My Second Interview

My second interview with Fahad B

1.  Preparations

Description of preparations:

            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.  I then added five of my own questions to the ten core questions.  After I completed these tasks and bought my recorder, I began to search for people to interview.

How did I approach people?

            I live on campus and often eat my meals at Garvy Commons.  Because it is a cafeteria, I often use this time to socialize with friends and use it as an opportunity to make new friends!  I was sitting with a group of friends, and I was introduced to Fahad.  He told me he was from Pakistan, so I asked him if I could interview him for my English class.  He agreed and was willing to do the interview.  I was excited to interview him because I wanted to compare this interview to the interview I had previously done with Myra.

When, where, and how did I conduct the interview?

I conducted the interview on Thursday, October 24^th at the Caribou Coffee inside of Atwood.  We enjoyed some coffee and made small talk.  I told him more information about the interview, such as I was doing it for my English 191 class.  I also asked him if it was okay for me to record the interview, so I could transcribe it later.  He gave me permission, which allowed me to begin the interview.  I used a recorder I had just purchased at Office Max.  I began with small talk, which included an explanation of why I was interviewing him, then used my questions to conduct the interview, and slowly winded down by asking if he wanted to ask me anything.  I also thanked him for his time.  During the interview, I made sure not to be strict with following the questions and let him converse with me as much as he wanted.  I found most of the information he said to be comparable to what Myra had said.  There was still information that was new to me that Myra had not mentioned.  The interview went very well!

Whom did I interview?

            Fahad is an international student from Pakistan.  He is studying engineering and is an internee engineer at Pak Elektron Limited.  He is an exchange student; therefore, he is a cultural ambassador of Pakistan in the United States.  He helped to represent Pakistan at the Pakistani cultural café that took place on Friday, October 25.  In Pakistan, he studies at the Pakistan Institute of Engineering and Applied Sciences.  He is from Lahore, Pakistan.  He is studying electrical engineering.  He speaks English, Urdu, and Punjabi.  He is Muslim.

2.  Interview report

Description of the interview:

During the interview, I made sure to have good posture, so he would know I am interested in what he has to say and am also respectful.  I also made sure I let him talk for as long as he wanted about a topic.  Sometimes, I would ignore my question list for a little bit if we were becoming engaged in conversation from a previous question.  The interview went very well because he was very open and willing to talk about both his personal experiences in Pakistan and more of a generalized description of what he knew about Pakistan.  There were no topics that made him uncomfortable and not want to discuss.

The questions covered multiple topics.  Through these topics, I was able to learn that Pakistan is very traditional in many aspects, such as conservative clothing style, many mosques located throughout the country, and religious customs and celebrations that occur.  Even though Pakistan is traditional in these aspects, it is also modernizing.  As the literacy rate rises, more women are working outside of their homes and fewer marriages are being arranged.  Because Fahad was so thorough with his answers, I was able to receive a lot of interesting information.  Because he was willing to discuss a lot, the interview went very well.

I met with Fahad in Atwood’s Caribou on the 25^th of October.  We talked for about 30 minutes.  I think the interview went very well.

What surprised me?

            Because I had previously interviewed a Pakistani student, I was not very surprised by what Fahad was telling me.  I was surprised, however, to find that not everyone in Pakistan does an arranged marriage.  Myra made it seem as if that was a custom that everyone practiced.  This is because they are both from different regions of Pakistan, and practices will vary throughout Pakistan, so that was very interesting to learn and also surprised me.

3.  Country Report

            Both of my interviews are of students from Pakistan, so please refer to my first interview to view my country report and cited sources of Pakistan.

4.  Interview transcription of my interview with Fahad B

V = Valerie (me)

F = Fahad B

V: How do you communicate with each other in your home country?

F: In my home country, our national language is Urdu.  Almost everyone in our entire country can understand that language.  We have four provinces.  Each province has its own language.  I am from the Punjab province, and there we speak the Punjabi language.  In my home, we communicate using mainly the Punjabi language, but in our schools, we primarily use Urdu as our means of communication.  In offices, English is the official language.  I can speak three languages because of this; English, Urdu, and Punjabi.  Throughout the country, everyone can understand Urdu, even though every region has its own language.  This is the language that joins us and binds us together.  Otherwise, each region has its own language.  Urdu is the official language, and that is how we communicate. 

V:  What is the clothing style for men and women?

F: Men and women have a dress called Salwar Kameez.  It is long and loose fit.  The shirt is a long shirt.  The pants are loose.  Men and women wear the same, but women’s dresses are fancy and colorful.  Men’s are simple.  That is it.

V: How do you compare that clothing style to what you have seen in the United States?  Could you compare Pakistani clothes versus American clothing?

F:  Actually, in urban areas of Pakistan, a lot of people also wear plain shirts and jeans.  Men also wear these clothes.  In Pakistan, we are religiously a little conservative society.  It depends on the person.  I have never seen someone in shorts.  Some you will see without sleeves, but you do not see that a lot.  Mostly, women will cover themselves.  Otherwise, it is okay.

V:  If you are more conservatively dressed, is it common to go swimming? 

F:  Actually, there are some places were men and women cannot swim together.  There are different places for men and women, so it will make it more okay for how they are dressed for swimming pools.  They are segregated.  That way men can be in their swimsuits and the women too. 

V:  How are women and men treated differently?

F:  Actually, it depends on whether you are part of the urban center or in the village.  Mostly, we are a society that is evolving, but in most of the cases, women are treated with respect.  It depends on the rights they are given.  In urban areas, they are given more rights in their families.  In villages, they have less opportunities than men.  It is not like their rights are violated.  There are cases in the country where women will have their rights violated, but this is not usually.  That is a part of our culture that men have morals with women that are out of tradition. 

V:  Have you noticed any differences in how men and women are treated in the United States compared to Pakistan?

F:  Like I told you, it depends on place to place.  Throughout all of my life, I have lived in urban areas.  I have never seen anyone violating the rights of women.  In my own family, I have a sister.  My father will, all of the time, give her preference.  In many societies, it is more common for women to be given less privileges.  My father, in my family, because we have four brothers and one sister, he always gives priority to my sister.  And that is okay.  I have never seen huge violations.  Maybe it happens somewhere with less educated people who are not very educated and are not well aware of the global life. 

V:  How has your experience here interpret and respect cultural differences?

