interview with foreign student

This year, I had the opportunity to meet and become friends with a foreign student. His name is Dimitri and he comes from Guadeloupe. He lived in the canton Vieux-Habitants, and he had a lot to tell about his home country. 

We first talked about his adaptation in our country. Of course, he said he had a bit of difficulty with our climate, because in Guadeloupe the average temperature is between 19 to 31 degrees. As a matter of fact, he had to buy some clothes and appropriate equipments for our province.

I questioned him about his education as the second subject of the interview. He told me that he went to a primary school and a college like the French education system, but decided not to pursue his studies there because he was interested in moving in another country. The percentage of scholarship is actually acceptable but it is actually lower than here in North America. He had the ambition to come here for Cegep then university, and he is properly following the path to go there. 

I also wanted to know more about the hobbies and activities he liked to do in Guadeloupe. He said that football and basketball were pretty famous in town and that he also liked to do some skateboard with his friends. He had plenty of time while not at school because most of the time, parents in Guadeloupe let their children alone and free to do what they want because they don’t always have much time to allow them. It is an element of Dimitri’s personality: he is independent and resourceful, and he doesn’t really like to stay many hours somewhere without doing anything. It helped him become an energetic guy who likes to spend time in sports. 

He speaks French as his mother tongue, but also “créole guadeloupien” which he really likes to use when he sings; it brings musicality to an “acapella” song. It is pretty hard to understand, even when you get used to it, he brings out new expressions and words that I didn’t know. But as I said above, French is the official language in Guadeloupe, 99% of the citizens speaking it perfectly, as most of the natives there speak “creole” perfectly too. 

It seems that Dimitri doesn’t really “trust in god”, however he loves to use proverbs and saying from the Bible when he wants to correct someone in his thoughts. It is interesting to see that even if he doesn’t practice religion, he is a virtuous guy from who I learned a lot. His company is always pleasant and funny, and I think it comes from his origins, I mean his life path. Sometimes, it’s harder for some, and it shows through his attitude toward problems, relations with others, work, etc. 

Finally, I didn’t have much time to meet him and do an interview about him, but I know him since my first year here, so it wasn’t a problem to go and see him home last week on evening to discuss and get information for this post. I’m glad to present it to you; maybe it’ll attract any of you and get you to do a trip there to see how it’s like. It is actually one of my projects; after university I’d like to go there and visit him.