S2E32: Seattle Colleges Conversations with! International Student Htet Pyae Shin Minn or 'Sophia' of Myanmar

In this our thirty-second (32nd) episode of Season 2, Seattle Colleges host Evan Franulovich interviews international student Htet Pyae Shin Minn or 'Sophia' of Myanmar about her experience here at Seattle Colleges and about life in the United States. 

(Originally recorded January 2024)

1:19 - Meet Sophia!

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Transcript

Evan Franulovich: 0:05

Welcome to Seattle Colleges International Programs and our show Conversations with! where we talk to people that help you understand how you too, can be an international student in the United States and why Seattle Colleges should be your first choice. We'll talk to students and staff and agents and government folks, all kinds of people, about what you can expect when you're getting ready to apply or travel here, what you'll experience while you're with us and how it can all lead to an amazing life. Don't forget to check out the Seattle Colleges International Programs website at intl.seattlecolleges.edu where you can find a treasure trove of information about the school, the programs here and, best of all, fill out and submit your application. Again, that's intl.seattlecolleges.edu Hey, everybody, welcome to Seattle Colleges "Conversations with" we have a first guest ever from Myanmar today.

Sophia: 1:16

Hi.

Evan Franulovich: 1:17

So exciting!

Sophia: 1:18

I'm so excited.

Evan Franulovich: 1:19

Sophia, tell everybody who you are. I mean, your name is Sophia. It's your English name.

Sophia: 1:25

Yes.

Evan Franulovich: 1:26

Maybe you can tell them your your name.

Sophia: 1:28

Yes.

Evan Franulovich: 1:29

Where you're from exactly in Myanmar and then what you're studying.

Sophia: 1:33

Yeah. Hi, everyone. My full name is Htet Pyae Shin Minn. Many people here call me'Htet' or either 'Sophia' because sometimes my real name might be difficult for people here to pronounce. I come from Myanmar, also known as Burma. And it's... I come from the city of Yangon, which is the largest and most developed city in my country. And I'm studying computer science at Seattle Central College. Nice to meet you.

Evan Franulovich: 1:59

Yeah, Cool. So Yangon used to be called... you know the old name?

Sophia: 2:05

Yeah, Rangoon.

Evan Franulovich: 2:06

Rangoon. So if you're looking at a map, you might see it both ways. And yeah, Burma was the old name.

Sophia: 2:12

Yes.

Evan Franulovich: 2:13

So when you're there, do you care which people call it? Like, if you hear Burma, you're like: no, no, no! Or is it okay If people say Burma?

Sophia: 2:21

I think I prefer Burma more.

Evan Franulovich: 2:23

Really?

Sophia: 2:23

Yeah.

Evan Franulovich: 2:24

Why is that?

Sophia: 2:25

The name sounds more classy. And it sounds more Asian. So I really like it.

Evan Franulovich: 2:31

Interesting.

Sophia: 2:32

Yeah.

Evan Franulovich: 2:32

That's cool. Well, from what I understand, it's a beautiful country. I've never been there. But, you're in the South part of the country, right?

Sophia: 2:41

Yes!

Evan Franulovich: 2:41

Isn't Yagon near the Gulf? That...you're down there?

Sophia: 2:43

Yes. The South part.

Evan Franulovich: 2:44

Yeah, so I'm guessing it's hot.

Sophia: 2:47

It is hot. Yeah. It is pretty hot.

Evan Franulovich: 2:50

So how's your transition been to "Not so hot Seattle"?

Sophia: 2:55

It was crazy at first. When I first came to Seattle, I was so cold. I was chattering the whole time. And it was the transition from spring to summer. Yeah. And it was already so cold. But now I think I'm slowly adjusting to the weather.

Evan Franulovich: 3:13

So you... also when did you arrive? What month did you get here?

Sophia: 3:17

Oh, the month I came to Seattle first time was in June.

Evan Franulovich: 3:21

Oh! That's the greatest time to arrive in Seattle.

Sophia: 3:24

Yeah!

Evan Franulovich: 3:25

Because the summers are usually really beautiful.

Sophia: 3:27

Yeah, the summers are beautiful. I went to the beach...yeah

Evan Franulovich: 3:30

And you said you're studying computer science. That's interesting.

Sophia: 3:34

Yes.

Evan Franulovich: 3:34

Is that why you chose Seattle?

Sophia: 3:36

Yeah, that's also another reason. Seattle has a lot of opportunities for Computer Science. Microsoft, Amazon are here so...

Evan Franulovich: 3:44

Exactly. So what do you want to do with a degree in Computer Science down the road?

Sophia: 3:50

Software Programming

Evan Franulovich: 3:52

Oh yeah? Right, and do you have a language that you love to work in?

Sophia: 3:56

I haven't really figured it out yet. Maybe I'll figure it out. Because I just got here. So I haven't really think of what I want to do yet.

Evan Franulovich: 4:03

Sure. So you're...so let's go back a little bit. You're sitting in Myanmar and I'm guessing you graduated from high school?

Sophia: 4:11

Oh I didn't graduated from high school.

Evan Franulovich: 4:14

Oh, you didn't?

Sophia: 4:15

Yeah. I didn't. Because Seattle Central accepts students without high school. Yeah.

Evan Franulovich: 4:20

You are one of our "High School Completion Plus Program"....

Sophia: 4:23

Yes!

Evan Franulovich: 4:24

Welcome! That's really great to know! It's so nice to have guests on the show that are in the "High School Completion Program". A lot of people don't understand this program. They don't really get it.