F:  Here, I have seen people are from almost every part of the world.  They all have their own culture and values.  When I came to American, I got a scholarship, and I had an orientation with close to one hundred people.  They told us that no culture is bad culture.  Every culture is different.  You have to respect them.  You are different to them, and others are different to you.  From that day, I am holding these guidelines, and I feel that they are true.  Each culture is different and has its own values.  I respect them. 

V:  Do you enjoy speaking with other exchange students?

F:  Yes.  I think most of my friends here are exchange students.  Whether they are from Germany, Korea, or any other part of the world.  I live in Lawrence Hall, and some of them live in that building too.  It is good to be talking and exchanging our views and ideas.  Also, I do also have American friends.  When I first came, all of the international students and I became closer friends, and I think it is good to be with them. 

V:  Are you involved in any organizations with exchange students or how did you become friends with them? 

F:  When we came here, we had an orientation week.  From there, the activities we went to allowed us to become closer to each other.  I am also part of the ISA, which is the International Students Association.  This also gives us a platform to come closer.  That is it.

V:  How long have you been in the United States?

F:  I have been here since the fifth of August of 2013.  Not so long.  This is my first trip abroad, and it is good. 

V:  Have you been able to visit any other parts of the United States?

F:  Yes, when I first came, I went to Washington DC, and we had an orientation there.  I got a chance to visit the Washington Memorial, Lincoln Memorial, and the White House.  Then, I came to Minneapolis and the Saint Cloud.  During the fall break, I went to Chicago, and it was good.

V:  Does the United States look like how you expected it to look when you first traveled?

F:  Not really.  From far outside of the United States, we always viewed it as New York.  We thought the entire United States would be like New York.  Now that I came here, I know it is different.  There is Saint Cloud and many places with small towns.  Even much smaller than where I am from.  It was much different than what I expected. 

V:  What are your home country’s major religions?

F:  I am from Pakistan.  The figures show that 97% of Pakistan follow Islam.  The three percent minorities generally follow Christianity.  I think they are Catholic.  I am not very sure.  There are also Hindus.  It depends from which area you are talking about.  Christians mainly live in my province of Punjab, and Hindus are in the southeast province.  I have never seen any Hindu in Punjab living there, but in my university of my hometown, there is one student in my class who is a Hindu and also came to the United States on the same exchange program. 

V:  Are there a lot of mosques?

F:  Yes, actually.  As I told you, 97% of our population is Muslim, so you will see a lot of mosques around.  It is not weird to see them anywhere.

V:  For the minority of Christians and Hindus, are there places of worship for them too?  Or is it mainly mosques?

F:  I live in a place, you can say it is in Lahar, it was a village twenty years before.  Now it is much more developed.  There are two churches there.  Christians will have their own places of worship.  On my way home, there are two cathedrals.  They are always there.  From my childhood, I grew up seeing them. 

V:  What influenced you to come to the United States?  Especially, Saint Cloud State?

F:  As you know, the United States is considered to be the land of opportunities.  As a student, I wished to come to the United States for my undergraduate studies, but I could not.  Luckily, I got a scholarship.  Because of that, I came to the United States.  It was a test that on a merit base they put us into the different universities all over the United States, and I got Saint Cloud State, and I like it. 

V:  If you could choose a different university in the United States, would you choose one?  Like, out in California or something?

F:  Prior to knowing Saint Cloud State, because my major is electrical engineering, the main university I knew of was MIT, and it quite fascinates me. 

V:  How do you usually spend your free time?

F:  Here in the United States?

V: Both!

F:  In my free time, I usually hang out with my friends.  That is the thing that I enjoy.  Otherwise, I will be in my room most of the time because I do not want to get fat.  Besides that, if I have no one to tease, I will watch movies and use Facebook.  These are my main favorite ways of passing time.  I do like to read news.  I like to learn about what is going on all around. 

V:  Is there a common hobby you have back in Pakistan or that is common for people your age? 

F:  Common hobby?  In Pakistan, I used to play cricket, and it is the most favorite sport in Pakistan.  Now, because I am in a university, I do not have much time, so I do not do it while I am in the university.  That is something I used to do when I was a kid.  It is very popular in Pakistan. 

V:  What are important festivals and how do you celebrate them? 

F:  For festivals, there are two religious festivals.  We call them Eid.  Like, Eid ul Fitr and Aid ul Azha.  They are both after Ramadan.  Eid ul Fitr is after Ramadan.  Ramadan is a period of a month where we fast.  We believe that God gave us the festival, called Eid.  We celebrate it.  There are usually a lot of sweets because people make sweets during those days.  It is a family get together.  Families will come and meet and have food and cuisine.  Aid ul Azha is related to the prophet Abraham.  He was going to sacrifice his son, and God replaced his son with a lamb.  From that day onward, Muslims celebrate by sacrificing animals, like lamb, cattle, and anything in regard of that.  This is also a very big holiday for us.  There are also a lot of festivals that are in different places.  There are specific festivals in villages.  People celebrate them.  People used to not have very fun activities, so for a whole year they would stay inactive.  Then, for a period of time, they would get together and play.  There is a sport they can play.  People will come and watch these sports from all over the places. 

V:  During those festivals, is there a lot of eating or parades?  Or, similar to Thanksgiving in America where we eat a ton, is there something that marks the holidays? 

F:  It is kind of the same in Pakistan.  Like, how I told you, there are Eid festivals.  Eid is meant for family get togethers and cuisine.  Mostly, Eid involves sweet eats.  People will make sweet dishes.  It is not only that they make sweet dishes even though it is marked as a sweet eats.  There is a lot of cuisine that families make and share with each other.  During Aid ul Azha, we sacrifice animals and there is a lot of meat all over to eat.  It is mostly linked to food as well.  In the traditional and local Maylas, food is the main compliment as well.  It is very good.

V:  What is the most popular food?

F:  The most popular food involves bread.  Our bread is thin as compared to other parts of the world.  It is thin and white in color.  It is not very brown, but it depends.  Like, if you add oil in it, it turns brown.  It is called paratha.  It is white.  Otherwise, we have curries and chicken.  There is chicken curry and mataar curry.  There are spices.  Maybe you have heard of these?  There is chickpeas and beans.  We have both cuisines of veggie and non-veggie.  The favorite among non-veggie foods would be carahi, such as chicken.  There is a lot of other food too.  Mataar is cooked with spices and with curry, and you will eat it with bread.  For non-veggie, we have peas.  Most of the food is a little spicier than here.

