S4E4: Seattle Colleges Conversations with! International Student Momen Dughmi of Jordan

In this our 4th (fourth) episode of Season 4, Seattle Colleges host Evan Franulovich interviews international student Momen Dughmi about his experience here at Seattle Colleges and about life in the United States. 

1:19 - Meet Momen!

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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.

Evan Franulovich  1:03  
Hey everybody! Welcome to Seattle Colleges Conversations with! We're here at South Seattle College, and it's season four. Season Four! I want to welcome our second guest ever, from the country of...? 

Momen Dughmi  1:23  
Jordan. 

Evan Franulovich  1:26  
Great country. I got to watch them play in the Asia Cup, last time I was there, it was awesome. We beat, we? I'm not from Jordan, but I felt like I was from Jordan. We went into this cafe and I watched the game with people who were so amazing. 

Momen Dughmi  1:43  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  1:43  
And you won. It was great. 

Momen Dughmi  1:46  
Thanks.

Evan Franulovich  1:46  
Well, I got to welcome our guests, tell everybody who you are, what you're studying, where you're from, in Jordan, city and country, and let's see maybe how long you've been here?

Momen Dughmi  1:58  
My name is Momen Dughmi. I am from Mafraq, Jordan. I'm studying automotive technology here in South Seattle College.

Evan Franulovich  1:58  
How long have you been doing that? 

Momen Dughmi  2:08  
Two years. So my first year was ESL, and the second year automotive. Yeah, but before automotive, I took English 101, and math classes. So after that, I could continue my major.

Evan Franulovich  2:25  
Did you come here just for that program?

Momen Dughmi  2:28  
No, in the beginning, when I came here, I was planning to study computer science. 

Evan Franulovich  2:34  
Oh. 

Momen Dughmi  2:34  
So I was in Central Seattle College. Walking around the aisles, I saw automotive technology, so I emailed my advisor. I asked him, 'Can I change my major?' And he told me, yeah. So now I'm in automotive.

Evan Franulovich  3:00  
Yeah, that's a big switch from computer science to automotive technology, but I think it's awesome. You're also our first guest in that program, so I'm really excited to hear more about it. But let's back up a little bit. You did a full year of ESL? 

Momen Dughmi  3:15  
Yes. 

Evan Franulovich  3:15  
Wow. How did that go? 

Momen Dughmi  3:16  
It was amazing. 

Evan Franulovich  3:16  
Was it? 

Momen Dughmi  3:17  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  3:18  
Tell us about the ESL program. 

Momen Dughmi  3:20  
In the beginning, I took an exam, and after the exam, they put you in a level. So at the first I was in level three. Level three to four to five, so it took me three semesters.

Evan Franulovich  3:37  
Three semesters? There are a total of five levels in our institute of English, level three is nice because that's the beginning of college bridge. So you were able to take some college classes at the same time? 

Momen Dughmi  3:49  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  3:49  
What did you take?

Momen Dughmi  3:50  
I took art class. I took Introduction to American culture.

Evan Franulovich  3:59  
And how was that? 

Momen Dughmi  4:00  
It was good. 

Evan Franulovich  4:01  
Was it? 

Momen Dughmi  4:02  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  4:02  
Do you find American culture so different, or do you find it to be similar? 

Momen Dughmi  4:06  
No, it's different. 

Evan Franulovich  4:07  
Very different. 

Momen Dughmi  4:08  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  4:08  
What's been the strangest thing you've discovered coming to the US?

Momen Dughmi  4:12  
So the first thing is the language, also everything's different. It's not like back home, but it's nice. But every day I'm learning new things. 

Evan Franulovich  4:27  
Yeah, good. Have you found a place, a restaurant, that serves Mansaf? 

Momen Dughmi  4:33  
No. 

Evan Franulovich  4:33  
Do you cook it yourself? 

Momen Dughmi  4:36  
Sometimes. 

Evan Franulovich  4:37  
Sometimes? Very cool. Yeah, if you haven't had Mansaf, I highly recommend it. It's really good. It's about all I ate when I was in Jordan. It was cool. All right, so let's go back to when you were in Jordan as a young person. You went to high school at a private school or public school? 

Momen Dughmi  4:53  
No, private school. 

Evan Franulovich  4:55  
Do you want to say the name of the school?

Momen Dughmi  4:59  
Yeah, it's *Inaudible* We are from Mafraq, but we live in Amman.

Evan Franulovich  5:04  
Oh, yeah. So your private school was in Amman. 

Momen Dughmi  5:06  
Yes. 

Evan Franulovich  5:07  
Gotcha. And when you were going to school, did you have dreams of studying in another country? 

Momen Dughmi  5:15  
Yeah, I have one brother and one sister, both of them studied outside of Jordan. 

Evan Franulovich  5:25  
Where at? 

Momen Dughmi  5:26  
In the UK.

Evan Franulovich  5:29  
Yeah, but you chose the US.

Momen Dughmi  5:31  
Yeah, to try something new.

Evan Franulovich  5:34  
That's cool. And did you look at schools all over the United States? 

Momen Dughmi  5:39  
No, because my cousin lives here, so I texted him that I'm looking to study. By the way, I have a bachelors degree. 

Evan Franulovich  5:49  
Oh, you already have a bachelors. 