Sophia: 4:36

Yeah

Evan Franulovich: 4:36

Can you give them a short description of why it's an interesting program?

Sophia: 4:42

Oh, it's very interesting because in two years, you can get both your high school diploma and your associate's degree and you can work towards getting both of them, and you don't have to finish high school in your country. Just maybe...9th grade or 10th grade is good... before...And you don't have to graduate from high school.

Evan Franulovich: 5:02

That's right. You can...you can actually...you have to be at least 16 years of age. So I'm guessing you're at least 16.

Sophia: 5:08

Yes, I'm at least 16.

Evan Franulovich: 5:09

Yeah, so you have to be at least 16. But then you come here, you don't have to do your junior/senior year in your own country, you can save... Like, if you're already paying private tuition, you can save that money, save that time, just come here. And at the end, you'll get that diploma from the state of Washington and you'll get your associate's degree, which is pretty cool.

Sophia: 5:30

Yeah.

Evan Franulovich: 5:31

Well, before... well, so how did you hear about the program?

Sophia: 5:34

Um I just wanted to go abroad and study as soon as possible. So I just look on Google, or what might be the best options to go study abroad as fast as I can, and I found the high school completion program in Washington.

Evan Franulovich: 5:49

Yeah, Washington State's kind of unique.

Sophia: 5:51

Yeah.

Evan Franulovich: 5:51

We offer that, a lot of states don't offer that.

Sophia: 5:54

Yeah.

Evan Franulovich: 5:54

Did you look at other schools, either within the state of Washington or outside of Washington?

Sophia: 6:00

I looked at other schools outside of Washington, but they only accept you when you have... like high school diploma.

Evan Franulovich: 6:06

Right, right.

Sophia: 6:07

So that's why I look into the state of Washington. I looked at other schools, but I like big cities like Seattle.

Evan Franulovich: 6:13

Yeah.

Sophia: 6:13

You know, Seattle Central is very close to downtown. So they have a lot of big high skyscrapers that we don't have in our country.

Evan Franulovich: 6:20

You don't have skyscrapers? Really? I would think in some of the big

Sophia: 6:22

No cities, maybe, you would... No no...

Evan Franulovich: 6:27

Interesting, huh? I gotta go check it out.

Sophia: 6:31

Yeah.

Evan Franulovich: 6:32

Well, that's really great. So you just have started. So you've been here for about six months?

Sophia: 6:36

Yes.

Evan Franulovich: 6:37

And so you'll graduate? In... what?

Sophia: 6:42

2025

Evan Franulovich: 6:43

2025 alright, not too far away.

Sophia: 6:45

Yeah.

Evan Franulovich: 6:46

Cool. And then you plan to transfer I'm guessing to another university, or do you have somewhere in mind?

Sophia: 6:52

In my... probably UW(University of Washington)

Evan Franulovich: 6:55

UW? Yeah, that makes sense. And there's three I went to Seattle and visited there. So beautiful! campuses. I don't know if you know that. But there's one in Tacoma one in Bothell and then the one here in Seattle, do you know which one you want to apply to? It is beautiful.

Sophia: 7:08

So probably Seattle.

Evan Franulovich: 7:09

Right on. Good. Yeah, we have transfer fares. I don't know if you're aware of that but in the Fall, and in the Winter, we have transfer fares, so schools from around... the country really, come and they set up tables from I think 10 to 12 (10am to 12pm) and you can talk to the transfer advisors, the counselors from those schools and University of Washington is always there, so, keep an eye open for the announcement that's going to be coming up probably soon.

Sophia: 7:42

Thank you.

Evan Franulovich: 7:42

Sure. Because it's never too early.

Sophia: 7:45

Yeah, never too early.

Evan Franulovich: 7:46

Well, tell us about um... getting your visa. So, I don't know much about the amount of time it takes to get your appointment. So from the time you applied to Seattle College, to the time you got your interview, how long did that take?

Sophia: 8:02

Um, my interview appointment was in June, and I got here in June too, so only like 10 days after my interview appointment I came to Seattle.

Evan Franulovich: 8:13

Oh, that was super fast.

Sophia: 8:14

Yeah.

Evan Franulovich: 8:15

But when you applied, they issued you and I-20 form.

Sophia: 8:18

Yes, yes.

Evan Franulovich: 8:19

From the time you got your I-20 until your interview. How much time was that?

Sophia: 8:22

Four months?

Evan Franulovich: 8:23

Oh, it was four months?

Sophia: 8:24

Yeah, it was four months.

Evan Franulovich: 8:25

So if you're in Myanmar, kind of plan ahead, it seems.

Sophia: 8:29

Yeah.

Evan Franulovich: 8:29

Cuz four months is quite a while.

Sophia: 8:31

But but I was the lucky one. I got it faster than most people.

Evan Franulovich: 8:34

Oh, really?

Sophia: 8:35

Yeah.

Evan Franulovich: 8:36

How do you do that?

Sophia: 8:36

The interview dates are very hard to get. One once the visa spot opens, you have to... like get, get the spot, grab the spot as soon as possible.

Evan Franulovich: 8:45

Right right.

Sophia: 8:45

It fills out so fast. In just a few seconds.

Evan Franulovich: 8:48

Plan ahead.

Sophia: 8:49

Yeah.

Evan Franulovich: 8:49

It's a good advice.

Sophia: 8:50

Yeah.