V:  How do you compare that food to the food here in the United States that you have eaten?

F:  It is a lot different.  In my country, it is not like you will totally find only Pakistani food.  There are places where you can find fast food restaurants and also restaurants that offer food from all over the world, like Chinese and Italian.  You can find this food.  Our traditional food is very different from what I have observed here.  It is also different from the fast food restaurants as well.  But if you go to a five star hotel and want to eat any kind of food, you can get any kind of food from the food you like.  Mostly, the traditional food is very different from what we have here. 

V:  I have heard that Pakistani food can be really spicy.  Is there any food here, in the United States, you have had that is more spicy than anything back home or no?

F:  Here, I have not eaten any food that is more spicy.  Here, you are given more options.  Like, everything is in parts.  You have to arrange it yourself.  Like, our food is cooked in a bowl.  Everything is added to it before getting the food out of that bowl.  Here, you have to arrange everything in parts.  Like, for sausage you make, you can make it spicy, but actually, our food is more spicy.  It depends, though, if people add chilies and sauce according to their own taste.  It is not like everything is mandatory. 

V:  Did you say you follow a certain religion?  I am wondering about eating restrictions with food and religion. 

F:  In my home country, in Pakistan, Muslims usually eat halal meat.  We will slaughter animals and kill animals in a certain way.  First, we will have a prayer before slaughtering or killing the animal.  And then, we let the animal bleed for some time, so that the blood flows out from the body.  This is because blood is forbidden in my religion.  We then get meat from this.  It is halal that we eat.  It is only for cows, buffalos, goat, and chicken.  Fish is okay because there are no conditions for fish.  You can eat fish anyway.  Pork is totally forbidden for us.  These are some restrictions for us.

V:  Have you been able to eat meat at Garvy or anywhere? 

F:  No.  I am always eating cheese pizza, fries, and fruit.  That is it.  Everyday and every time. 

V:  That must get old.  How does dating work in Pakistan?

F:  Interesting question.  As you know, Pakistan is a religious country.  Dating is not very common in this society.  You will not find anyone going on dates in public places, mostly.  It depends because urban areas are more open than the village small towns and if you are in an educational institute, we will maybe have co-education.  Here people will date and do all kinds of activities that they want to do.  Mostly, our environment is a little restricted.  Dating does not happen very often, but it is not non-existent.  It depends if you are studying in a very poor area or in a very open area, then you can date.  It is okay.  There are cafés and restaurants, so you can go anywhere.  This is not in most parts of the country. 

V:  I have talked to someone from Pakistan.  They said that arranged marriages are common.  Do you want to talk about that at all?  If it is like common at all.

F:  Yes.  Well, actually, like I told you, there is a liberal and traditional society.  Traditionally, there are often arranged marriages.  And the same thing for liberal families.  Liberal families usually live in cities.  The conservative people normally live in villages and small towns.  I am not saying it is mandatory, but mostly we will have arranged marriages.  For my family, because I am a boy, my family will look for a girl for me.  They will not impose on me.  They will ask me whether or not I would like it or not.  Because in our culture, people will not generally mix with the opposite gender, it is a way to help us get married.  Otherwise, we will be single forever. 

V:  You do not have to have arranged marriages, but it is an option?

F:  Yes.

V:  Okay.  Do you follow a religion?  If so, how does it affect you, such as beliefs, daily life, and preferences?

F:  Like I said, mostly all or 97% of people are Muslim, so I am a Muslim too.  Here, it has affected my life particularly here in the United States.  In Pakistan, for my religion we are obliged to pray five times a day.  It is a ten-minute period for each prayer.  It is the personal will of he or she that want to pray.  No one will force you, but yeah it affects me because everybody is praying around you, so you feel like you should pray.  Here, there are not many mosques around.  In Pakistan, we have prayer calls for five times a day, so that we know when it is the prayer time, so I would know when to go.  Here, sometimes I will miss it.  As far as food is concerned, it is affecting me. 

V:  As far as religion goes, have you noticed it is really hard to follow it or is it not really that big of a deal? 

F:  No.  It is not a big deal.  I have followed it.  The United States is very open to everyone else.  The people are very tolerant.  They honor your beliefs and respect your values.  I have never come across a person who will discriminate against me regarding my religion. 

V: Good!  I know you guys read the Koran, so do you then read that everyday in your room or do you not do that?

F:  Actually, in my country, as a kid I would learn to read Arabic for the Koran.  The Koran is in Arabic.  Arabic is a very complicated language.  I can read it, but I cannot understand it or what it exactly means.  As I told you, I can speak three languages.  Arabic is one that I can read, but I cannot understand.  Mostly people read it early in the morning.  They will go to the mosques for prayer that is before sunset.  Along with it, people will read the Koran.  You can read the Koran any other part of the day as well, but this is what people usually do.  As I said, life in the United States is not very similar to Pakistan, so I do not get a chance to read the Koran very often here.  We do it in Pakistan. 

V:  I know there are different festivals that happen with Islam in Pakistan, so is there anything special that happens here that allows you to celebrate it?  Or is it just like a normal day here when Eid happens?

F:  Here, it depends on the area you are living in.  In Saint Cloud, there are a lot of Muslims.  When I first came to Washington DC, there were a lot of Pakistani students around, and some of them knew how to offer Eid prayer, so I got a chance to offer Eid prayer.  Here, I could not because I could not figure out where it was.  It was not around campus.  It was quite far away.  I missed my Eid prayer.  We have two Eid holidays.  We also have some other festivals and events that happen in a year that are related to religion.  We celebrate the birthday of our prophet.  It is very much celebrated.  People make a rally where they can offer prayers and arrange events.  We will sing knots in regard to our prophet.  They are honorary songs for him.  I cannot get the exact translation of that.  We will have events and organize rally revering him.  We also have an Islamic calendar.  When the year first starts, Muslims mourn the deaths of the sons of the prophet.  And will fast for the month.  In the English calendar, the first month is January, so we have a different name for our first month.  People will mourn for the grandsons of this prophet.  It will depend of which sect you are.  People who are Shias, they will mourn.  Pakistan was founded on the name of religion.  People are very attached and tied to religion, so you will see people following Islam.  Our society is open to almost everyone.  Everyone has religious freedoms in our society.  Everyone follows religion.  Here, I have seen that people mostly do not want to share.  There, we will share, but it is not that anyone will stop you.