Momen Dughmi  5:50  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  5:51  
In what? 

Momen Dughmi  5:52  
In Business Administration. 

Evan Franulovich  5:54  
Very cool. 

Momen Dughmi  5:54  
Yeah.

Evan Franulovich  5:54  
So you'll have business admin, and you'll have automotive degree. 

Momen Dughmi  5:55  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  5:56  
You can open your own shop, that's awesome. 

Momen Dughmi  6:00  
Yeah.

Evan Franulovich  6:01  
Cool. 

Momen Dughmi  6:01  
So my cousin lives here, so he told me that Seattle Colleges, it's good and it's nice. And after that, I applied.

Evan Franulovich  6:14  
Did he go to school here? 

Momen Dughmi  6:15  
No. 

Evan Franulovich  6:16  
But for housing, I'm guessing you must live with him?

Momen Dughmi  6:19  
Yeah, we live here together. 

Evan Franulovich  6:20  
Very nice. 

Momen Dughmi  6:21  
We live in North Seattle.

Evan Franulovich  6:23  
Oh, so you commute from North Seattle to South Seattle? Do you have a car?

Momen Dughmi  6:31  
Yes, I do. We live in Green Lake. 

Evan Franulovich  6:34  
How do you find driving in the US? 

Momen Dughmi  6:36  
It's good. 

Evan Franulovich  6:38  
It's pretty easy, right? Comparatively. 

Momen Dughmi  6:40  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  6:40  
I mean, traffic was great in Amman, I don't think it was too bad.

Momen Dughmi  6:44  
Yeah, sometimes it's bad. 

Evan Franulovich  6:46  
Yeah. 

Momen Dughmi  6:47  
But the thing here is the highways here make it easy for you to go from one place to another place. 

Evan Franulovich  7:02  
Although lately they've been doing work on Interstate five, which has been a pain.

Momen Dughmi  7:07  
Yeah, yeah. In the morning, it takes me 30 minutes.

Evan Franulovich  7:14  
Oh, yeah, that's not too bad. 

Momen Dughmi  7:16  
When they finished the construction, it took me like 12 minutes, 15 minutes.

Evan Franulovich  7:20  
Oh, that's super fast. Green Lake is a really nice area. 

Momen Dughmi  7:23  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  7:24  
I like that. My wife works at Roosevelt High School, so it's not too far from Green Lake. 

Momen Dughmi  7:29  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  7:29  
Okay, so you're in Jordan. You decided that you're going to come to the United States and study. You applied. Once you applied, how long did it take you to get your appointment for your visa interview?

Momen Dughmi  7:43  
So the thing when I came here in March 2023, I applied in January, and I applied for an emergency appointment, because my school is going to start in March. They accepted that and I went to the embassy, and they gave me the visa.

Evan Franulovich  8:09  
Nice. Yeah, I've been to the embassy in Amman and it's like a fortress. 

Momen Dughmi  8:13  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  8:14  
Tough to get in, really hard. A little extra time when you go. And your appointment, how long did it take to go through the interview? 

Momen Dughmi  8:24  
Five minutes. 

Evan Franulovich  8:26  
Oh, it was super fast. 

Momen Dughmi  8:29  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  8:29  
What kind of questions did they ask? 

Momen Dughmi  8:32  
I forgot, but they asked me 'Why are you're going there, and what are you gonna do?' And that's it.

Evan Franulovich  8:41  
Have a good time. That's crazy. It's so funny. Some students have a really hard time. Others sail right through. When you asked for the expedited appointment, and I have a number of students out there that are listening, that are needing an expedited appointment. Do you have to do anything special?

Momen Dughmi  8:57  
Yeah, I think you should give them proof that school is gonna start in one month, or two months.

Evan Franulovich  9:06  
Is there an additional fee? 

Momen Dughmi  9:08  
No. 

Evan Franulovich  9:09  
Oh, that's good to know. Great. And they just go on to what? The state department website? 

Momen Dughmi  9:15  
Yep. 

Evan Franulovich  9:15  
And there's a button to click to expedite it? 

Momen Dughmi  9:17  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  9:17  
And you know right away, or do they have to let you know?

Momen Dughmi  9:20  
After that, they gonna see and they gonna email you back. 

Evan Franulovich  9:31  
You got right in. That's cool. And then from the time you got your visa until you got on an airplane, how long did it take? 

Momen Dughmi  9:38  
Maybe two weeks. 

Evan Franulovich  9:39  
Oh, that's not too bad. Enough time to pack your bags, and you're ready to go? First time out of the country?

Momen Dughmi  9:46  
No, I went to Europe in 2018.

Evan Franulovich  9:49  
But first time in the United States? 

Momen Dughmi  9:52  
Yep, first time. 

Evan Franulovich  9:53  
Were you nervous? Were you excited? 

Momen Dughmi  9:54  
In the beginning when I came here it was weird. 

Evan Franulovich  10:00  
That's cool. Well, okay, so you arrive, you get into your orientation right away. 

Momen Dughmi  10:06  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  10:07  
How was orientation? Tell people about it.

Momen Dughmi  10:09  
It was amazing. Yeah, to be honest, they helped me with everything. Also my advisor, when I emailed them, they answered right away. 

Evan Franulovich  10:20  
Oh, good. 