Evan Franulovich: 8:51

And when you did, was the interview in Yangon or did you have to travel to another city?

Sophia: 8:56

It was in Yangon.

Evan Franulovich: 8:57

It was, okay. Do you know if there are other cities you can do your appointment in? Or do you have to do them in Yangon?

Sophia: 9:04

I don't think so. I think it's in Yangon. Because the council is in Yangon. The Embassy.

Evan Franulovich: 9:12

Gotcha. And then tell us about your appointment. Did they ask you a lot of questions? How long did it last?

Sophia: 9:20

For me it didn't last a long time. Only two minutes.

Evan Franulovich: 9:23

What!? Two minutes?

Sophia: 9:25

Yeah.

Evan Franulovich: 9:25

That's barely enough time to say hello.

Sophia: 9:27

Yeah. That just that. They just asked me some questions like, when when are you going? What's your major? What does your father do? Are you coming back? That's all.

Evan Franulovich: 9:37

Are you coming back yeah...We're the did they seem concerned at all that you were younger and that you are going for high school program?

Sophia: 9:45

Ah, no. They asked me about it, but I explained it to Yeah. About the program. And also, I think the key... the At an early age yes, since kindergarten.

Evan Franulovich: 9:48

Right, right right. Now you told me your them. Oh! secret is to look smart and be confident. Yeah. Sometimes Oh!

Sophia: 9:56

Yeah. But many, many students cannot learn it very people are...look like they're scared and their English is not family does... has been in tourism, so your English is good enough, ... and not enough. So the interviewer may have concerns and will ask more questions. quite good. Um...do kids in Myanmar...Do they start taking well in public schools. English in public schools from an early age? Or is it depend on

Evan Franulovich: 10:22

Oh, yeah?

Sophia: 10:24

Because the education system is not that good. Many the school..? or how does that work? people learn English from outside, outside institutions?

Evan Franulovich: 10:43

right, right, right

Sophia: 10:45

Or outside...private schools.

Evan Franulovich: 10:46

Yeah, yeah, yeah...Okay. Well, how did the schools... so you've been in the American classrooms now because a student... How do you compare that to kind of what you experienced in a classroom in Myanmar?

Sophia: 10:59

I think here people are very open about every questions that they might have, and the teachers really really pay a lot of attention to their students. Yeah, in my country, they didn't pay that much attention, and students are always so quiet. They don't have they don't really think much. And they don't have an opinion on anything. They just do what they're told to do. Yeah.

Evan Franulovich: 11:22

Head down...yeah.

Sophia: 11:23

So I think that's not good for our education system.

Evan Franulovich: 11:27

Right. Well, I'm glad you're experiencing that here. Yeah, we have a pretty open, you can talk to your teachers, that kind of thing. But I got your name from one of the Intensive English instructors. Did you have to take English when you first arrived? Or did you go right into your college classes?

Sophia: 11:47

I went right into my college classes. Because I took IELTS.

Evan Franulovich: 11:51

Oh yeah yeah.

Sophia: 11:53

Some students who didn't take etheir TOEFL or IELTS, they have to go to the English classes first.

Evan Franulovich: 12:00

And where did you take your English proficiency exam?

Sophia: 12:05

I took it back in Yangon.

Evan Franulovich: 12:06

Oh, you did?

Sophia: 12:06

Yeah.

Evan Franulovich: 12:07

Aha. Do you work with an agent at all? Or did you apply directly?

Sophia: 12:11

Oh, not really, I applied directly.

Evan Franulovich: 12:13

You did?

Sophia: 12:14

Agents are kind of expensive in my country.

Evan Franulovich: 12:16

Oh are they really?

Sophia: 12:16

They ask a lot of money. But I think the amount of work that you have to do, um... I think you can do it by yourself. And you don't need to give a lot of money to an agent to do that for you.

Evan Franulovich: 12:28

Right.

Sophia: 12:28

Yeah.

Evan Franulovich: 12:29

Well, let's talk about the application process. What did you find to be the most challenging part of the process?

Sophia: 12:36

Mm..I think visa process was a little hard.

Evan Franulovich: 12:39

Yeah?

Sophia: 12:40

Yeah.

Evan Franulovich: 12:40

I'm... Actually let me go back. I mean um... the application to Seattle Colleges

Sophia: 12:45

Oh Seattle Colleges...

Evan Franulovich: 12:46

What was the most challenging part of that?

Sophia: 12:50

Um..is not very hard.

Evan Franulovich: 12:52

It's not hard huh?

Sophia: 12:53

Not hard at all. You just do what they're told they tell you to do in the form.

Evan Franulovich: 12:57

Yeah. No, they don't ask for a lot. I mean, they they asked for a copy of your passport, I think. Did you already have a passport?

Sophia: 13:04

Yeah, I had an passport.

Evan Franulovich: 13:06

So that's pretty easy. They they asked you to fill out some information about where you're from and your address that can I think there's a fee.

Sophia: 13:14

Yeah.

Evan Franulovich: 13:15

And they asked for banking documents, they want to make sure that you have the financial resources to do it. Or what do you do for housing this since since you're younger? I'm guessing you don't go out and get an apartment?

Sophia: 13:27

No, I live in um...a student's dorm.

Evan Franulovich: 13:30

Oh, right across the street.

Sophia: 13:31

Right across the street. Yeah.

Evan Franulovich: 13:32

So people are always curious about our student housing, because not all community colleges have student housing. We do. What's it like?