V:  Do you have any questions for me?  I have asked a ton from you!

F:  It is hard to figure out…

V: You do not have to if you do not want to.  I am just wondering if you have any questions. 

F:  Oh.  Not really.  Thank you.

V:  All right.  Well, thank you so much.

F:  Yes.  No problem.

Review of Interview One

1. Who scored the highest?

Yu Fan and Jasmin Sainju both had the highest score.

2. Whose interview did I like best? Why?

My favorite interview was Jasmin's because it was very organized and contained detailed information of both research, such as the country report, and procedure.  The interview itself is also nicely organized.

3. Here is my evaluation score card.

Interview 1

My first interview with Myra A

1.  Preparations

Description of preparations:

            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.  I then added five of my own questions to the ten core questions.  After I completed these tasks and bought my recorder, I began to search for people to interview.

How did I approach people?

I live in Mitchel Hall and am a floor representative.  Because I am a floor representative and also enjoy speaking with people, I get to know a lot of people in my dorm.  I was speaking with my friend about this project, and she told me her roommate is an exchange student from Pakistan.  Her name is Myra.  I had met her roommate once before, so it was not weird to approach her and ask if it is okay to interview her.  When I asked her if she would be interested in doing an interview with me, she actually was really interested!  Before we met to interview, I did some research on Pakistan to make sure I did not offend her with anything I said.

When, where, and how did I conduct the interview?

I conducted the interview on Wednesday, October 16^th at the Caribou Coffee inside of Atwood.  We enjoyed some coffee and made small talk.  I told her more information about the interview, such as I was doing it for my English 191 class.  I also asked her if it was okay for me to record the interview, so I could transcribe it later.  She gave me permission, which allowed me to begin the interview.  I used a recorder I had just purchased at Office Max.  I began with small talk, which included an explanation of why I was interviewing her, then used my questions to conduct the interview, and slowly winded down by asking if she wanted to ask me anything.  I also thanked her for her time.  During the interview, I made sure to not be strict with following the questions and let her converse with me as much as she wanted.  Some of what she said did surprise me because I did not know there are still arranged marriages in Pakistan.  I was also surprised by how much she wanted to speak.  The interview went very well!

Whom did I interview?

Myra is an international student from Pakistan who is involved in the business program.  She did not choose Saint Cloud State University; however, this is where her international studies program placed her because she wanted to travel to the United States.  She loves the American culture and has found that any stereotypes she held about Americans to be gone.  She also finds school to be a lot easier at Saint Cloud State University because she only has twelve credits compared to the 21 credits she had in school in Pakistan.  In Pakistan, she did not realize how much following the Islamic faith impacted her choices and everyday life.  Being in the United States has made her faith strong and shown her how much faith influences her decision making.  For example, she does not eat the meat at Garvey because it needs to be cut in a Halal manner, and she needs to make her own reminders to remember to pray five times a day.  She enjoys reading and other sorts of activities.  She likes shopping more in the United States than in Pakistan because the clothing style in America is easier to choose from than in Pakistan.  She also loves history and therefore has enjoyed the historical sites.

2.  Interview report

Description of the interview:

During the interview, I made sure to have good posture, so she would know I am interested in what she has to say and am also respectful.  I also made sure I let her talk for as long as she wanted about a topic.  Sometimes, I would ignore my question list for a little bit if we were becoming engaged in conversation from a previous question.  The interview went very well because she was very open and willing to talk about both her personal experiences in Pakistan and more of a generalized description of what she knew about Pakistan.  There were no topics that made her uncomfortable and not want to discuss.

The questions covered multiple topics.  Through these topics, I was able to learn that Pakistan is very traditional in many aspects, such as conservative clothing style, many mosques located throughout the country, and religious customs and celebrations that occur.  Even though Pakistan is traditional in these aspects, it is also modernizing.  As the literacy rate rises, more women are working outside of their homes and fewer marriages are being arranged.  Because Myra was so thorough with her answers, I was able to receive a lot of interesting information.  Because she was willing to discuss a lot, the interview went very well.

I met with Myra in Atwood’s Caribou on the 16^th of October.  We talked for about 40 minutes.  I think the interview went very well.

What surprised me?

I was surprised how funny she thought it was when I asked about dating.  This is because dating does not happen in Pakistan.  Instead, marriages are arranged.  I did not know that still happens in current times, so that really surprised me!  In order to prepare for the interview, I had done some research on Pakistan, so I would make sure not to offend her with anything I might say, and none of the websites mentioned arranged marriages as being a part of the Pakistani culture.  Other than the topic of arranged marriages, I was not completely shocked because of the research I had done prior to the interview.

3.  Country Report

Country and Culture:

            Pakistan is located in South Asia.  According to the Heritage website, “The Pakistani Government states that English is the official language” (1).  Aside from English, Urdu is the other official language. 

A majority of the population practices Islam.  Ira Marvin Lapidus explains how Islam is the most practiced religion in Pakistan because during the medieval period, “Sufi missionaries played a pivotal role in converting a majority of the regional Buddhist and Hindu population to Islam” (2).  Great Britain had ruled over Pakistan during the colonial period.  As stated in the Library of Congress- Federal Research Division, this was because the British East India Company had “gained ascendancy over South Asia”  (3).  The major armed struggle against the British was in 1857 and is known as the “Sepoy Mutiny”. 

Pakistan is a democratic parliamentary federal republic with Islam as the state religion.  The bicameral legislature includes a 100-member Senate and a 342-member National Assembly.  The prime minister is the leader of the largest party and serves as the head of government.  The Pakistani military establishment is a major influence of politics.  (4)

According to the Library of Congress- Federal Research Division, Pakistan includes three geographic areas.  These areas include the northern highlands, the Indus River plain, and the Balochistan Plateau.  Weather will vary throughout the year because there are four seasons.  The seasons are as follows: a cool, dry winter from December to February; a hot dry spring from March to May; the summer rainy season from June to September; and the retreating monsoon season from October to November. 