Momen Dughmi  10:21  
Even the teachers, all of them, they were amazing here, and Seattle Central College.

Evan Franulovich  10:31  
You start your program in central for a few quarters. And then you decide you want to do something different. So did you have to do anything special, like, were there any additional requirements when you applied for the automotive program? 

Momen Dughmi  10:50  
No. 

Evan Franulovich  10:52  
Were there required classes you had to take? 

Momen Dughmi  10:54  
Because I'm an international student, they told me you should take English 101. 

Evan Franulovich  11:00  
You have to have that. 

Momen Dughmi  11:01  
And Math 110, and if I pass, I'm good to start automotive courses.

Evan Franulovich  11:12  
Do the automotive courses only begin in the fall, or do they also start in spring?

Momen Dughmi  11:17  
For me, I started in fall, but last semester, they took 20 students.

Evan Franulovich  11:31  
Okay, so when you applied, were there any other international students in the program? 

Momen Dughmi  11:38  
No.

Evan Franulovich  11:38  
You're the only one? 

Momen Dughmi  11:39  
I think so. 

Evan Franulovich  11:40  
That's cool. I love it. Are they curious about you? Do the other students are like, 'Hey, where are you from?'

Momen Dughmi  11:46  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  11:47  
Are they kind? Are people nice to you? 

Momen Dughmi  11:52  
Yeah, of course. We've been together for one year, so most of us are close friends now. 

Evan Franulovich  12:03  
Sure. 

Momen Dughmi  12:04  
Most of them are amazing. They help me with my English. 

Evan Franulovich  12:09  
Oh, sure. 

Momen Dughmi  12:09  
They help me sometimes, to let me know the meaning of words, or meaning of new things.

Evan Franulovich  12:15  
Because with automotive technology, there's a lot of specific terms. 

Momen Dughmi  12:19  
Yep. 

Evan Franulovich  12:20  
That must be challenging. 

Momen Dughmi  12:21  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  12:22  
So you spend as much time studying English as you do learning how to fix things? 

Momen Dughmi  12:29  
Yeah, every semester we learn new things. 

Evan Franulovich  12:32  
Yeah. 

Momen Dughmi  12:33  
And with the new things, I'm gonna learn new words, new terms, many things.

Evan Franulovich  12:41  
That's amazing that you do that. So you've been doing it for quite a while. When do you actually graduate from that program? 

Momen Dughmi  12:48  
I'm gonna finish in winter. 

Evan Franulovich  12:51  
And will you stay around so they can do graduation, or will you do OPT?

Momen Dughmi  12:55  
To be honest, I'm gonna do OPT. 

Evan Franulovich  12:58  
Oh, cool. 

Momen Dughmi  13:00  
Next semester, I'm gonna start asking my advisor, what should I do?

Evan Franulovich  13:05  
Right. Will you find a place near where you live, or you want to find a place near here? It's an internship kind of thing? 

Momen Dughmi  13:15  
Yeah, I'm gonna see how it's gonna work.

Evan Franulovich  13:18  
Were you the kind of kid that liked to fix thing. 

Momen Dughmi  13:22  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  13:22  
So you already knew how to work on cars?

Momen Dughmi  13:25  
Yeah, from Jordan, I know many things about cars.

Evan Franulovich  13:28  
Is your father a mechanic? 

Momen Dughmi  13:30  
No. 

Evan Franulovich  13:31  
Mom? 

Momen Dughmi  13:31  
No. 

Evan Franulovich  13:32  
That's cool. Brothers? 

Momen Dughmi  13:35  
No. 

Evan Franulovich  13:35  
So amazing. So you just have a talent for fixing things. 

Momen Dughmi  13:40  
Yeah, for me, when I fix something it satisfies me. 

Evan Franulovich  13:44  
Yeah. 

Momen Dughmi  13:45  
I don't know why. But it's amazing.

Evan Franulovich  13:47  
Yeah, my brother is the same way. He's very handy with tools. And speaking of tools, because you're in a program like that, are you required to buy your own tools? 

Momen Dughmi  13:56  
Yes. 

Evan Franulovich  13:56  
Or do they provide them?

Momen Dughmi  13:59  
There are some scholarships, but if I did not get any scholarships, then I have to buy tools. 

Evan Franulovich  14:08  
Yeah, that's great. Tools are heavy, do you plan on selling them before you go home, or do you plan on shipping them home?

Momen Dughmi  14:16  
And they are expensive. 

Evan Franulovich  14:18  
They are expensive, yeah. What brand do you like?

Momen Dughmi  14:23  
So the toolbox I bought is US General from Harbor Freight. And I bought a whole tool set from Husky. 

Evan Franulovich  14:33  
Oh, from Husky. Not snap on?

Momen Dughmi  14:35  
No, snap on is crazy expensive.

Evan Franulovich  14:38  
Is it really? 

Momen Dughmi  14:38  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  14:39  
Oh, okay. 

Momen Dughmi  14:39  
The tools are gonna cost you like $20,000. 

Evan Franulovich  14:42  
Oh, 20 grand. 

Momen Dughmi  14:44  
Yes. 

Evan Franulovich  14:45  
So a basic set of tools, then...

Momen Dughmi  14:50  
If it's snap on with that tool card with everything then it's gonna cost you a lot of money.

