About the final thing to do

I will do fourth interview for final thing

Evaluation of third interview

I interviewed 21 interview,

1- The higher score 20 points for some students.
2- My highest inteview Alzobaur Bugshan.
3- My scored card is here

Evaluation of second interview

I interviewed 23 interview,

1- The higher score 20 points for some students.
2- My highest inteview Brandon Doege and Hussien Alsufair.
3- My scored card is here

This is third interview for me

Preparation for the third interview

           I did third interview with someone her name Kandice. Kandice is friends of mine that I have known for about two years. I asked her if she had time do to and interview and when she said yes we decided on a time and date to meet. I brought with me my questions as well as my phone so that I could record Kandice’s responses to the questions.

Interview report for the third interview

            The third interview was a lot easier than the first and second ones. I was more experienced with interviewing as well as more familiarized with the questions I wanted to ask. Also, I felt a lot more comfortable as I had known Kandice prior to the interview and knew she wouldn’t have any problems understanding me or the questions I was asking.

Country Report

The USA is the world's foremost economic and military power, with global interests and an unmatched global reach. America's gross domestic product accounts for close to a quarter of the world total, and its military budget is reckoned to be almost as much as the rest of the world's defense spending put together.

The country is also a major source of entertainment: American TV, Hollywood films, jazz, blues, rock and rap music are primary ingredients in global popular culture.

The United States originated in a revolution which separated it from the British Crown. The constitution, drafted in 1787, established a federal system with a division of powers which has remained unchanged in form since its inception.

Early settlers arrived in ships such as this replica of the Dutch vessel Half Moon. People from all over the globe still try make the US their home

The US contains a highly diverse population, the product of numerous and sustained waves of immigration. Ethnic and racial diversity - the "melting pot" - is celebrated as a core element of the American ideology.

The 1964 Civil Rights Act outlawed racial and other discrimination, but race continues to be a live issue.

The election of Barack Obama as the country's first African-American president in November 2008 marked a defining moment in the country's chequered history of race relations.

Decline of the natives

The original people of north America, who made up several distinct groups of native Americans, went into decline with the arrival of settlers and now constitute a minority of the population.

The early settlers came predominantly from the British Isles. Large numbers of black Africans were taken as slaves to work the plantations of the Americas, while millions of Europeans in search of political freedom and economic opportunity constituted a third stage of immigration.

Today, Asians from the Pacific rim and Hispanics from the southern Americas are among those seeking what their predecessors wanted - the promise of prosperity and freedom which remains one of the defining hallmarks of "the American dream".Despite relative prosperity in recent years, the gap between rich and poor remains a major challenge. More than 30 million Americans live below the official poverty line, with a disproportionate percentage of these being African-Americans and Hispanics.Furthermore, the global financial crisis of 2008 has left the US facing its most challenging set of economic circumstances since the Great Depression of the 1930s.

Resources:

http://www.bbc.co.uk

Interview transcript for the third interview:

Interviewer: Hi, Kandice, how are you doing today?

Kandice: I’m doing well, how about yourself?

Interviewer: Great, thanks for asking.

Interviewer: I wanted to ask you a few questions, if that’s okay?

Kandice: That is perfectly fine with me.

Interviewer:  Do you like the weather here in Saint Cloud? Could you tell me about it please?

Kandice: Sure, I do enjoy the weather here in St. Cloud, but only during certain times of the year. I love the summer because there are a lot of things that you can do outside and the days are longer. Also, I love the fall because the temperature is not too cold and not too hot. I am able to go out and look at the beautiful colors and take pictures of the trees and stuff. Winter here is a nightmare for me! I can’t stand the cold and I don’t like having to put ten layers of clothes on just to go and get my mail! I don’t like the spring too much because everything gets sloppy and wet from the snow!

Interviewer: Yea, I definitely had to get used to the weather change from back home to here, it’s a lot different.

Kandice: (laughing) I can only imagine, I at least had the advantage of living here my whole and being able to be used to it.

Interviewer: You talked a lot about being outside, is that something you like to do? What else do you do in your leisure time?

