My Third Interview
Preparations for the interview
After my first and second interview, I made a comparison between these two interviews I have done before, and I had a full consideration for my third interview. As well as the first one and second, my third one also need to make my interviewee feel comfortable. First, Saudi Arabic is a totally unknown country for me, I searched many resources online, and I asked my classmate Mohamed to help me with my interview; second, I rewrote my questions again, compared to the interviews I did before, this one had more interesting questions; third, I printed my questions and made a copy for my interviewee; final, I was interested in this country, and I was eager to get more information about this country, I called Mohamed and we decided to meet in the library on this weekend.
How did I approach people
Mohamed, one of my best friend. We knew each other because we took the same ESL listening class last semester, and day after day, we built a deep friendship between each other. Last semester is the first semester for both of us, then both of us felt a little struggle with the new education system. We went to library together and we did our homework together. Time flies too fast, and we need to say goodbye to each other because of the end of the semester. However, we are glad to meet in this writing class, and we can study together again! This time, we are required to do our third interview, and I am interested in his country, and I also want to know about him. Then, I asked him to be my interviewee, and he agreed with no hesitation.
When, where and how did I conduct and record my interview
On this weekend, I called Mohamed and decided to meet each other at the library on this Sunday. Because both of us are busy with our homework, we decided to do our homework first and then we can do our interview during we have a rest. Almost one hour later, I asked him if it was a good time to conduct our interview, and he answered yes. At first, I gave him a copy of my question; second, I gave him a few minutes to prepare the answers; final, we pay attention to our conversation. During our interview, he introduced a lot of information about Saudi Arabic, and we also shared our ideas about some issues. He also asked if those situations happened in China, what were our response, and what will we do for those situations. We indeed had a nice talk, after our interview, we did our homework together.
Who did you interview
Mohamed, who is one of my best friend. He comes from Saudi Arabic, and he is freshman in this school, as well as me. We met each other in our ESL listening class, and we built a deep relationship between each other. We had similar habits although we had different majors, we enjoyed our talks when we had free time. I was sad to say goodbye to him during the end of last semester, and I knew it was very difficult to have the same class together. However, we found each other in the same classroom for this English writing class, and we were very excited about this.
Interview report
This is my third interview, also, it is my last interview. I enjoyed the joy when I conducted my interview, because I gained many information from my interviewees, and I also had more ideas about different countries. This gave me a good chance to know more about my friends and their culture.
Country report
The area of Saudi Arabia is almost 2250,000 km2, and the population in Saudi Arabia is about 27 million, which consists of 9 million legal foreign and 2 million illegal immigrants.
Saudi Arabia is known as Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, it was found in 1932. It is also called “ The Land of the Two Holy Mosques” compared with Al-Masjid al-Haram and Al-Masjid al-Nabawi, the two holiest places in Islam.
In the Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia has the second largest oil reserves in the world. And oil takes up over 95% of exports and 70% of government revenue. This boosts the creation of a welfare state[1].
Politics in Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia is an absolute monarchy. However, the Basic Law of Saudi Arabia was accepted by royal decree in 1992, the King has to comply with Sharia and the Quran. There is no political parties or national elections in Saudi Arabia, from the economist’s 2010 democracy index, the government of Saudi Arabia is the seventh most authoritarian regime from among the 167 countries rated.
In 2011, the women in Saudi Arabia was permitted to have rights to stand and vote in future local elections and join the advisory Shura council as full members[2].
Education in Saudi Arabia
Through the World Bank database, the government spent almost 6.8 percent of GDP on education. From 1970 to 2000, the cost of education is almost triples of government expenditure, there is no effects from the price of oil or the economic growth.
(1)Pre-primary education
In Saudi Arabia, children go to kindergarten when they are from 3 to 5 years old. However, it is not necessary for children to attend kindergartens when they are registered of first grade of primary education. Many private nurseries were built with the help of government.
(2) Primary education
There is 6 years for primary education in Saudi Arabia, and children can enter the first grade of primary education when they are 6 years. When children are graduated from Grade 6, they have to pass the exam and obtain the Elementary Education Certificate in order to get into intermediate education.
