Interview Prepration:
When I started to work on my interview, I was aiming on trying to get the most information that I can get off of my Interviewee. I got to meet a welling interviewee that was willing to give me a portion of his time after I made the objectives of the interview perfectly clear for him. We scheduled a time and a place and he failed on appearing to the first appointment and the second appointment also. In which made decide he wasn’t willing to participate and he also put me in a tight spot. I then was on the hunt for a new interview although at the time I were looking, there were a lot of tests and papers due. I lost hope until one of my friends introduced me to Tawfiq.a 21 years old male from Bangladesh. Have three sisters and he’s the youngest and only sun in the family, who happily accepted to be my interview and he actually showed up.
Time and location of the interview
The interview took place in Atwood on Sunday 10th apr,2011 around 6 p.m
Personal review
My interviewee was a nice guy, open about anything that I ask, trys to provide full detailed answers of my questions. The difficult part is that there wasn’t whole lot about Bangladesh that I didn’t know except for a few minor things. I didn’t change my questions so I kind of expected this to happen. The thing that I noticed differently about tawfiq is that he was relatively keen to the country’s politics more than my last two. We had a nice, interesting discussion about the history which I found both beneficial and fun.
Transcript of the Interview
Ibrahim- how have you been tawfiq ? how was your day ?
Tawfiq- It’s pretty good , the summer is coming so I’m enjoying the time
Ibrahim- that’s good to hear, how’s classes going on? It’s getting tense I’m thinking
Tawfiq- It sure is, sometimes I don’t think I can keep up but again, that’s the reason why I’m here
Ibrahim- I was wondering if you can tell a little bit about yourself Tawfiq, you can start by telling me how old are you ?
Tawfiq- Well, I’m from Dacca, I went to a catholic school from kinder garden until 10th grade but I’m a Muslim. After that I went to high school and then here I am in St cloud
Ibrahim- What was the reason that made you decide to come to SCSU ?
Tawfiq- actually I have two graduated sisters from here. They were the main reason for me to come here and plus, the education system here is by far better than back home and you would get a better job opportunity
Ibrahim- do you think it will be easy for you to find a job after graduating in both here and back in Bangladesh ?
Tawfiq- As far as here I think it will be difficult for me to find a job due to that a lot of American students are graduating and under the economical circumstances it will be a while before I get a job here. On the hand, back home it will much easier because there are not too many bachelor graduates and also they appreciate American diploma.
Ibrahim- so you think that Americans have advantage over you here to get a job
Tawfiq- - I think out of 10, only 3 international will get a job and those three will even face difficulties until getting that job
Ibrahim- I see, so what was the hardest thing about transitioning to the united states ?
Tawfiq- food is totally different. It’s much better back home. Greeting was a thing that I didn’t got used to quickly, back home greeting is much warmer and much more interactive than here. People here tend to have their private space and just say hi to you from distance?
Did you got in any troubles as a result of the previous difference, like did greet someone in the wrong way?
Tawfiq- No, I haven’t. I just seen people do it
From my previous interviews, I’ve learned that eye contact is the exact opposite of here, can you tell me about that?
Tawfiq- Basically here in America, people look you in the eye when they are talking to you while in Bangladesh they tend to look down at the ground while talking to you. It represents respect for the other person.
ibrahim- Speaking of which, can you tell me about some of the cultural differences between your culture and the American culture?
Tawfiq- One of the huge differences between our two cultures is that there are special clothes for women and special clothes for men. There are also age groups clothing. While in America clothing is pretty much similar for both genders. Also, we have 160 million people in our country which is the size of Iowa. It’s way over populated. We have a population number that is more than Russia itself,while in the US there are plenty of wide open areas and much of space. Traffic there is also a huge problem.
Ibrahim- those are a lot of interesting information that I just heard for the first time. Specially that you guys are more than Russians. So as you being an international student, I’m sure you’ve heard some stories about racism towards non-American people in the us. Have you ever been the victim of such harassments ?
Tawfiq- I actually did, but I went through that situation right after I turned 21. When you are 21 here in this country it is legal to drink so you would naturally go to down town rying to meet people and have fun. What happened was that one drunk guy told me for no reason “ you brown go back to where ever you came from “ and he walked away, it wasn’t intense experience but it was still offensive
Ibrahim- I’m glad you didn’t had any troubles.
Before coming to the united states, what were your preconceptions before coming to the united states?
Tawfiq- As a matter of fact, my preconceptions are still the same. I wasn’t shocked for what I found waiting for me. I didn’t expect that I would wind up in a small city like St cloud. Because when you watch movies you only see the cool places like California, Florida and New York, but when you come here you might say “ ok is this America or not “ . but I got used because once you stay and get stable and used to living in it turned out to be good.