Pakistan requires the state to provide free primary and secondary education.  Education is divided into six main levels.  These levels include pre-primary, primary, middle, high, intermediate, and university programs.  There is an increasing rate of the development of universities.  There are now 136 universities.  Literacy rates vary by region and gender.  There is a higher percentage of literacy of males than females, and literacy in tribal areas is lower.  (5)

According to the Library of Congress- Federal Research Division, 97% of the population is Muslim.  The majority of the Muslim population is Sunni.  The rest of the non-Muslim population includes Hinduism and Christianity.  Other religions include Sikhism, Buddhism, Zoroastrianism, and Jains. 

Stephanie Koerner and Ian Russell mention how Pakistani fashion is distinctly different from Indian fashion.  The national dress is the shalwar kameez and is worn by both men and women throughout all four provinces.  (6) The Indian subcontinent has influenced cooking traditions.  Rice is common to serve with dishes.  A popular drink is black tea with milk and sugar, and sugarcane juice is the national drink of Pakistan.  (7)

Works cited:

(1) http://heritage.pk/english-as-an-official-language-of-pakistan/ visited 10-17-13

(2) Ira Marvin Lapidus (2002). A history of Islamic societies. Cambridge University Press. p. 382–384.

(3) http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/profiles/Pakistan.pdf/ visited 10-17-13

(4) http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/472953.stm/ visited 10-17-13

(5) http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/13/opinion/13kristof.html?_r=0/ visited 10-17-13

(6) http://books.google.com/books?id=7li2jpQgYvAC&pg=PA382&dq=national+dress+of+pakistan&hl=en#v=onepage&q=national%20dress%20of%20pakistan&f=false/ visited 10-17-13

(7) http://www.findpk.com/Culture/html/cuisine_of_pakistan.html/ visited 10-17-13

4.  Interview transcription of my interview with “Myra A”

V = Valerie (me)

M = Myra

V: How do you communicate with each other in your home country?

M: In my home country, we have very different languages in our country.  You have one official language.  That is English.  One national language that is Urdu.  Urdu is spelled “U, r, d, u”.   And then we have four provincial languages.  It is like a state and each has their own dialect, so Pakistan pretty much has a ton of different languages.  The communication channels, you might assume, are mostly verbal because a large population of our country is not literate.  You can assume about 43 percent of the people of Pakistan can read and write.  The others converse using verbal communication.  About 5-6 percent of the really urbanized population use communication methods, like social media and blogs.

V: Is English a common native language for people?

M: No, actually, English is not.  Pakistan was part of the larger subcontinent, and it was under the British colonial rule.  That is why when the British left we inherited educational institutions.  It is the same in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, a little bit in Nepal too, and Sri Lanka.  We have some of those inherited institutions, and then because we gained our independence in 1947, we had started to mingle and globalize.  We sought to retain that language, but mostly English is the language of the offices and of the elite. 

V:  That is really cool.  What is the clothing style for men and women?

M: The clothing style for men and women, again because the country is divided linguistically and geography varies all across the country.  Our national dress is called shalwar kameez.  Shalwar is a name given to traditional trousers and kameez is given to shirts.  Men essentially wear shalwar kameez as simpler and thicker and dull colors.  Whereas women wear colors, flashy, and shawls called the dupatta, so it is kind of similar to but not the same as Indian sarees.  But it is sort of flashy and colorful like those dresses.  That is what we usually wear.  However, in urban centers, people wear a lot of western clothing.  In the rural parts of the country, there is a lot of casual, like skirts with small shirts because it is really warm in the countryside.  But it varies from place to place

V: How do you think that clothing compares to how people in the United States dress?

M:  Primarily, the difference is because of weather.  Pakistan is essentially a very warm country.  So our dresses are made out of cotton and lawn and made out of very thin material because otherwise you cannot really survive wearing thick clothing.  You will not find boots or wool stuff a lot.  The winter is small and sometimes some areas of the country will not experience winter at all.  So there is that difference.  Another difference is that people do dress a lot more conservatively if you compare it to the United States.  That is definitely there.  Although, because Pakistan is a Muslim country, people do like to wear headscarves.  We are not really fans of veils in Pakistan, so you will not find a lot of that, but you will find headscarves.  It will be made of really thin material suited to weather.  And men generally dress the same with jeans and shirts and pants and stuff like that. 

V: That is cool!  Sorry, this is an intriguing topic for me because I like clothes.  Because it is more typical to dress conservatively, how do you dress for bathing suits or do you not really go swimming?

M: That is kind of a tough question.  On beaches and stuff, people do not really like to go swimming, like that.  People will just wear t-shirts and trousers and just take a stroll on the beach or something like that.  However, there are women and children and everybody will swim as a hobby because we have gymnasiums and swimming pools and all of that.  So you have different kinds of swimming suits made.  They are usually one piece.  And sometimes they will have, instead of being sleeveless, short sleeves.  Or instead of leaving your legs bare, they will cover a little bit of the legs.  They are basically tailored in Pakistan.  You can find them easily.

V:  How are the women and men treated differently?

M:  I come from a very urban part of Pakistan and a very developed area, so I am probably not the best person to comment upon it.  However, men and women are treated differently because they have very set traditional roles that they are expected to follow.  So men will be breadwinners, and they will go out of the house for their livelihood, and they will be expected to be more vocal and interested in public affairs, politics, government, and all of that.  Women, on the other hand, are expected to take care of the house and be very traditional.  Not necessarily suppressed, but women will be extremely traditional as in they will stick to a kind of lifestyle at home.  And if they work, they will somehow manage to work by keeping a balance between work and home.  However, for most women, work rarely ever takes the first priority, so that is certainly a difference.  Now, these things are changing because as people gain more literacy and awareness, people treat their boys and girls exactly the same.  They go to the same school.  They dress the same way too.  Like, in urban centers, you would find girls wearing the same baseball t-shirts as their brothers and stuff like that.  And increasingly now, women are more interested in their careers and pursue their education more.  Again, there is a very strong urban and rural divide in how men and women are treated in different places. 

V:  How has your experience here helped you to interpret and respect cultural differences?

M:  Well, my experience here has been quite fantastic actually.  The purpose of my program, I am on a cultural exchange program, was to come to the United States and see and appreciate the differences that exist between our cultures.  Essentially, the world we live in, especially in a society like Pakistan, there is a lot of stereotypes that exist about Americans or the west.  This is the same in America.  People do not perceive things as they really are.  We rather conveniently resort to stereotypes.  So when I came here and saw the average American, I negated the Hollywood stereotype because that is what everybody grows up thinking that is the real American when it is not.  And second of all, the negative stereotypes that we have in our minds of American people traditionally considering themselves superior or not welcoming to foreigners, etc.  All of that went away.  And it really has taught me how to appreciate cultural differences because it has told me that no matter how much news you watch or how many news articles you read or how much you surf the web, you cannot really appreciate how good or nice a culture or country or its people really are unless you actually live amongst them for a certain period of time. 

