ibrahim alsgoor

Preparation for the Interview

When I wrote my final questions I thought I might do some research about the country to have more specific questions but I changed my mind about that. I decided to make it as a casual chat that extended to go through several issues regarding religion ,culture, food and sport and with a couple of jokes in between to keep the interview fresh and also to take the stamp of interregation off of it.

My Interviewee Was Masrour Rahman. A 20 years old male from Bangladesh, he is majoring in Electrical engineering .Masrour Spent his childhood in between Dubai and Decca his hometown in Bangladesh. He Have four siblings, one sister and three brother and been in the US for a year and a half

Place and Location of the Interview and conduct of interview

The Interview took place in Caribou Coffee shop, Monday, Feb 28th, 2011

The Transcript of the Interview

Ibrahim- Hi, how are you doing today ? My name is Ibrahim Alsgoor and I’m going to conduct and an interview with you

Masrour-Hey, I’m doing fine thank you, and my name is Masrour Rahman

Ibrahim- Nice to meet you Masrour, I was wondering if it’s possible for me to record this interview ?

Masrour- I believe you could

Ibrahim- thank you, so how was your day? You look a bit tired

Masrour- It was very exhausting as it is usual on Monday’s, I woke up at 8 and still running

Ibrahim- I know the feeling trust me, lot’s of Homework ?

Masrour- yes, and the bad weather was the perfect topping on a beautiful day (laughing)

Ibrahim- I’m very interested into knowing you Masrour, Can you tell me a little bit about yourself ? how old are you and where are you from ?

Masrour- Most certainly. I’m 20 years old, I’m from the capital city of Bangladesh Decca, I have four siblings one sister and three brothers and we are a Muslim family. I’m majoring in Electrical Engineering and My father is a professor In Dubai and for which we had to move there and we practically grew up there

Ibrahim- Amazing, I bet it was fun growing around between the two cultures

Masrour- Yes it was, specially the two were two opposite from each other considering the liberal Dubai compared against the conservative Bangladesh

Ibrahim – How would you compare your two cultures to the United states ?

Masrour- There are a lot of differences between them. For instance, when speaking with someone in the United States you have to use eye contact to show that your paying attention towards the person who’s speaking to you, It’s the exact opposite in Bangladesh, avoiding eye contact is the sign of respect specially towards elder people. If you avoid eye contact in the US they would probably think you are lying .

Ibrahim- Wow that was new information for me. what about the weather ? I would think all of us International have some complaining about it

Masrour- Well of course, the weather here is just crazy. Winter can be very cold around here

Ibrahim- How’s like back home compared to here ?

Masrour- over there it’s much more humid, much rain. But I wouldn’t mind rain but cold I can’t. first time I’ve seen snow I loved it but now it turned out to be agonizing pain

Ibrahim- I know, it can difficult in the winter time. So are you staying here after graduating or do you have other plans ?

Masrour- well, after I’m done with my under grad I plan to stay here, look for a career and do my internship here. If I see things aren’t working out I’d probably do my master and look for another job

Ibrahim- so you haven’t decided yet ?

Masrour- I haven’t but I got my fingers crossed

Ibrahim- best of luck in that. Do you think It would be easy to find a job after graduating ?

Masrour – Back in my country it can be very easy to find a job. Over there they prefer to have an employee that have an undergraduate diploma from the US rather than their local universities. But over here it wouldn’t be easy since employers seek out to citizens before internationals. That could make it difficult

Ibrahim- You think you are out of advantage?

Masrour –yes, I do

Ibrahim- I would assume from what you said that education system in the US is better than your country ?

Masrour- they think its way better than what it is back there. If I applied to any country in Dubai like IBM or Microsoft they would say “wow you have a degree from SCSU in the US “. So American degree is highly valued in both the Middle East and Bangladesh

Ibrahim- I can confirm that, that brought me to my next question. What made you come to the United states other than the differences between education systems ?

Masrour- Well, I wanted to explore and study abroad. I had a dream since I was little of becoming an Engineer and graduating from another country. Plus I already know my culture so why not learn a new one ?

Ibrahim- Interesting, I’m knowing you better and better

Masrour- Yes, you should take me to the movies some day ( laughing hard )

Ibrahim- So when you came to the US, what as the hardest thing About transitioning to the US ?

Masrour- Everything seemed different here. They actually teach you that in course here in SCSU and how to handle it. It’s a bit of rush at first, you have to know the system, how to live, how to talk and approach to people. But after a while it gets better and from that point you should be all right

Ibrahim-was Freedom an Issue in your adaptation process ?

Masrour- It actually was a big issue to me. back in the day ,my father never let us go out after 11 and when I came here I found that no one could tell me what to do and that was the reason for many problems I’ve had. I learned that freedom have a price and I should more responsible towards My studies and myself.

Ibrahim-. Good for you, that’s very mature of you. That brings me to a question of relevance which is what are some of the cultural differences between your country and the US ?

Masrour- as I mentioned earlier about the eye contact and also the studying perspective. Back home I used to study in an English school and to get along with student it was difficult, you have to fake a British accent just to not feel left out. And also the education system, we didn’t had quizzes and we mostly studied when it was around final time but here in the us there are a lot of quizzes and homework in which keep your mind updated about the subject you’re studying.

Ibrahim- Was that a problem to you ?

Masrour- At first it was but now I kind of learned the system and it’s working great

Ibrahim- good for you, so I believe when came here you’ve had your share of stories about racism towards international, I was wondering have you ever been a victim of racism?

Masrour- Not really, I haven’t had anything of that yet

Ibrahim- Yet ? so you think you would eventually have ?