Evan Franulovich  14:59  
So crazy. Do you just leave your tools here? 

Momen Dughmi  15:02  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  15:02  
Okay. And that's your spot to work, whenever you come to class? 

Momen Dughmi  15:06  
It depends on every semester. So during the intro we were with Todd, in Lab A. We start engine, with another teacher, John. So we went to lab B. But it's the same thing. We brought our tool boxes and moved it.

Evan Franulovich  15:34  
So let's talk about the classes you're taking this quarter. How many do you take? You have to have 12 units for a full schedule. 

Momen Dughmi  15:41  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  15:42  
So you must be taking at least 3 courses.

Momen Dughmi  15:45  
18 credits. 

Evan Franulovich  15:46  
Yeah, that's a lot. So you get here early in the morning. What time do you get here?

Momen Dughmi  15:52  
We should be here at seven. 

Evan Franulovich  15:53  
Everyday? 

Momen Dughmi  15:54  
Everyday. 

Evan Franulovich  15:55  
Except for Friday? 

Momen Dughmi  15:56  
Yeah, from Monday to Thursday. 

Evan Franulovich  15:58  
Wow. And then what time do you get to leave? 

Momen Dughmi  16:00  
At 1pm. 

Evan Franulovich  16:01  
Oh, that's not too bad. Seven to one. Okay, so can you tell us which classes you're taking right now? What are the names?

Momen Dughmi  16:08  
So it's HVAC and electricity. AC and electricity.

Evan Franulovich  16:14  
That's all? That's 18 units right there. 

Momen Dughmi  16:16  
Yes. 

Evan Franulovich  16:17  
Okay, so let's talk about the progression the very first quarter. What kinds of classes do you take?

Momen Dughmi  16:24  
Introduction to automotive 101, 102, and also introduction to electricity.

Speaker 1  16:34  
Do they do both diesel and strictly gas?

Momen Dughmi  16:39  
Yeah.

Evan Franulovich  16:40  
It's strictly gas? 

Momen Dughmi  16:42  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  16:43  
Huh, interesting. So you don't take any diesel classes? 

Momen Dughmi  16:48  
No. 

Evan Franulovich  16:48  
Interesting. What about non-automotive classes? Like, you had to take English 101, and Math, do they make you take...?

Momen Dughmi  17:00  
Yeah, I took psychology. 

Evan Franulovich  17:05  
Oh, cool. As a part of the program? 

Momen Dughmi  17:08  
I think I should take three credits. 

Evan Franulovich  17:11  
All right, that's cool. And how was that? 

Momen Dughmi  17:14  
It's was good, yeah.

Evan Franulovich  17:17  
Did you find tell me about your experience in the classroom compared to what the classrooms are like when you go to school in Jordan.

Momen Dughmi  17:26  
Yeah, it's different here. Everything here is online, most of the tests, the quizzes.

Evan Franulovich  17:39  
Instead of sitting down with piece of paper. Even the automotive stuff? 

Momen Dughmi  17:44  
Yeah.

Evan Franulovich  17:45  
There's no practical exam?

Momen Dughmi  17:48  
Every weekend, depends on how many quizzes we have, multiple choice quizzes, and everyday or every two days, we have a job sheet. 

Evan Franulovich  18:00  
Yeah, cool. 

Momen Dughmi  18:03  
Hands on work on cars.

Evan Franulovich  18:07  
Well, I've heard that people can bring their cars to South. 

Momen Dughmi  18:11  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  18:12  
And you guys will work on their cars. Is that true?

Momen Dughmi  18:14  
Yeah. Some teachers here, even some people that work here, if they need something to fix, they go and they ask the teacher. If they say yes, then they bring the car in and the student will fix it.

Evan Franulovich  18:33  
So as a student, is someone looking over your shoulder all the time, or do they just say, do this, and then they come back in an hour and see how you're doing?

Momen Dughmi  18:39  
Who the teachers?

Evan Franulovich  18:40  
Yeah. 

Momen Dughmi  18:41  
No. They are amazing, they help us with everything, to be honest. 

Evan Franulovich  18:50  
Really? 

Momen Dughmi  18:52  
They don't treat us like students; they treat us like their own kids. They take care of us. This is my fourth semester, and all of them are so nice.

Evan Franulovich  19:11  
Yeah, that's so great. 

Momen Dughmi  19:13  
Also, with everyone.

Evan Franulovich  19:15  
So if you're sitting there and you're fixing a car, let's say it needs... Maybe this doesn't happen, but let's say it needs an oil filter. Does the person have to go buy it for you? Is there a budget?

Momen Dughmi  19:30  
If it's a customers car, there is a room, and Niko works there, he'll do all that. He's the person between us and the customer. So he talks with them if they want. We tell him that we need parts, and he orders them. He takes permission from the customer if they want to do the repair.

Evan Franulovich  20:00  
So you don't have to do any business kinds of stuff. It occurs to me that a lot of these guys that are taking this are planning to eventually work for someone. Are there also business classes where, if someone wanted to open their own garage, do you have a business 101 class or something? 

Momen Dughmi  20:18  
I don't think so. 

Speaker 1  20:20  
Okay, cool. Which class has been the most fun for you? That you enjoyed the most.

