Romania-Insider.com starts a series of articles on intercultural communication, focusing on practical aspects that will help you deal with your Romanian business partners as well as with partners in the Eastern Europen region, while bridging the cultural differences between them. Read the introductory article of this series below and feel free to send us your ideas or examples of actual situations where more knowledge on intercultural communication would have come in handy.

From the small market of Tirana, in Albania, Romania was an upgrade for Gianluca Carlesso. The first time he came to Romania in 2007, Carlesso was leading law firm Tonucci and Partners' office in Albania and was in Bucharest for a meeting with a client. He went on to join the Bucharest subsidiary of the firm, continuing his international quest.

When Danish Ulrik Rasmussen first came to Romania 15 years ago, on a backpacking tour of the region, he knew he wanted to return and live here. Six years later, he did that. In the past, he had been playing football, studying and working in Belgium for the European Parliament. He is now a well known head hunter in Romania, partner with executive search firm Pedersen & Partners. The 15-year path was quite filled with changes.

Laurent Piveteau is a true representative of the group of young French people doing business in Romania. He speaks fluent Romanian and has started his own business in Romania, soon after setting up his residence here. Together with a couple of partners, Laurent started Franco-Jobs.com, a human resources website dedicated to the French community in Romania, and is already working on expanding the project... to France.

It's a rainy, beginning of autumn day in Bucharest and I'm heading to Kathrin Weident's photo studio to watch her take pictures. Not the best day to be outdoors but a good one to watch creativity at work. I had met Kathrin for an interview during the summer. Her story unfolded slowly as we talked: she had moved from Germany to Romania and pursued her dream to set up her own photography studio here.

The image of a discretely tattooed motorbike rider who loves skydiving and martial arts is not that common yet among business people in Romania. But Simone Favat, the general manager of IQ Facilities Management, deals well with combining a couple of outdoor activities not for the faint-hearted with a more down-to-Earth activity: the real estate asset management business.

Russell Johnsen, the general manager of Provident Financial Romania, has been attracted to bringing change in the organization ever since joining it 28 years ago. A Jack of all trades, as he says, he has been at the helm of the Romanian subsidiary since 2009. The most intense activity so far, he tells romania-insider.com.

15 years ago, Kingsley Nwabia chose art - or, as he likes to say, was chosen by art. More than 200 paintings and a book after, he finds himself in Romania, where he settled in 2005. One hot summer afternoon, Romania Insider has talked to Kingsley- a natural born story teller too- in his Bucharest apartment, surrounded by an ad-hoc exhibition of his paintings.

After five years at the helm of the Athenee Palace Hilton five-star hotel in Bucharest, Friedrich Niemann has decided to change scenery. He will leave at the end of August to run another hotel in the Hilton chain in Berlin. Before embarking on the new journey, he has talked to Romania Insider about the five years in Romania and about the life of a hotel manager.

Brian Davies runs and owns part of a company which produces a simple, yet needed commodity: the plastic film wrap which holds together bottles and cans, the one that we all tear apart on the supermarket shelves to get the products we want. This is his day job, he likes to say as a joke to those who know him better as the chairman of the British Romanian Chamber of Commerce. He has talked to Romania Insider about how the company set up business in Romania back in the 90s and about the changes down the road ever since.

Romania-Insider.com starts a series of articles on intercultural communication, focusing on practical aspects that will help you deal with your Romanian business partners as well as with partners in the Eastern Europen region, while bridging the cultural differences between them. Read the introductory article of this series below and feel free to send us your ideas or examples of actual situations where more knowledge on intercultural communication would have come in handy.

From the small market of Tirana, in Albania, Romania was an upgrade for Gianluca Carlesso. The first time he came to Romania in 2007, Carlesso was leading law firm Tonucci and Partners' office in Albania and was in Bucharest for a meeting with a client. He went on to join the Bucharest subsidiary of the firm, continuing his international quest.

When Danish Ulrik Rasmussen first came to Romania 15 years ago, on a backpacking tour of the region, he knew he wanted to return and live here. Six years later, he did that. In the past, he had been playing football, studying and working in Belgium for the European Parliament. He is now a well known head hunter in Romania, partner with executive search firm Pedersen & Partners. The 15-year path was quite filled with changes.

Laurent Piveteau is a true representative of the group of young French people doing business in Romania. He speaks fluent Romanian and has started his own business in Romania, soon after setting up his residence here. Together with a couple of partners, Laurent started Franco-Jobs.com, a human resources website dedicated to the French community in Romania, and is already working on expanding the project... to France.

It's a rainy, beginning of autumn day in Bucharest and I'm heading to Kathrin Weident's photo studio to watch her take pictures. Not the best day to be outdoors but a good one to watch creativity at work. I had met Kathrin for an interview during the summer. Her story unfolded slowly as we talked: she had moved from Germany to Romania and pursued her dream to set up her own photography studio here.

The image of a discretely tattooed motorbike rider who loves skydiving and martial arts is not that common yet among business people in Romania. But Simone Favat, the general manager of IQ Facilities Management, deals well with combining a couple of outdoor activities not for the faint-hearted with a more down-to-Earth activity: the real estate asset management business.

Russell Johnsen, the general manager of Provident Financial Romania, has been attracted to bringing change in the organization ever since joining it 28 years ago. A Jack of all trades, as he says, he has been at the helm of the Romanian subsidiary since 2009. The most intense activity so far, he tells romania-insider.com.

15 years ago, Kingsley Nwabia chose art - or, as he likes to say, was chosen by art. More than 200 paintings and a book after, he finds himself in Romania, where he settled in 2005. One hot summer afternoon, Romania Insider has talked to Kingsley- a natural born story teller too- in his Bucharest apartment, surrounded by an ad-hoc exhibition of his paintings.

After five years at the helm of the Athenee Palace Hilton five-star hotel in Bucharest, Friedrich Niemann has decided to change scenery. He will leave at the end of August to run another hotel in the Hilton chain in Berlin. Before embarking on the new journey, he has talked to Romania Insider about the five years in Romania and about the life of a hotel manager.

Brian Davies runs and owns part of a company which produces a simple, yet needed commodity: the plastic film wrap which holds together bottles and cans, the one that we all tear apart on the supermarket shelves to get the products we want. This is his day job, he likes to say as a joke to those who know him better as the chairman of the British Romanian Chamber of Commerce. He has talked to Romania Insider about how the company set up business in Romania back in the 90s and about the changes down the road ever since.