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.