Interview with Abu Hasan
Bangladesh
Family Background
Abu is 24 years old and has been in the United States for 4 years.  He is from Bangladesh which is in South Asia.  He has a mother, father, 1 brother, and 1 sister.. His brother is 3 years younger than him and his sister is 11 years old.  He does have family here in the US, he has 2 uncles, & his grandparents were here for 20 years, but they just moved back home. He calls or is in contact with his family at least 2 times a week & goes home once a year. His father is the director of primary education and his mother is a housewife. When asked if his relationships have changed, he said yes. He said there is a communication gap between his family and him because they live in 2 completely different cultures, but he does miss his family and friends a lot.
Politics
Abu was more than willing to talk about politics. He said he enjoys politics very much. Bangladesh is currently a democratic country. He stated at first it was very hard to come to the U.S. because he was leaving his family for the first time. He got very homesick, but Abu said it got better once he made friends. When asked about the relationships between the U.S. & Bangladesh, he said it was at a very friendly state and stable. He stated that the U.S. role in combating terrorism is just and fair. He also stated sometimes we go for & lose our focus about what we are fighting for. He also told me that his country was happy when we bombed Afghanistan.
Culture
When asked about what kinds of foods come from his country he first said kebabs & Biryani - made with chicken or pork with rice & seasoning. Abu stated at first when he came here relationships with Americans were harder to make, but after a while he said it started to even out & now it is the same. Some of his hobbies were cricket popular back home), and football (we know as soccer). Here he likes to play basketball, work out, play pool, hang out with his friends & traveling. I then asked if he liked, or didnt like anything about the U.S. culture and he responded with how he liked that we have a freedom of individualism. We can be who we want to be, back home, you need support from your family. He also liked that we have an open society with people from all different cultures, but most of all he liked that we have the freedom to meet anyone ( like girls), and back home he couldn't. Abu's only dislikes were that people here are so materialistic and he did not like our family structures. He said we aren't very strong in our values. He talked about when people get old here, their family just place them in nursing homes and he did not believe that that was right.
Geography
The climate in Bangladesh is very tropical, never below 0 degrees Celsius, and very humid. Winters are very dry and they have monsoons where it rains for 5 days in a row. Abu said the air used to be really bad and hard to breathe but now it is better. The structural aspect is very different, over in Bangladesh all they use is brick, and he could not believe we use wood. He stated his country has 146 million people.
International Differences
When asked how long he has studied English he said since 2nd grade. He explained to me in school he was taught his native tongue and they also taught English. School structure is the same 1-12 and they have many colleges which all schooling is practically free. The native tongue in Bangladesh is Bengali. It is the 5th most spoken in the world, but English is also an official language in Bangladesh. Abu speaks 5 different languages which include Bengali, English, Hindi, Arabic, and Urdu Pakistan. He decided to come to the U.S. because he likes to travel. He chose St. Cloud because it is cheaper and a lot of his friends from back home are here. When asked whether or not he would consider choosing the U.S. as a permanent residence he was undecided. Maybe if his family would come over.
Education
Abu is majoring in Computer Networking and Visual stimulation. He also has a minor in statistics.