Next station: Roman Square - platform on the right

I have finally set off. My first encounter with Bucharest from a totally different perspective - someone actually LIVING there: having a real job there, having a proper place to live in, making friends there, using the public transport, etc. I felt nervous but desirous in my mission. The 'gatekeeper' was my real estate agent, Crina - a young lady my age with a firm and realiable handshake, who proved to know Bucharest like the back of her palm - she knew everything there was to know about places, things and people. I took to her from the very first moment and I got open to trust her expertise. She obviously needed that to make me quickly have a mental switch about the best place to live in. She proved me right. I got the most suitable place for what I really needed: a clean well-lighted place, as hemingway was saying, in the very heart of the city...I parted with Crina at the station. She took the train into the other direction. I was waiting for mine on the platform at the Roman Square. The monitor showed the countdown time: 3 minutes more. All of a sudden, next to me I saw an unaccompanied little blond schoolgirl, who must have been in her prep grade, thin, frail but stubborn in carrying her heavy schoolbag. Instinctively, I felt the need to protect her as I heard the train grinding to a halt. The gust of wind shredded us both blowing our long straight hair in disarray. She seemed a little embarrased by my gesture and got on very sure of herself ahead of me. With firm gestures she took her seat - steadfast and tenacious, placing her bag and changing boots safe next to her. She glanced at me, somehow intrigued - her eyes young but resilient, glum but garish. Our ages seemed to have reversed for a moment... She was not alone. And neither was I. We were safe, in the grand unsafety around us... all.

Handmade products come to Life

Not far away from Ancuta's Inn, in the very heart of Moldova, any traveller who crosses this fairytale land can come across traditional handmakers - just like the ones I've met in Barticesti village (Neamt county). The summer was very hot and the local people welcomed us in the coolness of their village house with great hospitality. I couldn't help admiring the hundreds of objects on display - spoons, baskets, pots, pads, various cooking utensils - all carefully handmade of wood, straw and various other natural raw materials. The owners told us this tradition comes down from many generations and you have to be suitably ''cut'' in order to be able to do it. However, they were not doing it for money, even though they had taken part in a Traditional Products exhibition in Bruxelles at the European Parliament. I left the place with many beautiful and useful tools (at bargain prices) that I've been using ever since in my kitchen. I feel safe with such simply gifted kind-hearted people around and their beautiful story fills up my kitchen everytime I spend time there.

Talking to Father Iustin Parvu

One of my most surreal yet eye-opening conversations ever took place in the remote land of a forest oasis in the heart of the Carpathian Mountains this summer.

Romanian monasteries are well known for their instant quests into one-self-ness but this time was different. Surrounded by a good handful of people, I was diligently waiting for my turn to talk to and receive blessings from Father Iustin - probably the holiest man in Eastern Europe today.

Solid hours passed by: I took part in the morning lithurgy, then I was kindly invited to lunch by the nuns - food has so much flavour when eaten in simplicity - and then there came the long waiting. Each step was carefully taken, each time a little closer to the Father's humble room. Everyone was getting deeper into their own introspection. Words were useless anyway...And suddenly a group of tourists disturbed this silence - everybody was making way for them (it's tradition, by all means). Without waiting they were ushered next into the unpretentious room. The rest of us were skeptical - they were mere tourists without any connection to the process of self-ness we, the local people, were undergoing. As they were entering I was asking myself - are they gonna make anything out of this experience or just a tick on a sightseeing list of Romania? Eventually they got out - less cheerful and gay, more retained and pensive. Their eyes were alive with insight and meaning, their touristic giggle had turned into a subdued smile. I was proven wrong. They left in silence and respect.

After several hours my turn came. I had prepared my speech - fully logical and quite a mighty lengthy speech - well, such a complete waste of words! Here all was simplified to the quintessential. I got inside and sat in front of Father Iustin. He calmly looked at me and carefully searched inside my eyes - he got closer slowly and turned his head a little to the left as you would do with a magnifying glass to see the subject better - this time right into the furthest corners of my soul. He straightened up then and simply said: ''it's hard!'' - ''yes, it is.'' came my answer. Never had I been so subjected to a minute soul check-up! I spent 15 minutes instead of the five allowed for each one... Father Iustin quickly dropped all my civilisation shields I had been building for years: ''certificates are not important. it's the way you live your living moments that truly matters'', he said...