Momen Dughmi  20:30  
To be honest, tires and suspension.

Evan Franulovich  20:37  
So do you have to bust the tires down, take them off?

Momen Dughmi  20:42  
Everything. 

Evan Franulovich  20:42  
You have to do the whole thing? 

Momen Dughmi  20:44  
Yeah, I balance them. Also do an alignment for the car suspension, check the suspension, every single thing in the car.

Evan Franulovich  20:54  
So when you go back to Jordan, is there a demand for good mechanics? 

Momen Dughmi  20:58  
Yeah, everywhere. 

Evan Franulovich  21:01  
Amazing. Now, one thing that we do in the United States is we use standard tools instead of metric. 

Momen Dughmi  21:07  
Yeah, in Jordan we also use metric.

Evan Franulovich  21:18  
So you have a set of metric tools. 

Momen Dughmi  21:20  
Yeah, most of the cars here are metric. Only the American cars are standard.

Speaker 1  21:28  
Like the Chevys and whatever. Well, you're into cars, obviously. So what's your favorite car?

Momen Dughmi  21:35  
My favorite brand is Mercedes.

Evan Franulovich  21:38  
Mercedes, all right, nice. Are you into Formula One? Are you not? Because the new movie came out this summer. It's pretty good. 

Momen Dughmi  21:47  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  21:47  
Check it out. The guys working in the pit, amazing. It's pretty cool. All right. Well, that's really interesting. So let me ask you, you mentioned scholarship. I know that the South Campus has their own foundation. 

Momen Dughmi  22:02  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  22:02  
You can apply for the district foundation. Did you do that? 

Momen Dughmi  22:06  
Yeah, I did. 

Evan Franulovich  22:07  
Did you receive? 

Momen Dughmi  22:08  
Yep. 

Evan Franulovich  22:09  
What?! So you received both?

Momen Dughmi  22:11  
No, last year I received from Seattle Colleges Foundation, and I'm gonna thank them. 

Evan Franulovich  22:20  
Yeah. 

Momen Dughmi  22:20  
Thank you Seattle Colleges Foundation. And this year, I applied for both of them, but I got South. 

Evan Franulovich  22:31  
But you at least got one of them. 

Momen Dughmi  22:36  
Yeah, also South Seattle College.

Evan Franulovich  22:37  
Nice. And was it a substantial amount of money?

Momen Dughmi  22:38  
For me, I got the maximum.

Evan Franulovich  22:42  
That's so amazing. Don't forget, if you are a new student coming to Seattle Colleges, don't forget to apply for those scholarships, because they really do come in handy.

Momen Dughmi  22:51  
Also here in automotive, we have a lot of scholarships not for international students, but for citizens. 

Evan Franulovich  23:03  
The domestic students?

Momen Dughmi  23:05  
Yeah. They have scholarships. They have tools, they have everything. It's amazing. 

Evan Franulovich  23:13  
It is pretty amazing. It is a little more limited for international students, but there are a number of scholarships out there. Have you looked into any other scholarships, does Phi Theta Kappa apply to automotive I wonder?

Momen Dughmi  23:29  
To be honest, I do not know.

Evan Franulovich  23:31  
Very good. Well, that's pretty cool. So what do you do for fun while you're around Seattle? I mean, when you're not working on things? 

Momen Dughmi  23:40  
Hanging out. 

Evan Franulovich  23:42  
Yeah? Do you go hiking?

Momen Dughmi  23:49  
Sometimes, but only in the summer, winter no.

Evan Franulovich  23:53  
Yeah, summer's been nice, right? 

Momen Dughmi  23:55  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  23:55  
A lot of people will say, 'Oh, the weather's so terrible in Seattle.' But what do you think? 

Momen Dughmi  23:59  
No, it's good. 

Evan Franulovich  24:00  
It's not bad, right? I mean, it's cooler than Jordan, probably.

Momen Dughmi  24:05  
For me, it's the same. 

Evan Franulovich  24:06  
It is the same? Very good. 

Momen Dughmi  24:08  
It's raining here too much. 

Evan Franulovich  24:11  
It does rain a lot in the winter, for sure. Yeah, but definitely not as much as in Jordan. Northern Jordan though, was cold where I was. 

Momen Dughmi  24:21  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  24:22  
It's a little higher. 

Momen Dughmi  24:23  
Yep. 

Evan Franulovich  24:23  
Do you ski or snowboard?

Momen Dughmi  24:27  
Not in Jordan. 

Evan Franulovich  24:28  
Not that much. 

Momen Dughmi  24:29  
Sometimes it snows one day in the year, and that's it. 

Evan Franulovich  24:33  
Oh, that's it cool. Wow. You obviously made friends within your department. Do you hang out with the other domestic students?

Momen Dughmi  24:45  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  24:45  
Cool. 

Momen Dughmi  24:46  
I have some international student friends. They're still in Central. 

Evan Franulovich  24:53  
Where are they from?

Momen Dughmi  24:58  
From Asia, and Africa.

Evan Franulovich  25:00  
Cool, I think the community is really good.

Momen Dughmi  25:04  
Also, some of them are from the Middle East.

Evan Franulovich  25:09  
We have a pretty large Middle Eastern community in Seattle. 

Momen Dughmi  25:12  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  25:14  
I assume you go to a mosque in Seattle? 

