Hi All,
Ce faci? (meaning 'how are you?') and its pronounced "Che fach" before any of you start making your own versions of it!
Hope you had another lovely Bank Holiday in Britain. Yes, I was working because it was not a holiday here. One of the things Romania must do when it joins the EU is increase its Public Holidays. They have gorgeous hot summers here so what do they do - have a holiday on May 1st (Workers Day) and then not have another until Dec 1st (National Day). Not one official holiday during the summer! In fact they only get 6 public holidays a year: New Years Day, Easter Monday, May 1st, Dec 1st and 25/26 December for Christmas. That is going to have to change!
We have had an office full of UK experts for the past 3 weeks (and what a pleasure it has been hosting them here - I have to say that some of them are on this group e-mail!). But they all left by Friday and then Lavinia was away at a friends wedding in Cluj from Friday until yesterday, Tuesday. So things have been really quiet with just Diana and me here.
In the week we had a farewell meal for the experts. Lavi and Diana said they wanted to cook a traditional Romanian meal for everyone. So they all came around to my apartment on Wednesday last week and we had a great time. Unfortunately it was the hottest day of the year so far (37c - over 100F) so you can imagine what the kitchen was like, especially since Lavi insisted that all the meal should be cooked in the oven. I suggested hanging the food out of the window for 10 minutes and that should cook it nicely, but they just ignored me. We had a garlic dip with bread that Lavi prepared there and then to keep us going while the meal was being prepared. Actually the words garlic dip don't do justice to it. Lavi made it with most of the garlic output of France and Spain for the past decade. It was delicious but made your eyes water and honestly, you could still taste it two days later. (Needless to say everyone can still smell it a week later!). We then had polenta with Romanian salty cheese (a bit like Greek Feta) and sour cream. Then there was cabbage parcels filled with mince pork, herbs and more garlic (these parcels were made by Diana's mum). Then there was chicken with potatoes and a beetroot and horseradish salad (the salad was made by Lavinia's mum). Now trust me, the beetroot and horseradish salad is delicious. I have had it a few times in restaurants, although Lavi's mum's is the best of course! Then for dessert we had apple cake (again made there and then by Lavi and Diana with some help from Anne and Gwyneth, two of the UK experts) with strawberries and cream. All this was washed down with Diana's dad's home made red wine. Then we all passed out due to overeating and heat exhaustion! It was a great evening.
The weekend was sunny but a bit cooler thankfully. I went to the Carrefour supermarket in the Ordiheea area of the city (right across the other side of the city from where I am unfortunately). In the information the EU delegation gives you when you arrive in the country it says that Romania is an impoverished country. I think they should go to Ordiheea. It is an enormous commercial area with not just the Carrefour but also about 50 other shops - including another Marks and Spencers. The Carrefour supermarket is huge with 56 checkouts and everything you could want, somethings you might not want and a few things you would never need in a million years!
Of course I have to admit that Bucharest is not all of Romania and when you travel around the countryside you do see villages that haven't changed in 50 or 60 years - horse drawn ploughs, run down houses etc. And within Bucharest there are very poor people. But if you have the money (and by UK standards not a lot of money either) the capital does not lack anything. So after shopping there I tried to get into my taxi with 18 bags of groceries, 15 pairs of shoes, 12 pairs of jeans, a set of garden furniture, a new mattress, a tumble drier, CD player, giant plasma screen TV and a tin of Heinz Baked Beans - all for under the equivalent of 3 pounds and 27 pence. (OK so I might be prone to a little exaggeration). But I resisted going into M&S!
With no experts coming out for a couple of weeks I am taking the opportunity for a break - so I'm off to the house in Spain this Friday (2nd June) for a week. I will meet Tony out there but he is staying for two weeks in total. I'm flying Bucharest to Barcelona, then Barcelona to Alicante. The return is via Madrid. So I'm afarid there will be no exciting installment of Andrew in Romania next week - how will you all cope?!
Keep dry and warm and I'll be in touch again soon.
Love
Andrew
I went to the British Embassy yesterday to pick up any mail etc. (Now I am attached to the Embassy I have my own pigeon hole there where they leave mail, notices, information etc for me, so I go along about once a week to check. It is about 5 minutes from my apartment so I can do it to or on the way back from work.) This was the first time I had gone with my staff ID badge which means you can by pass everyone waiting outside and go straight in without any security checks.