Ibrahim- since you got frustrated about American towns, what do you think about the American diet ?
Tawfiq- I think I just got used to eating American food. Of course I do prefer my own food but I’m not much of a cooker and American food do the trick for now
ibrahim- By the way, how do you take care of yourself financially regarding tuitions, housing and living?
Tawfiq- Actually my father pay the tuitions and housing fees for me. I do work at the university but Icant make lots of money so my working money is just pocket money
Ibrahim- you have a really good English, did you learn before coming here or when you arrived here ?
Tawfiq- Well, I used to study in a catholic schhol so I had to learn English as a first language and we had to take out own language as a second language. That was the affect of Irish missionaries in our country after we got our independence.
ibrahim- Well it turned out good for you man, your English is realy good
Tawfiq – thank you
ibrahim- So what’s your best team and sport ?
Tawfiq- For me I love soccer and my favorite team is Barcelona.
Ibrahim- that’s a cool club, I like it my self
ibrahim- So beside sports, what else do people like to do in your country ?
Tawfiq- It depends on the place you’re at. If you are from the capital city, there are plenty of activities to do their unlike the villages, so big cities is where you want to go for hanging out
ibrahim- So what do you think about the American security procedures, and how would would describe it ?
Tawfiq- Ok let me tell you something funny. Every time I want to travel, I always shave and try to look as liberal as I can. And I think that’s working so far so good because I haven’t had any troubles with them ever. I think it’s a bit harsh though and that’s how I would describe it.
Ibrahim- what is your religion and what are the main religions in you country and how are they being practiced ?
Tawfiq- we have Islam, Hinduism, Budasim and a small portion of christens. The majority are Muslim and next is Hinduism. It is a very liberal country but every bod have their space to practice their believes as they want.
IbrahimWell, we’ve arrived to the end of the interview, thank you so much for your time. I really appreciate and good luck with your school.
Country report
Bangladesh is a southern Asian country, slightly smaller than the state of Iowa and bordering the bay of Bengal . Throughout my researching in the web I have learned many insightful information about the country, mostly from CIA Factbook. From reading in CIA fact book I have learned the followings. It is know that the European trading centre begun to spreading in the 16th century. Bangladesh have suffered afterwards from the the domination of the British Empire and become a part of what used to be known at the time by (British India ). Many years after that and specifically in 1947. West Pakistan and East Bengal have established a new Islamic country of their own due to that they are both mainly Islamic and India was mostly Hindus. As a result of the sepration, a new country was born and given the of Pakistan. East Bengal was named after that East Pakistan. The newborn country were having problems with the unsatisfied East pakistanians ( now Bangladeshians ) of their political and therefore have decided to separate from Pakistan and then give themselves the name of Bengaldesh ( wich mean in the local language the land of Bengal )after The country gained it’s independence in 1971 .
the political system of Banladesh is parliamentary democracy, it means that the the party with the most seats in the parliament get to be the form of government. The current president isZillur Rahman and he had been the president since 12, February, 2009. The country is divided into 7 adminstrative regions or states, which are Dhaka, Barisal, Chittagong, Khulna, Rajshahi, Rangpur and Sylhet. The capital city of Bangladesh is Dhaka wih a population of approximately 7 million people. the country’s whole population is more than 160 million people. that significantly huge number of population in a country that is a little bit smaller than the size of Iowa have created numerous issues in the country. People under poverty line especially in rural areas of the country were not too long ago about 85 per cent. One of the things that helped contributing negativally to the poverty issue is the unfair distribution of resources on the people. it is noticeable that corruption and poverty are two main problems in Bangladesh people are still suffering from until this day
Bangladesh is considered by many the cradle of many civilizations and enjoys its own individual characteristics regarding culture,religions, languages, etiquettes, ways of communication, food and costumes. The most first language is Bangla and it’s the official language. It’s spoken by nearly 95% of the population followed by Urdu and then English. The country also have a variety of religion most known are three which are Islam, Hinduism and Buddasim. The country is Islamic-based but any religion is free to practice his believes. there are also a very small percentage of Christianity as a result of the missionaries in the 17th century. In addition, there are a deference in ways of communication between Bengalis and western countries. In Bangladesh, it is considered rude if you are having a conversation with a person and look him directly in the eyes while doing so, while in America a person may raise doubt about what he is saying if he decided to not look his partner in the conversation directly in the eye. Mostly it is a sign of respect if you are talking to someone and look in the ground as it shows humble. Other than the deference in ways of communication, Bangladesh in known -along with most of the eastern Asian countries – for their taste of spicy food. The country is famous for their delicious chicken carry dish ( chicken cooked with special hot Asian spices and eaten with bread ).