Momen Dughmi  25:19  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  25:20  
Is there's one in the northern part?

Momen Dughmi  25:22  
Yeah.

Evan Franulovich  25:22  
And tell me about that, do you meet other international students there? 

Momen Dughmi  25:29  
No. 

Evan Franulovich  25:30  
It's just Fridays?

Momen Dughmi  25:33  
Yeah, Fridays.

Evan Franulovich  25:34  
That's very cool. So guys, if you're from the region and you are Muslim, please, I think we have three or four mosques throughout the city.

Momen Dughmi  25:47  
I think in Central Seattle, they have some place you can go and pray.

Evan Franulovich  25:53  
They do have prayer rooms. There is one in South, I think it in this building over there or maybe it's over there, I don't remember. And we talked about the food a little bit. But what do you think of the restaurants? Have you found any good Middle Eastern restaurants? I know that there's a couple of good Moroccan restaurants.

Momen Dughmi  26:12  
Yeah, but for me, it's not like Jordan.

Evan Franulovich  26:17  
It's not the same. 

Momen Dughmi  26:18  
Yeah.

Evan Franulovich  26:19  
That's cool. What about your parents? Have they come to visit yet? 

Momen Dughmi  26:22  
Not yet. 

Evan Franulovich  26:23  
Do you think they will? 

Momen Dughmi  26:24  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  26:25  
Oh, cool. 

Momen Dughmi  26:25  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  26:26  
Right. And your brother, sister, have they come to visit you?

Momen Dughmi  26:28  
No, no one. My mom maybe soon, she has a visa so she can come. 

Evan Franulovich  26:35  
Welcome. How's her English? 

Momen Dughmi  26:40  
It's good. 

Evan Franulovich  26:41  
Yeah, that's great. So do you feel like your English has improved a lot since you started?

Momen Dughmi  26:49  
Yeah, for sure.

Evan Franulovich  26:50  
When you got here, were you confident with your English? 

Momen Dughmi  26:58  
Not so confident with my English. For me, my bachelor's degrees was in English. 

Evan Franulovich  27:03  
Oh, it was? 

Momen Dughmi  27:03  
Yeah, but the thing is, when we go out we speak Arabic, so we didn't practice that much in English. 

Evan Franulovich  27:11  
Where did you get your bachelor's degree from? 

Momen Dughmi  27:14  
From the University of Jordan.

Evan Franulovich  27:15  
Okay, cool. Good place to go to school?

Momen Dughmi  27:19  
Yeah, it's a big university. 

Evan Franulovich  27:21  
Well, if you had already done four years at a university in Jordan, you're obviously older than the normal student. 

Momen Dughmi  27:27  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  27:27  
Most students are 18-19 years old. 

Momen Dughmi  27:31  
For here no. In automotive, we have students that are 18. Some of them are 30, 31, 35.  

Evan Franulovich  27:44  
Right. That's cool. Do you like that kind of an environment? 

Momen Dughmi  27:48  
Yeah, I do too. 

Evan Franulovich  27:49  
Yeah. I think it's cool. Yeah, that's the nice thing, everybody. If you're out there listening of community colleges in the United States, they're open enrollment institutions, so people from all ages, maybe they've worked for 10 years, lots of different kinds of people.

Momen Dughmi  28:01  
Also in my English classes, some of them were veterans.

Evan Franulovich  28:06  
Oh, yes, they served. Very cool. Well, I'm gonna do something new. This is season four of Conversations with! We're gonna do a little get to know you a little bit. It's 10 quick questions. You either choose one answer or the other answer. It's super easy. We're going to go slow because this is our first time doing this. Let's give it a shot. So question number one: Coffee or tea? 

Momen Dughmi  28:36  
Coffee. 

Evan Franulovich  28:37  
Yeah, I'm a big coffee fan myself. Morocco, though it's tea. Would you prefer the mountains or the beach? 

Momen Dughmi  28:47  
Beach. 

Evan Franulovich  28:47  
Early bird or a night owl? 

Momen Dughmi  28:51  
Early Bird. 

Evan Franulovich  28:52  
Well, you have to get up early. Yeah, for sure. Books or movie? 

Momen Dughmi  28:57  
Movies. 

Evan Franulovich  28:58  
I'm kind of a movie fan too. Text or phone your friends? 

Momen Dughmi  29:04  
Phone. 

Evan Franulovich  29:05  
Yeah, cool. Do you use WhatsApp do that? 

Momen Dughmi  29:09  
Yeah.

Evan Franulovich  29:11  
Cats or dogs? 

Momen Dughmi  29:12  
Cats. 

Evan Franulovich  29:13  
Do you have a cat at home? 

Momen Dughmi  29:14  
Here? 

Evan Franulovich  29:15  
In Jordan. 

Momen Dughmi  29:16  
Yeah, I used to have one.

Evan Franulovich  29:17  
One of the things I love about the region is there's always so many cats just running  around, and everybody feeds them and takes care of them. So cool. All right, do you prefer the city or the country? 

Momen Dughmi  29:28  
Country. 

Evan Franulovich  29:29  
Adventure or just chill at home with your friends? 

Momen Dughmi  29:34  
Chill at home. 

Evan Franulovich  29:35  
Okay. Summer or winter?