So I go past the Romanian guards at the control point and they just look at me. The Embassy did say the first couple of times they wont recognise you so they may pay you more attention than later on when you are familiar to them. So I showed them my ID and they looked suitably unimpressed. Up I marched to the main gate and waited for it to buzz open - and nothing. The guards are looking at me. So I wave my ID at them again and one of them walks up to me and says "Embassy?". So again I flash my ID and say yes. He points to a notice on the gate that says in recognition of the Queens Birthday the Embassy is closed today. I smile and saunter away feeling a total idiot and certain that they will remember me in future!
Wednesday, 31 May 2006
Monday, 22 May 2006
Summary of the past two months. Pt VI
Dear All,
Hope you all had a good week and weekend. As you know I am not one to revel in other poeple's misery, but I did notice that the weather in the UK this weekend was not exactly brilliant. I tried to read the weather pages of the internet but it was difficult with the sweat pouring down my face and the sun shining in my eyes. Sunday reached 32C (high 80s) and the whole weekend was blue skies and sunny. This is particularly warm for this time of year but I'm not complaining.
I am however going to apply for a job with the Romanian Customs Authority (RCA). In the course of our work last week we asked for the breakdown of the performance markings for all staff (they have performance related pay like we do.) They have 5 categories: exceptional; very good; good; satisfactory and unsatisfactory. You can only get promoted if you have one of the two top markings and of course they also carry the highest pay increase. For the year ending 2005 the proportions were: exceptional 88.4%; very good 11.6%; good 0%; satisfactory 0% and unsatisfactory 0%. For those of you in HM Revenue and Customs this makes very interesting reading! Absolutely everyone in the RCA is ready for promotion and exceeded expectations. Mmmmm.
Moving on, the farewell party for the British Ambassador was very nice. About 50 people were there so it was a great chance for me to meet people. No there were no Ferro Rocher on view but very nice canapes on trays and waiters/waitresses on hand to fill up your glass as soon as the level of your drink dropped 1cm from the top of the glass. One of the admin staff gave me my Embassy ID at the party which means I am officially attached to the Embassy, so I don't have to worry about getting work permits etc. I am now here legally - hurrah! I also have my administrative diplomatic status now.
On Friday evening I went to the Bucharest Mall, which is the city's only shopping mall as we would understand it. (Like the Trafford Centre but much smaller). To my shame I have to admit buying 3 Marks and Spencers shirts there and a tie. Well I only have 7 shirts here so I needed to expand the wardrobe a bit. There was all the familiar M&S stuff but it is not cheap here - so for the Romanians it must be hugely expensive. They also have other high street names - Body Shop, Mango, Swatch, Timberland, Greggs (OK I might have made that last one up!).
Very disappointed with Eurovision on Saturday night. No not at the UK entry because it was absolutely awful and deserved to be treated as such. I wanted Romania to win so that everyone could come to my apartment next year to stay and we would all go to the final. They came 4th which was very good (the UK hasn't seen that sort of placing for nearly a decade!) And trust the Dutch presenter to start chatting up Stakis the male host in Greece!! I did miss Terry Wogan's commentary. Instead Romanian coverage had a completely unemotional woman translating the whole proceeding (even to the point when they werte counting down for the voting to end and saying 10, 9, 8, 7.... she was saying zece, noa, opt, sapte.....I think everyone could work out what was happening!) The only time she did not translate was when the Dutch presenter asked Stakis for his mobile number and he said it was 69 69 69 and she remained quiet!! Overall I thought the songs were bad, even by Eurovision standards.
This week the 3 experts currently here are finishing their reports and leaving on Friday. The office has been very busy and crowded at times but good fun too. Because we had two different pieces of work going on at the same time we had to get another translator in for the week. The lady enjoyed herself so much she asked on Friday if she can work permanently with us!
Well the temperature in the office has already reached melting point and it is only 8.15am so I think it is time for the air conditioning to go on.
Many thanks again for all your e-mails etc. Once I have internet in my apartment (estimated date of installation October 2009) I will be able to reply personally. Until then I'm afraid you have to put up with these dear all e-mails.
Take care of yourselves.
