are talking about sports, how would you describe famous sports in your country ?

M:Hmm, as I said soccer is one of the most important sport in my country. We have some famous soccer players such as Samuel Eto`o and our national team was so good in the past but I am not sure how they are right now.

F: Well, Turkish national team was good in the past too, we were in 3^rd place in the world but after that we couldn`t catch that kind of success anymore for some reason.

M: Yeah, I know that I have watched that world cup, too. It was awesome.

F: Anyways , I`ve always wonder other countries famous dishes. Which country`s dish do you like the most? What are the similarities and differences between it and your own culture`s food ?

M: Hmm, it`s kind of hard question for me because I don`t see any difference between any food. I like them all but of course like everybody I like my country’s` food most. It`s similar with your country`s food though. We like spicy food and we have some cultural foods that are so delicious. I bet the only difference is our vegetables which are produced naturally. Our farmers are not using chemicals like the others.

F: That`s nice. I am a big fan of natural foods because they taste wonderful comparing to the others. By the way, what kind of government is in charge of your home country? How did it affect your life and how has democracy in America been a change?

M: Well, Cameroon has democracy and the president is selected by votes every other 7 years. It`s similar to the U.S. system which I think same with your country too.

F: Yeah, we have some similarities between our countries too.

M:True, but there are some big culture differences, too. As you know sometimes we don`t agree with some stuff. I think that’s because of our culture difference.  

F: I agree, for example we kiss cheeks when we saw our friend. How about your country what are the typical greetings in your culture and what do they mean?  

M: Hmm, actually it depends on the part of my country but we usually greet people like Americans. It`s one of the difference between your country and mine I guess. I shake hands and say hi in our language.

F: That`s something I am familiar with because of the U.S. but when I first came to the U.S. it was so hard to adapt because I was trying to kiss people and I think they were thinking bad about me. That`s something I struggled with before my teacher in class warned me about this.

M: That was funny. It should be a hard time when you try to explain yourself.

F: Yeah, but It was okay. Also I wonder what age do you guys start school and how was it when you first start was it so stressful?

M: Like every other child I was stressed because I was having fun with my friends outside then I found myself in classroom when I was 7. Actually that was fine too, because our teachers are letting us play outside and make class more fun. I was lucky to have that kind of teacher in the first year of my school life.

F: That`s something I was struggled with too, man. It was so hard to adapt class with thinking that my friends were playing something outside, but after a while it became normal. Turkish students are always seeking for holidays is that same in your country, too ?

M: Of course, especially me I was counting days for holidays.

F: Well, then can you give me examples for religious holidays or other cultural events? Can you explain your traditions for each?

M: In my country I think fourthy percent of the population is Christians and the rest is mixed, I don`t know for sure how many percent is Muslim population. So , for Christians we have Christmas and Easter. As we know Christmas is the birth of Jesus and Easter is when he resurrected from the death. For Muslims there is a holiday which called Ramadan , but I am not Muslim so I don`t know exactly what it is.

F: Oh, so your population is mixed with many religions that`s something interesting. So, do you have any daily rituals in regards to your religious beliefs?

M: As a Christian we are supposed to read bible every day and go to church on Sundays. Other than that, we don`t have things like praying five times a day like Islam.

F: Nice, how is it in your country do you have church and mosques everywhere? Is it easy to reach either one for every person? I mean do they need any transportation to reach there?

M: Of course, because of the population mixed with religions, we have praying places everywhere. However, churches are more then mosques, so people might need some type of transportation to get there.

F: Then, how about transportation what different modes of transportation are used in your country?

M: Of course, we have cars, busses, motorcycles, boats, so on.. The gas is cheap in my country so people can afford it and most of the people prefer to ride their own cars to get around.

F: I think I get everything I wonder to know about you and your country but lastly could you tell me a secret about yourself that very few people here know about and that shows us well, who you are and what you stand for?

M: Yeah, sure I am a very shy person and I don`t show that here in America. When I am in America I tend to be an outgoing person because I don`t have my family with me, so have to do everything by myself but when I go back my country there is family there is support so I am shy I am lazy I am not alone anymore.  So, that must be my secret.

F: Well, thank you for cooperation and giving me time Mark.

M: Thank you it was a pleasure.

Region Report

Abdullah Alkalthami - Turkey
Neset Furkan Akbas - Saudi Arabia
Farukh Abdullaev - Sri Lanka

-Similarities-

1. Turkey and Saudi Arabia are Muslim countries.
2. Turkey and Sri Lanka are democratic countries.
3. Main dish in Turkey and Saudi Arabia is Kebap ( Rice + Different type of Meats)
4. Turkey and Saudi Arabia are not islands.
5. Saudi Arabia and Sri Lanka uses mainly cars to travel around.
6. The main holidays in Turkey and Saudi Arabia are two of the important holidays for Islamic religion.
7. The population in Saudi Arabia and Sri Lanka are both around 24 million aproximately.
8. Turkey and Sri Lanka`s weather are mostly tropical, however Turkish weather can be different depending on the part of the land.
9. The main sport in Turkey and Saudi Arabia is soccer.
10. Saudi Arabia and Sri Lanka are the countries in which some religions were established. (Islam and Budizm respectively)
11. All three countries are in Asia.

