My third Interview

                                                            My third Interview : Russia

Introduction:

Russia has got a fascinating history and culture, 160 ethnic groups which speak around 100 languages; all that, attracted me to make the interview. 

Preparation:

The first difficulty to make my interview possible was to find a Russian citizen living here. As I didn’t know anyone who were born and raised in Russia, I started to ask my friends, colleagues and co-workers if they could help.  After a couple of days, my friend Anna told me her brother knew a Russian boy who worked in the same lab as him. Once I got his phone number I called him and introduced myself as a friend of Anna’s brother. His name was Yuri Lebedev, and he was nice and helpful with me.

After the interviewee issue solved, I informed myself about his country, and knowing previously about his occupation and the reason why he was living here, I composed the questions of my interview.

Interview Report:

I visited Yuri in the lab he works, during his lunch time. We sat in a nice garden, at first we talked about general topics like the huge difference between Russian weather and ours. We also talked about the variety of languages and ethnic groups I have read about. Yuri nicely explained to me how rich Russia is in matters of religion. He told me Easter is the most popular religious festival in his country.  We talked about Russian gastronomy and the typical dishes of some regions.

His time for lunch was quite short so we tried to gather everything in an hour.

Interview Bio:

Yuri Lebedev was born and raised in Omsk, Russia. He is 26 years old, and before coming to US he lived with his parents, and studied chemistry. He is passionate about science so thought that having a scholarship for studying abroad was the right thing to do. He has been living in Boston for three years, and as soon as he knew he could get a job here, asked his parents to come live with him.

Interview report:

Yuri says that once his goals of a good career and a great job are achieved, he wants a family of his own.

Country report:

The Russian Federation has more than 17 million square meters and that makes it the largest country in the world.

Russia is the first socialist country by Constitution, and has more that 142 million inhabitants.

A variety of religions co exists in Russia, like Orthodox Christianity, Buddhism, Judaism, and Islam.

One of the greatest writers of all times was born in Russia; Leon Tolstoy.

 Our Conversation: 

Me: What’s your name, and how old are you?

Yuri: My name is Yuri Lebedev and I am 26 years old.

Me: What is your place of birth?

Yuri: I was born in Omsk, Russia.

Me: In which part of Russia is Omsk?

Yuri: It is placed in the south-eastern part of Siberia.

Me: Are you living alone in the US?

Yuri: I came alone, and a while after my parents joined me here. I also have

an older brother who stayed in Omsk with his wife and children.

Me: What do your parents do here?

Yuri: My father is retired; he worked as a pilot. My mother is a housewife.

Me: How did you decide to live in the US?

Yuri: Well, back in Russia, I enlisted myself on a scholarship program to take

part in a scientific investigation group, to work in the medical area. I have

studied chemistry at University. After the program finished, I stayed as an

employee of an important laboratory.

Me: How does it feel to live in Siberia?

Y: Very cold from November till end of April, also each season has its 

My Second Interview: Germany

                       My Second Interview: Germany 

Introduction: 

For my second interview, I chose Germany because I am interested in the products and culture there. I know some of the culture of Germany for example the art there is very popular and media there is huge. But I wanted to know more about the political system of Germany. I began my interview process. 

Preparations: 

To prepare for my interview on Germany I first organized my interview questions. I had prepared for myself and my interviewee 12 questions about the culture, school process, and anything else I could learn about Germany. I then began to think of any German people I knew. I knew none. I called my friends and asked if any of them knew anyone from Germany, they said they would look around and get back to me. The next day I got a phone call from my good friend Ali. Ali had an old classmate that now was attending school in the cities but Ali was sure his friend could help me out. Ali sent a message over a social network to his old classmate and got a positive response. Ali gave him my information and he contacted me that day. His name is Christian Hahn and he is from Berlin, Germany. 

Me and Christian exchanged our names numbers over the internet and decided to take it from there. Later that day, I contacted Christian via telephone and asked if he was up for doing the interview later that week, Christian agreed and told me the best time for him would be that

Thursday, November 1st. I agreed and asked Christian how he would like to do the interview, since he lives in the cities. Christian offered to do the interview online or over the phone. I chose to do it over the phone since it would be more live like. Christian agreed and said to call him around noon that thursday. We hung up the phone and I was anticipating and also nervous for the interview since this was someone I didn't know and I wasn't sure if he would answer again, but I trusted my friends resource. I thought to myself it was very nice of my friend Ali to help me and also Christian to take the time out of his day to help someone he didn't know. I was thankful. I went straight to my laptop after the phone conversation with Christian and opened the questions I had for him and made sure they were legit ones. 

Interview report: 

On the day of my interview, I woke up confident and felt prepared for it. When noon came, I was surprised to see that Christian had called me before I called him. It made us both laugh and lightened the mood of the conversation. The interview went very smoothly as we both were in a good state of mind and although we were not face to face, we were still able to connect on the same level. 