Momen Dughmi  29:41  
Summer.

Evan Franulovich  29:42  
It's beautiful out. Do you like to cook at home, or do you prefer to eat out? 

Momen Dughmi  29:49  
Cook at home. 

Evan Franulovich  29:50  
Nice. Are you a pretty good cook? 

Momen Dughmi  29:53  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  29:54  
What's your specialty? What's your go to meal? 

Momen Dughmi  29:59  
Jordanian food, to be honest. But Mansaf for me is hard. 

Evan Franulovich  30:06  
Well, you know, after I got back to the US, I looked up recipes for Mansaf, because I thought that'd be cool to try it. But it is a little involved.

Momen Dughmi  30:15  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  30:16  
And some of the ingredients are a little special. 

Momen Dughmi  30:18  
Yes. 

Evan Franulovich  30:19  
But I think we have some good markets in Seattle.

Momen Dughmi  30:23  
There are some Middle Eastern markets where you can go and buy Middle Eastern spices, or rice, or meat.

Evan Franulovich  30:33  
Some friends of mine in Jordan sent back some olive oil with me from Jordan. So if you need some olive oil, I've got it. 

Momen Dughmi  30:42  
Thank you so much. 

Evan Franulovich  30:43  
We can set you guys up. All right, very cool. This is the part of the program where we do Trivia Time. Do you hear that? There it is. Trivia Time. We're gonna ask you five trivia questions. If you get them, all right, you're on our wall of fame. If you don't, that's okay.  

Momen Dughmi  30:58  
You're gonna help me? 

Evan Franulovich  31:00  
Maybe give you some hints. Okay, question number one: When I was in Jordan, I watched the Asia Cup, I watched soccer. Are you a soccer fan? 

Momen Dughmi  31:09  
No. 

Evan Franulovich  31:09  
Oh, because the first question is going to be tough for you then. The city of Seattle has its own soccer team. Do you know the name of our soccer team in Seattle? 

Momen Dughmi  31:22  
Seahawks? 

Evan Franulovich  31:23  
That's the American football. 

Momen Dughmi  31:25  
Mariners. 

Evan Franulovich  31:27  
Mariners are baseball, so our soccer team are the Sounders. That's all right, good job. Okay. Second question: Nature is all around us in Seattle, that's one of the reasons we're such a great place to live. We have three national parks, big kind of like Yellowstone. Big parks. Can you name one?

Momen Dughmi  31:51  
Olympic. 

Evan Franulovich  31:52  
I'm talking about national parks, think about Yellowstone kind of like it would be, I can't think of it like, Petra is a big national monument. 

Momen Dughmi  32:12  
Oh, yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  32:13  
Petra is a national monument. Can you think of our National Park? 

Momen Dughmi  32:14  
Rainier? 

Evan Franulovich  32:15  
Yeah, good. That's one. The other ones are Olympic National Park. 

Momen Dughmi  32:17  
Yeah, Olympic. 

Evan Franulovich  32:17  
Oh, did you say that? 

Momen Dughmi  32:18  
Yeah, I said that.

Evan Franulovich  32:24  
My apologies. Sorry. Yeah, then you're right. Good job. And then the other one is North Cascade. Cool. Good job. All right. Question number three: We are in the state of Washington, which is in the northwest part of the United States. If you go 200 kilometers north, you run into a different country. 

Momen Dughmi  32:43  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  32:44  
Which one is it? 

Momen Dughmi  32:45  
Canada. 

Evan Franulovich  32:46  
Have you been yet? 

Momen Dughmi  32:47  
No. 

Evan Franulovich  32:47  
Do you want to go to Canada?

Momen Dughmi  32:49  
Yeah. So the thing I remember when I was in Central Seattle, there is a form we can apply for a Canadian visa. 

Evan Franulovich  32:58  
Oh, okay. So you can go and check it out. Yeah, I highly recommend it. It's really fun and beautiful. All right. Question number four: If you travel to Canada, you have to have something done with your I-20. What do you do with the I-20 If you travel to another country?

Momen Dughmi  33:15  
I think I should get a signature from my advisor.

Evan Franulovich  33:18  
Yes. Don't forget the signature. Otherwise it makes it tough to get back in. Excellent. Nice job. Well, we're getting close to the end of the show now. So I was asked a few questions, or I also asked a few things. One of them is to have you say, you know, 15-20 seconds in your first language, which is...? so, yeah, maybe you've heard Arabic before, but maybe you haven't heard his version of it. So if you don't mind, you can just say hello to your family back home, or you can give encouragement to other students.

Momen Dughmi  34:16  
*Momen's message in Arabic*

Evan Franulovich  34:20  
I didn't understand too much, except for the Marhaba. Otherwise, I'm still working on my Arabic. Well, very cool. You're a veteran now you've traveled all the way to the United States. You've become a student here. You've done the English courses. Now you're in your other courses. What advice would you give to new students who are just showing up in the United States, or maybe they're getting ready to leave the region, whether it's Jordan or Egypt or, you know, maybe it's Saudi whatever? What kind of advice would you give them?

Momen Dughmi  34:50  
For me, make a lot of friends, enjoy your time. 

Evan Franulovich  34:54  
Right, right. 

Momen Dughmi  34:55  
And also, study hard.

