1. Citation information:
   1. On the oral history transcript please follow the following format:

Runia Brokamp Interview, History 150 Spring 2016, Conducted by Aileen Brokamp, Education Across the Ocean, March 17^th, 2016.

2. Transcription—

1. The interview was conducted over the phone. I did not have to edit much of it. I wanted to keep the interview as true to the person’s personality as possible. I had to download an app to record the call. From the app I was able to call my mom and it started recording from the very beginning. The app only gave me 20 min of recording for free so I had to keep the interview short. I made sure the interviewee and myself were both in a quiet place so the call would be recorded clearly.
2. Runia Brokamp was born in Costa Rica. She studied at Liceo de Atenas, after that she received a scholarship from the Universidad Nacional in Heredia, where she earned her bachelor’s degree in Geography and a Licenciature (master degree equivalent) in Physical Geography. During her last year at the University she also worked as a professor and researcher for the university. During this time the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) offered her a scholarship in Germany to work on her doctorate.  She moved to Germany where she learned the language in Bremen northern Germany, after six months she moved to southern Germany, and studied at Augsburg University. After her marriage she lived in Germany for 15 years with her family until they moved to United States, where she has been living since 2006.
3. Because of the fall of the Berlin Wall, more opportunities opened us for students to study abroad in Germany. Many universities began to offer more programs to international students. The German education system became much more open. Student could now go into Eastern Germany openly. In the early 90s the German government began to pay more for education. Part of this meant the international student would receive financial help. Just recently Germany made their education system free for everyone including international students.

AB:  Can you tell me you name?

Mrs.  Brokamp:  Runia Brokamp

AB:  Ok. And where did you move to from Costa Rica. (…)

Mrs. Brokamp: Ok, I moved to Germany. To Bremen, in Germany. The north part of Germany to learn the language.

AB: What was the reason that you left Costa Rica and went to Germany?

Mrs. Brokamp: I had a scholarship from the government, the German government to do my Doctorate degree in Germany (…)

AB: What are some of the differences in culture that you noticed between Germany and Costa Rica?

Mrs. Brokamp: oh my gosh… there are a lot of differences. They are more open, a more open culture. They are a very strict culture, and they are very punctual. They’re very strict, they work a lot and they’re a more open culture than Costa Rica. Costa Rica is a more family oriented culture… more conservative culture I will say.

AB: What were some of the struggles you went through by moving to a completely different country?

Mrs. Brokamp: There were a lot of struggles. I didn’t know the language; I didn’t know English at that time as well so the first struggle was the language. Trying to survive without the language. There were a couple months that was very difficult, because of the language change. So we were in an institute learning the language. So they wouldn’t let us speak another language. We were totally immersed in the language there for 6 months. So that was the first struggle. The change of culture. Like I said they are very cold type of people and very strong, very strict people. So that was a totally complete change.  They are also very open. But I think the most important was the struggle with the language and with the very cold culture. In comparison with the Costa Rican people, they are very happy people, very welcoming people. The German people are more for themselves and that was a cultural shock right there.

AB: Were there any events that you went through that were hard for you?

Mrs. Brokamp: Yea, at that time so many many years ago they had what they call Skinheads. Those are people who don’t agree with bringing people from other cultures, so other countries. So we also were afraid and they were always telling us to be careful with that type of people in Germany. So that was a struggle to see these people. And we had an encounter one time with them. One of our roommates, we study in the Guten Institute but we sleep in one of the what they call Bohnhiem which is like a place where they have all the international students, and these people are always a target for these type of people. So we had an encounter with them but everything went well. It was kind of difficult. That was one of the things that I thought that was probably not a good idea to go over there but I go through that and we passed that and we learned the culture and how to act around them. Do you want more specifics or? That’s fine?

AB: If you want to go more into it that’s fine.

Mrs. Brokamp: Yea, well we were in the streetcars, what they call Stassenbahn and these two very young people, like I said Skinheads go into the Strassenbahn and they looked at us and they kind of stayed close to us the whole way until we arrived to the station where we needed to go out. And we we went out the guy that drove the streetcar actually told us you need to go and very quickly cross the street. I will stop until you cross the street and then run because these guys are not safe. So my roommate was from the Dominican Republic and we were very nervous. SO we got to the station, crossed and started running and the guys went behind us. The good thing was other people from (…) the place where we lived. They thought we were not there, it was kind of late, it was in the evening, around 8 or 9. SO they came to find us and when they saw us the other guys that there were more of us. There were people from Mexico, Nicaragua, 3 guys from Costa Rica. So they put us in the center and we started walking all together. So the other guys left and disappeared. But that was one of the very bad things that we had there. But thank God it was just that time. We learned to get there early to the Bohnheim.

AB: How long do you think it took you to adapt to the new culture?

