Dan Rodríguez García
Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
dan.rodriguez@uab.es
Dan Rodríguez García was born in Barcelona, autonomous region Catalonia, Spain. He is a specialist in international migration and the processes of settlement, integration and transnationalism of immigrants in plural societies. He studied at the Autonomous University of Barcelona, where he obtained a Bachelor of Arts, a Master of Arts, and a Ph.D. in social and cultural anthropology. He also holds an M.A. in Culture, Race & Difference from the University of Sussex (Brighton, United Kingdom) and a Master in Demograhy from the Centre for Demographic Studies (Barcelona, Spain). His research focuses on how migration affects ethnic identity and family models, with a particular interest in the dynamics of intergenerational change and retention, and patterns of hybridity and segregation. In his research, he combines qualitative and quantitative methods, with an emphasis on international comparison. He has conducted fieldwork with African populations in London (U.K), The Gambia (sub-Saharan Africa), and Catalonia (Spain). In recent years, he has conducted research in Toronto, Canada, where he examined patterns of marriage and social stratification amongst ethnic groups using data from the Census of Canada 2001 and conducted fieldwork with the Chinese community in Toronto. He is author of many scientific works. Apart from that Dr. Garcia has an intercultural family. He is married to Joanna L. Freedman, a Canadian born middle school and ESL teacher. She currently works as a freelance book editor and has significant experience in educational publishing. She has worked for Oxford University Press both in Canada and in Spain. Joanna has an M.A. in English literature from the University of Sussex, Brighton, United Kingdom, in addition to a B.Ed., a B.A., a TESL Certificate, and professional courses in book editing.

A personal story by Dan Rodríguez García and Joanna Freedman

Dan Rodríguez García, a Spanish man from Barcelona, and Joanna Freedman, a Canadian woman of Jewish heritage, met at the University of Sussex, Brighton, United Kingdom, in 1998 where they were both pursuing graduate studies. He was studying anthropology (specifically “Culture, Race, and Difference”), and she was studying English literature and cinema, so their paths did not really cross until he moved into the apartment next door to hers during the final months of their respective programs. One day, Joanna’s washing machine broke down, and she remembered that Dan, who was friendly with two of her flatmates, lived next door. Though he was virtually a stranger to her, Joanna knocked on his door bearing two loads of dirty laundry, and when he invited her in and offered her tea and cookies, a friendship began that would lead them to intercultural (and transatlantic) love. They began a relationship in 1999 when Joanna was visiting Barcelona, Spain, and they later married in October of 2005. During this time, Joanna was a regular visitor to Barcelona, and in 2004, Dan spent a year in Toronto, Canada, to do postdoctoral research.

At home, Joanna and Dan mostly speak English, although they do frequently switch to Spanish for short periods of time. When they are out with Dan’s family and friends, however, they operate in Spanish (and/or Catalan).

In their intercultural relationship, Dan and Joanna have discovered much about each other’s respective cultural backgrounds, traditions, and family life. Navigating transatlantic distance; meshing secular Jewish practice with secular Catholic societal norms; and savouring the richness of Spanish and Catalan culture and the gifts and wisdom of Canadian multicultural living have become part of their daily lives. Dan and Joanna have found that embracing change and integrating difference is the most enriching aspect of their relationship, but it is also the most challenging aspect. The key to working through differences is by having a sense of humour, by recognizing that the commonalities are greater, and by realizing that in the vast majority of cases, something is being gained, rather than lost.

Joanna and Dan continue to search for the perfect Spanish tapas in Toronto and spend many of their weekend mornings in Barcelona perfecting their French toast, a Canadian brunch specialty.

