An average family with global ties

Like many others families, we think of ourselves as being average.

Maybe not so average is that we live and work in five countries on three continents:
North America, Europe, and Africa.

American, British and Spaniards
When we talk about each other we have “names” assigned: the American, the Spaniards, the British.
The one in Sudan doesn’t have a name assigned yet. Within two years, two more family members are planning to go work on that continent (not necessarily in the same country).
By then we need to come up with a name for the “African” part of the family.

And, I suppose we could call the ones who have remained in Romania the “Natives” : )

Lighter moments
When we get together (every couple of years) it’s a lot of fun.
Language provides many opportunities for lighter moments.

Like the time when, very excitedly, I was telling them an interesting story.
When I was done they were all smiling. Then the youngest sister spoke,
“Great! Now, will you tell it to us again?”
To answer my bewildered look, she continued, “In Romanian, please!”

Inadvertently I told the whole story in English.
They could have interrupted but chose not to. They were having too much fun. Smart Alec s!

Global family
Because of this “globalization” of our family – are we better equipped for today’s world?
Probably.
It certainly gives us a better understanding of other cultures.
Of our differences.
We are more alike than we are different.
No matter what part of the world we happen to call home.

As we begin to comprehend that the earth itself is a kind of manned spaceship
hurtling through the infinity of space – it will seem increasingly absurd that
we have not better organized the life of the human family.
Hubert H Humprey

Mariana Fieraru

Mariana Fieraru, an Eastern European transplant, fell in love with her new home shortly after landing in New York. She "discovered" pizza! Years later she still loves pizza. And so do her two feathered-kids, Sunny and Flipper

Mariana worked on both, the east and the west coast.
Big or small, each project she worked on helped define the importance of gaining and sustaining a competitive edge in an increasingly complex business environment.

Business know-how, love of teaching and writing – all combined in 2006 to form OBI.
Its mission: to make learning fun! And easy.

Through its training, consulting, and publications OBI builds bridges of knowledge to take you from where you are to
where you want to go. Using a mix of serious, informal, analytical, and optimistic approach, OBI truly makes learning fun.

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