Monday, March 30, 2009

"I like eggs with my ham, when starting on a journey: fried not poached, and mind you don't break 'em"

Said Thorin the dwarf, before the start of the amazing journey that would lead to the discovery of the Ring, in Lord of the Rings. My breakfast won't be this big tomorrow morning as I leave, very early, for my internship in the Czech Republic.

I'll travel by coach, with Eurolines, the same that took me to my first experience abroad, as an Erasmus student in Nantes, almost 4 years ago (seems like an eternity). This time, the trip we'll take a day, departure at 5.30 am from Bucharest, arrival in Prague the following day at 7.30 am. The ticket was about 80€, a lot less expansive than the plane, as there are no direct low costs going to Prague. It's a bit uncomfortable but still manageable.

Once in Prague, in Florenc bus station, I'll have to take a train from Hlavni Nadrazi, the main railstation, that will take me directly to my destination, Bakov.

So right now I'm packing, only the basic, but already my suitcase weights 20 kg, and I'm not finished. For 6 months, I'll need a lot of clothes and stuff, some that I'll have delivered to me, some I'll take with me in my suitcase, backpack, and laptop bag. Another plus of traveling by coach is that the weight limit is 35kg and the extra charge is a lot less than for planes. And I'm taking advantage of it.

Next, i'll talk about my actual trip. Stay tuned, there are more advnetures after a short pause. And boy, some adventure it'll be.. Bye for now.

Friday, March 27, 2009

Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end

Spring has come at last and it's my favourite season, not too hot, not too cold, you still wear layers but it's sunnier and more enjoyable. And with spring, a change has come.

You probably don't know that much about me, so I'll give you a little information. For the last 6 months I've been studying in an abbey in France. No, I'm not studying to become a nun, I'm not that religious. This is where I'm studying in a Master's program dedicated to investment in Eastern and Western Europe. So far it's been an interesting experience, we are a very diverse group, Polish, Ukrainians, Hungarian, Bulgarian, Slovaks, French, Russians, Romanians, Uzbek and we've had a really good time together, working and...partying. But every good thing must come to an end so, as our first semester is over, and here I am, packing to go on my Internship in the Czech Republic.

Next, a few photos from these last 6 months.

This is the Abbey in Cluny, this is where I've been studying for the last 6 months. For more info, check this out.

Me and the gadz'arts, the students at Arts et Metiers, I'll tell you about them a bit later, let's just keep the mystery for awhile.

Us, in our first get together in the girl's dorm room. That's me on the right, next to Emy, another Romanian and my best friend in the class.

During our picnic in October, where we met the graduates, and got to know each other a little better.

This isn't going to be a perfect blog, so I'll leave it at that. I'll come back later, with more pictures and with funny stories, but now...my already large suitcase is waiting.
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