My Romania Journey

I have been staying in Romania between 21.08 and 31.08.2024 for an Erasmus+ project. I visited the capital city, Bucharest, of Romania, but I did not have been in there for a long time. I guess I had been in there for a maximum of 24 hours. However, it affected me a lot mentally. I looked at buildings and their architecture designs; they fascinated me deeply. When I looked at each building that had an archaic structure, I realised Romanian people's emotions in my heart.

While I was walking on the streets of Bucharest, I saw too many employers who aim to attract tourists to cafes and restaurants to increase the incomes of restaurants. Additionally, these employees were the happiest and most hopeful people I have seen in Bucharest. They were always smiling and trying to appear like everything is fine, and they were acting like there is no one who aims to try to steal your money in lux restaurants with foods that have a delicious appearance.

I had stayed in a hotel located near the Resita with other participants. We were the second team that arrived at the hotel. I should have realised it was a sign of the project's process because we joined almost every event firstly as a Turkish team. I thought we acted perfectly as a team because we did almost everything right. Also, when I said, "We need to clean the table because we used it," to my team leader, he agreed with me instantly. It was another reason I believed that.

Most importantly, I learnt a lot of knowledge from other participants who come from other countries. I list them:

Spanish people are loud and have a amazing dance culture.

I am not happy to say it, similar to I am not happy to learn that. They were always speaking loudly and ignoring others. When I spoke with Spanish participants about that, they said it was normal speaking, and I realised there was no loud speaking for them. They are probably right because every culture has a special aspect, and it is part of Spanish culture.

Also, the entire Spanish team was an amazing dancer in Spanish evening. I enjoyed a lot while I was dancing with them and was trying to learn their dance moves.

Macedonian people love Turkish people.

When I realised this situation, I was shocked. These people were acting "different" to us than acting to other people who came from other countries. We were writing farewell notes to each other. I wrote about that situation and thanked them. When I gave my note to them, each Macedonian came to hug me. I would have cried in this moment.

I became sure how I wanted a wife in my life.

I met a girl when I was in a project. She gradually came to my attention, and I decided to ask for a romantic dance. She rejected me kindly, and suddenly I became sure that I want to have a wife who behaves to be kind with all personality aspects. Someone who I am crush on asked me, "Are you okay?" for the first time in my life. I will always remember her with her perfect hair smell, adorable, and kind voice. (If you read it, you should know that you are the most special person for me.)

I accepted that I grew up with two different cultures.

I sometimes feel isolated from normal life, and I never find out why. When I got in contact with Macedonian participants, I experienced the most rare moment in my life. It was that feeling that belonged somewhere. They were using the Cyrillic alphabet like Bulgarians, and they had a lot of similar cultural facts. I was always happy when I was with them. I hope we will meet again in Macedonia.

Taxi Drivers can be dangerous.

While we were going to a train station, we needed to use a taxi, and we called a taxi, which was the first taxi we saw. We trusted him, but we made mistakes. He did not have a taximeter or something like that, and when my friend asked that approximate price, the taxi driver did not say anything about the price and said, "I do not know too." We had to understand something was wrong, but we did not, and we were forced to pay about 300 lei—it was about 70 euros—to the taxi driver when we arrived at the train station. The taxi driver was always saying "brother" us, and I will never forget this "brother" who stole 300 lei from us.