2018: Happy 100 anniversary, Romania!

A page of history: December 1 – Romania’s Great Unification Day

On December 1st, 2018, Romania celebrates its National Day as well as the passing of a 100 years since the 1918 Great Union (a major historic event that changed the country's course forever), which is also a source of great national pride.

This is one of the most important Romanian national holidays, and it is called the “Great Union Day” or the “Unification Day” (Romanian: "Ziua Marii Uniri") and in many parts of the world it is known as “National Romania Day”. 

This special holiday marks the unification of Transylvania, Bessarabia and Bukovina with the Romanian Kingdom in 1918. According to ‘Alba Iulia Proclamation’, all these Romanian regions joined Romania as a country, and here I will list only few significant political and academic contributors who made this historic event possible: Ion I.C. Bratianu, Vasile Goldis, Iuliu Maniu, Alexandru Vaida-Voevod, Ioan Suciu, Octavian Goga, Iuliu Hossu, Gheorghe Pop de Basesti. The proclamation was read to 100,000 Romanians by Iuliu Hossu, who was a Greek-Catholic priest, Bishop of the Cluj-Gherla Diocese. 

The Union marked the country’s history forever, but after that Romania had to pass through many other changes and challenges and some of them included the World War II, the Communist regime and the 1989 Revolution. 
Despite numerous hardships, it is also appropriate to mention that Romania still looks ahead with sound optimism, but it does not forget its past.

Every year, on December 1^st, throughout the entire country are taking place various festive events commemorating the national heroes and in Bucharest (the capital city), under the Arch of Triumph, it is held an annual military parade of the Romanian Armed Forces; after the parade, people gather with their families and friends to celebrate together. Also, it is customary to wear the colors of the Romanian flag (red, yellow & blue), which represent the different provinces of the country. 

In closing of this brief expose, I would like to refresh what Nicolae Iorga (a famous Romanian historian) said once upon a time: "People who don't know their history are like kids who don't know their parents", so please be mindful of that & remember: "The more you know about the past, the better prepared you are for the future."

Greetings for a happy Saint Andrew’s Day!

               Happy Name Day to all who celebrate St. Andrew!

November 30: SAINT ANDREW – the First Called…

Celebrating someone’s Name Day it is an old European tradition; for centuries, all across the continent people have been celebrating their first names pretty much in the same way as we celebrate birthdays on this part of the world (over there, usually birthdays are celebrated mostly with the immediate family, but the name days are widely known and celebrated in larger circles). 

Generally speaking, each first name is assigned to one day of the calendar, based on different spiritual traditions, or specific historical events, or in relation with other facts.

Just imagine how pleasant it is to meet every year with dear friends for a joyful time, when nobody wonders how old you are?! In effect, it is like having a second birthday.

May the day find you close to those you love!

Alice’s Book Club – debut on October of 2018

As autumn beautifully unfolds on this part of the world, being spoiled for more than two weeks with a splendid ‘Indian summer’, on Friday (October 26’18) I was truly pleased to open my social book club – a fairly intimate gathering, which took place at a nice public library. 

Before I will give a brief description of the session in itself, I would like to quickly mention below some of the incredible benefits, in my opinion, a book club holds:
- For book lovers and not only, a book club offers a healthy intellectual stimulation
- It gives a sound sense of belonging to a community of likeminded people
- It allows for a good break from the daily routine
- It offers the freedom to be honest in sharing your views about the material you’ve read
- It is a welcoming environment, where one could make lifetime friends
- It is a good place to practice self-expression & it could increase confidence
- It helps decreasing stress & it builds teamwork
- It could aid gaining new perspectives 
- It gives a push to finish the reading on time, which would facilitate a meaningful participation to the subsequent discussions.
Summarizing here my rather brief points on the matter, without any doubt a good book club could be a nice, healthy, inspiring addition to any life style.

So, dear friends, please Read, Lead & Succeed!

Now, specifically speaking, for the opening session of my book club, I’ve selected the novel called “Behold the Dreamers”, by Imbolo Mbue, which is a book “about marriage, immigration, class, race, and the trapdoors in the American Dream – the unforgettable story of a young Cameroonian couple making a new life in New York just as the Great Recession upends the economy.” 

In order to give you a better sense of it, in the comments section below I am including the literary summary as well as a number of book reviews.
I was really glad to see how my group of friends deeply delved into many extensive comments, as in a way or another this book touched on a number of familiar similarities and interesting conclusions surfaced.  

Many questions were raised and answered by each participant, revealing personal perspectives about many aspects of life, and the final thought to ponder upon was: 

“What really makes life a success?”

An autumnal sketch – a traditional ‘taste’ of Romania

On the other hand, because the quince fruit it is the ‘perfect autumnal ingredient’, our dear friend Camelia was kind to offer us all some quince jam, which I was truly glad to present it to all participants that night in a Romanian traditional setting. It was such a culinary delight, we all loved tasting! 
Also, from a cultural stand point, under the concept of "Tales from my native land", in Romania there is a very well-known (old) folk song called "Galbena gutuie" ('Yellow Quince'), which I find appropriate sharing here...please enjoy it!

As usual, we wrapped up the evening in a very pleasant manner, committed to continue with our reading as well as sharing in this setting.

Once again, I would like to thank again all the book lovers who joined me that night – their enthusiasm, kindness and support always give me wings to prepare the next project. Until next time, to all and each of you, my best greetings for a beautiful rest of the autumn!

Alice