Here I was, one of the millions of people in a crisis today - the crisis of the soul, fundamentally. If only we could make this constantly our reason to go on - living our precious moments simply the right way.

What will you be reading this summer? Mircea Cartarescu

The leading magazine Time published the choices of leading world writers about their summer readings - Mircea Cartarescu's choice is among them.
My choice? Cartarescu's Visul ("The Dream") shall be among my readings.

"Antreprenoriada" - Live Up to your Business!

Antreprenoriada is a most interesting business project, whose aim is to encourage entrepreneurial spirit in Romania, organized by Edurom in Iasi but developed in 9 different cities all over the country. This is an excellent example of what can be done with European funding and people's great ideas in order to build up stronger communities.

Personally, I have been particularly impressed by the attitude and spirit of the two young organizers - Razvan Mitocariu and Adrian Randasu - very professional, inspiring, supportive, informative, with a real sense of 'let's roll up our sleeves' and make a real contribution with our businesses.

While taking part in this project, I strongly had the feeling that Romania is growing.
Thank you so much Edurom team!

A Poenari Pen - Your Story Alive

In various forms, pens have withstood the test of time and they continue to do so, despite the plastic age we're going through. So, if you want a pen with a story - your story - a custom-made personalized pen, then the best choice is a Poenari pen. Crafted in a unique way, going back into deep history, pens created by Lucian Poenari are pieces of art themselves - in fact, the natural result of art meeting cutting-edge technology. And when you read the story of the Poenari inventor and his great character and contribution to people one is bound to experince pure authenticity...

Alina Cojocaru - The Good Fairy of the Ballet World

I first heard about Alina Cojocaru from a Japanese friend of mine in the UK, who had booked a ticket to see Alina perform at the Royal Opera House in London, in the famous Giselle. I can never forget the excitement and the light in my friend's eyes at the thought that she was about the take part in one of the greatest performances ever.
Despite the fact that she has recovered from a harsh accident during rehearsals, Alina works from 9am to 7pm every day and is known to history for being the "Royal Ballet's youngest principal dancers at the age of 19", according to the BBC. And despite the fact that her shoe size is only 34.5, her feet work miracles on stage!
Currently, Alina is touring the world in order to enchant audiences everywhere...

Neagu Djuvara: Nobility and Spirit

Is there room for an authentic Nobleman in our postmodern world?
By all means, there is!
Mr. Neagu Djuvara gives us all the chance to admire and be inspired by his most exquisite presence, while making us feel both humble and privileged.
The French Embassy in Bucharest officially recognized him as Officier des Arts et des Lettres, regarding him as "a citizen of the world", with moral and physical elegance, high vision and spirit, bravery in good times and hardships.
Mr Djuvara's books ("A Short History of the Romanians as Told to Youngsters", "The Birth of the Romanian People", "From Vlad, the Impaler to Dracula, the Vampire", etc) will forever continue to fascinate young and elderly people alike.

What a panflute can do in Petruta's hands.

Petruta Kupper has mesmerized the hearts of many when she reached the final of Germany's Got Talent show, with her instrument that may seem exotic to most of us. In fact, she is the very talented student of the renowned Gheorghe Zamfir, continuing a musical tradition that should never die.
Petruta has recently been nominated for the Echo Awards, alongside with intenational celebrities like Lady Gaga and Beyonce.

Dr.Rada Mihalcea: 'Recipe for Happiness'

Mr. Barack Obama thanked Dr. Rada Mihalcea and 99 other Top Scientists last Thursday in a special White House ceremony: "These extraordinarily gifted young scientists and engineers represent the best in our country. With their talent, creativity, and dedication, I am confident that they will lead their fields in new breakthroughs and discoveries and help us use science and technology to lift up our nation and our world."

Rada's research is vast and delves deeply into artificial intelligence, natural language processing and other computer science areas. One of her papers I particularly find intricate is the one on Finding Happiness related to Blogposts, since "blog entries are nonetheless much closer to what people think, as compared to other forms of public expression."

