Erasmus student in Romania: "Western countries are not always a model, find your own way!"
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Claire Schreiber came from France via the Erasmus programme to study one year in Romania, at Faculty of Political Science, University of Bucharest. At the age of 20, Claire is a third-year undergraduate student at The Institute of Political Sciences in Paris. She came to Romania without any preconceived ideas, ready to discover on her own „a country rather controversial”.
Erasmus Bucharest presents a part of Claire's experience as a student in our capital, and how she sees Romania, especially Bucharest. Despite the flaws that she has found in our country, Claire believes that „Romania is still a young democracy that can change very fast.”
Claire Schreiber's testimonial
I'm from France, I'm 20, I'm studying in the Institut d'Etudes Politiques de Paris (Sciences Po), third year of Bachelor, and I'm Erasmus in the Faculty of Political Sciences of the University of Bucharest.
I came to Romania with no bias at all, my purpose was (and still is) to discover by myself what is going on in this rather misjudged country. I arrived on September in Bucharest, ready to spend an amazing Erasmus year in Romania. After two months there, I'm absolutely not disappointed but I observed many things about the Romanian society that I briefly want to share with you.
Of course my first impression was that a lot is not working in this country, but this "dark side" was quickly counterbalanced by the friendly welcome of Romanian people. Arriving in Bucharest was a real pleasure, the city was still on holidays and I felt like a tourist. I had enough time to get used to this chaotic city.
Why chaotic? Well, because there are no plans of the city in the streets, no way to know where the bus or the tram are going to stop because there is no plans of the network in the stations, sometimes it's also hard to find a bus station, the drivers are irresponsible, the whole city is a parking area and so on and so forth.
However, this is nothing compared to what I have learned from speaking to people. What surprised me most was the reaction when I told people that I decided to study one year in their country and to learn Romanian. They first didn't understand, but finally admitted that their country was really beautiful and that there are plenty of things to discover.
So yes, Romania is not perfectly working, politicians are corrupted, the administration is really slow, the drivers are irresponsible, but there are so many opportunities in this country. Landscapes are awesome, especially in the mountains and in the little villages. Outside Bucharest, Romania is still a preserved country with wild nature (and bears!). People are really nice and always willing to invite you in their home for a glass of “ţuica” or to help you find your way. The students that I met are willing to change their country and to make it a real democracy. Unless they leave the country to work abroad, I'm sure that they have enough motivation to face this challenge.
Contrary to France where I'm coming from, Romania is a young democracy and can change very fast. If I were to give one piece of advice for Romanian people, that would be to take advantage of all opportunities to create your own democracy!
Western countries are not always a model, find out your own way!
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