Speaking Up!

An interview with Madalina (age 14) and Alex (age 12) Zimmerman

The Zimmerman family, from Wauwatosa, WI, traveled with the Romanian TIES Program in 2007.

How did your family decide to go to Romania?
Madalina: My parents got information in the mail about travel back to our birth country. They asked if we were interested. My brother and I did not know what to say since we were not sure. My parents would talk about it every once and a while. One day when our parents brought it up again, we finally said yes.

What did you think of the idea initially?
Madalina: I was somewhat nervous about traveling to Romania since I did not know what would happen while we were there or what things would be. I had books [about Romania/Romanian culture] and it did not look very pretty but my dad said it had changed. I was not sure I would like it because of the poverty – which makes me a little sad and nervous…but I got over that when I was there.

Alex: When I knew we were going, I thought it was a cool idea. Then I started to think about the long plane ride and I was not sure I wanted to go.

What did you hope to do while you were in Romania?
Madalina: I hoped we would see our family and that I would meet different Romanian people since I did not know any Romanian people back home [in Wisconsin]. I thought that would be cool.

Alex: I wanted to visit my birth family and learn about my country. I hoped to meet people there and learn how they live.

What did you learn about your birth country?
Madalina: People were very nice to us! They wanted us to learn about their country. I thought we would be criticized because we are Americans – but we were not. My favorite thing to eat while I was in Romania was the mashed potatoes. I also liked that no one rushed us through our meals.

Alex: I was surprised they had some of the same foods we like and McDonalds. I thought it would be very different from the United States but it was not. They had malls, playgrounds and stuff. One of my favorite meals was in this pasta place -- it was good.

What was the best part of the trip?
Madalina: For me, the best part of the trip was meeting my family and making a good friend, Alina, who was also on the trip. I got to meet another person who is just like me – we have the same interests in sports and stuff – we still keep in touch.

Alex: The best part of my trip was meeting my family.

Was there anything that was uncomfortable for you?
Madalina: At first, the idea of meeting my family was a little uncomfortable since I did not know what they would think of me. I was afraid they would think I was spoiled (because I was from the US). The nice thing was they spoke English and we could connect better. They were very laid back and did not worry about stuff. I am so glad that we met them.

What surprised you the most about your trip?
Madalina: That the Romanians were so nice and helpful towards us. There were more things in common with the United States than I thought.

Alex: How similar Romania was to the US.

Did you make any friends?
Madalina: Yes, all the kids on our trip were great. It was interesting to see that we were all different and that none of us looked the same – some had different skin coloring, straight hair, curly hair, different color eyes -- in the end, we could all relate to each other and that it was cool that we shared the same background. We talked about being adopted when we had Talk Time [scheduled group time to process with social worker], and then sometimes on the on the bus rides.

Alex: Yeah – my friend was David. He liked the same stuff that I did and we were together on the long bus rides. My dad says we kept each other occupied.

Some of the travel in country was long – as well as your flights. What did you do to keep busy?
Madalina: On the bus, one person with us would write/pass notes and we would write back and forth. I still have those notes – I kept them. I could not really sleep too much on the plane.

Alex: My friends and I cracked some jokes, listened to music, looked at car magazines and talked.

If someone your age were thinking about going on a homeland tour back to his or her birth country, what advice would you give him or her?
Madalina: They should really consider going since it could teach them a lot. It is good for them to know their background and to see how people are in other countries. It will be the most important thing they will do in their life.

Alex: Go! It is cool and they are missing out on a lot of stuff if they do not go. I want to go back.

Anything else?
Madalina: I have a lot of memorable moments from our trip, especially the cultural stuff we saw and the bus rides. I am hoping to go back to Romania and learn more on the next TIES trip in 2 years.

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