Intro
One of the nice things about growing up in Canada was that I was exposed to multiple cultures at a very young age. This has given me the upper hand when meeting people of different cultures in the United States. I am very fortunate to have a best friend who is from Eastern Europe and has welcomed me into her home on many occasions for me to experience their cultures. Valerie, or Valeriya, Khaletskaya is one of my very close friends who grew up in a cultural completely different then my own. Her cultural background is Russian, and her family still celebrates and performs all the cultures holidays and traditions, so I thought she would be the perfect candidate for my Summer Interview. If like to clarify before going any further …show more content…
Parents, however, were both born in Almaty, Kazakhstan. Give me much information about the grandparents on her father side; all she knew was that her father was rushed. She had never met either of his parents. When asked about her home country, she said Kazakhstan, where she was born as well. Russian with her first language, and she began to learn English after her parents moved to the states when she was very little.
The second question I asked was about how she identified herself. Valerie immediately laughed. "I have never really thought about that," she said. She paused and began to tell me that she considered herself to be American because she is an American citizen and has lived in the United States for 18 years, she 24. She began to have some difficulty when I asked about her family background, it was almost repetitive to the first question I asked her. Both her mother’s parents were Russian and Kazakh, and her father’s parents were Polish and Russian. I quickly lead into the next question to keep the conversation
One of the nice things about growing up in Canada was that I was exposed to multiple cultures at a very young age. This has given me the upper hand when meeting people of different cultures in the United States. I am very fortunate to have a best friend who is from Eastern Europe and has welcomed me into her home on many occasions for me to experience their cultures. Valerie, or Valeriya, Khaletskaya is one of my very close friends who grew up in a cultural completely different then my own. Her cultural background is Russian, and her family still celebrates and performs all the cultures holidays and traditions, so I thought she would be the perfect candidate for my Summer Interview. If like to clarify before going any further …show more content…
Parents, however, were both born in Almaty, Kazakhstan. Give me much information about the grandparents on her father side; all she knew was that her father was rushed. She had never met either of his parents. When asked about her home country, she said Kazakhstan, where she was born as well. Russian with her first language, and she began to learn English after her parents moved to the states when she was very little.
The second question I asked was about how she identified herself. Valerie immediately laughed. "I have never really thought about that," she said. She paused and began to tell me that she considered herself to be American because she is an American citizen and has lived in the United States for 18 years, she 24. She began to have some difficulty when I asked about her family background, it was almost repetitive to the first question I asked her. Both her mother’s parents were Russian and Kazakh, and her father’s parents were Polish and Russian. I quickly lead into the next question to keep the conversation