Interview # 2

Name SISAY GIRMAY

Class English 191

Section 21

Interviewee Soliana Abate

Country Ethiopia

Date 10/29/2009

My interviewee is from Ethiopia, Eastern part of Africa. Her name is Soliana Abate; she is a sophomore student currently enrolled at St. Cloud State University. She is double majoring in business and aviation. I did my interview on October 29, 2009.

Sisay: - Tell me about Ethiopia.

Soliana: - Ethiopia I guess the first thing that I tell people about Ethiopia is that coffee is first originated in Ethiopia because most people which are the majority of the citizens of America are coffee drinkers so that’s one interesting thing that I can tell you. Ethiopia is located on the eastern part of Africa. Umm and it’s called the horn of Africa. There are a lot of ethnic groups in Ethiopia as religion wise they are different kind Muslim, Christianity and Protestant are the three main religion but am not sure about the percentage or number.

Sisay: - How long have you been in United States of America?

Soliana: - I have been here for actually it’s going to be five years in July so it’s four years and something.

Sisay: - How was the home sickness?

Soliana: - Not so bad I want to say and it didn’t hit me until sometime but not so bad.

Sisay: - Do you have families or siblings in the United States?

Soliana: - Yes I do. Well in generally I have eight siblings and one of my sister lives in DC, the rest of them live back home and as for the majority part of my family they live in Washington DC, my aunts, uncles and extended family members.

Sisay: - How did you keep in touch with your families and friends back home?

Soliana: - Mostly of course telephone is the main one another access is internet through e-mails so that’s the way we usually keep in touch and I also get to see some of my family members because they travel they come here and I also have the privilege to go home.

Sisay: - What is the family life like in your country? Who plays the dominant role?

Soliana: - Family in Ethiopia is I want to say that our culture is family oriented but speaking of my family I really cannot say there is a dominant person who play a dominant role because my mom and my dad had pretty much like an equal sharing type of thing. So there wasn’t a specific role they were playing besides being the father and the mother. My mom used to earn an income until some point and then well my father is a business man so he has been contributing to the income from whatever time I can remember but mostly I guess my dad he does he works then my mom became a house wife after sometime. Both of them determine what happens in the house because my mom is a strong woman to decide. Of course sometime it had to come from my dad but we decide things as a family what works best and what doesn’t.

Sisay: - What do you and your friends do for fun back home?

Soliana: - Mostly it’s just family gathering because I had a very strict family so I wasn’t early allowed to go out of the house beside school family was my life and of course church. So fun would be a normal day having my cousins come over to the house just for a family gathering and friend wise I guess sports we used to play volleyball which is another fun thing.

Sisay: - Have you experience any culture shock?

Soliana: - Yes I have. One thing I was really shocked about was how students treat their teachers, the communication that teachers had with their students and how young people treat older people so that was completely different for me because back home you have the authority to ask to some point but you cannot question all the way and you had to be very respectful and that goes both ways for teachers and how you treat adults as well.

Sisay: - What is your first coming experience to United States of America?

Soliana: - It’s ok because there were some things that I expected and I didn’t get or see and there were some things that I didn’t expect at all and so I had to experience it. So I guess the one thing I would say is the race difference; racism because when I first moved I moved to Duluth so I went to high school that was not diversified at all so that was a very big shock for me and actually I experience racism.

Sisay: - What was your first impression of the United States and what is your opinion now?

Soliana: - I used to come here for vacation before I moved to the United States of America so I kind of had a little bit of experience in what to expect like I said. I expected Ethiopian people to keep their culture but most of them were different. My view about America was changed after I came here because actually when I was back home the thought that I had was that everything comes kind of easy, you have to work but you didn’t have to work as hard as back home I guess. So that what I thought and obviously life teaches you one day at a time that it’s not easy. Every day is learning experience for me so I like it being here.

Sisay: - Did you find it easy to make friends or did you feel alienated?

Soliana: - It depends where you, where as speaking of state to state or city to city, here in Minnesota I found it a little bit harder than other places. I think people are not ready to leave their comfort zone which makes it harder for me or for us. It’s easier to make international students because we are from the same back ground and we can understand each other. But to make friends from here or even from Europe it’s harder for me because you are seen like a different person.

Sisay: - Why did you choose Saint Cloud State University?

Soliana: - That’s a good question. Like I said I was in Duluth so I want to move from Duluth because they don’t have my major. So the only place I looked is Saint Cloud and I heard that they have the best business and aviation programs and as for expense tuition wise it wasn’t too bad and there were more Ethiopians here and I wasn’t far away from the cities and that I know I don’t want to move out of Minnesota so I thought that it’s more convenient.

Sisay: - How is your country’s educational structure when compared with United States of America?

Soliana: - I want to say it’s very tough. Well I went to a private school when I was in Ethiopia so we went through the Ethiopian curriculum until six grade and then through the Cambridge that comes from London. So the Ethiopia’s was harder as it compared. Education was taken seriously when we see the relationship between students and professors.

Sisay: - What are your goals in life?

Soliana: - I feel like I have too many and I can’t even follow one but my goal right now is to graduate obviously with my major and I plan hopefully the economy will be better and I will find a job with my aviation major. After I had some work experience I will do my masters and will back to my country and work for Ethiopian airlines and start my own business and my own life there I guess.

Sisay: - Do you think coming to America will help you achieve those goals?

Soliana: - Oh yes definitely and that’s if I work hard of course. Like as I said things are easier here and it cost many things of course but it really is much easier here where as I wouldn’t have the opportunity to choose what it is I want to do if I was there. I would have been limited actually because I would have either joined my father’s company and I would have been ended working for him and I would have been more discourage to seek what I want to do because everything is laid out there for me where as here I have to work for it myself.

Sisay: - What is your native language?

Soliana: - the native language is Amharic and the working language too. English is the medium of instruction in Ethiopian colleges and universities. Other languages such as Tigrigna and Oromigna are also commonly speaking languages.

Sisay: - What are the main festivals in your country and how do they compare to the festivals that we celebrate here?

Soliana: - the one thing that comes to my mind when I was thinking about festivals or holidays is food and depending on your religion, church or mosque you will go there. When they get back it’s all about eating and having fun with family. The main holidays in Ethiopia are Christmas and Easter.

Sisay: - Do you think the United States has affected your country in any ways? Positive or negative?

Soliana: - I want to say a little bit of negative and a little bit positive. The negative thing that I say is it has somewhat influenced our culture and when I say our culture, people are somewhat losing our culture and holding to the hip-hop and the Rand B not to say that’s the only culture that America has but that’s something we have learned from here so it has influenced us in a negative way. In the positive side, the work ethic, in the work area people are striving more and are getting new ideas as to business wise I think that’s something positive and I can’t really talk much about the government but people are working for a democracy.

Sisay: - Is it important to separate state and religious function?

Soliana: - I personally believe that they have to be separate but somewhat or some way that they are going to interact. They should stay separate when religion gets into the state it’s not going to be good because there are different religions in the country and it will not going to support only one religion. So you have to make sure that every one’s opinion is heard and their thought has to be respected.

Sisay: - You have answered all of my questions, thank you. Do you have anything that you would like to add?

Soliana: - Thank you for having me and no actually you have covered all the topics.