Fern Kupfer
Author
Fern Kupfer is a New York born author of several novels and a book Before and After Zachariah: A Family Story About a Different Kind of Courage. She is an Associate Professor of English at Iowa University. Her articles, essays and short stories frequently appear on the pages of such magazines as Family Circle, Cosmopolitan, Women’s Day and The Women’s Review of Books. She lives with her husband, Joseph Geha in Ames, Iowa and, as she proudly adds, she enjoys being a grandma of a three-year old grand daughter. When asked what her main interest in the field of Intercultural Communication was, Fern Kupfer said: “I'm interested in communicating, period: whether it be intercultural, professional, personal…”

M. Anissa Strommer
Linguist
M. Anissa Strommer is a linguist (MPhil University of Salzburg, Austria) currently based at the University of Connecticut. She has also studied and taught in schools in Germany, the Czech Republic, Spain, Malta, Mexico, China, India, Thailand, the Philippines, South Africa and Canada. The Young SIETAR member is interested in any form of language contact, including migration, Second Language Acquisition, Postcolonial Theory and Intercultural Communication, especially Conflict Resolution. Greg is a Neurobiologist from Massachusetts.

Phuong-Mai Nguyen
Journalist and researcher
mai@nalis.nl

Phuong-Mai Nguyen was born in Hanoi, Vietnam. Her professional background is journalism. She worked as a managing editor for a newspaper in Vietnam and also as a local correspondent for the BBC Vietnamese Service. Since 2002, she has been undertaking PhD research at Utrecht University, The Netherlands. Phuong-Mai Nguyen has been in an intercultural relationship for five years. She met her Dutch boyfriend in Vietnam, where he was doing his internship. The couple speak both Dutch and English at home, and everyday conversation is “normally in Dutch”. However, according to Phuong-Mai Nguyen, “When it comes to difficult issues, English takes first place”. “The biggest challenge that we have is to express ourselves in another language. Many times we got sick of trying to understand each other. Talks between couples as you know are not only about simple easy things but also expressing emotions and dealing with difficult feelings for which words are not so available. I found my boyfriend telling his family much more than me. Later it turned out that it was because they understood his stories much quicker, easier than me. They could react to his stories immediately and therefore motivated him to talk more and more. Exactly the same is with me and my family. So now we are trying not to give up a conversation so easily by making Monday evening a Talking Evening. It works ok.”

Elen Mary Machado
Intercultural Trainer and Consultant at Machado & Partners
elen@machado-and-partners.com
Elen Mary Machado was born in Brazil. She lives in Frankfurt am Main and works as an Intercultural Trainer and Consultant. She has been married interculturally for ten years. The couple speak German at home. According to Elen an intercultural relationship is an enriching process: “Our very different cultural and professional backgrounds made us aware of our own cultures and its consequences in everyday life. For a peaceful life, we needed to balance these differences. This process 'forced' us to develop some competencies which were latent in us. It also helped us to experience the process of intercultural competence development, in a very practical / survival way. I am very happy that I went through it. It has contributed a lot to my professional life and my personal development. Our challenge is still the high / low context issue.”

Oana Roman
NGO worker
oro@es.euro.who.int
Oana Roman was born in Romania. She graduated from the University of Bucharest with a degree in English and French literature and linguistics. She currently lives in Barcelona, Spain and works for the World Health Organization. She is interested in intercultural communication at work. Two years ago Oana met her German boyfriend at a work-related conference in Copenhagen, Denmark. They generally speak English but sometimes switch to Spanish. “…We also speak German and very rarely Romanian because my boyfriend only knows 10 Romanian words altogether (which are “cheese”, “beautiful”, “nice”, “good morning” etc), but he likes listening…” explains Oana. “One of the most fulfilling things about our relationship is that we communicate so well although neither of us is an English native speaker and we are also far from speaking like one. Although we both come from European countries, there are still cultural differences that may lead to misunderstandings.”

Allan N. Schwartz
Clinical Social Worker / Psychotherapist with
Website
dransphd@aol.com
Dr. Allan N. Schwartz is a US-born Licensed Clinical Social Worker / Psychotherapist. Currently Dr. Schwartz lives in Boulder, Colorado and works with individuals, couples and families who are having difficulties getting along with each other and/or are having personal difficulties such as depression, anxiety, and other mental health issues. In the past Dr. Schwartz worked with people from diverse cultural, racial and religious backgrounds who want to marry but are having problems resolving such issues as how to raise their children and how to get their families to approve. Dr. Schwartz’s main interest in the field of intercultural communication lies in the area of mental health and functioning.

