Romania
Romania is located in Central Europe, in the northern section of
the Balkan peninsula. Its borders are marked by the Danube, the
Carpathian Mountains, and the Black Sea. It has a temperate climate
and a varied natural environment that has been favorable to life. As
a result, the territory provides traces of human presence nearly two
million years old, among the oldest in Europe (Calafeteanu).
Flag of Romania
The official language of Romania is Romanian. It is one of the
major heirs of the Latin language, and is the easternmost
representative of its family of Romance languages. English, French,
and German are spoken in Romania as well. Romania has a population of
approximately 23 million people, of which 90% are Romanian. Magyars
and Gypsies make up another 9% of the population. Romania is
predominatly Orthodox (approximately 87%), and Catholicism represents
another 5% of practiced religion. The government is a Republic.
Military service is compulsory, with some exceptions, for a period of
twelve months for men over twenty years of age (Generalities).
Tudor Mihai Stoenescu
Tudor as a Child in Romania
Tudor was born and grew up in Bucharest, Romania. He is now twenty years old and became a citizen of the United States this fall. Though Tudor, his mother, and his older sister were immigrants to the US, they relocated here because of his father, who defected from Romania for political reasons.
When Tudor thinks back about his childhood years in Romania, he
realizes that things did not seem difficult, because at that time, he
had never experienced anything else. He recollects the hardships his
family endured on a daily basis, things that are no longer concerns
in Fargo, ND. He describes not having enough heat in the winter time,
and having to go to bed like he would have gone outside to play, with
a temperature inside the house of around 32 degrees Fahrenheit. He
remembers shortages of natural gas so that they would be unable to
cook. Hot water was very scarce, and cold showers were quite normal.
Power outages that lasted hours upon hours were also not unusual. He
describes the lines he and his family had to wait in for food. Seven
hours in line to buy a chicken and then another five hours to buy
salami could be considered the average. He says that they learned how
to improvise, including eating little meat because of the expense and
the difficulty in being able to get it at all, even when they did
have the money. He remembers that he was always sick when spring
neared because his diet lacked the vegetables he needed to stay
healthy.
The year 1987 marked a very difficult time for his family. His
grandparents’ house in the country was demolished. Though they were
given a “bogus” excuse, they believe the real reason stemmed from the
president’s paranoia that the houses in the country within a certain
radius of Bucharest offered prime locations for secret meetings to
plot against the government. One Friday afternoon in October they
were given warning, and by Monday morning, the house was gone. His
grandparents had no other choice but to move into the city and rent
an apartment.
Things for his father were difficult in other ways. His work was
very important to him, and though he did not have a high position, he
was known as a good scientist. He had published nearly 160 papers and
was considered a great expert in the country for developing new
hybrids of canola and sunflowers. However, his job was very
stressful, and he was not able to take credit for his work. He had at
least three hours of commute time a day, and worked Monday through
Saturday of every week. And though he had completed his doctorate
studies, he was paid 3000 lei a month, or approximately 30 US
dollars. The average salary of a garbage collector, according to
Tudor, was about the same. The only way to increase the salary was
through being an active member of the Communist Party. The higher the
rank, the higher the exchange rate and the greater the access to
special stores with lower prices and more extensive resources.
Tudor’s father was a member of the party, but only because as a
scientist, he was given no choice.
Travel outside of the country was severely restricted. Tudor’s
father was presented with a unique opportunity in September of 1988,
when he was given permission to attend the World Sunflower Conference
in San Francisco, CA. He left Romania on Sept. 14, and on Sept. 19,
he declared that he was not going to return. He already had family
members who had defected in the early 1980s, and he was able to stay
with a colleague in California that the Romanian government did not
know of. He communicated with his wife and his children by sending
letters through Tudor’s grandfather, and did not receive return
correspondence at his friend’s home. Though the Minister of Science,
who happened to be the president’s wife, had demanded he be returned
to Romania within 48 hours, they were unable to track him down.
Tudor’s father had done his post-doctorate work at North Dakota
State University in 1974. He was offered a position in the same field
of his expertise with a company in South Dakota two days after he
received his work permit. Soon after, the company moved its
headquarters to Fargo, and he has been working for the company in
both the US and Canada ever since.
Tudor's mother was supportive of her husband’s decision. Tudor and
his mother and sister applied for immigration immediately, but Tudor
believes they were put on a “black list” because of his father, and
their paperwork was constantly delayed. After the revolution in
December of 1989, the paperwork went through very quickly, and they
arrived in the US on March 19, 1990. Things were very difficult for
them until that time. His mother was fired from her teaching position
at a junior high school. She was offered a cleaning position in a
shoe factory, but could not accept it due to health problems. His
sister was not allowed to attend university and was offered a job in
a chemical plant assembly line when she finished high school. They
had to sell all of their possessions to survive and to be able to
afford to leave Romania.