The words we use can show our own degree of happiness and a language processing program can lead to revealing facts. The thorough study of 10,000 blogposts shows that:

- Wednesday is the saddest day of the week, while Saturday the happiest;

- at 9 pm we are the happiest, while at 12 pm the saddest;

- the happiest words: love; God; father; baby; books; new;

- the saddest words: goodbye; don't understand; I wish; I miss

So, one interesting conclusion is that "happiness in today's society occurs most often around novelty"

Finally, Rada's "Recipe for Happiness":

- Something new
- Lots of food that you enjoy
- your favourite drink
- an interesting social place

Sebastian Burduja: Union of Change

While being both a Stanford University graduate and a Harvard University post-graduate, Sebastian Burduja is a proactive young man, with great dreams for his career and country.

Interested in politics, public administration and business administration, Sebastian published his research on corruption in Romania quite early:
"The Romanian post-communist judicial system and police force have proved unsuccessful in tracking down and punishing corrupt behavior."

"Paradoxically, corrupt politicians are hierarchically above judges, and hence above the law. In the absence of effective deterrents and mechanisms of punishment, Romanian political elites have weak internal incentives to reduce corruption."

With such a clear insight and also accumulated experience and knowledge in time, Sebastian is currently running The Romanians Abroad Student Union aiming at creating a worldwide network of students and prospective students alike - how I wish this Union had been created when I studied abroad...

Bassam Gemayel: the 2 (K)No(w)s

I have met nothing but extremely smart Lebanese so far - and Bassam Gemayel is definitely one of them. Invited to make a speech at TEDxBucharest, Bassam - with exquisite accuracy - pinpointed the fundamental errors that lie at the foundation of the Romanian society:

- "I know": the problem with so many of us - young active Romanians - is that we know so much more than we do...or at least we think we know.

- "No": if we ever have a reaction to things, then the first one is a negation...In this way nothing is gonna change or change will be very slow - can we afford it?

One of Bassam's favourite lines seems to be Think Big and Act Small. With much more openness to listen to others and our own consciousness we could be more efficient and we could do so much more...

2009 Nobel Prize: Herta Muller

Ms. Herta Muller, from Timisoara, wins the Nobel Prize for Literature this year.

Her texts reflect her own biography and the complex situations in totalitarian systems and the human decay and degeneration: "This is not a topic that I chose, but rather one that my life has chosen for me. I don't have that freedom of choice. I cannot say: 'I want to write about that thing, or about that other thing.' I am bound to write about what concerns me and about the things that won't leave me in peace."

Being an advocate for the respect of cultures, Ms. Muller says: "In Timisoara [the main city in Banat] one can hear on the street all kinds of languages: Romanian, German, Hungarian, Serbian, Romany -- that's how it used to be and that's how it should be. Nobody should hide their culture."

Personally, I admire Ms. Herta Muller for her decency, just and noble attitude to life and also for her talent as an international writer.

Oana Pellea - A Different Kind of Journal.

Oana Pellea is not only the most beautiful actress I have ever seen, but also a truly inspiring person who has the mysterious ability to make us see insightful things in a lasting way... Memorable is the time for me when I saw her in Shakespeare's "The Taming of the Shrew" some years ago when I was a student in Iasi. Her force as an actress is mesmerizing and her recently published Journal is a gift of emotions and life essence. I read her Journal as I read the Bible - before bedtime and opening the book at random and read - everything makes perfect sense with our own searching, and contradictions and tension and needs for answers and Light...Simply inspiring!

Violeta's Vintage Kitchen - Organic Slow Food

Great Passion and Honesty are the two key words that define Violeta's Vintage Kitchen - the new 'out of the box' kitchen in Bucharest for those of us who want to enjoy organic home-made food.
Being a Jamie Oliver's follower, Violeta turned her great personal cooking ability into a small but successful business because of her desire to share with the others high quality food.
And if we want Violeta to cook especially for us - no problem! Or if we want to learn from Violeta the secrets of her recipes for success, we can sign in for one of her workshops... For sure, my next trip to Bucharest will imply a visit to Violeta's Magical Kitchen...

"Police, Adj." - A Case of Consciousness.

Police, Adj. is Corneliu Porumboiu's latest film - written and directed in his unique style of filming, with long shots, long deep pauses, minimal but precise and sharp dialogue. In a world where we have been framed into receiving films and movies in a typical, standardized way, Police, adj. comes to challenge us into de-framing our mind, un-learning 'to watch a movie'. The best part of it is that it actually gives you the space and time to think . Every little pause, every little detail makes sense and is part of this apparently simple ordinary texture but masterfully and minutely crafted.
My friend and I last night took the director's opportunity to piece together little details like words written on walls, the position of houses, angles, shades, etc. For example, Cristi the young policeman asks his colleague to check a certain number plate and gives him the letters containing it - "AIC" - "A for Anca (female name), I for Iuda (Juda, the traitor), C for Cristi (male name)" or we could see these words written on a wall - "AF Trandafir executa / Rose Family Association Executes" which are very funny and ironic at the same time, linking directly with the end of the film.