Masrour- I hope not, but I’ve heard from my brother in Chicago He was being stared at in the building he used to live in which pothered and made him move out of the building

Ibrahim- So as an international student I would assume that you had a perception about what would the US be like, what was yours and have they changed ?

Masrour- honestly, one of my perception is that I‘ll see celebrities from now and then, when I came and saw St. cloud I changed my mind. If I was in Hollywood it would’ve been different. I might see Tom Cruz shopping groceries in the same Super market with me. I also thought snow would be fun but now I realized it’s just annoying and slippery

Ibrahim- That’s a thing Us Easterns have in common, We like to dress light

Masrour (laughing) you got that right

Ibrahim- What do you think about the American Diet ?

Masrour- No offense to American but there food suck. I miss my home food and Arabic food. In Dubai we used to have Shawarma (grilled meat or chicken in an Arabic bred) and Kabsah ( meet and rice cooked with special spices) and I can’t get them here. There is nothing here but fast food and I can’t have that every day. So food is a bit of an issue specially if you were Muslim, you have to check what you eat and try to Find Halal meat if you can

Ibrahim- well, It happened that I’m one of the best cookers of Kabsah in the area, I would be glad to invite you over and some of it

Masrour- sure man, thanks

Ibrahim-By the way I’m very Impressed by your English, how did you learn it ?

Him- Thank you, My father is an English teacher that’s why we moved to Dubai. And English is spoken in our house pretty much often. I think I just inherited it

Ibrahim- So how do you take care of yourself financially regarding tuition, rent and so forth ?

Masrour- My father takes care of my housing and my tuitions and I work for my own self expenses

Ibrahim- Isn’t nice to feel independent ?

Masrour- it’s my favorite feeling of all time. It’s super nice and it teaches you how to learn to spend your money wisely since you have worked hard for it

Ibrahim- moving on to a lighter subject, what sport and team do you like and cheer for ?

Masrour- what can I say? I grew up in Dubai so it’s natural for me to worship football or as they call it here soccer, my favorite team for the English league is Arsenal and for the Spanish league Barcelona

Ibrahim- Barcelona is my favorite team too, there was a match between the two team actually and Arsenal won

Masrour- Yes, the score was 2-1. It was one of the best matches

Ibrahim- so what did you do to have fun when you were little ?

Masrour- Dubai was an Islamic country, so we didn’t have bars but we did have nightclubs. Other than that, we would go to the mall, play some Billiards or simply just cruise around since gas is much cheaper there

Ibrahim- trust me I miss those prices. Moving on to a deferent subject, What do you think about the security procedures against international in the US airports and how would describe them ?

Masrour- It’s simply too much, since I arrived here I’ve noticed that American are possessed by fair and panic and security is always an issue even if there weren’t much of danger, I understand what they is for their safety but what is going in Airport is exaggeration and there are just making it a big deal

Ibrahim- Can you tell a little bit about the main religions in your country and how are they being practiced ?

Masrour- There are three main religions. Islam, Buddhists and Hindu. The country is Islamic governed so most of the privileges goes to Muslims, while in Dubai it’s liberal and government give their non-Muslim residents there right of practicing their beliefs.

Interesting to know. Since we are approaching to the end of this interview I have one last question that I have for you. What was it that you found in the US and never expected to ?

Masrour- Lots of Bangladeshians (laughing).

Ibrahim- Well we’ve came to the End of our interview. Thank you so much for giving me this opportunity to learn about you and your culture

Masrour- the Thanks is yours since you are telling people about

Description of the Interview

I think it went pretty well although he looked tired and I felt that could affect the quality of the interview but It didn't, we were relaxed and we had a very mature conversation in a casual atmosphere with no fear of each other. Masrour was a very nice and intelligent guy and he tried to answer my question with much accuracy and honest as he can. It had helped that we were both international and for which we understand each other better .

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 16^th 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 17^th 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 ).

Work cited from http://www.bangla2000.com/bangladesh/art-&-culture.shtm

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

http://www.kwintessential.co.uk/resources/global-etiquette/bangladesh.html

Global communication can be defined as the act of giving and getting information of various types from one place to another. The most simple letter in the past could take months until it gets to the receiving end. Now, with a click of a button, you can get the same letter in a matter of second. that being stated, it's noticeable that global communication has enhanced the quality of many lives throughout the years.

many people take for granted there daily mail. They do not know that this convenience was the result of the evolving global communication. our ancestors long time ago were not blessed by the luxury of just simply go to the post office and send a package with almost certainty that it shall be delivered in a matter of two or three days. insted nowadays, a package could be send across the globe in an over night delivery with almost certainty chance that the receiving party will get it, in which reflects the process of continuous enhancing in challenging communication difficulties that had been once a huge barriers.

global communication have advanced in many aspects of our lives. For instance, Economical trading business have gone a long way than what it used to be. It had opened horizons for further expanding in which allowed trading to be much easier. not to long ago that many people could not go beyond what the local market has to offer for them, but now you can purchase or sell what ever you desire online from any where in the world. This revolution of global communication advancement have also touched upon the social aspect. It is considered normal these days for a person in the United States to have a conversation in both video and Audio with another person Across the world in Saudi Arabia while centuries ago a person can be considered crazy if he spoke about the possibility of such thing.

It is Amazing how Global Communication evolved and is still accomplishing extraordinary success in many sides of our lives to our best interest. This Evolving is most certainly ever lasting and would bring much more benefits to people along the way.

ibrahim alsgoor

Thursday, March 3, 2011

my score card-1

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

My First Interview

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

RefWorks

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

My Final 14 questions

My Interview objectives ( Ibrahim Alsgoor )

Sunday, February 6, 2011

Global Communication

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Group 4 Outline