Hello from Romania!

We have been here, for Matthew’s work, for a week now. It seems quite a bit longer actually! And staying another 6.5 weeks seems a lot.

It’s been particularly cold most days and the temperature is set to drop to the minuses this weekend and next week! Ah!

Matthews been busy at work, starting the day after we’d travelled all day to get here! We all had a good sleep that night after being so tired. But then, the 2 hour time difference hit us, mostly O and J with struggling to go to bed at 8pm – they had a few evenings of being asleep around 9.30/10pm and getting up at 7am ish. We’re nearly there now.

The boys and I have a mission to explore. This has been a little difficult and we’ve frequented the supermarket 3 times now but hopefully we’ll find some other fun places soon.

I wanted to mention a few struggles/anecdotes that have happened so far…

1. Getting lost every time we go in the car! Today I actually managed to drive home without going the wrong way. It’s particularly difficult because we live around a couple of one way systems; my phone sat nav does not work properly, and neither does the car’s; it’s hard to pull over and stop to check where I am as traffic is quite fast moving (go fast or get out of the way!) and there aren’t great signs! I’m busy counting streets at the moment and trying to look out for recognise-able buildings.
2. We went for a walk around our local area to explore and found what we thought was a park. It had a fence around it and a gate but I couldn’t see any signs and the gate was open so we went and had a play. Later on, we noticed that adults were going in to the building and then coming out with children. We realised it was a school that we’d trespassed on! We promptly left and I noticed a sign, on the opposite wall to the way we’d come in, saying education. People were looking at us inquisitively! Although that’s the norm here.
3. My friend Kate had spoken to her Romanian friend before we came here to pass on some tips. One was that it’s normal to stare and be quite blunt with your words. This has been useful information. I have noticed a lot of staring and I find it hard to tolerate. I guess I assume their judging me and find it quite rude but I think it is just a cultural difference. I would say that I’m quite smiley and if I catch someone’s eye in the Uk I smile or try to look friendly. I love it when people smile back (it actually doesn’t happen that often, most people try not to make eye contact.) So, here I’m just smiling at people and even more so if they stare.. is that the right thing to do?
4. Our first experience at the little supermarket was stressful! We picked up some fruit and veg and bagged it, like back at home, but then we got to the till and it was a disaster! The shopkeeper didn’t speak English and was disapproving of what I’d done. There was a long queue and luckily the man one-behind could speak English and explained that I needed to weigh all of it individually and stick a sticker on. So, nice and kindly, the lady behind came over with me and did it for me. I was a little scared of the shop assistant after causing a delay but I needed a bag so I asked the man who spoke English and he managed to get me one!
5. The people here seem very helpful and friendly (apart from the staring and straight faces!)
6. The soft play was closed and only hosts parties! There might be another one or two but we’re yet to explore. I love a good soft play and because it’s so cold a nice indoor space would be beneficial to us all.
7. I don’t think we stick out like complete foreigners 🙂 people keep talking to us all at full speed and I haven’t got a clue what they’re saying. I try to say buna (hello) quickly so that they realise I’m English or, try to show my confused face!

Caroline x