Sophia: 13:41

Um...I think it's pretty good, and the environment is good. But the only thing that you have to worry about is... so we live in a studio room with three beds, our two beds in one room. And we have a kitchen and a bathroom but we don't have separate rooms, so people are going to see each other all the

Evan Franulovich: 14:01

Righ, right, you live together, yeah. time.

Sophia: 14:03

And it might cause some problems. For example, if you're younger, because you don't have any privacy.

Evan Franulovich: 14:09

It's true.

Sophia: 14:09

Yeah. And yeah,

Evan Franulovich: 14:11

Do you have a roommate?

Sophia: 14:12

Yeah, I used to have a roommate. Now, she went back to her country.

Evan Franulovich: 14:15

So it's just you?

Sophia: 14:17

It's just me for now.

Evan Franulovich: 14:18

Got a room all to yourself.

Sophia: 14:19

Yeah. It's good.

Evan Franulovich: 14:21

Yeah. They don't always fill up. We usually have space available. So that's great. Where was your roommate from?

Sophia: 14:30

Oh, she was from Taiwan. Oh okay. Yeah.

Evan Franulovich: 14:32

And she returned to Taiwan?

Sophia: 14:33

Yeah. Cuz she graduated.

Evan Franulovich: 14:35

Oh, very cool. Exciting! So maybe at some point, they'll bring in another roommate for you.

Sophia: 14:41

Yes, yes. Just not this quarter. Cuz we don't get a lot of students moving in in winter.

Evan Franulovich: 14:47

Oh, yeah. That's true. Yeah. Yeah Spring we'll have more students, but not everybody gets housing, some people get their own apartments or they have family or whatever. Do you have any family in the Seattle area? Anyone from...?

Sophia: 15:00

No... when I first came here, I didn't know anyone.

Evan Franulovich: 15:02

Nobody?

Sophia: 15:03

Yeah, nobody. Completely alone.

Evan Franulovich: 15:06

So you must be pretty adventurous because that's gotta be scary.

Sophia: 15:09

Yeah. And it's my first time traveling outside of my country.

Evan Franulovich: 15:15

So flying from Myanmar all the way to the United States.

Sophia: 15:18

Yeah! It was my first time.

Evan Franulovich: 15:19

So I'm curious because Myanmar's quite ... to the west. So did you go through Dubai to get to the US?

Sophia: 15:26

Yeah, yeah.

Evan Franulovich: 15:27

Oh, you did?

Sophia: 15:27

Yeah.

Evan Franulovich: 15:27

You didn't go to Singapore and then towards San Francisco or Los Angeles?

Sophia: 15:32

Oh, I went...Oh, I remember I went to Malaysia.

Evan Franulovich: 15:36

Oh you did?

Sophia: 15:36

Yeah. And then Qatar.

Evan Franulovich: 15:38

Oh, then you go back that direction.

Sophia: 15:40

Yeah, direct. I went to... and then I went to Seattle.

Evan Franulovich: 15:42

How many hours was that?

Sophia: 15:45

Over 24 hours.

Evan Franulovich: 15:47

Oh my gosh!

Sophia: 15:47

And I took three days.

Evan Franulovich: 15:49

It took three days!?

Sophia: 15:50

Yeah. Two nights sleeping at the airport.

Evan Franulovich: 15:54

That's a long way. So if you're from Myanmar prepare for a long...air...

Sophia: 15:57

Trip. Yeah, long trip.

Evan Franulovich: 16:01

Well, that's really that's pretty exciting. Did you meet a lot of students when you arrived here? I mean, have you made friends since you've been here?

Sophia: 16:11

Yeah. I made some friends.

Evan Franulovich: 16:12

Oh, good.

Sophia: 16:13

Yeah. International friends. Very good.

Evan Franulovich: 16:15

Yeah?

Sophia: 16:15

Yeah.

Evan Franulovich: 16:17

Are the domestic students curious about you?

Sophia: 16:20

Domestic students? Yeah, I think so. I think they're very curious about me.

Evan Franulovich: 16:23

Do they ask like, I'm guessing most students don't even know where Myanmar is?

Sophia: 16:28

Yes.

Evan Franulovich: 16:29

What's a Myanmar? I don't know.

Sophia: 16:30

Yes.

Evan Franulovich: 16:31

So you spend a lot of time explaining where it is?

Sophia: 16:35

So it's funny, I have to explain to them. Do you know Burma? And if they don't know Burma, then I have to ask them"Do you know an animal called Burmese python?" Because Burmese python is pretty famous.

Evan Franulovich: 16:47

Yes.

Sophia: 16:48

Popular. And if they don't know that, I just tell them. Oh, it's just a part in Southeast Asia, between Thailand and India.

Evan Franulovich: 16:55

Yeah, yeah.

Sophia: 16:56

I wish more people knew more about our country.

Evan Franulovich: 16:59

It's an amazing place. Lots of history.

Sophia: 17:02

Yeah.

Evan Franulovich: 17:02

And the United States has quite a relationship. Historical relationship. You know, there was the the road the Burmese road that went across to China during the war... So yeah, there's a lot of history there. Hmm. Well, what's been your biggest culture shock since you've arrived in the US? Like, you seem very adventurous and you're open for anything.

Sophia: 17:22

Yeah

Evan Franulovich: 17:22

But there must have been some things when you got here like, oh, I wasn't expecting the United States to be like this.

Sophia: 17:28

Yes. So first of all, people here are so extroverted.