V:  Do you enjoy speaking with other exchange students?

M:  I actually do enjoy it a lot.  There was a special orientation for international students here, and before that there were a couple of exchange students already living on campus when we arrived here in the summer.  So that was a lot of fun.  I think it is really interesting you get to know so much inside information you cannot possibly get off of the web or through any other second hand experience.  It is really amazing you get to know about various foods, clothing, religion, and what people think about my country or about the United States, and that is all very good.  I have met people from countries I never thought I would.  I have made such good friends with a girl from Georgia, and I never assumed I would be a friend with somebody from there.  I have friends from Russia, Nigeria, China, and it is absolutely fantastic. 

V:  How many different countries have you noticed are represented by exchange students that you have met here on campus?

M: I do not know if CIS has a different section for exchange students; however, there are about 85 countries represented in all of the international students that are here.  So some will be here for two years, four years, and some will only be for a year.  But as for exchange, especially for a semester long exchange, that number is quite low, but Pakistan is one of them.  Georgia is one of them.  Those are the only two that I know. 

V:  So for the program that you are involved with from Pakistan are there any Pakistani students in the same program at all or did you not know any of the Pakistani students?

M:  Well, I have come here through a state department program, so they matched me up with Saint Cloud and the business school and everything.  But Saint Cloud offers in state tuition to international students, so a lot of Pakistanis, I think there were about seven or eight Pakistani students here on campus who are here for a four year undergraduate program, have applied through independent applications and procedures so everybody is gone depending on the amount of time they want to spend in the United States, or depending on how much they can afford, or if they want to settle here, or depending on whatever suits them.  They pick the right amount of time they will be spending here.

V: So then are you involved in organizations where you have met exchange students?

M: Not organizations, per say.  Not student organizations because all of us have different interests, but we all met during the international students orientations.  This was a four daylong event where we all, about 100 people, became friends during that time.  And after that there are cultural cafes and stuff that happen every Friday on campus and get to meet people from different countries while holding those cafes.  That is usually how you get to become friends with these people.  It is not really through student organizations. 

V: How long have you been in the United States?

M: I have been in the United States for approximately two and a half months now.  I arrived here on the fifth of August, and since I am on a semester long exchange, I will be here until the 21^st of December. 

V: So then are you thinking about coming back to the United States after you go home at all or are you kind of taking it one step at a time.

M: I would not mind coming back to the United States.  I really like it.  I think the people here are really good.  However, I have to work out exactly how in sync I will be with my degree back at home.  That is kind of a challenge for me at the moment, and I suppose it is for most exchange students.  But once I can figure that out or maybe I can come here for my masters or something, but yes I am taking it slow at the moment.

V: So then I know you said for your program they matched you up to Saint Cloud in the United States, so is there a program that can match you to a different country other than the United States?

M: The program I am a part of is especially for the United States.  What happens in Pakistan is we have an educational foundation called USEFP, which is for the United States Educational Foundation Program in Pakistan.  They ask for applications from all across Pakistan every year, and they receive a very heavy number of applications.  After that, they put the candidates through screening processes, like college essays and stuff like that and end up selecting about 100 people each semester.  So 100 people out of those thousands of applications come to the United States every year and then go back as part of the program.  Such programs do not happen for other countries as in other programs that are so well organized; however, we have Internship Abroad or Social Service Abroad type of programs that are student run and are sometimes sponsored through universities.  But we do not have a very strong external education foundation working in Pakistan apart from USA.

V: Have you been able to visit any other parts of the United States? 

M: I think the only other part of the United States that I have been able to visit is the east coast.  When I landed here, we came to Washington.  We had a five-day workshop there and then we got time to look around Washington and go through all of the historical and crazy and amazing buildings.  And then I came here.  For my fall break, I went back to the east coast and spent some time in Philadelphia, New Jersey, and New York.  There is also the cities if you count the cities as something, but they are in the Midwest. 

V: So do you have any fun stories or anything that is worth remembering about your trip to the east coast?

M: I am a sucker for historical sites, museums, and all of that.  I was very sad when I went there that it was the government shut down.  And those museums and all of those places were government run, so they were not open.  I remember the time I had in Washington was really great because everything was open, and we went to all of these places, such as Capitol Hill.  We went to the White House, and then we went to the Lincoln Memorial, and I absolutely loved that.  However, this time of round, I think I enjoyed Philadelphia a lot.  It was very different from other mainstream, huge places of the US.  I mean there is a similarity between Minneapolis and Chicago.  Some parts of Minneapolis even resemble New York.  Downtown Philadelphia is something very, very different.  It is very community oriented, and it is very traditional, and I like that a lot. 

V: So when you were thinking about all of the sites you know you were going to see when you traveled to the United States, were you kind of shocked at all by how they looked or was it pretty much how you expected everything to look?

M: The statue of liberty was exactly as I thought it was, but I think I was most in awe of the White House.  I expected it to be a lot more, and I do not know maybe I am paranoid, security and have a lot more security.  I expected the streets to be cornered off and traffic rerouted or something like that.  It was amazing really and made me feel really nice that people are able to see it, and it is accessible.  And that was the only difference I saw because the rest of things were as great as I imagined them to be.

V: What are your home country’s major religions?

M: That is an easy one to answer.  95 percent of the Pakistani population is Muslim, and Muslims have two main sects, which are the Sunnis and the Shi’ites.  Most of the Muslims are Sunnis, but there is a majority of Shi’ites as well.  Then, three percent of our population is Christian.  And two percent of our population is Hindu and other minor religions, like Zoroastrian.  We have a very insignificant number of Jews, unfortunately.  We have a representation of quite a lot of countries. 

V: For the holidays that are celebrated, for Muslims since that is really popular, is work and school closed?

