First Interview with Mehert Grimay

Interview 1

Mehert Grimay

ENGL 191

Prof. Specht-Jarvis

Date: 10/28/10

Sanjina : Hi! I’m Sanjina

Mehert : Hi!I'm Mehert.

Sanjina: How are you?

Mehert : Good. How about you?

Sanjina: How was your day?

Mehert: It was good.Just a little bit cold.

Sanjina: It was really really windy right?

Mehert : Yup!

Sanjina: Okay as I already explained it to you about the interview, is it okay if I record your video.

Mehert : Yup! It’s alright but I don’t like my pictures in that video.

Sanjina: I’ll make sure that you don’t have your pictures in the record.

Mehert: Okay

Sanjina : So, starting the interview which country are you from?

Mehert : I’m from Ethiopia

Sanjina: What is the capital city of Ethiopia?

Mehert : Addisababa

Sanjina: Why did you plan to come to United States?

Mehert: I always wanted to go to high school or college in United States and to get a better education. There are more opportunities in United States than Ethiopia.

Sanjina : What is you nationality?

Mehert : I am an Ethiopian.

Sanjina: What is your religion?

Mehert : I’m Christian.

Sanjina: Is every people in Ethiopia christians?

Mehert: I think the people in Ethiopia are half Christian and half Muslim.

Sanjina : Well, is the Christian religion divided into subgroups ?     

Mehert : Yes, the Christianity religion divided into catholic,protisst and orthodox.

Sanjina: Do all of these subgroups follow same culture?

Mehert : Well, they have different belief but they follow the same culture.

Sanjina: Can you tell me something about your country Ethiopia?

Mehert: Most people think that Ethiopia is dessert but it a country locates in the east Africa. It’s a horn of East Africa. It’s a beautiful country.

Sanjina : In comparision to the area, how much part of East Africa does Ethiopia cover?

Mehert : Well I really don’t know about it but I think its covers the horn part as shown in the map of Africa.

Sanjina: What is your first language?

Mehert : Amharic

Sanjina: Do you speak English in your country?

Mehert: Yes , We speak English just only in one class which was called as ELL.

Sanjina : Well, was it necessary for the students to speak in English even in conversation? Because in our country, English was used as a second language and we also had to conversate with our friends in English.

Mehert : In our high school, while I was in grade 8 our teacher told us to speak only in english and if he finds you speaking in different language you would be charged. So, they had to speak in english.

Sanjina: How long have you been in the States?

Mehert : It’s been almost two years.

Sanjina: Have you been liking staying here?

Mehert: Yup! It’s nice

Sanjina : Better than your country?

Mehert : I love my country because I have stayed there all my life but United States is nice too. It’s just that I don’t have my family here.

Sanjina: Do you miss your parents?

Mehert : Yes I do.

Sanjina: Let’s talk about your family?

Mehert: I have two brothers and one sister.

Sanjina : Are they all in Ethiopia?

Mehert : Nope, one of brother and my sister are here but one of my brother are backin my country.

Sanjina: Why did you choose St. Cloud State University?

Mehert : I actually first went to Montana State University. It was nice place but it was expensive for international student. So, I transferred to St cloud state university as it was cheaper.

Sanjina: What was you major again?

Mehert: Nursing

Sanjina : Why did you choose nursing as you major?

Mehert : I like to help people and I like to volunteer and work with children and adult people. I thought this would be a great chance to work with people who are in need.

Sanjina: Once you graduate or you get a degree from the university are you planning to go back?

Mehert : Ya, I would love to go back to my country.

Sanjina: But do you want to work for some time here?

Mehert: Yes, I want to work here too.

Sanjina : Are you planning to get married right after you graduate?

Mehert : No, I don’t think I’ll get married exactly after I graduate.

Sanjina: Do a lot people from your country have to marry the same race people?

Mehert : No, they don’t have to. You can marry anyone you like. Your parents do not choose a guy for you. It actually depends on people.

Sanjina: Are you planning to get married with an American guy then?

Mehert: Yup, I would love to.

Sanjina : When you graduate for sure you will have degree. How do you think you will contribute to your country?

Mehert :Well, after I graduate I am planning to go back to my country and  volunteer and help people. I hope I’ll be a great help to my country.

Sanjina: But with your degree you can get a job in your country?

Mehert : Yes, I’ll get a pretty good job if I go back to my country.

Sanjina: Do you get paid really high?

Mehert: With my degree they will me high but comparing to United States it’s low.

Sanjina : Well, following with my questions, are you involved in any cultural organization in the school?

Mehert :  We just developed our Ethiopian organization so I am doing my best to involve in the organization.

Sanjina: How are guys trying to aware people in the school? Are you guys doing any cultural programs in the school?

Mehert : Well, the organization was started just a month ago. Two weeks ago, the organization was selling ethiopian tea and bread to raise the amount of money for the organization.

Sanjina: How did that go ?

Mehert: Yes, It did go really well and we raised a good amount of money.

Sanjina : I hope you have a lot of friends in St. Cloud State University. Do you have more international or American friends?

Mehert : Well, while I was back in Montana I had many international and American friends rather than Ethiopian. But, here there are number of Ethiopian friends but I really don’t hang out with them. I have more Nepali friends and I hang out more with them.

Sanjina: What do you think to what extents do you think you have adjusted to American culture in term s of academic and day to day life?

Mehert : Well I never worked while I was in my country. I started working after I came here along with my studies. In the beginning it was tiring but now it is fine. It doesn’t bother me.

Sanjina: Do you feel your time is more valued over here than in your country?

Mehert: Definitely, I used my time, make my plans and work according to it. Every time I study or work or do something.

Sanjina :  Turning to food now, yummy right? What kind of food do you guys eat in your country?

