I have arrived

Just like pulling off a plaster, it's best to get it over and done with!
Sitting round in my empty flat in France, just waiting to be able to get on that plane and jet off to....er....Buzau, was doing my head in a bit.
So, not location numero uno for your hols, but now I'm finally here I have to say it is pretty fab!
As yet I have no photos to upload (the slight lack of a camera being the main handicap in this affair) but when I do I will not only be able to regale people with my interesting stories, but also illustrate them.
So, until I have suitable material for your eyes, here are some snippets to whet your appetites;
1. I see horses and carts on my street on a daily basis
2. When we moved into the house there was no electricity
3. I have already been bitten by a stray dog and approached for money by children
4. In my first two weeks here I have successfully negotiated getting home insurance, transferred money and bought stamps (the last being the most difficult) in Romanian
5. I had my first Romanian clubbing experience, complete with gypsy music. It was fantastic!

And for all you sceptics, five things that buck the stereotypical view of Romania;
1. Most things in the supermarkets are just as expensive as in Western Europe
2. There are two brand new shopping malls within walking distance, selling the same goods as back home.
3. My internet connection is faster here than it was in France.
4. All my neighbours are very friendly and surprisingly generous
5. It's not that cold - been above 0°C eveyday since I've been here

Craciun plăcut din România (even though I'm off to France and then UK for the holidays as of tomorrow)

In the run-up to thinking about packing...

With just weeks to go before I embark on my new life, preperations for the move are surprisingly tardy. Even rather elementary requirements, i.e. a place to live in our new country, have, as yet, been unfulfilled. But we remain blindly and naively hopeful that everything "will be alright".
This is not the first time I've upped sticks to a different European state but I can say with all honesty that the fears about this move are altogether different. People delight in regaling their stories (rarely first-hand) of rabid dogs, bare-footed orphans and blatant and widespread corruption, not to mention vampires. Before moving to France I was worried I'd be made to eat calf's brains (which I now know are delicious, of course!).
Occasionally people have spoken of the beauty of Romania (which I can attest to) but they are often sceptical as to whether this extends far enough down the Carpathians to the town of Buzău, which will be my home for the next three (or so) years. In response to this, I must say that esthetically-pleasing town-planning may not have been high on the list of priorities for the party big-wigs back in the day, but that living for three years respectively in Sheffield and in northern France does teach you to look beyond the surface.
However, the real sticking point is likely to be the isolation. I've been grappling with the Romanian language now for eight months. Although I'm making progress, I am nowhere near the level I had in French before crossing the channel five years ago, and will not be accompanied, like I was then, by other like-minded but equally clueless Brits for moral support, trips round Carrefour and drinks in the pub afterwards.
I will have my boyfriend, I suppose, who, despite being French, is pretty nice to have around most of the time.
And if he's really getting on my nerves, maybe I'll adopt one of those stray dogs....