(3) Intermediate and Secondary education
Intermediate education in Saudi Arabia is three years. In 2007, according to the data of government, the total rate of gross enrollment is up to 95.9 percent.
Secondary education is also three years and it is the final stage of general education. When students finish the intermediate education, they can have the opportunity for both general and specialized secondary education[3].
Religion in Saudi Arabia
Islam is the major religion in Saudi Arabia, however, the freedom of religion is not protected by government.
(1) Islam
It is the official religion in Saudi Arabia, it is created by sunni of the Hanbali school. There is almost 10 to 15% of the population are Shia Muslims, and Mecca and Medina are two holiest cities of Islam in Saudi Arabia.
(2) Christianity
There is mainly non-citizens from a variety of countries.
(3) Hinduism
The main population of Hinduism is non-citizens from India[3].
Food In Saudi Arabia
Food pictures
Islamic dietary laws states that the pork and alcohol are forbidden in Saudi Arabia. According to halal Islamic law, before we eat the animals, we need to butchered them in a special way and bless them. In 2008, sheep meat and goat meat become the fifth largest importer in the world in Saudi Arabia[4].
Audio Record:
Transcript
X: xianping
M: Mohamed
X: Hello, Mohamed, thanks for helping me with my interview. How are you today?
M: Good, I have a productive day. Because of this longer weekend, I spent some time with my cousin and friends, we had a nice talk between each other. And we made some food together! This is a joyful moment.
X: Nice, I am glad to learn your joy. Yes, I can see, during the study week, we have too much homework to do, and we also need to prepare our quiz and exams, it must be very tired and stressful. We have little time to stay with our friends. But weekend applies us a good chance. Are you ready for our interview?
M: Sure, let’s begin.
X: Great, thanks. Where are you from?
M: I am from Saudi Arabia.
X: I knew many people who are from the same country with you. Good, why did you choose this school?
M: First, before I came here, I knew some friends who studied here, and they have me a lot of suggestions. Second, my country has an excellent education policies, it offers us scholarship to study abroad. Final, I knew Saint Cloud is a small city, it is very quiet, I think it is a good place for us to study.
X: Good. Yes, i agree with your opinion. What’s your major?
M: My major is computer science.
X: Good, this major is popular among boys. And I think it will be a good career field in the future. Would you want to talk something about your family?
M: Sure, what do you want to know about the family in my country?
X: What’s the value of family in your country?
M: I think family plays an important role in my country, and people will care a lot about their family member. Most people want to stay with their family as much as possible, because it always brings a lot of laughters when we are staying with our family.
X: Good, I have the similar ideas with you about family. Mohamed, I have one question, I heard it from many people. But it is a private question, would you mind it?
M: Please do not worry, I’m glad to give answers for your questions.
X: Thanks so much. In Saudi Arabia, if one male can marry many female?
M: That’s true. Because of our different culture, and the sex ratio of male and female. Then, male can shave rights to marry many female, but they need to buy a house for every female. And they also need to support the female’s life. So, how many wives can a male has depends on his financial.
X: Sounds interesting! It is so different in my country and America. In my country, we can just have one legal wife or husband. And we also have children policies. Such as, one couple just can have one child. What’s the child policy in your country?
M: Actually, we don’t have any child policies. Instead, it is promoted to have many children in one family. One family usually has more than 10 children.
X: That’s amazing. It is so different. Then , the parents will support their children until they have jobs.
M: Correct! Because of the excellent education system, our parents son’t need to pay for our education.
X: Sounds interesting! I have another question, maybe you noticed that many students who find part-time jobs on campus or off-campus, what do you think of this situation? Do you need to find a part-time job in your country when you are 18?
M: Good questions. Yes, when I came here, and I found many of my friends find part-time jobs on campus. It is very different from that in my country. But it also depends on individual, some people prefer to make money by themselves, and some people prefer to get money from their parents before they have jobs.
X:Awesome! It depends on individual. The education system in your country is so great,could you talk some details about the education system in your country?