The interview was on both a professional and friendly level. We talked about the school and marriage systems in Germany. We also talked about the culture and some of the foods they eat there. The interview lasted about a half hour long and we both learned a lot about each others countries and cultures. It was interesting to learn not only about some of the political systems but also so much culture that I learned that I didn't know about. 

The interview went very well and it was good to get the experience of interviewing someone I hardly know. I was happy to talk with Christian and learn about his culture in Germany and was glad to hear his positive attitude over the telephone. In my next interview, I would like to interview someone I don't know face to face. I would like to make more questions in my next interview to get better details on the culture of the country. Also, I would like the interview to last a little longer. Christian and Ali were very helpful with this interview and I thanked both of them.

Interview Bio: 

Christian Hahn is from Berlin, Germany. Christian is 23 years of age and has been residing in St. Cloud,MN for four years. Studying English Interpreting at the St. Cloud State University, Christian says he enjoys it here but misses home. After school he is undecided of where he will live as he stated in the interview: 

"I'm not sure yet I want to go back home to my family but I like America a lot. It just depends on the future I guess." 

Christian first started school at the age of 6. He switched schools until he hit the age of ten and then chose one of four school to study at, which would determine his later career. Christian also stated in the interview that the colleges and universities were paid for by the tax payers, not the students. After completing his general studies classes, Christian graduated high school and began to work for his father in his bakery shop. His father owned many shops around the Berlin area, which is part of the reason as to why Christian came to America. Christian's father wants to better the business by bringing in more tourists to his shops. By promoting that his business operators know english, more tourist business for him. Christian then decided to come to America to study English. He came for his father and also for himself. He is now furthering his english studies and communication for his future. 

Country report: 

Germany is one of the most popular countries in the world. It is knows for tourism, art, geography and culture. The population in Germany is very high (approximately 81,859,000 people live in Germany) and they have one of the best educational systems, production rates, and technology developments. One of the biggest things about Germany is its tourism. The biggest city in Germany and the capital of Germany is Berlin. People go there from all around the world for their music, art, museums, and heritage. There are also many rivers, lakes, and parks including one of Germany's largest lakes, Lake Muggelsee. 

Germany has one of the most diverse cultural influences of any country. People, for the most part, love to get together and celebrate, they celebrate mostly breads and wines. People in Germany, of course, speak German. Although most of them know good English, there can be some complications with tourism and business owners. However, most businesses have learned to practice english for their company. 

Some facts i learned from my interview with Christian about Germany are the educational system, marriage system and somewhat about the culture. Christian also told me about the health of most Germans, holidays and other traditions Germans have. 

Children in Germany attend three different school until they reach the age of 18, most like here in America but the school systems are ran through the state. Tax payers pay for the students school from the time they start at the age of 6 all the way through their college. When the children reach the age of 10, they then go to a school of which then might determine their future, since their are four different types of trade schools in Germany. The marriage system is also very interesting. Since there are many different cultures in Germany, there are many traditions when getting married. Before having an actual ceremony for the bride and groom, they must already be legally married. The wedding style can vary depending on the culture of the combined families but most women wear white dresses with flowers in their hair and the men wear simple black suits. Before the wedding the bride and groom wear their rings on their left hand, after the wedding, they switch the rings to the left hand, in some cultures. 

Germans eat a lot of healthy food. The meals in their day consist of bread and noodles. In the morning they typically have thick nutritious bread with jelly. In the afternoon the family makes a large meal for all of them containing potatoes, meats, veggies, and of course, breads. At night, a typical German will eat a sandwich with noodles or bread. They eat these big meals during celebrations on holidays also. But with much more. Wine is typically drank on celebration days also. Some holidays in Germany are the same as here in America. They have Easter, New Years, and Christmas. Other holidays they have for themselves are Epiphany and Unification day. 

Our Conversation: 

Me: Hello Christian, how are you today?

Christian: Good nice to be talking to you today. 

Me: You too, thanks for talking with me.

Christian: no problem.

Me: Ok I have some questions about you and where you are from. Can you begin by telling me a little about yourself like your home country and your name?

Christian: Sure, my name is Christian Hahn. I'm from Berlin, Germany but I live in St. Cloud, Minnesota. I'm 23 years old and I have been here studying English Interpreting for four years now. I like it here a lot. 

Me: Why did you chose to study here? 

Christian: I had a lot of opportunities to study in varies countries but I wanted to learn more english and major in it. I knew I wanted to come to America to study but not St. Cloud in specific. How about you? Why did you come here?

Me: Just like you, I want to learn more english and I study Business Administration here. So what will you do after school are you going to go back home or will you stay here?

Christian: I'm not sure yet I want to go back home to my family but I like America a lot. It just depends on the future I guess.

