Celebrating 4th of July together with its American expatriate friends, Romania-Insider has talked to four Americans who currently live in Romania and work in different fields here. See what they do here and what's their view of America and Romania. Feel free to share your thoughts on the 4th of July, if you are an American living in Romania. We'd love to hear your stories!

By Romania-Insider.com

John Stuart, Country Manager PTC Eastern Europe

What were the main things (even lessons if the case) you have learned while in Romania and for how long have you been here?

The people in our office and in general are outstanding. I’m amazed to see the professionalism and work ethic of our employees. Whether commitment to outcome or commitment to completing the task, they are focused and excellent at getting the job done. I have been here since 2008. Full-time for the first year, then 50% for the second, and now 25% (one week per month) for this year.

What was the biggest challenge for you when you first came to Romania? How did you overcome it? The biggest challenge at the start was developing trust with our partners. I felt like we weren’t communicating effectively and too much talking and not enough listening. After we developed an arrangement of trust and honesty, I felt like the relationship bloomed.

What are the main things you like and the ones you dislike about Romania? Likes: The people of Romania – always gracious and friendly, Herestrau Parc – running and visiting, The countryside – beautiful – just like the Alps, Public transportation is great, The food – pork tastes like candy – the freshness of vegetables.

Only dislike is the dogs: I like to run and will get chased from time to time. This morning, I was running north on Calea Victorei and a dog came around the corner just as I was crossing a street. I don’t know who scared who the most. I yelled and he/she yelped and cowered. It was a close encounter.

To what extent can you find American values here in Romania? Please give us a few examples of American values/traits and whether you could find them in Romania or not. In our case, we see a lot of American/western traits in the people. First, everyone has to survive, earn money and live a quality lifestyle. Our employees work hard to achieve that. Secondly, they are proud of their work and accomplishments. There is a sense of achievement with our employees for they know the value of their work and how it is appreciated. Dedication to the company is another American trait we see here. Our turnover (knock on wood) is pretty much zero right now. We are grateful that our employees have stickiness and commitment. Finally, an American trait I see is the employees are young and love to have fun. Whether playing futbal, singing karaoke, sharing birthdays or following sport – they are fun and passionate!

Any thoughts you would like to share with the other Americans in Romania on the 4th of July? As Americans, we are so grateful and privileged to live in a country whose experiment of a democracy has survived 235 years now. We are honored to live in a country whose forefathers gave the full measure of devotion to our great land by sacrificing their life for that others like me and my family, shall live freely. We are fortunate to live in a country that has abundant resources like clean air, water and space that others don’t have. We are fortunate to live in a country where the rule of law prevails and the citizens respect those laws. We are fortunate that Americans around the world can look back with pride on the achievements of our great country whether gaining independence from a brutal empire, surviving a civil war, winning global wars against nazism and terrorism; and finally to live in a country whose creativity to solving problems has given us mass production, penicillen, the airplane, a moon landing, the internet, etc. We are fortunate that the best and brightest who work hard can prevail in our society.

Leslie Hawke, the co-founder of the Ovidiu Rom NGO in Romania

What were the main things (even lessons if the case) you have learned while in Romania?

I’ve learned that people are fundamentally the same everywhere – our environment changes our perspective -- but our fundamental natures are the same. All over the world uneducated people living in poverty make a lot of bad choices. They love their children just as much as I love mine, but their choices all too often result in negative long-term consequences for their children – because their perspective is so limited. I’ve also learned to appreciate America more since I’ve been here. As a liberal democrat and an art lover, I had a certain reverence for all things European, like Henry James’ characters; but after a decade of observing European politics, I have a greater appreciation for the Amercan judicial and legislative systems. And I appreciate how much less constraining American burearcracy is than European bureacracy. It is easier to make progress in America than it is here.

What was the biggest challenge for you when you first came to Romania? How did you overcome it? The language! I overcame the challenge by accepting that I could either 1) become fluent or 2) actually get something done -- but that I hadn’t the intelligence, time and discipline to do both! So I decided to just accept it as a personal handicap!

What are the main things you like and the ones you dislike about Romania? I like Romanian young people. And I love the elderly women I meet in the countryside. Many of them have great humor, humility,generosity, and decency. They are just plain “good people”, like my grandmother in Texas. I hate the tendency of Romanians to avoid making tough decisions. The stray dog situation is an illustrative example of what I mean. People don’t want to kill the dogs but they aren’t willing to spend the money necessary to solve the problem any other way, so they do nothing. I hate driving on Romanian roads because there are so many dogs that have obviously been abandoned. To drop an animal on the side of the road or in a different neighborhood is not kindness, it’s cruelty.

