First interview report

preparation for my interview

For my interview, I made a questions sheet that I wanted to ask. When I prepared my question sheet I selected the questions which our classmates want to ask on the top. This can make sure most of the questions can be answered. When I was preparing my interview questions, I was trying to memorize some questions I want to ask during the interview. I think this will make the interview flow better.

                I have a friend introduced me to a few of his friends. They are from Saudi Arabia. I used my camera as a recorder and it works well. I made a appointment with my interviewee several days before the interview. I met my interviewee at the library. The day of the interview was Wednesday, October 28th 2010. It was a nice and quite area for most of the interview. The person that I interviewed was named Mohamed Kahin and he is from Saudi Arabia.

Describing the Interview

We enjoyed the interview very much. Kahin was very nice and he didn’t mind me answering any of the questions on my sheet. We were both relaxed during the interview and sometimes we joked around. We just felt we are good friends. During the interview, we switch our role sometime. Kahin also ask questions about my country. This made us feel relax during the interview. At the end of the interview, I made another appointment with him to take a second interview.

Report On Country

Saudi Arabia is located at Mideast and it is the birth place of Islam.  The Saudi state was founded in 1932. Saudi Arabia is located in the Middle East by the Red Sea, and the Persian Gulf. The area of this country is about 1,960,582 million sq. km. Its area is the largest in the Middle East. Most of the area of this country is dessert. But under the dessert, there is a lot of oil. The discovery of oil reserves was in 1937 a few years after the founder of the Saudi State. This is the reason why Saudi Arabia is super rich. The weather in Saudi Arabia is usually very hot. Sand and dust storms are very often. The population of Saudi Arabia is about 28 million, but 5.6 million of them are foreigners. The birth rate is still on the rise, because of their increasing economy. The language is Arabic. More than 200 million people speak Arabic and some of the people speak English. The religion that people believe in is Islam. The word Islam means “submission to God”. The people who follow Islam are called Muslims. The political system of Saudi Arabia called monarchy. A King is chosen from the Al- Saud Family and the King will work with the councils of Ministers. The work week for people in Saudi Arabia is Saturday to Wednesday and Thursday and Friday are weekends.

Interview

Q:Hi my name is Xin, What is yours?

A:My name is Kahin.

Q:  Could you tell me a little bit about yourself and your home country?

A:  My name is Mohamed Kahin, and I am 21 years old.  I am Saudi, and I have been here for 3 years.

Q:  Where do you live in Saudi Arabia ? Is it a big city?

A:  I am from Riyadh. It is a very big city and it is a rich city.

Q:  So can you tell me a little bit about your family?

A:  Alright. There are 6 persons in my family : my parents, my 2 older sisters,my younger brother and me.

Q:  So in Saudi, how many children can one parent have? Is there any rules or laws about having children?

A:  No no, there is no rule or law about that.  Around 3 to 4 children in each family. The more children means rich.

Q:  Oh that’s a lot. In China, we just can have one child.So what is the roles of the family members play?

A:  My dad is a bussinessman, he has his own company.  My mom is a housewife, she does all the house work, and take care of the children.

Q:  So how is the weather in Saudi Arabia?

A:  It’s hot. Although in winter

Q:  How do you like the weather here so far?

A:  It’s too cold.  I want to move to LA in the funture.

Q:  Do you have any knowledge about St. Cloud before you came here?  And St. Cloud Stat University?

A:  I didn’t know anything about St. Cloud.  About the school, I looked it up online.  I didn’t know very much about the school or the city actually.

Q:What is your major and why did you decide to choose it?

A:I chose finance because it has a lot of jobs back home and it pays well. Also I am good with math.

Q:Are you planning on going back to Saudi Arabia after you graduate?

A:I haven't decided yet. At the moment I am thinking of staying severals years after graduating.

Q:How is the education here compared to back home?

A:It is very different, democracy plays a important role in everything here. Back home if the professor just didn’t like the way you looked then he could give you an F if he wanted to. You can't do anything because the professor is always right.

Q:Do you interact with men and women differently? How?

A:Yes, Women have a certain privacy to engage in a conversation if they would like to or not. If you are not a relative or do not have a reason to talk to a girl, then that might cause you some troubles. If you take a girl out and her brothers or father figure out what you did then there could be some issues for it.

Q:What are the weddings like?

A:When everyone comes to the wedding people have the habit of giving money to the married couple.  There is a lot of and dancing and singing. The men and women have separate celebrations. The women usually as their celebrations at the house and the men usually have theirs at a ball room. At the wedding the bride and groom get to sit in a chair called the Zeffa. While they are in the Zeffa people throw flowers at them. It represents that you are the only male in the group.

Q: Okay, well that is some of  the questions that I have for you. Thank you so much for your time. We can continue next time.

A:Your welcome and I will see you next time.
 

"My first interview experience in class"

I had a interview with Khalid and Mohammed. Both of them are from Saudi Arabia. I learned the Saudi Arabia is in the Mideast. Saudi Arabia is a rich country because of they have the most oil in the world. I also learned several cities' named in Saudi Arabia, they are Riyadh and Jeddah. Islam is the main religion in Saudi Arabia. The communicative situation of this small interview is very comfortable. Both of us feel relax and happy to talk to each other, that make us talktive.The questions of the interview are appropriate. None questions made us feel embarrassed. I think we have a good experience in this short interview.

How did it prepare you to conduct the "real" interviews?
First of all, I will prepare my interview questions and get contact with my interviewee to make a appointment. Secondly, I will let the interviewees scan the questions before the interview. Make sure the questions are appropriate to ask. Thirdly, I will explain why I will take a record and ask for their permission to record. Before the interview, I think it is better to begin with a small topic to make both interviewer and interviewee feel relaxation. For example, " How was your day?" and "How is your class going?" During the interview,it is better to take a break when interviewee feel tired or the interviewer cannot get focus. I found that some questions like religion is a sensitive questions. Based on that situation, we'd better to do some researches about the country which the interviewee comes from. Lastly, do not talk to fast, make sure your interviewee understand what you are talking about.