My First Interview

 

 

Before beginning the interview, we wrote an objective in class. This objective answered the

questions “why”,“with whom”, and “how”referring to the interview with an international student.

We also wrote ten questions together as a class. Also I did add five of my own questions to the ten

questions that we already chose as a class. After that I started looking for international students to

interview them.

My first interview was with one of my friends from Saudi Arabia Sajjad Rabaan. He is also one of my classmates. The interview went easer then I expected because my country and Saudi Arabia have same religion and also a lot of common things such as food and holidays.

Country Repoet:
Country: Saudi Arabia

Officially known as the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, is the largest Arab state in Western Asia by land area (approximately 2,150,000 km2 (830,000 sq mi), constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula) and the second-largest in the Arab world (after Algeria). It is bordered by Jordan and Iraq to the north, Kuwait to the northeast, Qatar, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates to the east, Oman to the southeast, Yemen in the south, the Red Sea to the west and Persian Gulf to the east. Its population is estimated to consist of 16 million citizens and an additional 9 million registered foreign expatriates and 2 million illegal immigrants. Saudi Arabia’s geography is diverse, with forests, grasslands, mountain ranges and deserts. The climate varies from region to region. Temperatures can reach over 110 degrees Fahrenheit in the desert in the summer, while in the winter temperatures in the north and central parts of the country can drop below freezing. Saudi Arabia gets very little rain, only about four inches a year on average.

Saudi Arabia has the world's 2nd largest oil reserves, which are concentrated largely in the Eastern Province. Oil accounts for more than 95% of exports and 70% of government revenue, although the share of the non-oil economy has been growing recently. This has facilitated the transformation of an underdeveloped desert kingdom into one of the world's wealthiest nations. Vast oil revenues have permitted rapid modernization, such as the creation of a welfare state. It has also the world's sixth largest natural gas reserves.

The official language of Saudi Arabia is Arabic. The three main regional variants spoken by Saudis are Hejazi Arabic (about 6 million speakers), Nejdi Arabic (about 8 million speakers ) and Gulf Arabic (about 0.2 million speakers). The large expatriate communities also speak their own languages, the most numerous being Tagalog (700,000), Rohingya (400,000), Urdu (380,000), and Egyptian Arabic (300,000).

 There are about 25 million people who are Muslim, or 97% of the total population. About 85–90% of Saudis are Sunni, while Shias represent around 10–15% of the Muslim population.The official and dominant form of Sunni Islam in Saudi Arabia is commonly known as Wahhabism (a name which some of its proponents consider derogatory, preferring the term Salafism), founded in the Arabian Peninsula by Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab in the eighteenth century, is often described as 'puritanical', 'intolerant' or 'ultra-conservative'. However, proponents consider that its teachings seek to purify the practice of Islam of any innovations or practices that deviate from the seventh-century teachings of the Islamic Prophet Muhammad and his companions. Shias face persecution in employment and religious ceremonies.

Saudi Arabia has centuries-old attitudes and traditions, often derived from Arab tribal civilization. This culture has been bolstered by the austerely puritanical Wahhabi form of Islam, which arose in the eighteenth century and now predominates in the country. The many limitations on behaviour and dress are strictly enforced both legally and socially. Alcoholic beverages are prohibited, for example, and there is no theatre or public exhibition of films. However, the Daily Mail and Wikileaks indicate that the Saudi Royal family applies a different moral code to itself ("WikiLeaks cables: Saudi princes throw parties boasting drink, drugs and sex. Royals flout puritanical laws to throw parties for young elite while religious police are forced to turn a blind eye.") Public expression of opinion about domestic political or social matters is discouraged. There are no organizations such as political parties or labour unions to provide public forums.