Mehert : We love spicy food and our food is spicy. We have different type of food and have different kind of chicken sauce.

Sanjina: Is it different than American food?

Mehert : It is completely different.

Sanjina: Do you think that American would like your food? Do they wonder about your food?

Mehert: Well there are many American who love Ethiopian food but also at the same time it’s really hard for people to eat at the first time because it is very spicy. As we an international student, we have been eating spicy food and we are used to it. Some people really wonder about our food because they think they are hurting their tongue. It’s weird or us that Americans always use cheese in their food and I think that not a healthy food to eat every day.

 Sanjina : Moving on, what kind of holidays do you have in your country?

Mehert : We have ester, new year, Christmas , good Friday and others.

Sanjina: How do you celebrate Christmas?

Mehert : We go to church in the morning and we make different food.

Sanjina: Is it same like American culture?

Mehert: Well, family gathers and there is food and tree.

Sanjina : Do you get gifts?

Mehert : Not really.

Sanjina: Are there different cultures in your country?

Mehert : Do you mean different regions?

Sanjina: Yes. Do all the people speak the same language or the different language?

Mehert: All of the different region have different culture and have different way of styling themselves and they speak different languages.

Sanjina : Can you tell me something about your national dress?

Mehert : The national dress is white in color , made up of cotton. In old times, the dress used to be made up of silver because silver used to be very cheap. On the top, boys wear a shirt and a pant white in color but the girls have a long dress. We also have a scarf for to cover the girl’s hair

Sanjina: How do you celebrate wedding in your country?

Mehert : Well, we celebrate our wedding in two ways in modern ways and traditional ways. In the modern ways, the couples go to church and get married. Most of them do not have priest but some of them have priest and they perform rituals and get married. The wedding last for three days where the first day before the wedding  where they have engagement and the second is wedding day and third day is the reception where the girls and guys family meet up each other and have fun.  

Sanjina: What about the traditional way?

Mehert: In the old times, the traditional way is that the girl does not know that she is going to get married. The guy comes and he kidnaps her and takes her home and tells the girl family and they get married. She has to agree because the guy had the power to choose the girl.

Sanjina : Does the age matter?

Mehert : Well, you can marry if you are 15 and the girls has to get married because she is shy.

Sanjina: What if she does not want to?

Mehert : She has to because that’s the culture.

Sanjina: So, they just go your home and kidnap you?

Mehert: Not exactly, but he kidnaps her while she is going to fetch water or while she is going shopping. The guy goes with his best man and other boys so even if she yells no one is going to protect her.

Sanjina : Well that sounds very interesting.

Mehert : Yes it is!

Sanjina: Well I think we are at the end of the interview so do you have any questions for me?

Mehert : Yes. Are you going to marry an American guy or a Nepali guy?

Sanjina: I think I will look for a guy whom I love and tell it to my parents and make sure I get married to him.

Mehert: Oh really!

Sanjina : Yup. Well, thank you for the nice interview and your time. I really appreciate it.

Mehert : You are most welcome.

Sanjina: Thank you again

Preparations for the interview: 

I first prepared the questions of my interviews and then I printed it out. According to the class, we had to include the core questions so I included those questions with all my questions. I decided to conduct my interviews with my Ethiopian friends because I had a lot of friends from Ethiopia that I get along with. I decided to use my own camera as a voice recorder. I had some friends who lived near my apartment. I actually called them and decided to meet in my house for the interview. My first interviewee was Mehert Girmay who is my friend from Ethiopia. We made a decision to meet on October 22^nd for the interview. On October 22^nd I met her in my house and I conducted the interview. We figured out that doing the interview in my room would be much comfortable. I was ready with my questions and my recorder so right away I gave her my questions and started the interview.

My First Interview Experience In Class

I worked with two of my class mates Lacy and Chris. It was really nice talking to these guys talking about my culture and sharing their culture to me. We started the beginning with the introduction and talked about our day which went really good and easy. Both of my friends I interviewed were from America so, it was easy for me to ask them questions. In the beginning, we shared about our family and culture. With Chris, I talked mostly about the big holidays celebrated in United States and he shared that Christmas and Ester would be the greatest festival. He shared how his families would celebrate the Christmas and get gifts and presents from their parents. Chris also explained he always had fun getting gifts from his parents and he still gets it. We also talked about what kind of religion he was. He explained me that he was undecided of his religion. He considered himself as half Christianity and half as an atheist. Furthermore, we also talked a little about how the marriage ceremony was performed. He explained that most girls and guys go on a date as a start. They might be in a relationship for three years and they decide to get married. In the marriage ceremony, usually there are people from family of both the brides and bridegroom. He explained the ceremony last around for like 45 minutes. I asked him if he had been recently to wedding ceremony, it was interesting to know that he had been to his own parents wedding. It was interesting to learn about all these things about him. With Lacy, It was again easy for me because she was really friendly as soon as we started interviewing each other. We did the same learned the same thing about our family and the environment that we grew up. I was really happy to know that she grew up in the country side and loved being grown up as a daughter of a farmer. She explained that she grew up in smaller place than Saint Cloud which had much more population. We also talked about how we miss our parents because I was away from my parents and she did the same. We talked about the education difference between high school and college both in United States and in Nepal.  It was interesting to know that she was done with her general classes in her high school level. We also talked about the wedding ceremony which was pretty much the same as Chris explained it to me. I think the communicative situation was pretty good and we were much more comfortable to each other. I felt really happy and I am really grateful to our English teacher that we practiced in the class and with our class mates. I think this exercised helped not only me but also to all my friends and this exercise has made much easier for me to interview. I think I am really confident and ready to take interviews with my interviewee.