Andrew xx
Hope you all had a good week and weekend. As you know I am not one to revel in other poeple's misery, but I did notice that the weather in the UK this weekend was not exactly brilliant. I tried to read the weather pages of the internet but it was difficult with the sweat pouring down my face and the sun shining in my eyes. Sunday reached 32C (high 80s) and the whole weekend was blue skies and sunny. This is particularly warm for this time of year but I'm not complaining.
I am however going to apply for a job with the Romanian Customs Authority (RCA). In the course of our work last week we asked for the breakdown of the performance markings for all staff (they have performance related pay like we do.) They have 5 categories: exceptional; very good; good; satisfactory and unsatisfactory. You can only get promoted if you have one of the two top markings and of course they also carry the highest pay increase. For the year ending 2005 the proportions were: exceptional 88.4%; very good 11.6%; good 0%; satisfactory 0% and unsatisfactory 0%. For those of you in HM Revenue and Customs this makes very interesting reading! Absolutely everyone in the RCA is ready for promotion and exceeded expectations. Mmmmm.
Moving on, the farewell party for the British Ambassador was very nice. About 50 people were there so it was a great chance for me to meet people. No there were no Ferro Rocher on view but very nice canapes on trays and waiters/waitresses on hand to fill up your glass as soon as the level of your drink dropped 1cm from the top of the glass. One of the admin staff gave me my Embassy ID at the party which means I am officially attached to the Embassy, so I don't have to worry about getting work permits etc. I am now here legally - hurrah! I also have my administrative diplomatic status now.
On Friday evening I went to the Bucharest Mall, which is the city's only shopping mall as we would understand it. (Like the Trafford Centre but much smaller). To my shame I have to admit buying 3 Marks and Spencers shirts there and a tie. Well I only have 7 shirts here so I needed to expand the wardrobe a bit. There was all the familiar M&S stuff but it is not cheap here - so for the Romanians it must be hugely expensive. They also have other high street names - Body Shop, Mango, Swatch, Timberland, Greggs (OK I might have made that last one up!).
Very disappointed with Eurovision on Saturday night. No not at the UK entry because it was absolutely awful and deserved to be treated as such. I wanted Romania to win so that everyone could come to my apartment next year to stay and we would all go to the final. They came 4th which was very good (the UK hasn't seen that sort of placing for nearly a decade!) And trust the Dutch presenter to start chatting up Stakis the male host in Greece!! I did miss Terry Wogan's commentary. Instead Romanian coverage had a completely unemotional woman translating the whole proceeding (even to the point when they werte counting down for the voting to end and saying 10, 9, 8, 7.... she was saying zece, noa, opt, sapte.....I think everyone could work out what was happening!) The only time she did not translate was when the Dutch presenter asked Stakis for his mobile number and he said it was 69 69 69 and she remained quiet!! Overall I thought the songs were bad, even by Eurovision standards.
This week the 3 experts currently here are finishing their reports and leaving on Friday. The office has been very busy and crowded at times but good fun too. Because we had two different pieces of work going on at the same time we had to get another translator in for the week. The lady enjoyed herself so much she asked on Friday if she can work permanently with us!
Well the temperature in the office has already reached melting point and it is only 8.15am so I think it is time for the air conditioning to go on.
Many thanks again for all your e-mails etc. Once I have internet in my apartment (estimated date of installation October 2009) I will be able to reply personally. Until then I'm afraid you have to put up with these dear all e-mails.
Take care of yourselves.
Andrew xx
Summary of the past two months. Pt V
Hi there,
Well, was I on national TV?
Did you see me on CNN?
Was I on SKY news?
The official launch of this project went OK on Friday. We were told about 4 or 5 press people were turning up, but in the end about 20 of them were there and one TV crew. It meant that during the speeches (5 of them in all) you had to remain looking interested or else you might appear on TV yawning, picking your nose or scratching your bum. Because we had simuntaneous translation I had to wear headphones while the Romanians were talking to listen to the translation. Trouble was when switching between English and Romanian it got a bit confusing at times and I found myself listening on the headphones to the Romanian translation. Even the poor translator got confused and at one point was translating the Romanian speaker into Romanian. I was impressed that the Head of the EC Delegation and the Deputy Head of the British Embassy both spoke in Romanian. Lavinia my secretary did say afterwards that their Romanian was quite bad but at least they tried. So far all I can do is say hello, goodbye, thank you, please and count from 1 to 10.