Evan Franulovich: 17:32

Whaaaat.

Sophia: 17:33

Yeah, we are more introverted. And in our country, we don't really talk to someone that we just met, and become so friendly, all of a sudden. But here in America, people just meet each other, and they talk for one minute and there they look like they've been knowing each other for their whole lives.

Evan Franulovich: 17:52

It's true.

Sophia: 17:52

Yeah. So that was the biggest culture shock.

Evan Franulovich: 17:55

That is very strange. Yeah. But do you feel like you're more comfortable with it now?

Sophia: 18:03

I think, yeah, I became so comfortable with it. At first, I was scared to just start conversations, and it was weird for me at first, but now, I think, yeah, I think that's a good thing that people should have.

Evan Franulovich: 18:16

Yeah, I think it's... I mean, I'm used to it because this is where grew up, you know. So if you're just walking down the street and Yangon, like people wouldn't say, Hey, how are you? Hello?

Sophia: 18:26

No.

Evan Franulovich: 18:27

Never?

Sophia: 18:27

Never.

Evan Franulovich: 18:29

Do you...So when you go around the city, do you walk mostly? Or do you take the bus? How do you get around?

Sophia: 18:34

We use buses

Evan Franulovich: 18:35

You do?

Sophia: 18:36

Yeah. And how do you find the public transportation here? We only have buses in my country.

Evan Franulovich: 18:42

Oh really?

Sophia: 18:42

We don't have subways.

Evan Franulovich: 18:44

Oh Okay.

Sophia: 18:44

Yeah. So just buses, you just go to the bus stop and there will be signs saying, "oh, this number leads to where where...", then people just go like that. And it's super cheap.

Evan Franulovich: 18:56

Yeah, yeah I bet. Let's talk food.

Sophia: 19:00

Yep. Let's talk food.

Evan Franulovich: 19:01

Found any good Burmese food since you've been in Seattle?

Sophia: 19:05

No...

Evan Franulovich: 19:05

I don't know if there are many people... Like we have a lot of Vietnamese people. We have a lot of people from Japan, China...but I don't know if we have a lot of Burmese people.

Sophia: 19:16

No, we don't have a lot of people here. Not really.

Evan Franulovich: 19:19

Yeah.

Sophia: 19:20

They're mostly... they mostly go to East side like New York or California.

Evan Franulovich: 19:25

Sure, sure.

Sophia: 19:26

Yeah. So we don't have it many in Seattle.

Evan Franulovich: 19:29

Gotcha. So... So you probably haven't found any Burmese restaurants.

Sophia: 19:33

No, there isn't any. None. I tried to find every single on Google... Google

Evan Franulovich: 19:34

None? results. Sure

Sophia: 19:39

And no, I didn't find anything. They're only... there are in Oregon or California.

Evan Franulovich: 19:44

Or there are some down in Oregon? That's good to know because Oregon is close by. Have you traveled down to Portland?

Sophia: 19:50

Not, not yet.

Evan Franulovich: 19:51

You can get on Amtrak here. We have a train that will take you down there in just very few hours and go visit that city and then come back.

Sophia: 20:00

Yeah.

Evan Franulovich: 20:01

That's pretty cheap. So that's good. Well, we sounds like a business opportunity. Sounds like someone could open a restaurant...

Sophia: 20:07

Yeah. Yeah.

Evan Franulovich: 20:09

What's the what's the closest thing? Would you go to like a Thai restaurant?

Sophia: 20:12

Yes. Thai restaurant or Chinese restaurant? That's the closest.

Evan Franulovich: 20:15

Similar.

Sophia: 20:15

Yeah, similar.

Evan Franulovich: 20:16

Gotcha. Which is closer though?

Sophia: 20:20

Uh...Some dishes in Thai are similar, but some dishes in Chinese are also similar, like fried rice.

Evan Franulovich: 20:26

Oh, yeah. What about any influence from India? Bangladesh?

Sophia: 20:31

Yeah.

Evan Franulovich: 20:31

Because is so close.

Sophia: 20:32

India. Yeah, there's a lot of... there are a lot of Indian-Burmese people in my country.

Evan Franulovich: 20:37

Yeah?

Sophia: 20:37

Yeah. So we... I love Indian food.

Evan Franulovich: 20:40

Right. Well, we've got quite a few Indian restaurants around town.

Sophia: 20:43

Yes, yes.

Evan Franulovich: 20:43

If you get really sad you can always go to a Chinese restaurant...

Sophia: 20:47

Yeah, that's what I do.

Evan Franulovich: 20:48

That's cool. So in the apartment, though, do you cook for yourself?

Sophia: 20:52

Yeah, we... sometimes not always.

Evan Franulovich: 20:55

Right. You go out from time to time, but it gets expensive to go out. I mean, Seattle is not a cheap city.

Sophia: 21:01

Yeah, that's true.

Evan Franulovich: 21:02

To go out and eat all the time, so it's more... So the grocery stores that are nearby? Do you just...which one do you go to? And, what...how do you think? What do you think of the selection of food that's available?

Sophia: 21:15

We have M2M just near Seattle Central College, and that's Asian food. Yeah, so I think that's a pretty good spot, but it can be expensive. So there's always QFC which is less expensive.

Evan Franulovich: 21:28

Yeah, not KFC. QFC. No, that's a pretty good grocery store. The place you're talking about? Is that the one that's like in "Little Saigon"...?

Sophia: 21:37

M2M?

