On what level did you feel the change the most?
The biggest change was the language barrier. When I moved to Vienna, I had to learn German. Then, when I was 12, we moved to the USA and I had to change the languages again. I couldn’t have learnt so fast if it weren’t for my stepfather who is of American origins. It was really difficult for me in high school only because I had an accent. I remember that there was a year during which I spoke English defensively – even with my mother who continued to speak to me in Romanian. It was a great effort for me because I just wanted to be like all children and to lose my accent.