Teaching - ROMANIA Volunteer Stories

Lara Hogg

Teaching in Romania


Buna ziua! Numele meu e Lara.

My three months in Romania with Projects Abroad were probably the best in my life to date. I have come back home to England with experiences that will last me a lifetime and friends who will hopefully do the same!

Before leaving England I have to admit I had found the prospect of living with an elderly lady who spoke virtually no English quite daunting but upon arrival my fears were quashed. My host was amazing, she made me feel at home right from the start and after only a few days of living with her we were having conversations about George Bush and Traian Basescu! Mircea, Razvan, Danni, Chris and everyone else at the Projects Abroad office in Romania went out of their way to help me; from showing me the school I was to work in to giving me directions to the local cinema.

I was out in Romania for Easter which is a BIG event there and so I was invited to celebrate it with my host mother and her family. The celebrations involved eating a lot of eggs, cake and drinking palinka starting in the early evening and not finishing until early morning the next day! One of the teachers I worked with also invited me to her house for a 'Hungarian Sprinkling' which takes place on Easter Monday. This also involves eating an enormous amount of food and in addition to being 'sprinkled' with perfume by male relatives and friends. On the first Sunday after Easter time Brasov plays host to the Festival of Junii where the men from the Schei district parade through the streets on horses celebrating the spring, renewal of nature and the beginning of new life. It is one of the biggest festivals in Romania, and is something that should not be missed!

I spent my time teaching English at school 10 (zece), and teaching drama at Reduta and another high school on the outskirts of Brasov. The children at school 10 were so sweet and would bring me sweets, flowers and pictures. They were really great to teach and it was a sense of achievement to see them opening up and talking to me in English. I taught a mixture of Romanians and Hungarians which was good as I got to see two different cultures and experienced two different languages! Their ages varied from 7 to 16, so I got to do more 'fun' things with the younger children and helped the older children perfect their English so they could pass their English high school exams. I taught drama to young adults aged around 16 to 21, some just wanted to improve their English through drama whilst others were taking part in English drama festivals. I helped one group prepare for 'ID Fest' where they had to combine good acting skills and show a high-quality knowledge of English. Although this was quite challenging I really enjoyed it, learnt so much from the experience and found out that I possessed skills I never knew I had.

One of the first things I noticed about everyone in Romania was how friendly they all were, and the other volunteers were no exception. Every time a new volunteer arrived they were told 'Fountain at 8' and every night there would always be a group of volunteers standing there ready to introduce themselves and show the new volunteer some of Brasov's night time attractions. I had thought that the majority (if not all) of the volunteers would be British, but much to my surprise there were nearly as many Americans, not to mention the Australians, Dutch, French, Canadians and New Zealanders. As a volunteer you will meet people from all over the world - great for when you're travelling and need somewhere to stay!

On the weekends volunteers would disappear off to places such as Bran Castle (Dracula's lair), the fortress at Rasnov, Peles Castle in Sinaia and sometimes even venturing out of the country to places such as Bulgaria, Moldova and Serbia. I took a weekend excursion to Budapest which was great, but here's a warning for anyone else planning this train journey - in Eastern Europe trains split! I was not aware of this fact until I was nearly at the Slovakian border heading for Krakow! After establishing with the other passengers that the train was definitely not heading for Budapest we quickly jumped off at the next station. We ended up in a tiny country town but managed to tell the Hungarian ticket seller in extremely bad Hungarian (thanks to a handy phrase book) that we wanted the next train to Budapest. Thankfully after that we had a very uneventful and relaxing time in the capital of Hungary, but made sure we were on the right part of the train before our return journey to Brasov! I think that this was both my worst and best experience whilst away, once we were safely at the hostel both of us found it extremely funny (as did everyone else).

My best moments in Romania were: Seeing my Hungarian VIII graders graduate high school, spending Easter on top of Mount Tâmpa, riding in a Trabant from Brasov to Sinaia, taking my grade VI Romanians on a field trip around Brasov, and seeing the Festival of Junii.

Things that I will miss: The fruit stalls three minutes from my house, the thick Romanian hot chocolate (go to pub Rossignol if you want to experience it at it's best), green apple drink, the friends I made, the unpredictable weather, stunning scenery, 'my' kids, cheap cheap cheap ice cream, the music festivals that would appear overnight in the square, finding stuffed lions where you least expect them, laughing every time I walked past 'Crap' in Hard Discount and Hectors cheeseburgers!

Before I left England I believed that Romania would not be that dissimilar to the rest of Europe; however I couldn't have been more wrong. It is a country which still remains largely undiscovered by western society and tourism and still retains its identity. It is a blend of East and West, unlike anything I have ever experienced. Reflecting on my time spent in Romania I can see that it has definitely changed me. I feel more mature, confident and understanding of different cultures now. I hope that you also discover this Eastern European gem and see what a wonderful country Romania really is.

La revedere!!!

Lara Hogg

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