Expat In Romania

I'm happy to say the country's not running out of 'Romanians who came back' just yet. Paula was kind enough to answer the usual questions about her experiences abroad and to share her hopes for the future of the country in light of her foreign experience. 1. How many years did you spend studying abroad? Where? I spent four years as an International Studies and Sociology student at York University, Canada, and another year at the University of Amsterdam, where I got my MSc. in Political Science/Conflict Resolution and Governance. 2. Why did you come back? What do you do in Romania? Romania had absolutely no room in my initial post-graduation plan. I wasn't planning on returning to Canada and I wasn't going to stay in Amsterdam either, but I did consider looking for a job in the Hague, Brussels or even Warsaw at some point. On the other hand, I wasn't in the mood to start over from scratch in yet another country and I wanted to be close t...

A couple of years ago, when I was just visiting Cluj, Alex introduced me to Romanian nightlife. He'd already been living in Bucharest a while so his readjustment was well underway. I got in touch to ask him the same questions I asked Mihnea . It was very interesting to get his views on returning to Romania.   Your formative years were spent abroad in Toronto. Why did you come back? Two words: For Love   What do you do in Romania? I am a teacher at a private school in Bucuresti and also run my own afterschool with my wife. Check it out on Facebook, it's called International Afterschool & Club .   While you were away, did you miss Romania? Anything in particular? Lots of things. After '89, I felt more free in Romania than Canada. There are far less restrictions in Romania (or at least restrictions which are followed by the general population). No last call, no first call; less political correctness, more black humour, etc. You get the feeling, living over he...

It shouldn't come as a surprise, but nobody's quite unique. Following up on last week's post , I thought I'd finally reach out to some friends who are in the same boat. Returnees, tourists in our own country, repats, expats, whatever you call us we're around and it's definitely not just me. I'd like to introduce Mihnea Dumitru, a friend and former University colleague from Toronto who's been back for quite a few years now. Here's what he has to say about coming back home and his experiences with readjustment. 1. Your formative years were spent studying abroad. Why did you come back? (I know you didn't have resident's status, but would you have preferred to stay there?) Well, it was complicated. I was 20 when I graduated from York U, so you can't expect much from that frame of life experience. One year later, after finishing my Master's, I thought I was equally immortal and that the world was my oyster, so to speak. I did...