Griffin Zetterberg

4/14/17

Spring Cultural Interview

This cultural interview really made me do something I probably wouldve never done

before, but Im really glad I got the opportunity to do it because of the different things I learned

from the experience. My interviewee was named Abdullah and he was from a small south village

in Saudi Arabia. I previously knew nearly nothing about the big country of Saudi Arabia except

for the fact that they are a really big nation in the oil business. Some of the thoughts I had about

the middle eastern country were stereotypical in the sense that they had negative connotations

along with them; however, due to the lack of knowledge about the country itself a lot of my ideas

were just broad generalizations. For example, I assumed that since they are big in the oil

business, not only theyd have a lot of money but a lot of people in the country would have nice

things such as Lamborghinis and such expensive toys. I planned to meet Abdullah in the library,

where I found it would be easy to converse and at the same time be in a calm environment so not

only we could talk aloud but he and I both would feel comfortable. Coming from an I.B. School

system in Charlotte, North Carolina (International Baccalaureate) I found it found it quite easy

and not nerve wrenching to talk to someone of a different culture. All through high-school my

acquaintances were very diverse, and from countries all over the world with all types of various

backgrounds. I really enjoyed this because now it is helping me with things such as meeting new

people in college and participating in certain exercises such as this interview.

 During this interview process I learned many things that helped broaden my horizons not

only on a certain individual but the middle eastern cultural as a whole. Abdullah really is brave in

the sense that he traveled to America on his own away from his family, thousands of miles away

(approx.= 7,500 miles) in search of a better education, more diverse world, and a plethora of job

opportunities compared to that of Saudi Arabia. He said in his very own words in response to

expectations he had about the United States, very awesome, there is advanced technology,

developed cities, public transportation and really excellent buildings and ways of living like

apartments. Abdullah shared with me that his primary ways of learning English consisted of

watching lots of American movies such as The Titanic, Gattaca, Mission Impossible, Lord of the

Rings, watching his favorite sport, soccer in English and whenever he stumbled across a new

word hed write it down in his own word bank and look it up in his free time. Striving to learn

English for at least an hour extra a day was highly important to him. His primary motivation to

move to America was for a better education and job opportunities. He received his bachelors in

engineering in Saudi Arabia but came to America in search of a better understanding of English

as he wants to master his English skills at the university. He chose UNCC because in his words,

the weather is good and Ohio/Indiana are too cold. He was quite astonished by how much

American women worked as in his country, the men hold the majority of the workload in the

household and he didnt understand the concept of single parenting as divorce is frowned upon

and not as prevalent in Saudi Arabia in his eyes. Other things he had to get adjusted to were

things such as the amount of freedom he had once he got here, he wasnt used to seeing women

driving on the roads as in Saudi Arabia they are banned from doing so. He spoke to me about

how he likes Americas government more because they dont push religion onto you as they do

with everything based off of Islamic ruling in Saudi Arabia. Abdullah shared with me how he
hopes that the growing internet and globalization will lead to more liberal views in his country,

which in his mind will make it a better place to live.

Other small things he had to adjust to were things such as he now has to cook every meal

for himself and he has to use public transportation rather than how he drove his own car in his

village. He misses his family and his mothers cooking the most, but he told me that he has found

solutions to these problems as he has now made lots of new friends at the university and he has

found various restaurants with food from back home that hes likes and is used to. A fun fact I

noted was how he noted that in Saudi Arabia, McDonalds was way more expensive than how it

is thought to be a cheap alternative in America. His favorite restaurant in Charlotte is called Al-

Basha and on his free time he likes to go the Hookah lounge because thats a common place to

hang out with friends in his old country (whereas alcohol is prohibited).

All together I learned a learned a lot about the country of Saudi Arabia from the viewpoint of

someone who lived there all their life, which holds great value information wise compared to my

previous misconceptions of the country. My pre-interview thoughts and questions all got

answered and Im satisfied because I too got questions in that werent the ones listed, just out of

curiosity. I would consider the interview a success because I not only got to know more about the

culture and lifestyle of the people living in Saudi Arabia but I also got a one on one conversation

that wouldve probably never taken place had I not taken this opportunity and done this

interview, with a kid my age but from a completely different background.