Evan Franulovich  34:58  
Study hard. That's right. Well, because your program is a little special, you know, you're starting at seven, getting done at one. Does it leave time for you to, like, join clubs or to do extracurricular activities here? 

Momen Dughmi  35:10  
Yeah, sometimes.

Evan Franulovich  35:11  
What have you done?

Momen Dughmi  35:12  
So I used to work in the auxiliary stuff. 

Evan Franulovich  35:16  
Oh, you did? 

Momen Dughmi  35:17  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  35:18  
So you had a paid job?

Momen Dughmi  35:20  
Oh, yeah, I used to work here. 

Evan Franulovich  35:21  
So how did you find that job?

Momen Dughmi  35:24  
I was walking around, and I found, 'If you want to apply for the auxiliary stuff' Here in this building, I forgot the name of the building.

Evan Franulovich  35:33  
You just walked in and said, 'Hey, I'm looking for work.'

Momen Dughmi  35:35  
They had a barcode, I applied and after one week, they text me. They emailed me back, and I came here and I did the interview.

Evan Franulovich  35:49  
So did you work while you were in the Institute of English? 

Momen Dughmi  35:53  
Yes. 

Evan Franulovich  35:54  
So you would travel from Central to South.

Momen Dughmi  35:56  
Sometimes one day a week or two days a week.

Evan Franulovich  35:59  
I have a question, since you did orientation when you got to Central, did you have to do a second orientation when you started the program at South? Or did you just transfer over and get to work?

Momen Dughmi  36:11  
No, it was right away. But here when we started the major, they made orientation.

Evan Franulovich  36:22  
Just for the automotive students? 

Momen Dughmi  36:23  
Yes. 

Evan Franulovich  36:24  
Oh, and what was that like?

Momen Dughmi  36:25  
They they walk us around the automotive building, yeah. They talk with us. They show us  the tools and everything. 

Evan Franulovich  36:35  
Oh, cool. 

Momen Dughmi  36:35  
The cars, yeah.

Evan Franulovich  36:37  
The building itself, can you tell everybody what kind of quality is the building?

Momen Dughmi  36:43  
It's amazing. 

Evan Franulovich  36:44  
It is really amazing. 

Momen Dughmi  36:46  
It's amazing. We have AC, we have everything.

Momen Dughmi  36:49  
How old is that building? It's not very old? 

Momen Dughmi  36:51  
No. 

Evan Franulovich  36:51  
They just built it. 

Momen Dughmi  36:53  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  36:54  
Actually, it's just real close. 

Momen Dughmi  36:57  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  36:57  
Isn't this it here? 

Momen Dughmi  36:58  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  36:59  
I mean, you guys can't see it because we're talking on the thing, but right next to international programs is the automotive area. And, yeah, it's really a nice building. I've had a chance to go into the garages.

Momen Dughmi  37:10  
Yeah, it's a big building.

Evan Franulovich  37:13  
It is a big building. So when you graduate, will you graduate with a certificate, or will you graduate with an associates?

Momen Dughmi  37:19  
Associates. 

Evan Franulovich  37:20  
Very cool. Awesome. It's an AAS? 

Momen Dughmi  37:25  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  37:29  
Associate of science.

Momen Dughmi  37:29  
Also here, with our program, we get certificates. 

Evan Franulovich  37:30  
Really?

Momen Dughmi  37:30  
Yeah, so for me, I took HVAC certificate so I can work with ACs and everything. 

Evan Franulovich  37:43  
Right, right. 

Momen Dughmi  37:44  
I took a certificate to use a machine that you cut the router of the cars.

Evan Franulovich  37:54  
Do you have to pay for those certifications?

Momen Dughmi  37:58  
No, the HVAC cost me like 20 bucks. 

Evan Franulovich  38:01  
That's cheap. And that certificate is recognized when you go home? 

Momen Dughmi  38:06  
I think so, yeah.

Evan Franulovich  38:08  
People will say, 'Oh yeah, great.' Very cool. Well, I really appreciate you coming over and spending your time. He's on his lunch, right? 

Momen Dughmi  38:16  
Yeah.

Evan Franulovich  38:16  
So working this in a very tight frame, thanks so much for your time. It was so great to meet you. Guys, we're here every Wednesday. Great information about all our programs and students.

Momen Dughmi  38:28  
And also, I'm gonna thank Seattle Colleges. I got a scholarship thank them so much to be honest. Also, I'm gonna thank my teachers here in South Seattle and Central Seattle, all of them were was amazing with me. Also the international office here and in Central, the advisors, thank you so much.

Evan Franulovich  38:55  
Yeah, we're so glad to have you here. We want to, we want to invite people from all over the world. We think it makes our lives a lot richer by having people from all over the world. Thank you for sharing your culture, your time, your friendship. It's really great. If you're out in Jordan or anywhere in the region, we'd love to have you come. You can reach out to us. Keep listening to the podcast. Don't forget to like, subscribe, share with everybody you know. All right, great. Thanks so much. All right, guys, take care. Bye, bye.

Momen Dughmi  39:26  
Bye.

Evan Franulovich  39:24  
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 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, TikTok or YouTube at Seattle Colleges Intl. And be sure to check out all of the shows here on 'Conversations with!' Thanks for listening, and we'll see you next week.