Evan Franulovich: 21:37

Yeah.

Sophia: 21:38

It's, it's like two three blocks away from here on Broadway.

Evan Franulovich: 21:42

It's done this way.

Sophia: 21:43

I see. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Evan Franulovich: 21:43

I've talked to so many Asian students that have I know what you are talking about. Yeah, they've got some good food in there, too. There's a really big Asian grocery store in Little Saigon, that you could check out. I know, you can take the streetcar to get down that direction. been like, it's so great, they can get really good stuff that and it might be fairly cheap compared to these guys.

Sophia: 22:04

Yeah.

Evan Franulovich: 22:05

I live in Edmonds, and there's an Asian grocery store, down near Shoreline. And it's a really good store. I found things in there. And I'd lived in China for four years, and found things in there that I bought in China, which was really cool. So you should be able to find some good stuff. Well, that's cool. So tell me about the kinds

Sophia: 22:20

Yeah. of classes they have you taking as a computer science major. What do what does the program look like? What kinds of things...? We also have to take general classes like art classes, um...performance classes? Yeah, at least three general classes to complete our degree. And then math is very important. Calculus. So hard. Yeah, calculus 123. All the way calculus, and then some programming.

Evan Franulovich: 22:54

Oh they do have you do that

Sophia: 22:56

Yeah, some program classes, and I think that summarize it.

Evan Franulovich: 22:59

Right. Do you know which programming languages they're using in those first two years of study?

Sophia: 23:06

Just intro to computer programming. So they use a lot... like three?

Evan Franulovich: 23:11

Right?

Sophia: 23:11

Yeah. Just intro. Not to specify specified yet.

Evan Franulovich: 23:16

Yeah. So maybe a little Python, maybe C++, or something like that. Good. All right. And then when you get to your next school, that's when you really hit that stuff? Well, you know, one of the cool things about starting at a community college is after you get your associate's degree, you can do up to a year's worth of OPT, which is like work in... Do you plan on doing that after you get your associates? Or do you plan to go straight from here to your junior year?

Sophia: 23:45

I think I'll take OPT, if I have the chance.

Evan Franulovich: 23:48

Yeah.

Sophia: 23:48

Cuz I think if we get OPT after graduating, that's a really good chance for you to get a job.

Evan Franulovich: 23:54

It's really great. Yeah. And so after you get your associate's degree, you can do a year of OPT. And then after you get your bachelor's degree, you can do another year of OPT.

Sophia: 24:03

Yes

Evan Franulovich: 24:03

So that's, that's really nice. I just interviewed someone recently who got their internship at Microsoft.

Sophia: 24:11

Oh really?

Evan Franulovich: 24:12

They... and then they ended up going back and getting hired later.

Sophia: 24:15

Yeah, yeah.

Evan Franulovich: 24:16

So it's really great.

Sophia: 24:17

That's what I'm planning to do.

Evan Franulovich: 24:19

It's a really good opportunity for sure, and we have a lot of tech companies in Seattle, not just Microsoft. But Amazon. Yeah, so many Google's here.

Sophia: 24:29

Google is also here?

Evan Franulovich: 24:30

Yeah, I was just in Kirkland this last weekend visiting a friend of mine. I see. And the Google building was right across the street from the restaurant we are eating.

Sophia: 24:39

Oh, that's so cool. I didn't know Google was here.

Evan Franulovich: 24:42

There'so many. It's amazing. I think Adobe's here, T Mobile is a big cell phone carrier, that kind of thing. So when you came here, did you... let's I have never asked one of my guests about getting cell phone service here. So did you go and have to get just a new card for the phone that you get? Or did you buy a whole new phone? How did you do that?

Sophia: 25:03

Oh, I actually just got my new phone here.

Evan Franulovich: 25:06

You did?

Sophia: 25:07

Yeah, this one. 15. And they don't have the physical SIM cards anymore. So I had to get an eSIM.

Evan Franulovich: 25:13

Oh it's an eSIM Yeah. And who did you sign up with?

Sophia: 25:16

Mint Mobile?

Evan Franulovich: 25:17

Oh, you did sign up with Mint.

Sophia: 25:19

Yeah. Mint mobileis very good.I really recommend it.

Evan Franulovich: 25:22

Yeah. That's the famous Ryan Reynolds, right?

Sophia: 25:25

Yes, yes. And it's so cheap.

Evan Franulovich: 25:28

It's very cheap. And I've heard that they do... that internationally i's pretty good too. Like, if you travel. It's pretty good.

Sophia: 25:36

I see.

Evan Franulovich: 25:36

Would see what happens.

Sophia: 25:37

My plan is only $15 a month for unlimited.

Evan Franulovich: 25:41

Super cheap.

Sophia: 25:42

Yeah. For new users, for three months.

Evan Franulovich: 25:45

That's really great.

Sophia: 25:46

Yeah, that's really great.

Evan Franulovich: 25:47

And then after three months, what is it go to? Something like 25 bucks...it is super cheap.

Sophia: 25:51

It's really cheap.

Evan Franulovich: 25:52

I mean, that may sound like a lot of money if you're overseas and you're... like, that seems like a lot of money if you like when I was in China.

Sophia: 25:58

Yeah.

Evan Franulovich: 25:58

But for the US that's, that's pretty reasonable.

