HU as in RO

Since friend Novala decided during weekend to take a trip to Budapest, I decided also that is high time for an infusion of multiculturalism (not that I don't have that everyday, but nevertheless, I thought we can take that to a different level).

So got in the car, and 400 km later there we were: almost in Hungary. For sure this sparkled again the discussion about nationalism and stuff like that (Romanians blah blah blah Hungarians blah blah blah flags yadda yadda nationalist symbols blah blah yadda yadda). The issue is rather simple: when one has a family like mine, lots of nations under the same roof/name, one cannot think about nationalism. Or at least one shouldn't. And why would one think about that anyways? In an age of globetrottering, ex-pats and global citizenship, how outdated is the nationalism? Or for whom is it outdated?

The trip was good opportunity to learn new words, such as "Etterem" - very important if you don't want to starv. BTW, if ever in Odorheiu Secuiesc, try Pethö Etterem (restaurant). More that 150 dishes. Menu in HU, RO, DE and EN. For sure I had Gulaschsuppe, and a wonderful Hungarian Schnitzel (nothing like our common knowledge about Schnitzel). And yes, for sure, this was a place where I finally had enough Gulaschsuppe (and I mean this in the good way). They brought me an empty soup plate, followed by this huge bowl of Gulaschsuppe - I think it was for three people. I had it all for myself. And I really enjoyed it. And we only had to pay for one plate of soup. I simply supposed they considered us to be really hungry. One happy Serb thanks these wonderful people for the wonderful gift of finally-enough-Gulaschsuppe.

My only question for the weekend was thou a simple "how Austrian did I become in the meantime"? This was also triggered by my constant arguing against my poor (but patient) German teacher, who gets lots of "no, no, we don't say Pfannkuchen, we say Palatschinken"... No more comments.

Oh, I simply love multiculturalism...

no President, nope...

as I type, in Romania the Parliament has just suspended the President Traian Basescu. I was watching the news - everything was so predictable thou - and I was thinking that I am a non-side-taker. no taking sides anymore. no mirage about the politicians, about the enlightened despots, the friends of the people. everything is just a lousy, outdated game of speaches, tears and emotional theatre (in this case). and I simply cannot understand why people would go to a meeting in favour of this guy (or simply any other politician), considering that otherwise there is no such thing as the public opinion in Romania. is it a good sign, or is it all just a hoax? no more cowboys, dear.

glass art, stress and more...

one reason for which I like Wien: things happen there. Art. MQ. Andreea argued that things also happen in Bucharest. Yeah, as if I have the time for them... No clue if I worked in Wien, probably the same, I'd have no time, or I'd be too tired.

stressy: need to pay lots of things these days, and please believe me, I HATE BILLS. I only like to get the money, not to spend them (other but on clothes and trips to Wien).

a friend of mine tried to get a room with the Ribisch's. They were fooly booked, as everybody else around. Stunned, but then I realized: that weekend is the marathon weekend.

train the trainer

yup, here we go! starting organizing my first series of Train the trainer days. emailing will be my main thing to do for the next couple of weeks. let alone creating a nice menu for the trainers' lunch... they can be quite picky!

on the other hand, since all the aspirine failed, here is my medicine: hot milk from Burgenland. and not only milk :).

Samstag

A real spring day in Ploiesti today. Home alone, the gentleman had to go to work. So for me, nothing better to do than housechores. What I miss for today is a place like MuseumsQuartier to go and have breakfast till late in the afternoon, or just hang around, having a drink, having a chat, watching the children.

What both Ploiesti and Bucharest still miss, is the tradition of living & eating in the streets. I found this again in Wien, after missing it from back home in Novi Sad, or even in Belgrade. A public space, where you can simply be oblivious, leaving behind the worries of the day, the wrinkles on your forehead, let alone the files, the emails, the computer.

I still cannot figure this out, how Romanians lost the tradition, along with the desire, to take on to the streets. Maybe 50 years of comunism forcing them to hide in fear behind the walls of the houses take their toll. Many times I wonder where the glamour of the Petit Paris, as Bucharest was dubbed between the two World Wars, has gone. I am not particularly fond of that image, but nevertheless I have to admit that it has a certain flavour. Nowadays, what is left of that is just ruins, silent witnesses of a past glory, crushed down in decay at this restless beginning of the 21st century.

For fresh pictures from Bucharest, please visit Frau Novala's http://sodazitron.blogger.de/ .