X: M: Of course. To be honest, I like the education system in my country. There are many private schools which are built by our government. And the cost of education accounts a large percentage in education. And we have very excellent teachers, they are pretty nice and patient. Besides, we have many freedom to choose our class schedule.
X: Sounds good. Current, it is the first year for you in college, do you find out the differences between high school and college.
M: Yes, there are many differences between them. When we were in high school, we had to study many subjects, and we had to study for a long time. Because of the strong education support of our country, most students will go abroad for their study in college. If we want to apply for a famous school in a foreign country, we need to study hard, and we also need to learn English well. When we entered college, in general, we attended the college in foreign country, and the life and education will be very different. And other countries will have different study requirements and different teaching style. Besides, we will have many activities in college, and we can have rights to choose how many years will we finish our study. That’s really flexible.
X: Sounds good. What do you think of the school you attend now?
M: Good. I like everything here, especially for the friends here, and I remembered the days when I just came here for a short time, I made many friends, and I also felt the friendly relationship between us.
X: I’m glad to hear that. As well as you, I am an international student, and I have the similar thoughts with you. I remembered everyone I met here, and I am grateful for their help. And I am glad to meet you and become classmate with you. We talked so much about education, can we talk something about culture in your country?
M: Yes, please. What do you want know about culture?
X: I knew, there should be many differences between your country and America. As an international student, do you find out some difference between them?
M: Great! It is a good question. Yes, as you said, there are many cultural differences between my country and America. Such as, we will have many siblings, and all of us lived together. We can have a very good relationship between each other. But in America, when the children are 18 or when the children are married, they usually don’t live with their parents. That’s a big difference.
X: Really? Sounds interesting. I have one thing to share with you, in China, the parents also live with their children, and in some families, the siblings live together. It is similar with your country.
M: Good, thanks for sharing this with me.
X: I’d like to do that. I am curious about your country, and I have so many questions for you. Eating is one of the important things for every one, would you want to talk about the food in your country?
M: I’m glad to help you, please don’t worry about this. Yes, what do you want to know about food?
X: Thanks so much! Could you talk about the major food in your country?
M: Sure. Maybe you know this before, most people are Muslim in Saudi Arabia, the pork and alcohol are forbidden in Saudi Arabia, before we eat the animals, we need to butchered them in a special way and bless them. And sheep meat and goat meat have a large demand in Saudi Arabia.
X: That’s unique. Do you know, In China, pork is the ordinary food in people’s life. I think we even eat pork everyday, that’s because of different culture. What’s your favorite food?
M: My favorite food is Kapsa, my mother is good at cooking it, and it is always delicious.
X: Nice, what’s your favorite American food?
M: I love most American food, such as hamburger, pizza. Most of them are very delicious, and they are very easy to cook, especially when we are busy with our study and homework.
X: Sounds good. I love American food too. But I love Asian food best, Asian food are very spicy, and we have a strong satisfies when we are eating them. Did you taste Asian food before?
M: Actually, I did go wo Chinese restaurants before, but I did not taste the Asian food which were cooked by native Asians.
X: Ok, don’t worry about this, when both of us have time, I can invite you to my place and I can cook some Chinese food for you.
M: Thanks for you invitation, that’s awesome.
X: You are welcome! Do you have any religion?
M: Yes, as most people in Saudi Arabia, I am a Muslim.
X: Good, I am an Christian. I knew little about Muslim, could you give me some details about Muslim?
M: No problem. Muslim is different from Christian, but we also have activities every weekend, we have to dress special clothes. I can show you some pictures for our clothes.
X: Thanks, that’s interesting. What’s your favorite holiday in your country?
M: We just have two holidays, and Edi is my favorite holiday.
X: That is special, I don’t hear this holiday before, could you give me more details about this holiday?
M: Sure, during Edi, we need to forbid food and drinks for one month, and we also have some activities, such as, all of the Muslim stayed together and pray together.
X: That’s interesting, thanks for helping me with my interview. I appreciated it!
M: You are welcome, I’m glad to help you.