Sophia: 26:00

That is pretty cheap, here all the companies ask at

Evan Franulovich: 26:01

Right. Yeah. And the big carriers are least $30 a month. Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile. But Mint Mobile. Yeah, you get your phone

Sophia: 26:11

Yeah. you get on Mint. That's super cool. Wow! you hear that? That means it's Trivia Time! Trivia Time!

Evan Franulovich: 26:22

So I'm gonna ask... because of your first guest from Myanmar, I got some special questions for you. So this is gonna be a little tough. These are all about Myanmar's. Well, four of the five.

Sophia: 26:34

I'm not very good at geography or history.

Evan Franulovich: 26:36

Well they are not too dificult. So let's see how you do. Question number one, which two rivers converge or come together in Yangon? What are the names of those rivers?

Sophia: 26:54

......

Evan Franulovich: 26:56

I don't know. I heard that it was the Yangon river and the Bago river's.

Sophia: 27:01

Oh, really? I'm not good at geography at all.

Evan Franulovich: 27:04

That's okay. No problem. All right. Question number two, what is the largest city in Myanmar?

Sophia: 27:11

The largest by area?

Evan Franulovich: 27:13

by population.

Sophia: 27:14

Oh, by population is Yangon.

Evan Franulovich: 27:15

Of course it is! You even said it at the beginning of the...

Sophia: 27:18

Yeah.

Evan Franulovich: 27:19

But I had it written down. All right, third question, which huge shimmering Pagoda complex in Yangon draws 1000s of pilgrims annually?

Sophia: 27:32

Shwedagon Pagoda? Yes!!! Actually, the most... I heard it's actually the most valuable Pagoda in the whole world.

Evan Franulovich: 27:39

Really?

Sophia: 27:40

Yeah. And most likes...a kind of...because we have a lot of gold there. Yeah, I just read it like in an article.

Evan Franulovich: 27:47

Yeah, yeah.

Sophia: 27:48

I think it's really amazing.

Evan Franulovich: 27:49

The pictures I saw are pretty incredible. Have you...obviously...

Sophia: 27:53

Obviusly like a lot of times.

Evan Franulovich: 27:55

And you can go inside?

Sophia: 27:57

Yeah, we can go inside.

Evan Franulovich: 27:58

Nice!

Sophia: 27:58

Some men can even put gold plates on the Pagoda.

Evan Franulovich: 28:04

Oh.

Sophia: 28:04

Yeah.

Evan Franulovich: 28:06

Check it out.

Sophia: 28:06

Yeah.

Evan Franulovich: 28:07

Very cool. All right. Last question has to do a Seattle. Can you name one famous band or musician from the city of Seattle?

Sophia: 28:20

Mm...band or musician from Seattle?

Evan Franulovich: 28:22

Yeah, a band or a musician? Like the name of a band or a musician. Someone famous that came from the Seattle area?

Sophia: 28:31

Huh Not..

Evan Franulovich: 28:32

I'll give you an example. The one that everybody knows usually is Nirvana.

Sophia: 28:37

Oh

Evan Franulovich: 28:38

Nirvana is...

Sophia: 28:39

Oh, yeah I hear about that. I love Nirvana.

Evan Franulovich: 28:41

Can you think of another one?

Sophia: 28:44

Not really.

Evan Franulovich: 28:46

Well, right across the street from Central here, we're on the Central Campus is a statue of a guy who's very famous...

Sophia: 28:54

Oh! Jimi Hendrix.

Evan Franulovich: 28:54

Jimi Hendrix!! Nice job!

Sophia: 28:58

Thank you for giving me the hint.

Evan Franulovich: 29:00

Yeah yeah no... Jimmy is from Seattle.

Sophia: 29:02

Yeah.

Evan Franulovich: 29:03

Check his music out.

Sophia: 29:04

Yeah.

Evan Franulovich: 29:05

Yeah. There's all sorts of great bands like Pearl Jam is from Seattle, Sir mix-a-lot, Macklemore you might know Macklemore, he did this so...the song thrift store? I don't know. He's pretty popular.

Sophia: 29:22

Yeah.

Evan Franulovich: 29:22

Dave Matthews Band maybe you've heard of them, a lot of good bands. Check out the Seattle music scene. You go out at all? I mean, I know you're younger, so might make it challenging...but do you go do things around the city?

Sophia: 29:35

Yeah, I go out with my friends a lot.

Evan Franulovich: 29:37

And what do you do? Like where do you go?

Sophia: 29:39

Restaurant? Yeah, go to walks. And sometimes we just go to each other's apartments and play games.

Evan Franulovich: 29:46

Sure. Yeah, yeah yeah. You said you're a gamer so.

Sophia: 29:48

Yeah.

Evan Franulovich: 29:49

Well the last question is what was the last movie that you saw? Maybe you saw a movie at a theater?

Sophia: 29:56

Oh, I want to Tukwila to watch Barbie.

Evan Franulovich: 30:00

Oh!

Sophia: 30:01

In a theater.

Evan Franulovich: 30:02

Yeah. What do you think?

Sophia: 30:03

I think that's it's really good.

Evan Franulovich: 30:04

Yeah, that's pretty funny. Yeah, we'll see how it does. I'm thinking it

Sophia: 30:05

Yeah. might be up for an award, because pretty soon, I think it's either February the first part of March is the Academy Awards, which is the big film award show here. And a lot of the best movies will be up for awards. Some people say they're not the best necessarily. So check it out! It is very American, so it would be a good cultural experience. Well, great job you did really well, on the questions. I'm impressed.

