Expat In Romania

Sunt un idealist, știu. După ce-mi depășesc dubiile inițiale despre orice văd/aud/mi se propune, rămâne doar optimismul bazat pe faptul ca am încredere în intențiile bune ale omenirii -asta doar dacă sunt intrade-văr intenții bune. De obicei, îmi dau seama dacă-i cazul . Acum mai bine de doi ani am scris primul meu articol în română. L-am întitulat  Cum Să-i Dai Pe Toți Ticăloși Afara.  L-am scris cu optimismul că (și) în Romania se poate. Știam asta pentru că, deși la vremea aceea eram venit de doar un an, încă nu întâlnisem oameni care nu erau bine intenționați. L-am scris in mare parte și din frustrare. O frustrare care încă o simțeam până la alegerile prezidențiale din 17 noiembrie. Deși Romania este o țară democratică, a căruia legii prevăd niște drepturi anume, cu un sistem de guvernare cât-de-cât transparent, puțini sunt oamenii care își asumă libertațiile democrației și care participă in procesul democratic pe de lung. Am vorbit despre acest process in articolul sus-...

My dear friends, Call me sentimental, but this image broke my heart. Of all the scribbles on that lousy piece of paper, the one that ripped into me is not political, it's not directed at Ponta, and it has nothing to do with voting. It takes on many other overtones, however. It is indignant, because you wrote that at a moment when you felt stripped of your dignity. It's despairing in its tone because you're fighting windmills. And finally, it's a very poignant cry for something that every human needs: a home. If  the word "Londra" weren't written on that paper, I could imagine the same scribbles plastered all over a local sign. Except for that one exclamation, at the very bottom, in red pen. "Vrem Acasa!!!" I understand the frustration of living in a place that, although hospitable, can never be like home. I understand the futility of imagining 'what if' you could live in Romania. I mean really live -  not just su...

There was a roadtrip in August. Instead of leaving the country for more cosmopolitan destinations, my soon-to-be wife and I wanted to see what Romania has to offer. More than we were able to see in ten days on the road it turns out. I'm still sorting pictures though, and probably at some point in the middle of winter, with summer nostalgia at its peak, I will have finished the post, complete with sun-drenched images. Although I've become involved in a couple of new projects (in addition to work), there is no one thing that's keeping me from writing other than the feeling that I'd be doing it because I have to. I could have written about the Canadians who opened a nice little bistro in Piata Muzeului. About the Cluj Comedy festival, about voting in the recent (and upcoming) election. There are also good things happening with local businesses, most notably an improvement in quality of products and services in some cases. But there are still hard facts of life that ...

Am spus că o să scriu și în română , și mă gândesc că ar fi cazul să încep cu un articol scris mai demult (în engleza). L-am ales pe acesta pentru-că din toate care le-am scris încă este relevant și va mai rămâne relevant câțiva ani. Așa e cu o țâra în dezvoltare, care-și caută definiția existentei sale. Spun asta pentru că nu este corupția și proasta guvernantă care ar trebui sa definească țara aceasta și nu cred ca-i destul să spunem că natura frumoasă ne definește, asta poate fi 'spusă' de multe alte țări. Deci, mai cautăm. Bineînțeles, vor fi greșeli de gramatică și de lexic, dar cred ca esențialul se transmite. ----------- ( Link to the original in English) ----------- Este incredibil de ușor de a devia de la subiect, atunci când încerci să analizezi psihicul, mai ales atunci când vorbim despre psihologia de grup, în sine o discuție încărcată în care liniile dintre realitate, generalizare, și stereotip sunt neclare. Cu toate astea, acest lucru este cu ce am de a lu...

I wanted something different. The big-city rat race wasn't doing it for me. I wasn't in any state to settle at my job, to put a down-payment on a thirty year condo mortgage, to get a long-term girlfriend and then to rinse and repeat. A lot of it had to do with not knowing what I wanted exactly, but I knew I didn't want 'this'. And even when I first visited Cluj in 2010, I didn't think Cluj would be 'it'. After all, what could a Romanian city with less than half-a-million inhabitants have to offer anybody from a North American metropolis? It was almost a quaint notion. Still is in some ways. Crossing the entire city, end to end, in twenty minutes? That's like a drive to the grocery store in Toronto. Tallest building has like, what, fifteen floors? Ha, how puny. There are bigger roller coasters back where I'm from. Oh, is that an Indian restaurant? Yes, the one and only. There is also an  iStyle for all your Apple needs. What's iStyle? Also...

The festival is only in its second edition, but following last year's inaugural event, Electric Castle has stirred up enough buzz to attract visitors from beyond Romania's borders. Walking around the festival grounds I had the impression that every other group was comprised of foreigners speaking Hungarian, English, German, or French. And judging by the license plates in the parking lots, every county in Romania was well represented. While there's plenty to be said about the artists and the music, there's something else I want to discuss in this post. When you think "music festival", the image that comes to mind is that of overly excited youth on a drug and alcohol infused rampage, laying waste to everything in their path. Maybe it has something to do with the way festivals like to promote themselves; these are basically the images that stand out on most 'Official Aftermovie' videos from major music festivals. But obviously the experience is defined...

Not long ago, I wrote a short post on another kind of Romanian beauty, but I came across a blog that's full of stunning images of local scenery. It's nice to see somebody's taking the time to curate these images and offer them to an international audience (in English). Browsing through it helped whet my appetite for the upcoming Romania tour this summer. Here's the link to the blog , and a bunch of sample shots. Enjoy! Putna Monastery                                                               Sulina, Danube Delta Fagaras Fortress Brasov Cabin in the Carpathians   Rainy Street in Brasov   Beauty in the fields