Kandice:  I love to be outside as much as I can when the weather is nice, but if I had a choice I would spend most of my time outside of school and work reading. That’s what I pretty much do when I get the time, read and be outside. If I’m not doing that, I try to find time to spend with my friends as well and catch up with them.

Interviewer: What else should I know about you, please tell me about yourself…

Kandice: In detail or just the general info?

Interviewer: Some general information should be just fine.

Kandice: Ummm…well as I said before I enjoy books and reading. I am the type of person who can sit in a library or outside all day and just loose myself in books. Let see… what else…I grew up near the cities with my mom and dad and two older brothers. I like to hunt and fish and when I get the chance to take a break from studying, I like to go to the shooting range with my dad.

Interviewer: Have you been hunting long?

Kandice: I have been going hunting for as long as I can remember. My parents had me out shooting a bow from the time I was like 4 or 5 and the same with guns. I think that this is where my love for the outdoors came from.

Interviewer: Well that’s something I didn’t know about you!

Kandice: yea, I don’t do it as much as I used to because of school and work but like I said I still like to do it whenever I get the chance.

Interviewer: You seem to be close with your family, How often do you communicate with your family back at home?

Kandice: I am pretty close with my family, especially my dad. I try to call my mom or dad every day or every other day. My brothers are less often because of my conflicting work and school schedule, but I try to talk to them at least once a week. I also keep in touch with my extended family as well through texting, Facebook, and those things.

Interviewer: That’s good, do you go and see them very often or is it tough with your job and school?

Kandice: I try to see my family at least once a month, but now with holidays and things like that coming up, I am sure that I will see them probably like 4 or 5 times in the coming months.

Interviewer: Speaking of holidays that brings me to my next question, what do you think is the biggest holiday here in America? And can you go into detail about it?

Kandice: well if I could say it was a holiday, I would say black Friday (laughing). But since that’s not categorized as one really, I would have to say Christmas, as most people in the United States are of some Christian faith. Ummmm…well lets see…Christmas Eve is on the 24^th of December and Christmas takes place on the 25^th. This is a time for families to come together and spend time and exchange gifts with one another. But the original meaning of Christmas was to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ.

Interviewer: wow, you know your information.

Kandice: I guess so (laughs).

Interviewer: So then, in what ways might it be difficult to practice your religion here in the U.S?

Kandice: I really don’t practice a religion at this time, I am kind of in-between and am looking to find something that I really believe in, not just believing in the religion I was raised to believe.

Interviewer: I can respect that, it is nice that you want to do it on your own and not what everyone else wants and thinks.

Kandice: Thanks.

Interviewer: Anytime.  Can you tell me what your goals are for the future, like after you graduate, what are you going to do?

Kandice: Sure I can. I plan on moving out of the country and having a job somewhere in Europe or the Middle East working to teaching English as second language. I would like to work for a few years and pay off student loans and things like that and establish myself in another country. I would also like to get married and have children, but that is not a priority for me at the moment, I would rather focus on school and work.

Interviewer: Well, I hope that your plans work out for you! I think that is all the information I need right now, do you have any questions for me?

Kandice: No, I don’t think so.

Interviewer: Well, thank you so much for your time, I really appreciate it.

Kandice: No problem, anytime.

This is second interview for me

Preparation for the second interview

I did second interview with someone her name Emily. Emily is my friend’s girlfriend. I meet her last weekend and I asked her if she has time to do an interview with me for my class English 191 and she said sure. The first question for her was about those questions I have. I showed her the questions, and we arranged the time and place. The place was in her apartment, I brought my phone as well. Additionally, she was active and we started.

Interview report for the second interview

            Emily was active during the interview that is made me comfortable more than the first interview. I was not nerves anymore, also I was listening for her and prepared for the next question at the same time better than the first interview I did before. I think as more I can do interviews as I can learn from my mistakes. Moreover, this experience made it easier for me to talk with American people than before.

Country Report

There are many social issues that lie within the Unites States of America, but some stand out more than others. These issues effect the way that American society works and can be a determining factor in things such as elections, media, and government laws. Two main social issues that exist in America are gay marriage and immigration. Though they are not prevalent issues in all of the states, they are still commonly talked about by many people throughout the country.

