MULTICULTURAL STORY
1. About your person: What's your name?
My name is Dragan D., I am seventy years old and I am an engineer
chemist and I realized products inventions in chemistry.
2. There was a moment in your life in which you was compared with others
cultures?
When I was an intern I worked with Japanese, Russian, german people. The German
people are very correct, self-confidence- to Russian people you had to give them
something to drink every morning before starting the work. I have been gone abroad
also with the job and on my own. I visited 14 countries- Estonia, Austria- I faced the culture
of other countries. In Spain I stayed for ten days, I visited the Prado museum, in Estonia
a cathedral, a castle, a smoky factory, and a place with golden tours.
3. What was the most important experience?
I went to Austria and Spain with a representative of America who was a Romanian person
and I proposed to him a project that we realized in three years together. First, it was
applied in Bacau, then in Targu Mures. We visited a petro chemical factory in Viena, then in Spain. In 1992, I participated in an international exposition at Sevilla. Abroad, I met organizational differences, but there was a different approach between persons.
4. Which were the differences from the beginning of the multicultural experience
and how do you see this experience now?
Every culture has something to offer- I liked the literature, the music, I was open to new
experiences – I saw a dancer in the middle of Sevilla dressed in black and who danced on
her own. At the Prado Museum, I saw special pictures. In Russia, in San Petersburg, I liked
very much the Ecaterina's Palace. I was not afraid to explore new cultures, I wanted very
much to do it, it came from the heart. I talked with Russian, but the Spanish people were
very opened.
5. What are your feelings about multiculturality now, at this moment?
I'm sorry I cannot travel now- I have a son who works in Torino as a mechanical engineer. I really wish to see Roma, Milano, the north-east of Italy- I read about these things I want
to share with the foreign people thins about my country, the Romanian country.
6. What is your advice for the people who have contact with other cultures?
I would advise them to go to meet other cultures, but not to stay in restaurants and
hotels, but to talk to people, to feel them.
7. What is one of the funniest events of this multicultural experience?
It was something that impressed me-at the edge of Russia, at 20 km near San Petersburg, there were many fountains that started to blow out and people started to avoid the water. I also danced- an Estonian woman who fought for independence invited me to dance.
Interview made by Valeria Colangelo EVS volunteer from Italy
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