If Romania were my field of study at a university, my second doctoral thesis would definitely be entitled The historical trend of the nation of Romania’s depiction in visual space as a virginal maiden (my first thesis is a little less conventional lol). Time and again, from all historical periods, there seems to be a universal consensus that Romania, as a country, is a “young, … Continue reading Romania is a vivacious young girl
Wow, it’s been a while since I’ve done one of these but I’m always getting messages, emails, comments and other forms of communication, so time to address them! Sam, I really like what you said/did/wrote this one time about this one thing. Glad to hear it! It’s always nice to know something I said/did/wrote had a positive impact on someone. Can I do/say X, Y … Continue reading Mailbag
Note: what follows is my (in)famous post 37 steps translated into German (much thanks to the SMG), also available in limba romana. Enjoy! Schritt 1 – Sprich Italienisch und Spanisch und lach und wink ab. Rumänisch ist doch auch eine romanische Sprache, oder? Praktisch das Gleiche. Schritt 2 – Triff einige Rumäner in den USA, frag sie nach einer Handvoll Worten. Erinnere dich nur an … Continue reading Wie ich Rumänisch in 37 einfachen Schritten lernte
I’m an old jaded observer of Romanian politics, having spent years lambasting this country’s buffoons as they were investigated for corruption and bribe-taking, demonstrated mindbogglingly bad levels of mismanagement, passed stupid and barbaric laws, engaged in superstitious and juvenile behavior, acted like they were hysterical stars in a telenovela drama, mangled the English language, let people die due to their Communist-era mentality and otherwise proved … Continue reading Jumping the Shark
The other day I posted a short piece about my adventure at the bank and the topic of money laundering came up and it was pretty obvious that this is a mysterious subject that’s not well understood. If you’re one of those people who don’t understand money laundering (in Romanian it’s called “spalare” or “washing” of money), don’t feel bad. There’s a famous scene in … Continue reading Money Laundering for Beginners
All Things Romania 