I also dislike the fact that Romanian politicians don’t seem to be too concerned about the increasing number of seriously under-educated young adults – in both cities and the countryside. I fear their lack of job skills will greatly hinder Romania’s economic growth over the next two generations. When a country has a flat birth rate, there is no way to expand the middle class unless you educate the poor! Right now, it seems like the business community is more concerned about this problem than the government.

To what extent can you find American values here in Romania? Please give us a few examples of American values/traits and whether you could find them in Romania or not. Americans have this annoying habit of considering all “virtues” to be “American-made”. Honesty, generosity, a strong work ethic – Americans have no corner on these positive human values.

A trait that I do consider quintessentially American is our “can do” spirit. We believe in our ability to change things. We also value community and progress over family. I’m an example of that myself. I would rather be working for educational equity than picking up my grandchildren at school every day. If I didn’t believe that what I’m doing can make a difference, I wouldn’t be here. My granddaughter is always imploring me to “come home”. She will visit me here later this summer. It will be interesting to see if she changes her mind about “where I belong” after she sees what we are doing.

Any thoughts you would like to share with the other Americans in Romania on the 4th of July? I don’t have any thoughts to share, but I’d love to share some hotdogs, watermelon, lemonade and a couple of verses of “America the Beautiful”.

Perry Zizzi, partner, Clifford Chance Badea law firm

What were the main things (even lessons if the case) you have learned while in Romania? For how long have you been here?

Over the more than 8 years I have lived here, I have learned patience and that eventually justice can prevail, although it often takes a long time.

What was the biggest challenge for you when you first came to Romania? How did you overcome it? It can be complicated to get basic tasks accomplished in Romania. My personal assistant is a lifesaver for me with getting everything from doctor's appointments to dealing with the company that manages the video surveillance and security system at my home.

What are the main things you like and the ones you dislike about Romania? I like the incredible collection of mostly ignored Art Deco/Modernist architecture in Bucharest and the wild, scenic beauty of the Carpathians. I dislike the fact that, with so much potential in agriculture, Romania has been importing more and more overpriced, bad quality fruits and vegetables instead of investing sufficiently in local agriculture in order to supply the local market and grow enough to export.

To what extent can you find American values here in Romania? Please give us a few examples of American values/traits and whether you could find them in Romania or not. Innovation and entrepreneurial spirit are two typically American characteristics that I see in abundance in Romania.

Where are you from more exactly, what part of the US? New York, the greatest state in the USA! I am proud of the fact that the legislature of my state and the governor just did a brave thing by guaranteeing marriage equality for all New Yorkers.

Any thoughts you would like to share with the other Americans in Romania on the 4th of July? Although our respective revolutions took place more than two centuries apart, Americans and Romanians have a shared understanding and appreciation for how precious is freedom. Let's take the day to celebrate together with our Romanian friends!

Chris Worman, the Odorhei Community Foundation

What were the main things (even lessons if the case) you have learned while in Romania? For how long have you been here?

I have been here for more than 5 years. I think some of the main things I have learned while here have been a higher level of patience, value for the process and more direct communications. Learning to value process as much as results has been particularly informative - I work in civil society development. In the States this is fairly corporate and focused on outputs. Here I definitely spent more time in working on the process that gets one to quality results. I consider this both educationally necessary and a measure for sustainability. It may slow things down once in a while but if the processes are not fully understood by my communities then I am not completely delivering on my work either and the processes more easily fall apart should I not be there to participate.

What was the biggest challenge for you when you first came to Romania? How did you overcome it? Adjusting to the little idiosyncrasies. Like the post office only being open to get a package for 2 hours a week. After a while that actually became a helpful part of scheduling...

What are the main things you like and the ones you dislike about Romania? I like the countryside, the people when they are in their home element, and the food. I don't particularly appreciate the 'asta e' attitude. I guess I don't believe asta has to be este... if I did, I would probably not work in civil society and engaging citizens in participatory processes. Thankfully, though citizens used to think our ideas would never work, they were willing to participate and see. Their participation in itself proves the point that things don't have to remain negative (if they are).

To what extent can you find American values here in Romania? Please give us a few examples of American values/traits and whether you could find them in Romania or not. I think one of America's defining traits is the 'get it done' attitude. If you fail, fix it and keep going until it is done. I have been happy to find this attitude when working with young Romanian programmers.

Any thoughts you would like to share with the other Americans in Romania on the 4th of July? Be thankful.

editor@romania-insider.com