So at least that is over now. We had a celebratory meal in the evening with the 3 people from International Capacity Building in London who had come over for the launch, the expert who is over here at the moment and Lavinia and Diana (the full time interpretor). Went to a traditional Romanian restaurant - this means lots of gypsy violin music and a menu that has more meat on it than Arnold Swartzanegger. This is no place for a vegetarian that's for sure. Although I decided not to have the Bear Ragout or the Bear Paw (this is 450 lei, about 90 pounds!!)
Saturday I was invited to a bar not far from my apartment to watch the FA Cup Final. When I arrived I was astounded to find a place with an enormous Liverpool flag hanging outside it and inside the place was decorated with about 8 different Liverpool banners flags etc. And there just happened to be 40 Liverpool clad fans there watching on a huge screen. Unfortunately I never saw Steven Gerrad's goal in stoppage time - all I saw was beer flying through the air, glasses going in all directions, tables and chairs being scattered as the place went absolutely crazy. Of course everyone was delighted with the final score. I have been told that all the England games will be shown there and all the Romanians said they will be there to support England! This is a strange place.
The weather this weekend has been absolutely gorgeous. Sunshine and 25C (that's the upper 70sF for you Liz!). I think summer has finally arrived here.
So this week I am in class for the first three days. I am running a workshop with the expert over here at the moment identifying training needs for the Customs staff. Another two experts arrive today to start looking at the Human Resource policies they have - initially they are looking at recruitment, retention, performance management and appraisal. So we are getting in to run of things now.
Hope all is going well with you. Take care.
All the best
Andrew.
Well, was I on national TV?
Did you see me on CNN?
Was I on SKY news?
The official launch of this project went OK on Friday. We were told about 4 or 5 press people were turning up, but in the end about 20 of them were there and one TV crew. It meant that during the speeches (5 of them in all) you had to remain looking interested or else you might appear on TV yawning, picking your nose or scratching your bum. Because we had simuntaneous translation I had to wear headphones while the Romanians were talking to listen to the translation. Trouble was when switching between English and Romanian it got a bit confusing at times and I found myself listening on the headphones to the Romanian translation. Even the poor translator got confused and at one point was translating the Romanian speaker into Romanian. I was impressed that the Head of the EC Delegation and the Deputy Head of the British Embassy both spoke in Romanian. Lavinia my secretary did say afterwards that their Romanian was quite bad but at least they tried. So far all I can do is say hello, goodbye, thank you, please and count from 1 to 10.
So at least that is over now. We had a celebratory meal in the evening with the 3 people from International Capacity Building in London who had come over for the launch, the expert who is over here at the moment and Lavinia and Diana (the full time interpretor). Went to a traditional Romanian restaurant - this means lots of gypsy violin music and a menu that has more meat on it than Arnold Swartzanegger. This is no place for a vegetarian that's for sure. Although I decided not to have the Bear Ragout or the Bear Paw (this is 450 lei, about 90 pounds!!)
Saturday I was invited to a bar not far from my apartment to watch the FA Cup Final. When I arrived I was astounded to find a place with an enormous Liverpool flag hanging outside it and inside the place was decorated with about 8 different Liverpool banners flags etc. And there just happened to be 40 Liverpool clad fans there watching on a huge screen. Unfortunately I never saw Steven Gerrad's goal in stoppage time - all I saw was beer flying through the air, glasses going in all directions, tables and chairs being scattered as the place went absolutely crazy. Of course everyone was delighted with the final score. I have been told that all the England games will be shown there and all the Romanians said they will be there to support England! This is a strange place.
The weather this weekend has been absolutely gorgeous. Sunshine and 25C (that's the upper 70sF for you Liz!). I think summer has finally arrived here.
So this week I am in class for the first three days. I am running a workshop with the expert over here at the moment identifying training needs for the Customs staff. Another two experts arrive today to start looking at the Human Resource policies they have - initially they are looking at recruitment, retention, performance management and appraisal. So we are getting in to run of things now.
Hope all is going well with you. Take care.
All the best
Andrew.
Summary of the past two months. Pt. IV
Hi there,
Yes I have returned from my Grand Tour of Romaina in one piece. Just that one week has provided me with enough material to write an entire book but you will be pleased to know that you will get the edited highlights.
