- Academic Head of Modern Languages at renown German university
- Born and raised in the Carpathian Basin (as a Hungarian minority in Romania)
- Father – former National Olympic Weightlifting Coach to Romanian, István Javorek, who defected to Germany and was then granted political asylum in the USA in 1982
- Move to Texas at age 13
- Grew up with Hungarian, Romanian, French and English, has since added Spanish and German
- Education in USA and France – PhD (the sociological effects of theater on the community), MA (French Literature), BA (Human Biology, French), Pre-med
- Move to Germany in 2001
- Home = Hamburg, Germany via Kansas and Texas; close affinity with France and Hungary
- Married
- husband German – Dr. med. Hendrik Runte
- Mother of three children
- Cancer survivor
Having been born in Romania to Hungarian parents who later moved to the USA, I was destined to learn multiple languages.
My early childhood was spent in the Carpathian Basin, where I picked up Hungarian, Romanian, and a little Russian.
During my teenage years in Texas, I was introduced to English, French, & Latin, but continued to speak Hungarian at home.
My affinity with France intensified through extended stays in the Hexagon. During my college years, I learned Spanish through close friendships with Latin American exchange students.
Germany has been my home since 2001. I am married to a German anesthesiologist with whom I have 3 wonderful children.
Speaking English, French, Spanish, German, & Hungarian on a daily basis is a fundamental part of who I am.
In 2015, I was diagnosed with & treated for cancer. After the operation, I lost my voice for 6 months, and with that, the ability to communicate with ease and to access the many languages and cultures that define me.
This experience was a turning point in my life, prompting further soul searching & a midlife crisis that eventually led to the creation of CULTUREUM. I dove into my cultural identity and explored the beauty and confusion that accompany it.
PODCAST
I drew inspiration from family, friends, & communities around the world, and finally started a PODCAST, Language and Culture with Dr. J, which features interviews conducted in five languages.
LECTURES, WORKSHOPS, AND PERFORMANCES
It is a pleasure to share my cultural history and experiences not only with my podcast listeners and my readers, but also with individuals, corporations and institutions through my speaking engagements, LECTURES, WORKSHOPS, AND PERFORMANCES.
Thank you for your interest & your support.
BOOKS
The publication of several MANUSCRIPTS through Éditions Quadylle followed, and allowed me to share pieces of writing I had been collecting since early childhood. My writing has been a great coping mechanism for me through illness, stress, pressure, and midlife in general.
I write under five different pseudonyms, each representing a different cultural aspect of myself. I also write with my children, and we love to create stories together as a family.
BLOGS
In fall 2022, I also launched my BLOGS to further explore cultural identity and to connect the dots between different cultural perspectives and fields of work. Here, I publish my articles on language, literature and culture. I also publish articles written by various experts, such as the French Consul General to Northern Germany, Valérie Lübken, the star chef and activist, Sebastian Junge, the renowned scientist and former Harvard professor, Chad Cowan, or the former Olympic weightlifting coach and strength & conditioning guru, Istvan Javorek.
Cultureum 