About The british Idiot living Here
My name is steve i live here in Romania and have been for 18 months now, i visited romania back in 1993 and every year since then on business for an international company my experience of romania is fairly good in terms of knowledge of the country i have been to many towns in my time.
I fell in love with the people and the country from day one and now have decided to make it permenant.
I am divorced with two children living in the uk ,and am currently not married or planning to be in the near future.
I am not alone as a brit in romania but they are fairly thin on the ground,however now the EU have taken its powers here i am sure its not going to be long before many others follow in my foot steps not that i am the first to live here by any means.
I am not a bitish expat who likes to moan about the place not being like home or grumbling about how things are not so good i like to find the positive things you live life in my opinion as you wish if you dont like it get out. I will from time to time have a moan but overall i am happy with things here from an everyday point of veiw living and working here is not so tough but if you dont speak any romanian forget it unless you learn fast.
My business here is two fold first i have to live and eat so i work doing construction building etc for money, then i also make web sites and do SEO work on them during the night mainly,i am planning on setting up my own guest house eventualy but curently i am helping a local family with thier guest house business which is a nice place.
my plans for the future are to stay here and make a good business from tourisum in which ever form that may take the world is a fluid place and my plans may change but i intend to do this for now.
I have already had one experience of business here as an international sales rep for a uk company
since living here i have run a bar and disco in a small town ( i have been a DJ for more years than i can remember) so i wouldnt mind DJ work here every now and then its a great place for music , but small towns are crap places to run a disco business if you have other competition scared you may win their customers.
It was a good experience and i learnt a lot from it including how not to invest your money in romania
so i may be able to give some good advice on starting life and a business here i have first hand knowledge.
in may i will be joined by a friend who i met here last year another brit moving here in fact just down the road from me, hes setting up with his romanian girlfriend in a small guesthouse business. i will be helping him with this project in several ways no doubt he dosnt need to much of a hand with a romanian girlfriend and her family to lead the way. but i am sure we will do a lot of stuff for each other over time including BBQs and drinking a few beers
Hes franticly learning romanian and has been for some time its not so bad its fairly easy if your english to pick it up quick. i now understand a lot and speak fairly fluent if i have to,but it does depend on who you are speaking to.
Still thats enough for now about me i will go and compose some other material for this site
Donna said
I have enjoyed reading your blog I am a welsh girl who has been living in California for the past 9 years and my Husband is this week in
timisoara looking at a possible Job Op and a move.
Would appreciate anything you can tell me about Timisoara.
Take Care
Donna
borlova said
Hi Donna well if you are coming to see the place with a view to stay Timisoara is a great place to start out..its a very lively city with many bars and clubs and great things to see and do IMHO its better than Bucharest. it has a large Italian Influence an international airport and a modern shopping mall and all the stores you could possibly want..within an hours drive you can be in some of the nicest secluded mountains in romania..you have the best of both worlds. me personally i am not a city dweller at heart and prefer the country side. only advice is be prepared to rough things a bit..romania is somewhat haphazzard and a bit of a bodge in general..with the motto there it works so lets go and have a beer and move on to the next task which we will almost finish. rent something first dont buy just yet wait at least six months to acclimatise to the way of life.if you want more practical info check my web sites for contact info and i will gladly keep in touch via e mail
Phil Richardson said
Hi Steve
I stumbled upon your website quite by accident searching for hand rolling tobacco on a search engine, but although I have not read every article, it makes very interesting reading.
My name is Phil and I have been coming to Romania many times since July 04 and have visited many places, some good and some not so good. I like Romania so much that I decided to make this my new home if Ro got into the EU. I think we hail from the same locality in UK if I read one of your blogs correctly. I am a Norwich man and I am too divorced leaving my ex and son behind in the Scottish Highlands.
After much deliberation I decided to make my home in Cluj-Napoca and came here on June 9th. I was very lucky to find a nice apartment close to the centre and like you say there are things you miss here, food wise. Last year I searched all over Cluj (was here in the summer for a long holiday) to find certain kitchen items, but they do not exist here, yet! So as I like cooking I came prepared with a Yorkshire pudding tin, salad spinner, toast rack, plastic bag clips, etc., etc.
But as I miss orange marmalade I now make it along with hot cross buns. Found a supermarket selling digestive biscuits which was a welcome change as most Romanian biscuits are either “petit beurre” or stuffed with chocolate. Sadly, I can’t find any corned beef; I wonder why as I thought that this was available everywhere.
What pleases me most about Ro is the cost of living, 3 to 4 times less than UK but the standard in most places is the same. I like the hot weather sadly lacking in England but was not expecting to arrive at the start of a heat wave. That took some getting used to with temperatures of 38 degrees plus never recorded in Cluj that is predominantly mountainous. Now when we get a few days of 18 degrees it makes you shiver!!
