Hi Kotaiba! What do you work with?
– I’m a PhD student and doing research within service management and marketing. I will be finishing my dissertation in two months, and hopefully I will be graduating and get my PhD in September.
Does that mean that you will be leaving Karlstad University soon?
– I got a job at Högskolan i Halmstad, but I might still be working here in Karlstad. So maybe I will go back and forth. We will see what happens.
Do you have any summer plans?
– My summer plan is to work on my dissertation, that is the biggest plan. Then I might be traveling with some friends to Norway.
Do you have any family?
– I’m single, if you are talking about a small family. But in a larger sense, I have one brother who lives in Stockholm, and one other brother who lives in Denmark.
How did you end up here?
– I came here from Syria ten years ago. I studied and after doing my master’s degree in Karlstad, I worked a while for IKEA. Then I wanted to go back to the academic world, so I proposed a research proposal to my adviser, and he liked it and here I am!
Do you have any interests?
– I play basketball, it is my passion. I also love travelling a lot to explore different cultures. Cooking is something I enjoy a lot, I like to taste and cook cuisine from different parts of the world. I’m interested in getting to know new people all the time, I have a “black belt” in socializing. Technology is really interesting, all the new advances, like what is new, how things can be done differently. I also like reading novels like the novels by Dan Brown novels. I like his style of writing, some say it is his wife who writes his books, but I just think that he, or she, is a good writer.
You have many passions, but what kind of food do you like?
– I like Middle Eastern food a lot, Lebanese food is my favorite. I also like steaks and seafood. Asian food is really good and I’m kind of a big fan of the French kitchen as well. To cook for friends is something I really enjoy doing, cooking for other people is fun.
You said you love to travel, so where have you been? And where would you like to go?
– I have been almost all over Europe, the United States, China, The Middle East. I have plans to explore Africa. I’m very excited to see Tanzania, Kenya and Ghana. I would also like to explore Latin America and I would love to go to Japan and Korea. But as I said, I have mainly been in Europe, China and the United States.
You have been around then. Now, let’s get to the simple stuff. What kind of movies or tv-shows do you like?
– I like Big Bang Theory, I really like it, I can watch it forever. I also like Breaking Bad. When it comes to movies I like Fight Club, and all Disney-movies. I think Frozen is interesting, I also like Coco.
One last question: do you bring your own lunch box to work? Or do you go to the restaurant and buy lunch?
– I bring my food with me, most of the times.
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