Romanian pride

Upon telling people that I'm of Romanian descent, I often get reactions of bewilderment. I imagine a screen in the person's head projecting a scrambled map of the world or pictures of Nicolae Ceausescu (communist), Nadia Comaneci (gymnast) and Dracula (vampire). The truth is, there's so much more to my motherland. \nRomania, located in Eastern Europe, is a quite beautiful country. With four distinct seasons, one can go skiing in the Carpathian Mountains in the winter, visit the beautiful Oltenian countryside in the spring, swim in the Black Sea in the summer and go shopping in Bucharest in the fall.\nRomanians are influential, too. Constantin Brancusi, known for combining modernism and Romanian traditionalism, was a pioneer in modern abstract sculpture. Tristan Tzara founded the Dada artistic movement. He also coined the term "Dada," which means "Yes, yes" in Romanian. Pablo Casals claimed the Romanian composer George Enescu was "the most amazing musician since Mozart." Eugene Ionesco, known for plays such as "The Rhinoceros" and "The Bald Soprano," is often known as the father of absurdist theatre. And Henri Coanda invented the first jet aircraft in 1910.\nRomania has also had an impact on America. All of those beautiful mountain scenes in "Cold Mountain" were actually filmed in the Carpathian Mountains. Born in Bucharest, the Romanian capital and my hometown, Maia Morgenstern played Mary, Jesus' mother, in "The Passion of The Christ." Gheorghe Muresan, the 7-foot-7-inch Romanian basketball player, played for the NBA's Washington Bullets and New Jersey Nets. He also starred in "My Giant" alongside Billy Crystal (not that anyone went to see it).\nIt is often overlooked that Romanian is a Romance language. Because I moved to the United States at the meager age of 5, I never truly grasped my first language. Much to my delight, IU is one of the few universities in the United States that offers Romanian language courses. For the first time in my life, I am in a classroom where my teacher can pronounce my full name (it's Shh-TEF-an-EE-uh Mahr-GEE-too) and I can properly learn my mother tongue. Unlike any other U.S. university, IU offers three years of Romanian language courses. In addition to Christina Zarifopol-Illias, the Romanian language professor, there are two others teachers who specialize in Romania -- history professor Maria Bucur and political science professor Aurelian Craiutu -- and comprise the Romanian studies program. \nAlthough Romania is a small country far from Indiana, it's still had its impact on the world. And with a scheduled entrance into the European Union in 2007, I have only hope for my motherland's future. \nWhile I am proud of my Romanian roots, I am also very aware of my American upbringing, both of which have shaped who I am and helped me to understand other cultures. While I don't expect anyone to have a sudden interest in Romania after reading this column, I do hope maybe someone will take a newfound interest in his or her own ancestry. Perhaps the first step in embracing diversity is exploring one's own identity.