Since 2001, when September 11th happened, many people in the United States have had a fear of allowing immigrants into the United States. It went to levels of border control and more. Therefore some judge that immigration is a threat to the United States. FAIR estimates that “ in 2010 the illegal alien population is about 12 million persons. Government and academic estimates estimate that population at about 11 million.” This makes people have concerns because they think that many illegal aliens are taking jobs from other American citizens. Also, some people contribute the high levels of crimes and drugs in certain areas to be the cause of illegal immigrants who work for other countries. According to the Heritage website “When three out of every 100 people in America are undocumented (or, rather, documented with forged and faked papers), there is a profound security problem.” Many people see this is a large issue because of what happened on September 11^th.

Gay marriage has also slowly become a significant social issue in today’s American society. According to Wikipedia, “Since 2000, eleven countries (Argentina, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Iceland, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, South Africa, and Sweden) and several sub-national jurisdictions (parts of Mexico and the United States) have begun to allow same-sex couples to marry.” In the 2012 election, there were four states that had some sort of gay-marriage amendment added to their ballots. In Minnesota, the ballot discussed whether or not gay marriage should be defined in our constitution. This was a social issue here in Minnesota because many people felt that marriage should not have anything to do with state laws. Across the nation, people are split in the middle because of other outside factors such as religion.

Overall, these social issues have been spoken about a lot over the past months due to the election season. Gay marriage and immigration issues are here to stay and I personally think that they will continue to be issue for a long time because Americans have many different feelings about them. These social issues will continue to define American society and the standards that they live by. Hopefully, there will come a day when American society does not let social issue define who they are, but I know this will not be soon.

Resources:

http://www.fairus.org/issues/illegal-immigration

                                        Interview transcript for the second Interview

Interviewer: Hey, how are you doing today?

Emily: Hey, I am great, how about you?

Interviewer: I’m good, thanks for asking.

Interviewer: Would you mind to tell me your name?

Emily: Yea sure, I am Emily.

Interviewer: Nice to meet you Emily.

Emily: Nice to meet you too.

Interviewer: Are you ready for the questions?
Emily: Of course.
Interviewer: Do you like the weather here in Saint Cloud? Could you tell me about it please?
Emily: I like the weather in here St.Cloud because I’m from Minnesota and the weather in Minnesota in summer is so nice, I like to go camping with my family or friends or fishing. Also, the weather here in the fall its so cool to hangout with friends, moreover in the spring is so could but it has many activities for example go to skiing or ride the snowmobile that’s why I like the weather here.
Interviewer: What do you do for leisure or free time?
Emily: When I have free time I do many things such as, I like to read books or go to workout or watch movies or listen to music or hangout with people to something fun like go to downtown in the weekend or visit friends.

Interviewer: What is your favorite kind of music to listen?
Emily: Actually I like to listen for anything; I don’t have specific kind of music.
Interviewer: Could you please tell me about yourself?
Emily: I’m Emily, I’m from Minnesota I have a small family, I have just one sister and one brother, I live with my boyfriend now and we’ll get engagement this year.
Interviewer: How often do you communicate with your family back at home?
Emily: I’m always talking with my parents like four or five times in the week and also text my sister and brother usually.
Interviewer: What is the biggest holiday in your country? Please explain about the holidays (Activities, Food, Date, Origin, and etc,)
Emily: We have some holidays here in my country such as Thanksgiving learning about this holiday and respecting the traditions associated with it can mean a lot to the people of that country, Christmas and New Year's and is a different between each other, First: Thanksgiving in November, Americans like to make a lot of food and get together with family to show what they are thankful for in their lives. 
Second: Christmas in December, we like to buy presents for those we care about and exchange the gifts on either Christmas Eve or Christmas day. There is usually a lot of food involved and blinking lights and evergreen wreaths. Third: Christians believe this day to be the day Jesus was born.
Interviewer: In what ways might it be difficult to practice your religion here in the U.S?
Emily: Many things important in my culture, because my country has so many cultures.
Interviewer: Do you have any questions for me? I have asked so many of you! (mandatory question at the end).
Emily: No thanks, but I like to talk with international people, and she said if you have anything more to help you like homework or anything for school you can ask me anytime.

Interviewer: Oh, thank you so much, I really appreciate for that.