Getting my residence permit was a doddle, just had to prove I had 50 euro, an apartment and health insurance. This certificate now gives me an unlimited stay on Romanian territory. So if anyone else is reading this and thinking of making a new home in Romania, then the formalities to make this happen are small.
I wonder how many expats live in Cluj. If anyone is reading this and wants to get in touch with me, here is my number 0747142270. Also if they are in UK and want some info, I will only be too pleased to help. You can email me at kfoto1909@gmail.com
Well Steve I shall now be regularly reading your blogs as to my knowledge you are the only Englishman here on the net.
Kind regards.
Chris (Iasi) said
Hi Steve
Just catching up with your blog, entertaining and crazy as ever.
You mentioned a mate who’s heading for Greece and who promised to fix you with a swimming pool in your bar (Hope I got this right) when he eventually comes back.
My eyes started glittering and my nose twitched. The company I work for is seriously into swimming pools.
Are there private swimming pools in villages in your area? What sort of size are they?
If you judge this query to be too nakedly commercial, by all means just junk it.
Greetings from the other end of the country…By the way the French hypermarket Carrefour has just opened up here. They have a surprising amount of high-quality British-sourced products, tea, curry and more, as well as couscous and great fresh Atlantic fish. The Atlantic crabs I bought on opening day were still alive when I gave them a painless death. No kidding. I guess there’s a Carrefour in Timisoara or the nearest large city to you?
Best Chris
Holly said
hello,
I am an American lving in Michigan.
My married family is Romanian and I am trying to locate Romanian beer to purchase. I’m having a hard time! do you know where I might purchase online?
Corina said
hello,
I live in Suffolk, UK since 6 years ago. I am thinking about the posiblity of returning home in a year or 2, with my partner who is English. I am a bit concerned for him as I don’t know if he would be happy living there, if he could find a job, etc. I don’t know what I will do either, as I ve never lived on my own in Romania.i would like to start a bussiness there but I don’t have a clue on what to do and how to do this. I found this web site and I am so happy to see that other English people enjoy living in my country. I am from Iasi and will visit home on Easter end of April.
I would apreciate if any of you could give me some advice, or if my partner could meet you for a chat.
Thank you so much
regards
corina
C
Liliana said
Hello, Steve!
I like your blog very much. I’m glad there are still people who like Romania.
I’m working on a blog about traditions in Europe (English and Romanian included) together with my students and other 21 European schools. Have a look when you feel like: traditionsacrosseurope.wordpress.com.
All the best
Liliana
Chris said
G’Day Steve,
Never been to Romania before but for the past 6 months have been investigating the idea of tecahing English. There’s a number of well informed sites out there on the great ‘www’ but would love to hear from you of any such information you know of.
Keep up the great website.
Cheers
Chris.
Laura said
Hi Steve,
Great website, informative from a real life perspective, I loved it! I am interested in getting hold of some Romanian beer, now I have no idea where to start in the UK and would really appreciate some help if you are willing and able.
Keep up the good work,
Laura
borlova said
there are a few 2 or 3 I think Romanian Restaurants in London and one up north hull area? (i think)
Those may be able to point you in the right Direction or a speciality beer shop? if such a thing exists? sorry i cant be more help but i think a lot of romanians living in londo will have a ready supply of beer from somewhere..
Mark said
HAYHAYHAY THRIFTTE
I was browsing DJMMf;s and found ur page. and clicked this link.
little epic space ya got here. lol.
i wish i knew about this little spot before the “Lazyrecords Leave and Collapse.” lol.
Just saying hi. lol
Chris said
Hi Steve
Would you mind junking an earlier post I sent about meeting Romanian women? I’ve just found out that the lady I wrote about is alive and well and living in Iasi!
Best Chris
(I’d prefer it if you could reply directly to my email. Thanks.)
So you’ve been back to Blighty and seen the kids?
Jason said
Guys,
If anybody has construction industry contacts in Romania could they give me a shout? Looks like you may have Steve, I need to get to know a bit more about things.
Thanks in advance,
Jason
irina said
hi! u can find romanian beer in london almost all off-license shop selling east-european products.especially in north like golders green, hendon, crickelwood, harrow…etc
irina said
just ask at the counter….beerslike timisoreana, ursus…etc
steve said
hi Steve,
would love to make contact. my name is also Steve, I am ex royal marine, now environmental artist, and will be relocating to romania. really enjoyed your stories.
best wishes
steve
borlova said
keep posting i will eventually get round to catching up with the blog will be in ro again for july and august, going off road driving in me toyota surf