1. Respondent ID
1. 1. Age: 17.
1. 2. Sex. F.
1. 3. Parent(s) abroad: Father.
1. 4. Country: Spain.
1. 5. Since when has he been abroad: since 2006.
1. 6. Respondent lives with: Mother.

2. Details of Respondent’s life before:
I: So, your father left in 2006. How old were you then?
R: I was six.
I: Did you use to play together?
R: I don’t remember. (She laughs.) I was so young. I know he used to come and take me from the nursery school and put me up on his shoulders.
I: Did you use to do things together?
R: I don’t think so.
I: Was he very busy?
R: Busy! He was rather distant, as far as I remember him.
I: Well, like all fathers, apparently.
R: (She laughs).
I: You were in the first grade at school when he left, weren’t you?
R: Right.
I: Who used to help you with your lessons?
R: My mother did it in the beginning, but I liked to manage alone with lessons and other school issues.
I: What is your favorite subject at school?
R: Biology and Anatomy.
I: Would you like to be a physician?
R: Yes.
I: Do you know in what specialty? General medicine, surgery or what?
R: I don’t know. Kinetotherapy or… similar.
I: Before he left he used to take you to the nursery school…
R: Right.
I: He used to take you back home…
R: Yes.
I: And after he left?
R: (She laughs.) Well he could no longer do it…
I: …and who used to do that?
R: …but the school was near my home. I could go alone, mother was at work. Mother used to take me to school in the morning and I went back home alone.
I: Did your mother keep in touch with your teacher, your form master?
R: Yes, she did.

3. Details of Respondent’s life after:

I: Can you remember the first day after your father’s departure?
R: I took out some photos from our family album and put them around the house.
I: How many rooms do you have?
R: At that time we had… I put photos in two rooms, where I used to stay, in the bedroom and in the living room. That’s where I only put them.
I: You put photos in both rooms. How? Did you put them on the bed, on the floor?
R: …yes, I put them on the bed, on tables, wherever I could and after that my mother told me “what’s the matter with you?” I said: “I put them to see Dad.” And then I picked them up – a few days later.
I: Oh! They had been spread around for some time.
R: Yes.
I: And your mother accepted that.
R: Yes, she didn’t say anything.
I: Right. Anything else? Do you remember anything else from that day?
R: That’s all I remember well.
I: Did you understand why he had to go away?
R: Yes.
I: What did you feel? What can you say about that?
R: That his departure was the best way for us at the time (she hesitated with the last three words.)
I: Do you and your mother get along well?
R: Yes, I do.
I: …I understand she is the one who is looking after you.
R: Right.
I: What other relatives do you have in Buzau?
R: My god-mother, who is also my aunt, another aunt, my maternal grandparents; as for my paternal grandparents, we haven’t spoken any longer. Well, I can’t remember anyone else.
I: Do you get along with these…
R: …yes, I do!
I: …relatives?
R: Sure.
I: While your father was abroad were there any harder situations in respect of health? Did you have to see any doctor?
R: Only blood tests; nothing like going into hospital or others alike, no.
I: Do you have friends or colleagues whose parents have also left abroad?
R: Yes, I do.
I: Do you get along better with them than with the others?
R: Not necessarily; in certain situations they understand me better.
I: Are there some things you can discuss with them but not with?
R: …not really, but they give me different advice and opinions.
I: Do the other colleagues know your father is abroad?
R: Yes, they do.
I: Do they particularly say anything about that? Is there anyone who envies you, while others have sympathy with you…?
R: No.
I: Do you happen to know what your father’ job was here in Buzau?
R: I know he worked in a factory in the industrial area of the town. Probably he was a worker, I have no idea. A builder, I guess.
I: And abroad?
R: He has similar jobs. In construction, I guess, and the like.
I: When he comes home, apart from the money he gives to your mother, does he also give you any pocket money?
R: Sometimes or if I ask him to.
I: Any presents?
R: (She laughs.) When he is … he has his moments, but not always.
I: Since he left, have you had more clothes? Or did you have more toys when you were a kid?
R: It didn’t seem to me that I had more. I mean I have never had such problems.
I: This is not about problems. Tell me if you felt that, as far as you are concerned, his departure really meant something to you?
R: No, it didn’t.
I: Would you like him to bring you a better mobile phone or better clothes or…?
R: Not really.
I: Apart from Biology, what other things do you like? Reading? Watching movies? Listening to music?
R: Yes. All of them: music, movies and reading.
I: What sort of music?
R: Every sort. Pop music anyway.
I: Pop… well, in my time…
R: …and I also listen to music from the time my mother was young, what I hear from her, from TV.
I: And movies?
R: The same, everything new.
I: What film do you remember best?
I: There was a film which mom had also advised me to see, “The Silence of the Lambs”. Yes, I really liked it.

4. Internet-based communications:
*Technical
I: Do you have internet access at home?
R: At home and also on my mobile phone.
I: Is the subscription paid by your mother?
R: Yes. But it used to be my father’s phone and he had the subscription while he stayed in the country. When he left he gave me his phone.
I: What do you best like to use, the phone?
R: The phone is more at hand. I always use it.
I: Before he left, had your father had any internet access?
R: Yes.
I: Who bought it and what was the occasion?
R: I think both my parents, together, I don’t know, I cannot say how long ago. They thought it was necessary anyway, for me, at school and all similar activities, so they had to have it.
I: Do you also write him? Emails, for instance?
R: No.
I: Letters, much less…
R: (She laughs discretely.)
I: Is it only an audio communication? Or is it also visual, or both?
R: Audio.
I: Not visual?
R: No.
I: Do you use the internet to communicate with your friends and colleagues?
R: Yes.
I: Do you have a Facebook account?
R: (She laughs.) Sure.
I: It’s normal. So do I.
R: (She laughs heartily.)
I: I understand that you and your father communicate with each other over the phone. Audio means over the phone.
R: Yes.
I: Who calls? Is it he or you?
R: He.
I: When did you learn to use the computer?
R: In 2006.
I: And what else do you do on it?
R: My profile is teaching &primary school teaching and I have to make my lesson plans. That’s all, generally.
I: What software do you use?
R: Power Point in particular.
I: Have there been any situations when you would have liked to talk to your father but you couldn’t?
R: No.

