The interviewee: profession or career, culture of origin
The interviewee that agreed to participate in my course project is a migrant worker of Russian descent. For the sake of anonymity, I shall refer to the interviewee by his first and last name initials, which are A.D. He is a 36-year old male who works in General Electric as an electrician engineer. Married, has a wife and a child. His duties involve mapping and designing electrical systems for newly constructed houses, shopping malls, and other buildings. It is primarily a desk job, as the designing process is done using a computer. A.D moved to the USA roughly 5 years ago due to a gradual decline of quality of life in Russia and a lack of opportunities for personal and professional development. He is a tall, well-built man with signs of aging only beginning to appear. He has a limp on his right foot and has to rely on a walking stick, as walking causes him discomfort. A.D states that he received a trauma while working as a field electrician engineer after falling off an elevation due to a lack of safety equipment.
The number of years the interviewee has resided in the community
A.D lived in my community for 3 years, having been forced to relocate from San Francisco after signing up a contract with General Electric. For the past 5 years, he was immersed in American culture and lifestyle, which is significantly different from his life in Russia. Now, he and his family reside in our community, which is a small suburban district in the vicinity of the city. The district is relatively well off, with educational, social, and medical services present within less than an hour’s ride from home. Crime levels in our district are lower than the national average. The houses and objects of infrastructure are well-maintained, and its occupants engage in physical activity.
The relationship with the interviewee
A.D and his family are good friends of mine. When they moved into our community three years ago, I decided to greet my future neighbors. They are very nice and hospitable people. Although their current status is that of migrant workers, they are actively working towards citizenship. A.D is fluent in English and speaks with a bit of an accent. His wife does not know English too well, but she is attending classes. The child is being taught both English and Russian languages. They are expected to receive full citizenship within a year.
Reasons for the selection of this interviewee
I chose A.D as an interviewee because he is very open to sharing information about his life in Russia, his experiences with the healthcare system there, and can provide accurate points of comparison with our own system. At the same time, Russia is considered a European nation, which means it should bear similarities to our culture, while at the same time having many distinct traditions and habits born out of its long and tumultuous history. Russia’s healthcare system was inherited from the USSR and as such, has many differences compared to ours. As it stands, he receives treatment in the local hospital in regards to his leg injury. However, the process of healing is slow due to how expensive American healthcare is. Right now, he is undergoing a course of non-intrusive medicinal therapy aimed at reducing the symptoms such as pain and discomfort when walking. He says that he needs to save money to afford an operation that would eliminate the source of pain altogether. He has been undergoing therapy for the past three years, for two weeks on a yearly basis.