M: Yes, definitely.  In fact, as you and I speak, there is a three-day festival going on in Pakistan.  It is an Islamic religious festival, called Eid Al Adha.  All of the schools and government offices and everything are closed.  There are two Muslim festivals during the year, Aid ul Azha and Eid ul Fitr.  Both of them last for three days and offices are closed.  As for minorities, when it is time for their festivals, such as Christmas, they can take leave from the offices, but it is not a public holiday.  However, they are given exceptions during those days.  We have mass prayers and stuff like that to incorporate the minorities, but the state keeps running. 

V: There are a lot of churches in town here, so are there a lot of mosques or worship centers back home?

M: We have a lot of mosques back home because traditionally it is the requirement of a Muslim community to have a mosque where people can actually commute by walking.  So you can imagine people like to have mosques nearby and in walking distance.  In the cities, we also have a significant Christian population.  There are a lot of churches there. A lot of them are historically built too since the time of the British.  So we have historical churches as well, and we have Hindu temples too.  You will find abundant places of worship and mosques obviously proportional to the number of population.  You will find mosques on practically every major street, and every few blocks there will be mosques. 

V: What influenced you to come to the United States?  Especially, Saint Cloud State?

M: I guess you can go back to the exchange program answer.  I applied because I thought it would be a good exposure for me, and plus it would be counted as a semester abroad, I would get to learn a lot about American culture, so that is why I applied for it.  I had no clue whether I would be picked or not.  Matching up with Saint Cloud State is the part played by the USEFB.  I especially requested that I do want to continue business studies here.  And since most of the exchange programs happen in the Midwest because there is less exposure to immigrants from different parts of the world they looked up business schools here.  The Herberger business school was on board with them, so I am here.

V: So kind of backing off from the school topic, how do you usually spend your free time back at home?

M: Do you want a personalized manner or a generalized description?

V: You can do both or whatever you want to do!

M: Okay.  Personally, I like to spend my free time, you can call me a nerd or whatever, doing a lot of reading, but I do go out with my friends a lot.  We go to movies.  I like eating out.  That is definitely something I do in my free time.  I do not like shopping for some odd reason.  I like shopping in the United States but not back at home, which is very, very strange.  This is just because Pakistani dresses are so complicated.  So much work goes into them that I get frustrated.  I would rather just go out and buy a nice shirt and say this is it.  Most people in my country’s favorite past time is watching television.  It must be at the top of the list.  Women have their own soaps and drama shows that they want to watch.  And men like news and politics.  Kids have their own movies.  People really are fans of eating out.  In the town where I am from, any new eating out place, or restaurant, you would expect it not to work out or be out of business soon because there are so many already, but they never go out of business because people just love to eat in Pakistan.  Apart from that, I think shopping is a big national past time.  People also like, well unfortunately because of the weather that causes blistering heat, outdoors is not really a good option for people.  People do a lot of outdoors activities in the north where the weather is more pleasant and cooler, but the large majority of the country is warm; therefore, outdoor activities are not popular.  However, cricket is something that boys in Pakistan will kill for.  It is like American football.  Like how crazy people are about it is how crazy people are back at home for cricket.  That is definitely how people like to spend their time. 

V:  I know soccer is common in many countries in the world, except in the United States it does not seem to be that popular.  Is it at all popular in Pakistan or is it more about cricket?

M: Well, cricket is in its own league.  I do not think you can compare it to anything, although I am not really a fan of it.  People like soccer.  People follow soccer.  They are fans of the English league.  People will know all sorts of players and go crazy during the world cup.  Our own soccer team I do not believe is that good.  I have never heard about them.  But you will have soccer at college level and school level.  The boys are definitely enthusiastic about it.  Girls are more enthusiastic about tennis and volleyball, so girls do not engage in soccer that much, but boys definitely like it. 

V: What are important festivals and how do you celebrate them?

M: There are a couple I have already talked about.  They are called Eid ul Fitr and Aid ul Azha.  They are religious in nature, and they happen once a year and are each three days long.  Most of it is meeting with relatives and friends and having good food together and shopping and gifts and all of that.  Because people in Islam are a little more conservative there is almost no singing and dancing during festivals, but there is a lot of food, dressing up, and exchange of gifts.  There is also a festival called basant.  It is the opening of the spring festival.  People fly kites in that festival, and they wear colors like orange and yellow and bright colors to welcome spring, so that is definitely a festival that is worth talking about.  Apart from that… I cannot believe we do not have that many!  We celebrate more independence days or important historical days.  We are sort of slow on festivals I believe. 

V: What were some of the important events you mentioned at the end?  I am curious about that.

M: One of the biggest events is the 14^th of August because it is our independence day and is the equivalent to the fourth of July here.  We have the same stuff, like fireworks and parades, stuff like that.  Then we have the sixth of September, which is the defense day of Pakistan, so we have parades with our armed forces and speeches and stuff like that.  For an important event, the founder of the country whose name is Mohammad Ali Jinnah’s birthday is important.  Pakistani weddings are an extremely festive affair.  They last for weeks if not months.  There are three major ceremonies associated with the wedding.  The first ceremony is called Mehndi.  You might have heard of Henna, how people use those temporary tattoos.  Girls put that on, and there is a lot of singing and dancing.  There is an instrument that has a nice beat that people sing to, and girls and guys dance.  It is very nice.  There are flowers everywhere.  It is a pre-wedding sort of dancing celebration.  The next step is the actual wedding itself.  It is called a Nikah.  It is basically a signing of the contract between the bride and the groom.  The bride’s clothes is beautifully embroided and very heavy.  The skirt of that dress is called a lehenga.  It weighs somewhere between 7-8 kg, which is approximately 16 pounds.  You have to wear that on your wedding day, which is dreadful but looks very beautiful.  There is a lot of jewelry, and the groom dresses up too.  It is very beautiful.  The Medndi lasts for about a week, and there is singing and dancing and a little bit of chit chatting and a little bit of celebration everyday.  Nikah is a one-day affair.  After the Nikah, there is the Walima.  It is an official reception given from the groom’s side.  They announce the fact she is a new member of their family, and they introduce her to every member of their family.  It is also a very festive affair.  It is more like a formal reception.  That is the closest to an American wedding where things are a little bit more formal, and you might actually have speeches to the equivalent of toasts.  The Walima comes closest to that.  After that, there is a series of dinners given by different members of the family.  For example, if I were to get married, my mom’s sister would invite a lot of people and me and my husband for food one night.  And then one day it will be my dad’s brother and sister and so on and then they go on forever basically.  You mark the beginning of the wedding by Medndi, but you have no idea where it is going to end.  It is very long but also very enjoyable too. 