Mrs. Brokamp: Well that took, I would say almost a year. For me, to adapt. At least a year minimum, I think maybe two years. There were many changes, every place where we went we learn the language. One in northern Germany and then I moved to southern Germany to go to college there. So it’s completely, from north to south its two different cultures in the same country. It’s kind of difficult to adjust to the dialects they have and their ways. I think from one to two years we get used to the culture.

AB: Do you think your experiences those first years changed you as a person?

Mrs. Brokamp: Absolutely. I was a very quiet person when I was in Costa Rica. Very quiet, very by myself, I didn’t like to say things to people. We try in Costa Rica to be very nice people, happy people. Unfortunately, when you live in a culture where they are very strong if you are not as strong as they are they want to, how do you say that (…)  they try to put you down. So I learned not to let that happen to me after a couple things that happened there. If you don’t speak the language like them they look down on you. At the beginning when they see that you don’t speak the language they say things to you, they were not nice. You learn to be like them to be able to survive. So that made me change a lot in that way. That I always prepare for the worst and I always prepare to say something if somebody says something back, that is not a good thing but it’s a thing that you learn from them. Some good things happened there. I learned to be punctual. (…) They are very on time. And I learned to be strict as well and I think that is a good thing. Maybe for some people its not but for me it’s a good thing. It helped me get through different cultures, even the culture in the US. You learn good things and bad things from these cultures, but absolutely it changes you a lot.

AB: What do you think you gained from moving to Germany and studying over there that you couldn’t gain in Costa Rica?

Mrs. Brokamp: It’s a lot of things. It’s not only the language. I studied geography there but when you are in a different culture you learn like I said good things and bad things. You learn a lot. I learned how to work with different people, different cultures, different customs, not only in Germany but in many other places in Europe and Asia because we were studying with international students from all over the world. I learned a lot of different customs from different places that if I stayed in Costa Rica I would never learn. To see the world in completely another way. I think people that stayed in their country they don’t know and they are as open as a person that goes and lives in different places. A person that stays in their own country is a little close I think. A person that moves to another country and learns the custom is a very open person, they get to understand other cultures and understand other people and the customs of these people and respect them. This is very good to learn that. I think that is one of the things I most appreciate about leaving Costa Rica and living in another country.

AB: So you said you studied Geography, is that would you say more of a man’s career or a women’s career?

Mrs. Brokamp: In past days when I studied geography it was more of a man’s career because I worked mostly in the field; in the volcanos and mountains and all of this. It was mostly a man’s career; it was really hard for women to go through that. We were maybe 30 guys and 2 women but I think these days everything changed and it’s more the same. But in that time it was absolutely a man’s career at least in Costa Rica.

AB: Did you find it hard at all being a woman trying to get into that career?

Mrs. Brokamp: Yes, because the men always think that you cannot do things the same way that they do. They think that you are weak. I remember when I wanted to enter a volcano to put some (…) you know, to work there, so they think because you are a woman you are weak and you cannot do that. Some of them try to protect you, other ones try to laugh at you but it was kind of difficult to put your foot down and say No I can do it as well. You need to treat me like you treat the other guys, not like you treat a woman. You need to learn to treat me the same. That was a struggle for a couple years. By the end of career, they already knew us and got used to us but at the beginning that was a struggle. They always try to some of them protect you and some of them to put you down.

AB: Costa Rica is more of a masculine, I guess, culture. Did you find the same thing when you went to Germany?

Mrs. Brokamp: No, no like I said before they are a very open culture. I didn’t see that. They kind of work in the same level. I didn’t see this difference. We are talking about 30 years ago, Costa Rica now is completely different but 30, 40 years ago it was a different thing. In Germany I didn’t see that difference. At least in the school of geography over there everyone, women and guys, were the same. I didn’t see that difference.

AB: How many years did you live in Germany?

Mrs. Brokamp: 15.

AB: 15, so, how did your family cope with you being so far from home for so long?

Mrs. Brokamp: That was difficult. In our culture like I said it’s a family oriented culture. We’re used to being in each others business and used to being very close and very protective. At the beginning it was hard for my father and my mother to understand that I was even going to go to another country. My mother said no but my father said ok I will not be happy but it was ok because he knows that it was good for me since I was doing my Doctorate degree. But at the beginning it was hard for them. They didn’t want it but they accepted it. It was really hard for them because we didn’t have telephones in our house we I needed to call a neighbor to be able to tell them that I was ok. It’s not like now that you have cell phone all over and phones all over. At that time we didn’t have a phone in the house so I needed to call the neighbor and the neighbor needed to call my family. If my father was there he could come and talk to me, and so did my sister. But my mother never went out of the house. Even if I called she would not go to my neighbors house. It was difficult. It was a difficult time but we got through that in a good way.

AB: Thank you so much…

1. I think the interview went smoothly. I would change the setup of the interview. I wish it would’ve more of a conversational type of interview, instead of straight question and answer interview. However, regardless the interview managed to flow nicely. My mom was very calm and was open to talk about everything. I did not have a hard staying on script. The small divergences we had were nice and added nice details to her story.