Mr. Porumboiu works as an unseen creator who gives viewers the freedom to develop in time with the movie and his characters. At the latest edition of the International Film Festival in Sarajevo, he spoke about the link between film and time and the "time of being" as the essential element of his film vision - that the time of moving in a character is more important than any dialogue - and I think the concept of 'time of being' can be applied to viewers too as they - too - have their own time of being, of internalizing the film texture and the story. In this case, the story of the film is acutely modern and current - how young moral professionals succumb and accept defeat under the pressure of an artificial social system, but not only...

M. Matica: "Everybody sells something."

Mr. Madalin Matica is probably the best Romanian motivational speaker I have ever listened to. He is part of that special category of proactive individuals in their late 30's/early 40's who act on the local markets as both business people and trainers, thus their expertise is invaluable. Madalin Matica works on devising online payment platforms in Eastern Europe and also works in collaboration with major cities in the country to elaborate city strategies. Here are some useful tips he gave at the seminar at Iashington to young entrepreneurs:

- the entrepreneurial world is getting divided into Tribes (social networks, clubs, societies) and new Barbarians (those who challenge the systems and have real competitive advantages over the big players)

- learn to be rejected and learn to be humble as early as possible

- the best time to start your business is now

- try to build lovemarks, not just brands

- "good" will kill you - good is not enough, the product you want to sell should be excellent and unique

- if you target your product at the man on the street outside you're dead - your target should be the whole world

- people shop not because of needs but because of wants

- Dunbar's number of 148 represents the number of individuals with whom we can have a stable interpersonal relationship. Apparently, our noecortex cannot process more because of its size. This number can directly affect the way in which we organize both our business and social life.

Andy Szekely - "Leadership is a State."

In a world where leaders are in great need, Andy Szekely trains high profile business people on:

- how the intellect, the "cognitive mind" works together with the body, the "somatic mind". So, by "defocusing the eyes" and losing details around, your both minds gain breadth and completeness. The best decisions are taken under these circumstances.

- the importance of good questions to oneself: what are opinion leaders beginning to say? what rules are being broken? what is important to you about...? why is that important? Which are your core values (e.g. freedom, expertise)?

- Clean your desk! our mind cannot focus effectively otherwise

- Micro prototyping : if you need to tackle a big project which seems overwhelming, then break it down into micro projects and take one step at a time.

Dan Puric: "On the Beautiful Human"

Mr. Dan Puric, currently the best-selling writer in Romania, has recently published his second book, inspirationally titled "Despre omul frumos" / "On the Beautiful Human", collecting and sharing pieces of life essence.
By trying to piece together the past and map out the future of a European culture, Mr. Puric addresses, through ART and the power of the WORD, the entire world, in fact.
This is the book on the courage to be free, on fear fight, on essential memories that define us as human beings, on hope and on FAITH, no matter the religious support beneath it.

Apart from his original style in his previous book, Mr. Puric develops his writing further through beautiful fiction fragments that contain, in a nutshell, the same spiritual essence. What enchanting moments to read these parables: "The Land", "The River Rock", "The Cockle-Wheat", "What a Cursed Prince-Charming" or "The Carpathians Fairy-Tale"...

"The Meaning of Life" - Andrei Plesu

Mr. Andrei Plesu published an article in Dilema Vechemagazine about the meaning of life. It's never too late to ask ourselves: What's the meaning of my life?

1. "Life tends to have meaning as soon as you ask yourself about its meaning", but without making it the content of our lives;

2. "There is no collective life meaning"; otherwise, we would all go, "in flocks towards a common meaning, without mystery and without face";

3. "The meaning must be found, not manufactured"; we should not mix up the two: meaning and program. A life program is based on objectives (like getting on top in our profession, doing one's duty for the community, etc) but the accomplishment of these leave the meaning of life unsolved, or they might dramatically intensify it;

Have you found your own personal life meaning?