Evan Franulovich: 30:36

Usually, we end the show by asking for your wisdom. You know, you've been here six months now, you traveled all this way. You've been through the orientation, you've taken classes... Thinking of the kids back home that are dreaming about or thinking about becoming an international

Sophia: 30:52

Thank you. student like you, what advice would you give them? Mm..I would say that you can be who you decide to be, like, no, nothing can limit what you can do. That's what I

Evan Franulovich: 30:59

Yeah.

Sophia: 31:01

I didn't think I can do it either at first. believe. So as long as you believe in something, and you try to, there may be some struggles, of course. But I think as long as you have your gratitude, you wouldn't feel struggles. And as long as you have the right mindset, you can design who you want to be. So yeah, just try very hard. And I'm sure you can do it.

Evan Franulovich: 31:30

You're doing it girl.

Sophia: 31:30

Yeah.

Evan Franulovich: 31:31

That's great.

Sophia: 31:32

Yeah. And I'm younger than a lot of students here. I'm only 18.

Evan Franulovich: 31:34

Yeah.

Sophia: 31:35

So at first, I thought I couldn't do it, but I still did a lot of good things. So I'm pretty sure other people can do it too as long as they try to fight. Yeah.

Evan Franulovich: 31:47

Very cool. Have you have you applied for the scholarship? You know, they just opened up...

Sophia: 31:51

Oh, yeah.

Evan Franulovich: 31:52

Did you apply?

Sophia: 31:53

I haven't applied yet. But I'm looking forward to plan it.

Evan Franulovich: 31:56

Right, right. Don't forget, this is the open periods, you can go on and fill out the application.

Sophia: 32:02

Yeah.

Evan Franulovich: 32:02

I mean you can get between, I think, $1,000 and$5,000 so it really helps with tuition.

Sophia: 32:07

Yeah.

Evan Franulovich: 32:08

That's good. We have that scholarship available. So you can check out our website. There's information about our scholarships on there, and you can do the the open period of time is right now here in the spring, winter/spring. Well, cool. Last thing I always ask is, if you're willing to say a few words in your own language, it's probably a lot of listeners who have never heard Burmese before.

Sophia: 32:29

Yeah.

Evan Franulovich: 32:30

I can't say that I've heard it so... Yeah, if you don't mind.

Sophia: 32:35

Huh I'm thinking what to say...

Evan Franulovich: 32:37

Hey just be like words of encouragement or you can, you know, say hi to people back home or whatever you want to do.

Sophia: 32:47

Mmm...I'm just thinking for one second.

Evan Franulovich: 32:53

Yeah, take your time.

Sophia: 33:05

(Sophia speaking Burmese) Yeah.

Evan Franulovich: 33:16

Cool!

Sophia: 33:16

so that's just what I said in English like before. Oh, yeah. Yeah but translated back in my country.

Evan Franulovich: 33:22

So cool. Yeah, that sounds really cool. I've never heard I don't think I've ever heard Burmese, so that's really cool. It's similar to Thai or not? Can you understand someone from Thailand?

Sophia: 33:33

No.

Evan Franulovich: 33:34

Oh, you can't?

Sophia: 33:34

No but there is a ethnic ethnic group in my lang... in my country, which is similar to Thai.

Evan Franulovich: 33:41

Oh.

Sophia: 33:41

Yeah. Because we have a lot of ethnicities in my country.

Evan Franulovich: 33:44

Yes, that's true.

Sophia: 33:45

So that so I'm, I'm not Burmese by blood.

Evan Franulovich: 33:49

Or you are not?

Sophia: 33:49

Yeah, only a few percent. I'm more Shan is which is an minor ethnicity in Yama.

Evan Franulovich: 33:56

Is that Xin?

Sophia: 33:58

Yeah. S-H-A-N

Evan Franulovich: 34:00

Oh, S-H-A-N

Sophia: 34:01

Yeah. I think in English, they call it X-I-N too.

Evan Franulovich: 34:04

Okay.

Sophia: 34:04

Yeah. And the language that we use is quiet...sounds similar with Thai language.

Evan Franulovich: 34:10

Oh, yeah. Can you speak it?

Sophia: 34:11

No. My father can speak it.

Evan Franulovich: 34:13

Okay. I w'd"say some words in there". Well, that's really great. Well, thanks so much for coming on. The show is such a great honor to meet you.

Sophia: 34:21

No it's such a great honor to meet you.

Evan Franulovich: 34:23

I'll be anxious to follow your progress as you go towards graduation, and then maybe when you get ready to graduate, you could come back and do another show. I'll get together some of the podcast guests that have made it.

Sophia: 34:39

Oh yeah...That sounds interesting. Thank you so much for having me.

Evan Franulovich: 34:41

Thank you. Yeah is my pleasure. Alright guys. That's it. Thanks so much for joining us. Hopefully we'll see you next time

Sophia: 34:49

Next time. Bye Bye!

Evan Franulovich: 34:52

Conversations with! is painstakingly crafted for you by the Seattle Colleges International Programs department and supported by the lovely folks here on our campus. This show is produced and edited by me Evan Franulovich. We welcome your emails and questions about coming to Seattle Colleges. Please reach out to us via our website or just give have us a rating and a review on Apple podcasts as this helps others discover the show. Also, don't forget to follow us on Instagram, Facebook, Tik Tok or YouTube at SeattleCollegesIntl, that's SeattleCollegesIntl. And be sure to check out all of the shows here on Conversations with! Thanks for listening and we'll see you next week.