When I was thinking about how to ask a student if I could interview them I thought of many options. Asking student in my Race and Ethnicity class, walking up to a student I see on campus, or visiting Lawrence Hall. I asked a girl by the name of Jowiin, if I could conduct and interview with her and she was very open to the idea. Unfortunately, we could not connect soon enough and I could not use her. I contacted a family friend who I knew often had a foreign exchange student staying with them, after calling them I found that they had a student named Emilio, form Denmark staying with them. I asked when a good time would be to contact him and he was home and open to talking. He said he was free to talk any time and would love to come over to talk about his time in America.
On Wednesday October 21, 2009 Emilio came to my house for an interview. On the phone I asked him where he would like to meet and he said he would be happy to get out for a while and come over. I enjoyed the setting because him and I could be relaxed, this made it very comfortable for the both of us. He said he enjoyed coming over and being able to talk. When he got there I explained to him what the assignment was and asked if I could record our conversation. He asked if it would be okay if I did not. After asking my first question “why did you come to America to study?” all of our questions flowed. It was nice that I never needed to ask him a question. He kept giving me information playing off other information he had already given me. This was very helpful, and allowed him to talk about what he wanted talk about. During the interview he would tell me how things are back home and we would talk about what it’s like here. He even would ask me some questions, about why things are like they are here, or how things are here. It was very fun for both of us to see each other’s sides/ ways of life.
I interviewed a boy named Emilio, from Denmark. He is a 16 year old boy who is spending his senior year at Orono High school. Emilio lived in El Salvador for the first five years of his life. Since then, his family Mom, Dad, and two brothers have lived in Denmark. Emilio decided to come to America for schooling because he did not know what to do next in life. In Denmark they go to school for less time than in America.
Interview Emilio was very interesting for me. I loved hearing about his lifestyle and how things work back in Denmark. It was interesting to see how he viewed our educational system, and how things are different in America. In Denmark students are placed in a classroom for ten years of schooling with about 23 students for all ten years. He mentioned how school was much easier in America versus Denmark. Emilio also said that most people do go to college, but for two to three years. He said a big change for him was the drinking age, in Denmark it is 16. This was very interesting to me because I can see how this would be a big change to someone. Emilio mentioned that beer is an everyday drink at his house and it is very odd to him that kids are not allowed to drink it here. I was very happy when I asked him if he was meeting a lot of new people he said yes. Emilio said the people here are very nice, and he has met a lot of new friends. It is nice to her that he feels welcome in his new school and does not feel left out. One thing that really surprised me was how comfortable he was with me. First, he asked if he could come to my house. Second, During the whole interview he was not scared to say anything and had a lot to say. I loved seeing how comfortable he was and was happy I could create this setting for him. Once the interview was done, and I had all the information I needed he did not want to leave. He stayed and chatted more and seemed to be having fun. Overall, the interview went as well as I think it could have. I enjoyed learning about him and his country. This gave me a good look into another person’s lifestyle.
Denmark is located in Northern Europe, bordering Germany. Its size is about twice the size of Massachusetts. Denmark is a small nation whose cultural unity is mitigated by regional traditions of rural, urban, and island communities with distinctions based on local language, food, and history (1). They have windy winders with occasional snow and humid summers. There are currently about 5,500,510 people living in Denmark. The most common ethnic groups are: Scandinavian, Inuit, Faroese, German, Turkish, Iranian, Somali. Denmark is run by a constitutional monarchy. Danish is recognized as the official language; over 98% of people speak Danish. There is no secondary language, but several languages, including English, German, French, Spanish, and Russian, are taught in schools. Most Danes can speak some English and Germen (1). Emilio mentioned in his home the fathers takes more part in raising the children, and more mothers work. In Denmark they believe strongly in common respect for all, if there is someone who is not acting proper most likely someone will speak up, and call them out in their actions. One big difference form America is in Denmark marriage is not as big of a deal as it is in America. Many men and women are not worried about the legalization of their marriage. People are free to chose who they marry, and many chose to marry at a young age. According to Emilio it is very odd how American eat out so often and how we do not eat as a family for most meals. Danes eat most of their meals at home and in private settings, although public dining places ranging from small hot dog stands to fancy restaurants are available and are used (1). Meals in Denmark seem to have a lot of the same foods Americans would eat. Holidays with special meals include New Year's Eve, Easter, Martin Mass, and Christmas (1). New year’s is spend eating boiled cod, Easter is spent eating all day with lamb for dinner, and Martin Mass with roast goose. The traditional Christmas Eve dinner includes roast pork, roast duck, or goose stuffed with prunes, served with pickled red cabbage, white boiled potatoes, fried brown sugared potatoes, and thick brown gravy. Desserts include rice porridge and ris a la mande (1). The Danish love their holidays, spending time with their family eating and drinking is a big party of their culture. A lot of the same holidays are celebrated in Denmark as Americans celebrate, other than Thanksgiving, but they have a few of their own. Framing consumed two thirds of the land area in Denmark. Natural resources are limited to agricultural land, clay, stone, chalk, lime, peat, and lignite (1). Due to this International trade is very important to Denmark.
Bibliography
1. "Culture of Denmark - History and ethnic relations, Urbanism, architecture, and the use of space." Countries and Their Cultures. Web. 26 Oct. 2009.
