As a middle school instructor and grant writer for over 15 years, I had the challenging experience of teaching English, gifted studies, Introduction to Foreign Languages, Introduction to Mechanics for Girls, American History, Civics and Geography.
All were enough to make me where I could not wait to awake each morning to go to work! Geography and Civics were two of my favorites, especially when I used Sim City as the basis, the focal point! So today class, let's talk about Romania. (Is this Charlie Brown's teacher? I hope not.)
Romania is usually on the list of every termination exchange, marketplace, and ecosystem. Our company's DIDXchange offers Romanian DID on wholesale rates even.
So what's to know about Romania and why would anyone want a Romanian phone number even if they do not physically live and work there? That is what I asked several Romanians, and here are the results, no changes made to the answers.
"About Romanian ex-pats - there are big communities in Spain, Italy , United States and Canada. Smaller Romanian communities in France, UK, Ireland, Portugal , Germany, Austria.
I don't know of any big Romanian websites oriented towards ex-pats, but there are some big Romanian online communities (oriented towards general public):
http://forum.softpedia.com/
http://forum.computergames.ro/
Below a list (top) of Romanian blogs (I have no clue how positions in top are calculated):
http://www.zelist.ro/bloguri.html
About technology blogs:
http://www.bobbyvoicu.ro/
http://www.manafu.ro/
http://www.orlando.ro/
(taken from zelist.ro as well)
Some of these are blogs of different companies (such as orlando.ro )
Language - Romanian , but most of the urban population will understand English language
Culture - not sure what to say here ... a good movie industry (they got some good prizes at Cannes, etc) , some good and not so good musical scene .
Ways of doing business:
- inside Romania, local companies - probably not a very good market since everybody is struggling right now with the economic crisis , but nevertheless, lots of companies would probably appreciate a country wide presence
- outside Romania, foreign companies doing business in Romania - they benefit from low costs and low taxation, but suffer from high bureaucracy, but if they already have a presence here, DIDx could just help them have a presence in cities they are not present in already
- foreign companies just seeking customers in Romania - DIDx could help them establish a virtual presence there.
Another interesting aspect: Romania has some big ports on the Black Sea : Constanta and Agigea . Therefore, there are lots of shipping companies (foreign and local) in these two cities. Also, lots of agents for other foreign shipping/transportation companies.
What Romania is famous for, where people go when they are tourists there, and which countries do Romanians usually go to study in, get a job in, vacation in, etc.?
Romania is famous for foods and for breath-taking mountains. Maybe also famous as the birthplace of "Dracula". People will usually go to the mountain side, or to the sea side (although I also used to live in the sea side, I wouldn't recommend it since it's very crowded during summer). Some people will probably visit old cities (such as Sighisoara , Brasov, Sibiu or Bran - some of them being old fortresses - such as Bran or Sighisoara).
Countries Romanians usually go to study in : UK , Germany, Austria, Italy, France , USA
Countries Romanians usually get a job in :
- middle class / educated people seeking jobs outside Romania : UK, Ireland, Germany, France, US, etc
- lower class seeking jobs outside Romania : Spain, Italy, France, Portugal mostly
Countries Romanians vacation in:
- Spain, Italy, Portugal , Greece, Tunisia, Turkey, Bulgaria, etc (Basically whatever countries are in the southern/sunnier side of European Union or don't require a visa). You will also see a smaller percentage of people going to UK, France, Holland, etc."
Thank you, Dan, Anica, and Mihai, from me Suzanne Bowen, for sharing from your view... Romania.
