Daniela Bocter-Stanciulescu 

 

I was born and raised in Romania till the age of seven. In 1978 we moved to Düsseldorf. Not yet twelve I went on my first language school summer holiday to Great Britian. My next exchange family hosted me in Leeds, as a fifteen year old teenager and by seventeen I spent a High-School exchange year in Connecticut, USA. After the German Abitur I continued my college degree in International Relations at Schiller International University in Heidelberg and Paris. What nowadays seems to be ‘en vogue’ to talk about ‘Intercultural communication’ was barely offered as a degree by universities back in the early 90’s. In 1994 I graduated with a Speech Communications Master’s Degree from Emerson College, Boston.  One year later I moved back to Bucharest and for three years I experienced my native country and the non-profit work area. In early 2000 I returned to Germany where I began my career as a Relocation Consultant. This working experience taught me to switch the ‘intercultural glasses’ several times a day just as I developed a pro-active sensitivity for the expatriate’s needs and concerns. Since 2006, after our marriage and my own relocation back to Romania, my husband and I are working on our own multicultural family as partners and parents. Besides my joining of the DSBU administration, we wish to offer our daughters the opportunity to experience their German side.   At DSBU our children’s learning process is being accompanied by educational concepts yet the fascinating aspect of all is the children’s possibility to share their cultures.