Made it in one piece but I have no idea how. In all we covered nearly 2,000kms by road, from Bucharest to Timisoara (far west of the country), then to Brasov (middle), then to Iasi (far east of the country) then back to Bucharest. Our driver was a lovely bloke but had two main characteristics. He was unable to drive at less than 150kph and saw every vehicle in front of him as a personal challenge to overtake. (We found out half way through the trip that his colleagues nicknamed him Schumaker and it was richly deserved.) As there is no more than 32 metres of dual carriageway and motorway in the country we frequently found ourselves overtaking a line of 6 lorries on a bend in heavy rain and a 3km drop either side of the road, or at least it seemed like that. I do believe I still have parts of the car seat under my fingernails. He did calm down a bit as the journey went on and our pleadings, begging and breaking down crying in front of him did seem to have an effect.
The meetings with the staff in the various locations went well. Basically they were scared still of us as they think we have come to cut their jobs. So they treat us like royalty (only right) and extended their traditional characteristic of hospitality. We ate lunches and dinner that lasted for hours and consumed vast amounts of food (and alcohol if they had had their way.) At the very first dinner in Timisoara, we all met in the office first before going to the restaurant. In walks the Director, looks at me and says, "Jim Bean, Jack Daniels or Chivas". I say Chivas, although I don't like any type of whiskey, and so he brings a bottle to the restaurant which we must drink. Then he is asking if we want wine, beer etc. One lunch in Iasi lasted 4 hours, from 12.30 to 16.30 and then we had a series of meetings at a border post 20kms away. The meal had included wine tasting of 3 white and 3 red wines!
With all that alcohol and staying in hotels dehydration is always a battle and I didn't want to drink the tap water. So in one location I asked at the end of my last meeting (at 8.45pm by the way!) if I could take one of the bottles of water from the table. Out dashed the director and came back with a bag full of bottles of water. Brilliant I thought. As I walked to my hotel I looked in the bag and there was a bottle of Jack Daniels Whiskey as well. So the next day that had to be returned with many thanks and not wishing to offend but as part of this project is about ethics and anti corruption I don't think this sort of thing is a good idea!
So I am back in Bucharest and it is manic again. On Friday (12th) we have the "Kick Off" meeting which is the official launch of the project. Yes I know it has started but getting things in the right order never was my strong point. The British Ambassador cannot make it now, so his deputy is coming. The Head of the EC Delegation is coming. The Vice President of the National Administration of Finance (NAF - mmmm) is coming, he is the equivalent of David Varney's boss, and a host of others including 3 people from the UK, the press and TV people. We have simultaneous translators hired for the day, we will all be wearing headsets to hear what is going on and I am dreading it. Boy are we going to have a celebration on Friday evening when this is over. It is causing us huge headaches.
So I had better get on with it. Thanks again for your e-mails. As I still do not have internet in my apartment I can only e-mail from work, so you will have to put up with these general e-mails for now. But hopefully soon it will be installed. I do have cable TV, CD and DVD players now, so that's good.
Look after yourselves and I'll let you know after the weekend how my debut on Romanian TV went!!!
Andrew.
Yes I have returned from my Grand Tour of Romaina in one piece. Just that one week has provided me with enough material to write an entire book but you will be pleased to know that you will get the edited highlights.
Made it in one piece but I have no idea how. In all we covered nearly 2,000kms by road, from Bucharest to Timisoara (far west of the country), then to Brasov (middle), then to Iasi (far east of the country) then back to Bucharest. Our driver was a lovely bloke but had two main characteristics. He was unable to drive at less than 150kph and saw every vehicle in front of him as a personal challenge to overtake. (We found out half way through the trip that his colleagues nicknamed him Schumaker and it was richly deserved.) As there is no more than 32 metres of dual carriageway and motorway in the country we frequently found ourselves overtaking a line of 6 lorries on a bend in heavy rain and a 3km drop either side of the road, or at least it seemed like that. I do believe I still have parts of the car seat under my fingernails. He did calm down a bit as the journey went on and our pleadings, begging and breaking down crying in front of him did seem to have an effect.
