“Romania sounds rather exotic, how would you like to go there….? “

That was the question I was posed by the Norwegian agency for the European Union Socrates program. The EU gives financial support to international school projects, and the national agency finds candidates. I had made enough trouble over the past years to cause the agency to do something drastic to get me out of their hair for a while. It wasn’t until I got to passport control on the way home from Romania that I realised my agency probably had several agendas in sending me abroad…. They apparently thought that Romania might be far enough away – and that with any luck, the Romanians might even keep me. Thinking back on how easy it was to enter the country and how difficult it was to leave, they were almost right. It is always nice to feel wanted, but not by the border police!

But even that interest in my person seems symptomatic of my days in Romania. I have seldom felt so welcome and ‘taken care of’ at any time as I did in Romania. I was only four short days in Romania, and most of which were spent discussing possible project ideas in the conference areas at the hotel. But the trip has done much to change how I think of Romania – and Romanians.

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