Expat In Romania

Gotta be honest here, a 5-month break wasn't what I expected when I wrote about Untold Festival back in August. There are plenty of reasons I haven't been writing, but as I list them off, I can see that none are particularly good... Work - Yeah, everyone works Felt like doing other stuff - Don't we all Ran out of things to write about - No I didn't A little bit blasé about my Romanian life - Welcome to any life It does seem we're at the cusp of something, and maybe I just don't know quite what it is nor how to approach it. Maybe it's not "we", and it's just me, but I doubt it - we're all in this together. 2016 was weird for everyone. In spite of the absence I didn't feel all that disconnected from my Romania blogging. Email has come in fairy regularly from blog readers, and -although I'm hardly going crazy with it - I've been keeping my Instagram updated with Romania themed images. But, this absence has been nagging ...

It's now been three years. My one-way trip from Toronto had me arrive on April 1st, 2011, the irony, right? I came in via Budapest. They don't even have that connection anymore. Let's see what else has changed, in no particular order at all... 1. The mayor 2. The other mayor 3. The Janis on Eroilor is no longer there 4. There's a beautiful new stadium 5. Cluj are no longer a force in Romanian football 6. The steps to Cetatuia have been rebuilt 7. All you can eat sushi is a daily thing  8. More Canadians (and other foreigners) are calling Cluj 'home' 9. Quality of services is improving  10. There is a new park (Iulius) 11. You can now find a pretty decent burger around here  12. Saw the opening of the first (and probably still the only) Thai restaurant in Transylvania 13. Central Park got a haircut (a bit on the short side) 14. You can fly to more places in Europe (Basel is the latest direct flight) 15. Th...