"This is România": Acculturation

On Tuesday, the USA came to town. One of the American Fulbright professors came to speak on "The Current State of Identity Politics in the United States." First of all, maybe one or two people in the room (about 40 people) knew what "identity politics" means. A handful more could separate politics from politicians. But with a good dose of American-style communication, by the end of the class period students were arguing over whether individual freedom trumps the integrity of culture. And of course, a debate erupted over whether Hungarians should integrate or Romanians should be more accommodating.

American Culture Club meeting

The professor also joined us at the American Culture Club later in the day for an informal chat. First of all, I should mention that the group we had was very diverse: four club members; two other American studies students, including a Hungarian student whose uncle lives in the U.S. and one in her 40s who briefly lived in NYC and Portland; two boyfriends, including one who goes to Georgia every summer; and one new club member, a grad student. And me, too. We talked about everything from Barack Obama and his political abilities to the NCAA Final Four and the phenomenon that is American college sports. We also talked about Romanians being excessively self-critical and disrespectful when it comes to other generations. Neither of which were denied by either.

Tonight I went to a performance with 4 in 1: dance (yes, "Exotic Dreams"), singing, comedy, and fashion. It was kind of like a talent show for college students. The dancers were really good and barely dressed; in fact in one "comedic modern dance" number the only male left the stage in a thong. That was awkward, but to be fair, most of the girls entered the stage dressed like that. I went to the show because one of my students was acting in it. Her piece was very funny and I could actually understand it (it helped that the whole scene/script was repeated 5 times) - there was one character that I particularly liked because he had a stutter, which meant it was impossible for me to miss a word (Eu-eu-eu-eu am-am-am-am o-o-o-o prob-prob-problema). Cristina proved her acting was great and held her own as the only female in the scene (a big contrast to, say, the fashion show with the Oh-My-God-these-women-are-hot models and the Exotic Dreams/stage full of half-naked dancers).

The theatre where all this went down was the Student Cultural House. It was packed with spectators, but the door was left open to the courtyard so people were coming and going continually, especially for cigarettes. The audience talked throughout the whole thing, especially during the songs. Here are some photos of Cristina's scene.