With that out of the way, you're probably going to wonder just what kind of blog this is. It's about whatever I'm motivated enough to write about at the time, so I guess you can categorise it as a digital soapbox.
Like life, this blog tracks a lot of changes ... in my life and outside it. Sometimes I remember to link back to earlier posts which set the context for a new post, but in most cases things function by themselves.
All you really need to know is:
- I'm a South African guy in his early thirties.
- I'm married to an amazing Romanian woman (a motivation for this blog's posts about Romania, including tracking a holiday there in December 2013).
- We currently live in Centurion, but were living in Johannesburg when I started this blog, and have lived in Cape Town most recently..
- I've got a background as a journalist and in corporate communications, currently working as a marketing manager, and I happen to enjoy writing (lucky thing that).
Thanks for your interest, and please remember to comment, share and think of the kittens.
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ReplyDeleteHi there Raul, good to 'meet' you! Small world, isn't it? I visited Romania in December last year, and documented that trip on this blog. You might be interested in some of the photos/insights? You can start at this blog post and work your way backwards: http://reillusioned.blogspot.com/2014/01/100th-post-back-in-south-africa.html
DeleteThere are a couple South African businesses over there, but I wouldn't try make it any harder for myself by limiting options: because you can speak Romanian and English you're in a good position to apply anywhere. Whether or not you'd want to move back will depend a lot on your personal conditions, both what they are here in South Africa and what sort of support network you'd have in Romania.
Personally my wife and I found the crumbling infrastructure and low salaries really worrying, and there's all sorts of political tension as well. I'd say that if you're skilled you're still going to have a better quality of life in South Africa than you would in Bucharest, but then that depends a lot on your personal spending habits.
Yes, it IS really easy to explore the rest of Europe from Romania, but then the question of whether you'll be able to afford that really comes to the forefront. I didn't get the impression that the majority of Romanians were happy jet-setters at all - there's a lot of depression in Bucharest, but that's common for most big cities. Life in other towns like Cluj is more upbeat, but with even more pressure on the employment situation.
Then again, there's the public transport and amazing Internet ... that might be enough for some people to make them wildly happy. You'd fit in a lot easier than I would, simply because I found that English is still not wildly popular in Romania (in terms of television, printed media, signposts and public discussion).
Another benefit of Romania over South Africa: the crime rate is a lot lower. And there's no Black Economic Empowerment. Those are also major pluses, but again ... at what cost, if you cannot find a good job or afford your own car? [a telling warning for me was the vast number of parked cars in Bucharest which clearly never move - presumably because their owners find using public transport cheaper].
All that said, Romanians do LOVE their law! I have never seen as many public notaries as there are in Romania, and what a process it is to get documents lovingly photocopied and stamped numerous times. Assuming your knowledge of South African law would translate into Romania, that might be a big advantage for you.
Only you can judge: obviously it's best to try go there for a visit if you can afford it, but alternatively just make sure you have somebody who can support you financially/who you can live with, to reduce your costs while you try to set yourself up there.
PS: Feel free to e-mail me on leonschnell@gmail.com. I just posted this all here because it might help others!