Me: Even if you want to go back home you can still get a good job there because of your degree and visit here if you want. But I know what you mean I love it here also. 

Christian: Yeah, your right I just don't know yet.

Me: Do you want to tell me more about your country? Anything you find interesting compared to America? 

Christian: I'm from Berlin which is the capital and largest city in Germany. 

Me: About how many people live there? 

Christian: Like 4 million people. It huge. It has a lot of trees and parks and water. It's a beautiful place to live. A lot goes on there because there are a lot of tourists. But what I don't like about Germany is that I feel like I have no freedom of speech. That's what I love about America because that's what America is. 

Me: I agree, we have the same problem where I come from

Christian: Where are you from? 

Me: I'm from Saudi Arabia, I've been here for a few years now. 

Christian: Ok cool.

Me: Could you tell me the difference between the educational system compared to North America?

Christian: When I was a kid, I started school at the age of six. It was mandatory that we attend school for at least nine years. When I turned ten, I went to one of the four types of schools available for my future. The schools were ran by the state and not on a local level so school was free. In America, students have to pay for college but in Germany, taxpayers put us through school. 

Me: Wow people there are lucky to have free school. Did you go to college after you attended general study classes? 

Christian: When I turned 18, and after I graduated, I started working in my dad's shop. He owns numerous bakeries around Berlin and they are very popular. My father wanted more business through tourists but because of the little English he knew, I took it upon myself to come to America to study, not only for the interest of my fathers business, but for me also. I have learned english now but want to continue with my studies before thinking about returning home.

Me: It's nice that you are there for your father and you want to do it for him and yourself.

Christian: I'm always there for my family but I have to plan my future also. That's one very important culture trade my father depends on me to succeed in my studies.

Me: What about the marriage process? Countries have a lot of different ways of getting married. What are some traditions when getting married in Germany? 

Christian: Usually, people in Germany wear their rings on the right hand after the wedding. And in the wedding, the brides wear white dresses but usually wear flowers or other things in her hair instead of a veil. The men just wear black suits and before they have a ceremony, the couple must be already legally married because it is illegal to have a ceremony without being married through the government already. 

Me: I learned about traditions here in America for weddings and it sounds like a really big difference. 

Christian: It is and there are a lot more traditions. Germany has the most traditions for weddings that I think I've ever seen. 

Me: What kind of activities do young people like to do in your country? 

Christian: Well a lot of young tourists come here so there are many things to do here for them but for the people that live here, beach parties, football games, and shopping are some things young people like to do. 

Me: Sounds like fun. So if I went there what would you suggest I do? 

Christian: Go to Berlin there is a lot more to do there because of its size. 

Me: Thanks for the suggestion. 

Christian: Your welcome. 

Me: So can you tell me about some major holidays in Germany? 

Christian: The main holidays I would say are New Years Day, Christmas, Epiphany, and Unification Day. 

Me: What do you do for these holidays? 

Christian: We celebrate just like any other country. Food, gifts, laughter and fun with family and friends. 

Me: What kind of food does your family enjoy?

Christian: In the morning we usually eat bread with jelly or something and for dinner we usually have potatoes and noodles or sandwiches. Those are the main foods in my day. 

Me: That sounds really good. Haha 

Christian: What does your family have? 

Me: For food? We usually eat rice with meat and for breakfast we have eggs with bread or just bread and cheese. 

Christian: Nice. 

Me: Thank you. So, is there anything in your country that is considered offensive? 

Christian: Haha. Yeah, there are a lot of insulting words just like here. 

Me: They would be really hard for me to say because German is a hard language. 

Christian: Yeah, but once you learn it, it is pretty easy. 

Me: Alright, I have one more question for you before we end our interview. What do you perceive as differences between your culture and the American culture?

Christian: There are many differences. A few of them are the way we eat, concern for global warming, and constant concern for our health. These are the most interesting and the best examples for you because America is much different. 

Me: What makes you feel your concern for health is more then here. 

Christian: On almost every corner in Germany, you find a bakery. Every corner in America has a McDonalds. 

Me: Haha, that is very true. Is there anything you want to add to conclude our interview? 

Christian: You should visit Germany one day. It is amazing there. Also, I enjoyed being interviewed and having this conversation with you. 

Me: It was my pleasure, I really appreciate you meeting with me for the interview.

Christian: It is no problem, good luck with your presentation. 

Me: Thank you again and I also thanked Ali for helping find you because I didn't know anyone from Germany until now. 

Christian: I'm glad to help you don't worry and if you need anything else just call me or email me. 

Me: Ok thank you Christian have a nice day. 

Christian: You too man, talk to you later.

............

Resources: 

http://www.germany.travel/en/index.html 

http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0107568.html 

wiki 

http://userpage.chemie.fu-berlin.de/adressen/berlin.html