V: What is the most popular food?

M: The most popular food of Pakistan, Pakistanis are very meat loving people, is biryani.  I might be biased because I love it a lot.  It is definitely the most well known.  It is like spicy rice and meat cooked together.  It is absolutely delicious, but barbeque is also really famous.  It is very different from the kind of barbeque that is done here.  It is a lot more spicy.  I am assuming here barbeques are more like hot dogs and use sauces and ketchups and all of that kind of stuff.  We have our own assortment of food and little pickles and all of that that goes with the barbeque.  The barbeque is very spicy and is eaten with different kinds of bread.  You will have something resembling tacos, specifically the soft shell tacos.  You will also have naan.  Barbeque is definitely second.  And third kind of food would be curry.  Veg, non-veg, beef, chicken, and all kinds of meat cooked in different curries with different sauces.  That is definitely one of the favorite foods. 

V: I know the British were in Pakistan for a little bit, do you think they had any influence on the food at all?

M: They were not there for a little bit.  They were there for almost 300 years.  It was a really long time ago.  Are you asking specifically on food?

V: Yeah! Food or anything!

M: Well, traditionally yes the British have had a lot of influence on Pakistan.  Especially our affinity for English is from them.  We teach English in schools and in our offices.  All of that has been inherited from the British.  When the British were there, they would stay on the northern plane during winters.  They would go up north during summers because it would be cooler.  A lot of Pakistanis like to spend their summer vacations up north because it has become a tradition that families will go up north for cooler weather.  The British aristocracy left a very strong mark on the affluent families in Pakistan.  We still have a lot of Pakistani families who have settled abroad, especially in English, so there is a lot of influence there.  I do not know if we have that much influence with food because our food is so traditional and honestly, I think the British might have taken something away from us rather than giving us something.  As Pakistanis, our taste buds are so accustomed to spicy food and accustomed to curries and that kind of food.  You know, I think it is hard for us to adjust to plain food or even shift to a different form of carbohydrate for that matter.  We eat wheat and rice, and nobody would like to have potatoes with their lunch or dinner, so I do not think food is influenced that much, but I think language and other things definitely are. 

V: How does dating work in your home country?

M: Dating does not work in my home country.  This is a very interesting question!  Traditionally, 85 percent or even 90 percent of all of Pakistan, urban and rural included, have arranged marriages.  So families set you up with people, but as times are changing and globalization and all of that and education and awareness that people do.  For example, my parents have had a love marriage, and there are numerous instances I can quote.  What happens is you do not exactly date.  Mostly people starting together, or childhood friends and stuff like that, would at some point in their lives say they like that person.  You would tell that other person that I like you.  And if that other person agrees, they would also tell you that they like you back.  And then you would sort of continue in a quazi or pseudo relationship basically.  It is not at all like relationships that are here in the United States.  They are very few boyfriend girlfriends that you can find.  So it is basically two friends who like each other, and then if these people decide they really are compatible, and they would really like to spend the rest of their lives together they do not just tell each other, but they tell each other’s families.  So the families essentially have to be involved in everything.  It is a very family based system.  I feel like I have given you some kind of 18^th century version of what used to happen here, but that is definitely true. 

V: Do you follow a religion?  If so, how does it affect you, such as beliefs, daily life, and preferences?

M: Yes, I follow a religion.  I am a Muslim, and I am a practicing Muslim.  Can you see that?  Can you see what that spells? (She is pointing to a word on a notebook she carries around with her) It spells “Namaz”.  Namaz is what we call our prayers, so this is like a reminder I have put on here, so I would not forget to pray five times a day.  Most practicing Muslims do that.  It does actually change everything in my daily life.  I did not realize that so much back at home because you are part of a crowd and everybody does the same thing, so it really is not that significant.  When I got here I was the only one praying.  Or for example, Muslims are only allowed to have Halal meat.  That is like Kosher.  Jews have kosher meat, and we have Halal meat.  Believe it or not, for the past two months I have never had meat at Garvy.  I can only go to a Halal place and get meat, so that affects me.  It also sort of dictates, because I do not drink as well which is a religious as well as a personal decision, which makes a lot of a difference.  I cannot really hangout a lot with a certain kind of people or I cannot go to bars.  Even if I choose not to drink, I would rather avoid not going to bars or places where people would drink.  It does also alter my preferences as well.  I do try to make friends who, even if they are not religious, would not just me for being religious.  They would need to be open and accepting, so I am a lot more cautious when meeting up with people and making friends than how people ordinarily would be, or even I would be in my home country. 

V: Has it been hard to follow your religion with daily life here or is it not a big deal?

M: It certainly has been hard, but I think it has been worth it because as I said back home I prayed five times a day, I did not think it was that big of a deal.  Here, it has actually sort of tested me, and I have come to realize that this is something really important and is a very important part of me.  It has also made me realize that here there is nobody to watch over me, like my parents are not here, and I do not have pressure from society, nor do I have peer pressure, but I still like to follow my religion.  That shows me that that holds a very important place in my life.  Otherwise, I would have sort of withdrawn from it and gone back to it when I went back to my home country, but it has been tough.  I am glad I am dealing with it.  Not only has it been tough, but I have seen people appreciate me for it because even if they are not Muslim and cannot understand why I am doing certain things, they would still appreciate that I would take out my time during the day to do certain things or refrain from certain things.  That is very encouraging. 

V: Do you have any questions for me?  I have asked you so many questions!  Thank you so much!  This is so cool.

M: I would like to ask you if by the end of this interview, because a lot of people do not know anything about Pakistan, if you had any prior perceptions of Pakistan or eastern women have they changed in any way?  Or have they been restructured or anything? 

V:  My thoughts about Pakistan?  I did not really know a lot about Pakistan, but I did research it a little bit before interviewing you just because I was interested.  I did know the religion of Muslim was a huge part of it.  I assumed there would be fun festivals and stuff like that, but I thought it was really cool that even though you are modernizing you keep holding onto your traditions.  I think that is really cool.  I thought it was all really interesting.  I think it would be really cool to go to Pakistan and see the mosques and stuff like that.  It would be really cool.  Thank you again so much!  Is there anything else you would like to ask?

M: No. 

V: Okay!  Thank you!