"My classmates didn't give me a particularly friendly welcome. I was insulted as a "gypsy schnitzel."
I came to Germany when I was 11 years old in 1984. My father fled 2 years earlier over France to Bonn. My hometown is Romania.
I am a so called – bucuresteanca – which means from Bucharest.
My father fled the country because of the autocratic and authoritarian rule of Nicolase Ceausescu, a Romanians dictator at the time. After lengthy negotiations, I was allowed to leave the country with my older brother and my mother, so that we could be reunited as a family. The new Vicinity was nice but I missed my grandmother and did not understand why we could not see her. I did not have any problems with the German language because I have learned German in Romania. One of my grandfathers had German roots, that’s why I was able to go to a German-Romanian school in Bucharest. So the difficulties were not that big for me and at the age of 11 I was still young enough to perfect my language skills. I miss the continental climate of Romania. I feel as well in Germany as I do in Romania. My parents, my brother and I had no interest in returning to Romania as long as Ceausescu remained in power in Romania. The primary goal was to escape the repressive and unjust regime and to complete a university education. This happened insofar as I was able to study political science.
On the other hand I am not satisfied with the neo liberal and neo militaristic tendencies in Germany. In the meantime I got married. My husband is German. Me and my children are very well integrated in this country.
Typical German for me are the affinity for technology, also the above average love for beer and such environmental awareness. Friendships develop more slowly in Germany, but they prove to be more durable.