The meetings with the staff in the various locations went well. Basically they were scared still of us as they think we have come to cut their jobs. So they treat us like royalty (only right) and extended their traditional characteristic of hospitality. We ate lunches and dinner that lasted for hours and consumed vast amounts of food (and alcohol if they had had their way.) At the very first dinner in Timisoara, we all met in the office first before going to the restaurant. In walks the Director, looks at me and says, "Jim Bean, Jack Daniels or Chivas". I say Chivas, although I don't like any type of whiskey, and so he brings a bottle to the restaurant which we must drink. Then he is asking if we want wine, beer etc. One lunch in Iasi lasted 4 hours, from 12.30 to 16.30 and then we had a series of meetings at a border post 20kms away. The meal had included wine tasting of 3 white and 3 red wines!
With all that alcohol and staying in hotels dehydration is always a battle and I didn't want to drink the tap water. So in one location I asked at the end of my last meeting (at 8.45pm by the way!) if I could take one of the bottles of water from the table. Out dashed the director and came back with a bag full of bottles of water. Brilliant I thought. As I walked to my hotel I looked in the bag and there was a bottle of Jack Daniels Whiskey as well. So the next day that had to be returned with many thanks and not wishing to offend but as part of this project is about ethics and anti corruption I don't think this sort of thing is a good idea!
So I am back in Bucharest and it is manic again. On Friday (12th) we have the "Kick Off" meeting which is the official launch of the project. Yes I know it has started but getting things in the right order never was my strong point. The British Ambassador cannot make it now, so his deputy is coming. The Head of the EC Delegation is coming. The Vice President of the National Administration of Finance (NAF - mmmm) is coming, he is the equivalent of David Varney's boss, and a host of others including 3 people from the UK, the press and TV people. We have simultaneous translators hired for the day, we will all be wearing headsets to hear what is going on and I am dreading it. Boy are we going to have a celebration on Friday evening when this is over. It is causing us huge headaches.
So I had better get on with it. Thanks again for your e-mails. As I still do not have internet in my apartment I can only e-mail from work, so you will have to put up with these general e-mails for now. But hopefully soon it will be installed. I do have cable TV, CD and DVD players now, so that's good.
Look after yourselves and I'll let you know after the weekend how my debut on Romanian TV went!!!
Andrew.
Summary of the past two months. Pt III
Hi Everyone,
Hope you had a good Easter Break. Bet you ate far too much chocolate and
drunk far too much beer/wine!
Well, everyone is gearing up here for Easter this weekend. Everyday this
week as you walk through the city in the evening, you can hear singing and
chanting from the numerous churches. Every church is full with people
standing outside. Apparently during Holy Week leading up to Easter Sunday,
each evening there is a religious service to mark what happened on that day
in Jesus' life. Surprisingly Friday is not a special day here. Everything
leads up to ressurection Sunday and then Monday is a public holiday.
Talking of which, Monday May 1st is also a public holiday here.
Unfortunately I don't get the day off because I am having to travel to
Timisoara (in the north of the country) to be ready for meetings on Tuesday
morning. Timisoara is 9 hours on the train!!! I am then travelling to Iasi,
which is across the other side of the country for meetings on
Thursday/Friday, returning to Bucharest on Saturday. This is all part of
looking at how they will move their border controls from the West of the
country to the East when they get accession to the EU.
Yesterday (Tues 18th) I had a meeting with the Vice President of the Customs
Authority. A very smooth and suave man who understands English but does not
like to speak it. So I spoke to him in English and he replied in Romanian. I
hope he understood more than I did!
The weather continues to make me feel at home. Yesterday was beautiful with
clear skies and warm sunshine (22C at 7pm). I had my dinner in an open air
restaurant overlooking a lake in a park. Of course when I say "open air" I
mean surrounded by 100 Romanians of whom 99 are smoking continuously (the
other one is only smoking occasionally). All food comes ready smoked,
whatever you ask for! Then today I woke up to pouring rain, quite chilly and
now there is a thunderstorm going on. Hope the Easter weekend is dry and
sunny.
By the way Bucharest is not troubled by the flooding at all. Parts of the
country are under water - and in some places they have purposely flooded
land to relieve the pressure on the Danube. But we are fine here, although
if this thunderstorm keeps up that might change!
It is time to go home. Look after yourselves and I'll be in touch again
soon.
Andrew
Hope you had a good Easter Break. Bet you ate far too much chocolate and
drunk far too much beer/wine!
