Comments on: We’re Not Fighting, We’re Just Being Romanian

By: Adina

Adina — Sun, 31 Oct 2010 22:57:51 +0000

Hello Anamaria,
I am Romanian too. I have encoutered many cultural differences in the academical environment as well. I go to college towards a career in radiology, and I face a lot of awkwardness and miscommunication everyday. I am preparing a paper about cultural differences in the medical environment. Do you have any thoughts about cultural differences regarding Romanian patients in an American medical environment?
I am looking forward into hearing from you.
Sincerely,
Adina

By: turkey

turkey — Fri, 17 Sep 2010 10:18:55 +0000

I’m an American living in Romania with my Romanian wife. She thinks I’m always being rude to her family because I prefer to keep to myself and avoid talking about subjects such as money, religion, and politics. She doesn’t understand it’s a deep cultural difference. Another big one is the concept of family. My American (USA) parents see themselves as an extension of my new marriage family and understand they need to keep a lot of space. My wife considers her current/prior family as part of the newly formed family between us. She expects me to treat them as important as I treat her. I cannot convince myself to do that. It has caused a lot of misunderstandings. I hope it works out over time. I love her very much.

By: Anca Muntean

Anca Muntean — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 14:34:21 +0000

Hi,
Interesting topic…Anamaria is right. Romanians use a lot of gestures and facial expressions, speak loudly and display their emotions in public. When they meet, people shake hands up close and do not then move away.
The older generation of men have chivalrous manners. They kiss the hands of women in greeting, open doors and let women go first (the younger men also, but they don’t kiss the hands of women in greeting).
And, as Anamaria said, a thing that often surprised my American friends was the passionate way me and my Romanian friends and colleagues spoke amongst ourselves. First they mistook our normal conversations for conflict. I would always remind them that Romanians are “Latin” and, therefore, they like to speak with passion and wave their hands about.
Again, congratulations on such an interesting topic!

By: Indirect-Direct Communication Styles

Indirect-Direct Communication Styles — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 12:31:33 +0000

[...] :: Anamaria We recently talked about communication styles here and here. The theory on cross-cultural communication styles is extensive, but I think many people are [...]

By: Cate

Cate — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 03:25:38 +0000

Hi Bob, thanks for your comment. I’m exploring your website right now and reading about your book on communication styles. Anamaria and I (Cate) give workshops on communication styles across cultures – it’s a topic we both find very fascinating!

By: Robert Keteyian

Robert Keteyian — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 23:53:10 +0000

In the introduction to my book, Do You Know What I Mean?–Discovering Your Personal Communication Style, I reflect on growing up in an Armenian-American family and how that influenced my understanding of communication.
I really enjoyed reading this piece. Thank you.
Bob