Lily Zhang
Student
lilyorient_0@yahoo.com.cn
Lily Zhang is a MA student at the University of Shanghai studying intercultural communication under the supervision of American Professors Steve Kulich and Michael Prosser. As an undergraduate student Lily studied international commercial law. Her main interest in Intercultural Research is interpersonal relationships across cultures. She was born in China and currently lives in Shanghai.

Dr. Michelle J. Anderson
Professor of Law at Villanova Law School

Please read Dr Anderson's full biography by clicking the link above.

Naima Remadi Intorero
Sample Maker
Naima Remadi Intorero, was born in Tunisia, and is currently resident in the USA, in Brooklyn, New York. She works as a sample maker in the fashion industry. For nineteen years Naima was married to Massimo, an Italian. They met in Rome, in Fiumicino Airport and lived together in the United States, until a sudden incurable illness took Massimo away on January 29, 2000. During nineteen years together the biggest challenge for them was their families. “I caused shame in my Arabic-Muslim family when I married this wonderful Italian man. And his family could not take it because I was Muslim. How did we make it? Well, love, dialogue and tolerance are the high-way to enter the hearts of every narrow-minded person. I think that language, border, distance, colour, race have never been a handicap or a limit for LOVE. Destiny plays a major role in our life and we surely cannot control it. I love Massimo who gave me the happiest days of my life”, writes Naima. “The most fulfilling thing about intercultural relationships is that LOVE and ROMANCE improve with this new world order called ‘INTERCULTURAL’. It is indeed a very rich dimension that few lucky people have the chance to explore in their lifetime.” Naima’s dream is to create a foundation for research, to reveal and support little known sicknesses, and in particular pandemics cases such as CJD, Bird Flu, Chemical arms, etc. The aim of the foundation is to investigate and to make public evidence showing how global and often “invisible” things influence the micro-society, family and our everyday life.

Dianne Dicks
Publisher
Dianne Dicks was born in Indiana, USA. She lives in Basel, Switzerland where she works as publisher of Bergli Books. Bergli publishes books on intercultural issues and Dianne Dick’s main interest in intercultural field is publishing of books that focus on Switzerland and how people of different nationalities, languages, religions get along.

Vincent Merk
Senior Lecturer
v.merk@tue.nl
Vincent Merk was born in France. He now lives in Eindhoven, The Niederlands and is a senior lecturer at Eindhoven University of Technology, where he teaches intercultural business communication and management at the Faculty of Technology Management. Apart from his main affiliation at the Eindhoven University of Technology, Vincent Merk is also an independent trainer and consultant. He is author of several articles and a co-author of a book on French business culture, published in Dutch. His main interests in the field of intercultural communcation are intercultural management, business dilemmas reconciliation, team building and virtual teams management.

Marianne van Eldik Thieme
Film Journalist
thiemeconsult@xs4all.nl
Marianne is a member of SIETAR Netherlands and of the Board of SIETAR Europa.

Marijke Jongbloed
Film Director
www.marijkejongbloed.com

Read Marijke Jongbloed's biography by clicking here.

Editorial assistance:

Robert Johnson
Cross-cultural trainer
rpk_johnson@yahoo.co.uk
Robert Johnson is a freelance cross-cultural trainer and facilitator based in London, U.K. His areas of expertise include cross-cultural communication in the multicultural workplace and the business culture of the Asia-Pacific region. He has an MA in Intercultural Communication and lectures at various institutions in the London area. He has been Events Director of SIETAR UK since December 2005.

Contributors of humour:

Jeremy Solomons
Independent Global Business Consultant
jersol@aol.com
Jeremy Solomons was born in UK and is an Independent Global Business Consultant. He is President of Jeremy Solomons & Associates and lives in Austin, Texas, USA with his American wife. He is an expert in the following areas: Alliances & Partnering - Career Development; Conflict Resolution - Global Organizations; Diversity and Inclusion (both Global and Domestic); Interactive Presentations - Leadership Development; Multicultural Teambuilding - Strategic Planning. Jeremy described his main interest in the field of Intercultural Communication as “It’s my life!”