*Content.
I: How often do you speak with him?
R: Once or twice a month.
I: Do you remember the first audio communication after your father left? What did you feel? How was it?
R: He was the one who called us. The normal Messenger existed at the time and he used to call us and we could see each other on the camera. My brother (younger brother – i.n.) had actually two fathers when he talked with Dad. One he saw on the camera and one who came home. And he said “Daddy, I talked with Dad on the camera”.
I: Do you also call your father?
R: Yes, I do, but only rarely.
I: On what occasions?
R: If I notice he’s out of contact.
I: Would you like to talk to him more often?
R: (She laughs softly.) Not necessarily.
I: What do you usually talk about?
R: He asks me how I am, how I do in school, if I am ok and he also tells me what he has done lately, and that’s about it.
I: What did he tell you when you last spoke? What he has done lately?
R: Last time I told … asked him if he agreed that I started taking chemistry lessons to prepare myself for admission to medical school. And he said he agreed and, if needed, he would send me money.
I: Do you ever ask him to bring you a certain thing, to send you a specific item?
R: No, I don’t.
I: Does he ever ask you if you would like something in particular?
R: Yes, he does, but I usually wouldn’t.
I: Why?
R: I don’t know, I don’t like to ask him things or …material stuff.
I: Is there anybody near you when you talk to your father?
R: No. I’m alone.
I: Are there any issues you feel you can only discuss with him?
R: Yes, there are.
I: Why? If you want, tell me. If not, don’t answer.
R: Generally I don’t really like to speak with him, because he is like … he doesn’t really listen when I speak, and I’d rather talk to Mom than talking to the wall.
I: Do you have a better communication with your mother?
R: Yes, I do.
I: Do you feel there are some things which you can only tell him face-to- face and not over the phone?
R: No, I don’t.
I: Has he ever scolded you over the phone?
R: No. I guess no.
I: I understand: he doesn’t exactly listen to you, neither does he scold you. That’s ok…
R: (She laughs.)

5. Relationship with the absent parent (important stages/significant moments):
I: How often does he come home?
R: He used to come twice or three times a year, and I guess he will go on like that.
I: Last summer he was in the country, wasn’t he?
R: Yes, he was.
I: What did you two do?
R: Well…anyway he didn’t stay at home too long, I mean, he came, stayed for a while, then left, returned, left again in the morning, returned in the evening and we didn’t really…
I: Did he have things to do?
R: Yes, he went to meet other people, spend time with somebody else and…
I: Have you ever been to Spain?
R: Yes.
I: What impressed you?
R: The cleanliness.
I: Anything else?
R: It’s beautiful, like in any other foreign country.
I: Would you like to leave Romania for good? Not necessarily to your father, but to any other country?
R: Yes. We were also supposed to go to him, when I was in the sixth grade, but I didn’t want to leave my school and everything we had here.
I: Can you describe your father’s place?
R: Mess. (We both laugh.)
I: I see, it’s a mess, but what is his place like? Is it large, is it small?
R: Err… I don’t know, we could all live in there, it is large enough.
I: Was he messy when he lived here?
R: Yes, very. (She laughs heartily.)
I: Would you like to go there for good?
R: To him?
I: Let’s say there.
R: Yes.
I: I see. To him?
R: (She laughs.) No.
I: When do you think he will return?
R: I don’t think he will return or maybe he will when he gets old.
I: Do you think he has adapted very well there and that’s the reason for it, or what other reason could be?
R: I don’t think he feels comfortable here anymore.
I: Have you felt more independent since he left?
R: Yes, I have.
I: And does this put you in better spirits?
R: Yes. I’m not sure, I guess so.
I: Or if, say, you get bad marks at school, do you tell him? Or you don’t?
R: Yes. I do tell him.
I: If you have a fight or argue with one of your cousins or uncles, would you tell him?
R: I actually don’t argue or fight.
I: Actually, you don’t argue?
R: No, I don’t.
I: If someone has an aggressive attitude, would you just be waiting…
R: …I see what you mean, but it also depends on my own mood. I change my mood very quickly. (She laughs.)
I: Are there any negative effects of your father’s departure?
R: No, there aren’t.
I: …as far as you are concerned.
R: No. No.
I: You don’t feel you need him.
R: No, I don’t!
I: How do you spend your holidays together when he is here?
R: If he is here… well, I know what we did last year. As long as he stayed home I remained in my room most of the time, calling all my friends and things like that, speaking with them; when he is at home I don’t actually like to stay with… He usually stays with Mom in their room and I don’t go in there, I don’t feel comfortable. (She changes her tone). When only Mom is at home I go out, I call others to my place, I also call Mom to join us and have a talk. I feel more comfortable when I am alone with my mother.
I: I see. I have an extra question and, if you wish, I’ll switch off my recorder.
R: It doesn’t matter.
I: Have you felt aggressed by our discussion?
R: No, not at all!
I: This project will materialize, among others, in a show. Would you be interested in taking part in it? At least as a spectator…
R: Sure.
I: You are an interesting person. Thank you for our talk.