Although I do not own a television, last night I had the privilege of watching (online) a local Cluj-Napoca program called “Zi de Zi” which featured a host and three guests all debating the issue of “second hand” stores (used clothing shops) here in town. I was alerted to this program because a local blogger and fellow Twitterer was a guest on this program. Watching … Continue reading Manufacturing Inanity
Last week I had the great fortune to meet an American couple who found me through my book and were fans of my writing (you can read about some of our adventures here). As gratifying as their enthusiastic praise was, by far the most interesting thing about them was that they were Christian missionaries. If you’ve been reading my blog for a long time, you … Continue reading The Compleat Angler
I have a very simple rule that I follow so that I am not tempted to write overly bombastic pieces here on the blog: I never say anything online that I wouldn’t have the courage to say to someone’s face. And therefore it is with all seriousness that I say this. Mr. Sorin Apostu, current mayor of Cluj-Napoca, you, sir, are a fucking idiot. Since … Continue reading A Tale of Two Cities
A subject close to my heart is comedy, or humor. There seems to be some universal law that only people in English-speaking countries can be funny. On the continent of Europe, from Germany to Spain to Italy to Romania, almost all jokes and attempts at humor are crude, unsophisticated and generally not that funny, the worst crime of all. I swear I could write a … Continue reading 26’s on the Candy Painted
Recently I had a lot of fun meeting an American who was here in Romania for the first time. Eventually our conversation led to a discussion about how I learned Romanian. American: Wow, you really learned the language, eh? Me: *blush* Yep. American: Was it tough? I heard it’s like crazy different than English. Oh, I know! Say something for me in Romanian. I took … Continue reading Conversation with a Cunning Linguist
All Things Romania 