Well, everyone is gearing up here for Easter this weekend. Everyday this
week as you walk through the city in the evening, you can hear singing and
chanting from the numerous churches. Every church is full with people
standing outside. Apparently during Holy Week leading up to Easter Sunday,
each evening there is a religious service to mark what happened on that day
in Jesus' life. Surprisingly Friday is not a special day here. Everything
leads up to ressurection Sunday and then Monday is a public holiday.
Talking of which, Monday May 1st is also a public holiday here.
Unfortunately I don't get the day off because I am having to travel to
Timisoara (in the north of the country) to be ready for meetings on Tuesday
morning. Timisoara is 9 hours on the train!!! I am then travelling to Iasi,
which is across the other side of the country for meetings on
Thursday/Friday, returning to Bucharest on Saturday. This is all part of
looking at how they will move their border controls from the West of the
country to the East when they get accession to the EU.
Yesterday (Tues 18th) I had a meeting with the Vice President of the Customs
Authority. A very smooth and suave man who understands English but does not
like to speak it. So I spoke to him in English and he replied in Romanian. I
hope he understood more than I did!
The weather continues to make me feel at home. Yesterday was beautiful with
clear skies and warm sunshine (22C at 7pm). I had my dinner in an open air
restaurant overlooking a lake in a park. Of course when I say "open air" I
mean surrounded by 100 Romanians of whom 99 are smoking continuously (the
other one is only smoking occasionally). All food comes ready smoked,
whatever you ask for! Then today I woke up to pouring rain, quite chilly and
now there is a thunderstorm going on. Hope the Easter weekend is dry and
sunny.
By the way Bucharest is not troubled by the flooding at all. Parts of the
country are under water - and in some places they have purposely flooded
land to relieve the pressure on the Danube. But we are fine here, although
if this thunderstorm keeps up that might change!
It is time to go home. Look after yourselves and I'll be in touch again
soon.
Andrew
Summary of the past two months. Pt II
Hi Everyone,
Well I managed to reach week two unscathed. I was that knackered when I reached the weekend that I went to bed at 9.30pm Friday and didn't wake up for 12 hours. Spent he weekend exploring the city. There are some lovely buildings here, beautiful old things (much like you Tiz).
Went to the former dictators palace (can't spell Ceauceascu). It is enormous and lavishly decorated with marble, ok and gold everywhere. It is now the people's parliament there, but you can rent rooms in the place for banquets, receptions etc. Thought I might have a bit of a do in there, some balloons, play pass the parcel, that sort of thing.
Work coninues to be hectic. No one warned me I would have to work in this job. The office is not one of the lovely old buildings. In fact it is a concrete 9 floor monstrosity. As you know I am partial to the odd damp patch, but the walls in the office look like they could supply Campbells soups with all the mushrooms they need. No smoking is allowed in the office, but it allowed in the corridors etc. So everytime you leave your room your pass through a cloud of smoke and it also keeps drifting into the offices. No standing outside the perimiters of the building to smoke in Romania!
On Sunday I found an English bar so watched the Chelsea, Liverpool and Man Utd matches live. It was strange to see the sun shining at home and yet it as dark outside here.
Well I had better return to some work. I am interviewing the third of four candidates for the full time translators job this morning. Then this afternoon I am off to the British Embassy to meet the Ambassador, Quinton Quayle (if he is not gay with a name like that I'll run through Bucharest naked singing "My Ding a Ling").
Look after yourselves.
Love
Andrew xx
Well I managed to reach week two unscathed. I was that knackered when I reached the weekend that I went to bed at 9.30pm Friday and didn't wake up for 12 hours. Spent he weekend exploring the city. There are some lovely buildings here, beautiful old things (much like you Tiz).
Went to the former dictators palace (can't spell Ceauceascu). It is enormous and lavishly decorated with marble, ok and gold everywhere. It is now the people's parliament there, but you can rent rooms in the place for banquets, receptions etc. Thought I might have a bit of a do in there, some balloons, play pass the parcel, that sort of thing.
Work coninues to be hectic. No one warned me I would have to work in this job. The office is not one of the lovely old buildings. In fact it is a concrete 9 floor monstrosity. As you know I am partial to the odd damp patch, but the walls in the office look like they could supply Campbells soups with all the mushrooms they need. No smoking is allowed in the office, but it allowed in the corridors etc. So everytime you leave your room your pass through a cloud of smoke and it also keeps drifting into the offices. No standing outside the perimiters of the building to smoke in Romania!