-Differences-

1. The main religion in Sri Lanka is Budizm.
2. Saudi Arabia is a kingdom country.
3. The main dish in Sri Lanka is Cuisine.
4. Sri Lanka is an island.
5. Turkish people use public transportation.
6. Most of the holidays of Sri Lanka is based on their lunar calender.
7. Turkey has 76 million population which is almost three times bigger population then two others.
8. Saudi Arabia is extremely hot, but anyways in the south part of Saudi Arabia is cold.
9. In Sri Lanka the main sport is cricket.

grading

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AlQPHHaWVDtUdEtnak9zRUVuNlFLS2RGVW0tRjdxS1E

Preparition, during the interview and country report

My interviewee was Faisal. It was an easy and perfect interview because Faisal is a good speaker and we were so relaxed because we already know each other before. When I ask questions Faisal was answering them very comfortable. He gave me examples for every other question so that his thoughts were really clear to understand. Was a nice experience for me to learn about Arabic culture.  As I said I knew him before this class, but I learned something about him when I ask my eleventh question, because it was about secrets. So, that was a nice conversation to know him better.  
   
 Saudi Arabia is a huge country  and the center of Muslim religion. The reason of that is Muslim religion born in Saudi Arabia.  Saudi Arabia is a rich country because they have the most oil reserve in the world.  The king of Saudi Arabia for now is King Abdullah and the population is 27 million. All of the population is Muslim in this country. As I said they are directed with kingdom so if the king dies his brother or son become king. The capital of Saudi Arabia is Riyadh. They gained their independency 23 September 1932 and this date is their national day at the same time. They have 10 million of internet users and that means 35 percent of population.  For transportation Arabic people mostly uses cars. There is busses, planes, or other transportation but they like traveling with cars. And Arabic people has to be 18 to get in the military.

Sources for country report:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saudi_Arabia
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/sa.html
http://www.saudiembassy.net/

First of all, I started prepare my equipments last class before spring break. I made a list that what I need . Then I figured out that I have everything but I don`t have a place to interview. So, when I deal with faisal about the interview I asked our professor to take of 10 minutes for the class. I went  down to the front desk to reserve a room. After everything I needed to print out my questions. So, I asked Faisal to wait me for a while. He was so cool and he really helped me about this issue. After I finished my work I take Faisal to the room I reserved and we started the interview.

Interview with Faisal

Interview

Furkan
Faisal Alali

F: Hi Faisal.

A:Hi.

F:How are you?

A: Pretty good, how are you?

F: Good. Today I want to ask you some questions about our interview.

A: Absolutely.
F:I want to start with a question which I like the most. Can you describe a typical day for a child in your country?

A:Sure. I am going to describe mine. Well, I went to kindergarden when I was 5 or 6. I was like a normal child. I go there study a little, play a lot. A get back home and we eat lunch with all family. Then we drink some tea. It`s a typical thing for my family, we need to do that. After that, I go out with my friends I play some soccer and I get back home to sleep.

F: My second question is what could SCSU do to make your stay on campus better?

A:Well, I went to culture in my country. So, the think I like in my collage is that it`s a full scholarship. We don`t need to pay anything. What I found really weird here that I have to pay for the parking everywhere in campus. So , I think what SCSU can do is to offer coupons or something with $50 per month or so that would make better for me.

F:Yeah ! That`s a nice thought and my third question is how would you describe famous sports in your country?

A:Well, the main sport in my country is soccer. We play soccer anytime because it`s a famous sport. We play basketball a little I guess, but it`s not like a big thing in my country.
F:Oh nice!

A: And I am not a big fan of soccer.

F: My fourth question is which country`s food do you like the most? What are the similarities and differences between it and your own culture`s food?

A: I like Italian food. You know pastas and pizza. It`s not very similar with my countries food because our main food is rice. So, yeah I like my countries food better because I grow up eating them.

F: My fifth question is what kind of government is in charge of your home country, how did it affect your life and how has democracy in America been a change?

A: Well, my county is a kingdom and we have a king. When the king dies his son or his brother comes after him. I found the democracy in America pretty good actually I wish we have this. So that we get to say what we need we get elect who is going to be a king for us. So I think it`s kind of cool.
F:Yeah. It`s maybe a good way for some people. My sixth  question is what are the typical greetings  in your culture and what do they mean?

A:Okay. Well, we shake hands a lot with the person we now or the person we don`t know. It`s a typical thing to do. We kiss cheeks  with a closes person and we hug also closest person. We don`t just say hi or hello without shaking hands.

F:Ohh nice. My seventh question is at what age do you start school? Are you under a lot of stress in your school?

A: I went kindergarten at 5. I went to pre-school at 6. So we don`t consider kindergarten as a school. And, the most difficult level is when I went to college. When you go to college you don`t need to be freshman right away. You go to a level called orientation. They give you physics, math, English, and sports yeah I mean a lot of classes which I found a little stressful.

F:Did you like them?

A:No, cause I prefer to choose my classes and study them because they forces us to study those.
F: I fell you . My eighth question is what religious holidays or other cultural events do you or others celebrate; can you explain your traditions for each?

A: Well, we have a eithal fatur and eithal atlat. The first one is the first day after Ramadan the month that we fastened. We get up in the early morning and we pray and we eat breakfast with our family. After that we get together as a family and visit our  relatives. That`s it.

F:Cool ! Do you have any daily rituals in regards to your religious beliefs?

A:Yeah we pray five times a day.

F: Nice. And my tenth questions is what different modes of transportation are used in your country?

A: I believe we only use cars. We have planes of course but the main thing in transportation is cars. We have only one train in the all country that passes through three cities. Yeah that’s it. We have busses but we don’t use them actually.
F: Could you tell me a secret about yourself that very few people here know about and that shows us well, who you are and what you stand for?

A: Ahh, let me see. I don`t like when I first know person and they start joke a lot like they know me for like four years or so. I need it like a little formal until we know each other and then we can be real friends.

F: Yeah, I agree that`s a known problem in every culture. Okay, thank you for this interview faisal.

A:Yeap, no problem.

F:Okay, have a nice day.