Though the revolution facilitated their immigration papers,
Bucharest became even more insecure. Tudor recalls the weeks in
December of 1989 in which protests and killings took place. His
family’s apartment was only a mile away from the capital square where
much of the revolution took place. He witnessed shootings and had
snipers on top of his building. He recounted one event in which the
army was sent to disperse a crowd of protesters. They shot into the
crowd, and were able to clean up the bodies and blood to make it look
like nothing had happened the next morning. Soon after, some of the
generals turned to the side of the people, and then the bloodiest
night took place. Two of the parents of his classmates died that
night alone. On Christmas day, the president was executed. With a
coalition then in power, the demands of the people were high. Tudor
remembers an economy out of control, a government that was almost
anarchy, and many people unsure of what to do.
Moving to the US for Tudor was definitely a transition. He was
fourteen years old at the time. School in Romania had been disrupted
by the revolution, and Tudor arrived in time to finish the last two
months of eighth grade in Fargo, ND. He started at the high school
the following fall, and recalls that it was pretty difficult. He
summarizes his initial experiences at the high school by explaining
that anytime you move to another place, the nice people are more
cautious of getting to know you. As a result, the first people you
meet may not be the “best representatives” of the area. The longer
you stay there, the more you meet other people, and the better you
are able to choose who your real friends are. He says that the
language was also quite a barrier for the first year or two, but
became relatively well-understood by everybody.
Education is very important to Tudor. He found high school in the
Fargo school system to be at a level less than the one he was
accustomed to. He attributes that to a “different concept of what
general education should be,” and feels that Romania’s approach was
more extensive and intensive. His university experience has been
entirely different. He is now a junior at North Dakota State
University, and believes that he is learning to his potential. He
likes the small class sizes, as they allow greater interaction
between student and professor, and feels that the faculty is very
cooperative and helpful in encouraging him to explore specific areas
of interest. Tudor is pursuing undergraduate studies in Electrical
Engineering with a computer emphasis, and graduate studies in
Mathematics.
Tudor says he used to hate the cold weather, but has now gotten
used to it. He thinks Fargo would be much improved if it had
mountains. He has had a strong bond to mountains since he was very
young. He and his family would visit friends to the north, which gave
him the opportunity to learn the “whole forest and mountains.”
He describes Fargo as “quiet” and “kind of peaceful.” Though the
people are nice and it is a good place to raise kids, he feels that
it is not very exciting for people in his age range. He considers ND,
and specifically Fargo, very conservative. He believes that the
settled, predominantly older community contributes to a generation
gap and offers “not much to attract a whole lot of young people.”
Most of the 10,000 people at NDSU he feels come from rural areas in
ND and MN, and contribute to an environment that lacks variety. He
does appreciate Fargo for its safety. He likes that he can take walks
outside after midnight and not meet anyone on the streets.
Tudor now (His new American passport photo!)
Tudor spends most of his time now studying and in the Mathematics
Department. Though his parents are paying for school, he has been
receiving grants for research since the summer of 1995, and continues
with the research to a lesser degree during the school year. He does
enjoy spending time with friends, and also enjoys playing ping-pong,
soccer (when there isn’t snow), racquetball, and skiing. He is
president of the Math Club at NDSU, and is a member of the
Association for Computing Machines and the Institute of Electronic
and Electrical Engineers.
Tudor is glad that he moved to the US. He grew up in a city of two
million people and found himself in one of only 150,000. He says the
cultural and demographic contrasts have given him a real appreciation
for cultural diversity. His parents are happier here, and his dad
loves his work. His sister has married and now lives in Minneapolis,
MN, and is currently pursuing a doctorate in her field of interest.
She received her undergraduate in Chemistry from NDSU. Tudor visits
her when he can. He is very close to her, speaking on the phone
several times a week, and feels he is closer to his family than many
other Americans seem to be. Tudor thinks that the education he is
receiving is by far the best part of being here. He appreciates being
given the choice to study what he likes and to pursue a career path
that he has set for himself, without the government interfering.
Tudor feels that he could not move back to Romania the way it is
now, if ever. Regardless of how hard it was to live there, the
unstable political situation, and some unpleasant people, he cannot
denounce the country as a whole. However, he has declared his
allegiance to the US. Though his future plans include moving away
from Fargo immediately after graduation, his pursuit of doctoral
studies and beyond will remain in the US.
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