A word you will often hear in Romanian is fleac (flay-ock) but what does it mean? Probably the most accurate English translation would be the word bagatelle, which today sounds fairly archaic and the only place I ever “heard” it regularly was in a Norwegian book. A more modern translation would be “a trifle” or perhaps the word “nothing”, as in the following exchange: Lady: … Continue reading Word of the Day: Fleac
In 2007 on a very hot summer afternoon I was in Timisoara with a friend of mine. We were walking in the beautiful pedestrian area near the National Opera when a young man in a black t-shirt handed me a sheet of paper. I took it, not knowing what it was, and then stopped short as I read it. The flyer was a semi-literate screed … Continue reading Gay Baby Panic in Timisoara
The other day I went down to the corner shop and received a strange coin in change. Being as Romanian as I am, I immediately thought it might be some kind of trick or fake coin and I asked the storekeeper what it was. Turns out it was a real coin in circulation, the first new ones I’ve seen since 2005 when they switched over … Continue reading Fifty Cent
Following up on my post about Alison Mutler insulting Romania for fun and profit, I thought it would be worthwhile to take a “meta” look at journalism in general, specifically the print media. Whether online or printed on paper, journalism in just about every newspaper works in a certain, discernible way. To begin with, there is a distinction between what’s often called “hard news” and … Continue reading The Brass Check
I’m not going to turn this blog into all Cluj-Napoca all the time but once again the moronic team running Cluj (actually the county of Cluj this time rather than the city) have dropped the ball: Low-cost airline Wizz Air will reduce its transport capacity on Romania’s Cluj-Napoca International Airport by 26% as of May 5, moving its operations to the Targu Mures Airport, because … Continue reading Don’t Touch My Bags If You Please
All Things Romania 