On Sunday I found an English bar so watched the Chelsea, Liverpool and Man Utd matches live. It was strange to see the sun shining at home and yet it as dark outside here.
Well I had better return to some work. I am interviewing the third of four candidates for the full time translators job this morning. Then this afternoon I am off to the British Embassy to meet the Ambassador, Quinton Quayle (if he is not gay with a name like that I'll run through Bucharest naked singing "My Ding a Ling").
Look after yourselves.
Love
Andrew xx
Summary of the past two months. Pt. I
Hi Everyone,
I have e-mail in the office at last so I can contact the outside world!
I arrived safely thanks after a very stressful flight. Flights were ok it
was the checking in, going through security and hving excess baggage that
caused all the problems. Glad you didn't come to the airport Sayyeda as you
would only have seen me running backwards and forwards. At Heathrow I only
just made the Bucharest flight - they were calling me as I arrived!
The flight from Manchester to London cost 65 quid in excess baggage and the
flight to Romania another 54 quid (and that was only less because the check
in bloke let me off 5kgs!). I should be able to claim it back sometime in
2010 knowing the beaurocracy of the system.
The weather has been lovely and warm and sunny since arriving, except for
this morning, Thursday, when it is raining. However I have not had much
chance to appreciate it because things have been so hectic. Just to get the
most simple thing arranged you need to talk to 500 different people, get 27
copies of the order form each one signed by the world and his wife and just
when you think it is done you find out that the lady who cleans my hotel
room does not like the type of paper the order is written on so you have to
start again. OK that may be a slight exaggeration but you get the idea.
There are some beautiful buildings in Bucharest and quite a lot to see.
There are also quite a few parks. Of course there are also lots of horrible
ex communist buildings but the city is quite nice. Apart from the traffic.
There is a collosal amount of traffic and they all drive like maniacs with
their hands permanently on the horn. At times it is deafening.
I haven't started looking for apartments yet, I think that will begin next
week. So far I seem to have spent my time criss crossing the city going to
the EU delegation, the Contracts and Finance Control Unit (CFCU) and the
Romanian Customs Authority. Next Tuesday I am going to the British Embassy.
Well I had better start my work for the day. Lavinia will be in any minute.
She is very nice and good fun, I don't think we will have any problems
working together.
Hope everything is OK with you all. Hope you are all behaving yourselves!
Lots of love
Andrew
I have e-mail in the office at last so I can contact the outside world!
I arrived safely thanks after a very stressful flight. Flights were ok it
was the checking in, going through security and hving excess baggage that
caused all the problems. Glad you didn't come to the airport Sayyeda as you
would only have seen me running backwards and forwards. At Heathrow I only
just made the Bucharest flight - they were calling me as I arrived!
The flight from Manchester to London cost 65 quid in excess baggage and the
flight to Romania another 54 quid (and that was only less because the check
in bloke let me off 5kgs!). I should be able to claim it back sometime in
2010 knowing the beaurocracy of the system.
The weather has been lovely and warm and sunny since arriving, except for
this morning, Thursday, when it is raining. However I have not had much
chance to appreciate it because things have been so hectic. Just to get the
most simple thing arranged you need to talk to 500 different people, get 27
copies of the order form each one signed by the world and his wife and just
when you think it is done you find out that the lady who cleans my hotel
room does not like the type of paper the order is written on so you have to
start again. OK that may be a slight exaggeration but you get the idea.
There are some beautiful buildings in Bucharest and quite a lot to see.
There are also quite a few parks. Of course there are also lots of horrible
ex communist buildings but the city is quite nice. Apart from the traffic.
There is a collosal amount of traffic and they all drive like maniacs with
their hands permanently on the horn. At times it is deafening.
I haven't started looking for apartments yet, I think that will begin next
week. So far I seem to have spent my time criss crossing the city going to
the EU delegation, the Contracts and Finance Control Unit (CFCU) and the
Romanian Customs Authority. Next Tuesday I am going to the British Embassy.
Well I had better start my work for the day. Lavinia will be in any minute.
She is very nice and good fun, I don't think we will have any problems
working together.
Hope everything is OK with you all. Hope you are all behaving yourselves!
Lots of love
Andrew
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