Monthly Archives: February 2011

Best trip to the Netherlands – Energy 2011

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A couple of months ago I bought my ticket for Energy 2011. I was in a big-big mood for a big-big party and this one was in Utrecht which is only 3 hours away from Bonn.

The tickets for Energy 2011 were sold out and it was an interesting experience to see 30.000 people dancing under one roof. Like small town, with tree big dancing rooms. A small town with people that were wearing I love Techno t-Shits. Young people, slim girls, down people, dressed people, sober people ;)

Really friendly people from all Europe and further come to Utrecht to experience being part of the network.  I met Indian people, French people, Africans and of course: Dutch.

Another thing: I believe, there where 2 girls at every 10 guys. I am not sure that this is the official statistics, but that was my feeling. And it’s hard to believe that girls are not into Tiesto… but was even harder to see that nobody was fighting nobody.

What, what, what? 30.000 drunk people in a party and no fights? Another Western European cultural encounter for me.

Every single time when I was changing the dancing floor, I was searching for the nearest emergency exit. Call it paranoia, but it made me feel safer. I can only imagine what would had happen if a firehave started and all those people were fighting for their life.

It was a great experience, however … I do not want to repeat it in the following months :D It took away all my energy!

Strikes around the world

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French Strikes:
If you say strike, you say French. They even have lunch hours when they are striking. I want to thank them for introducing the concept of paid annual leave, for all these national, international celebrations that the countries in EU must have and mainly because the French have the energy to come together for a better level of live. Vive la France!

Japanese Strikes:
The stereotype for the Japanese strikes it’s a white banderole around the arm. So, there are still working, when protesting. There is nothing more to say, since we all know how their economy is evolving.

Greek Strikes:
Recently, we have heard more about strikes in Greece because of the unfavorable context, but these people have a long history when it comes to strikes. Very passionate, the Greeks seldom end up turning violent and fighting with the police.

Indian Strikes:
They do not go on strikes because they are too busy working, developing, innovating. There is no time to strike if you plan to take over the world.

Romanian Strikes:
This kind of strike is in my area of expertise. Romanians do not go on strikes. Not because everything is great, but because it’s not in our blood. Sometimes teachers and professors go on strike. But since they are well educated people, nothing really remarkable happens. They have leaders that negotiate for them and most of the times their strike resumes to some more free days for the students.
Last year, all the employees that were paid from the public budget, got their salaries cut 25%. A big strike was announced, but less people showed up than in Madonna’s concert. More than that, because it was cold and the protestors were bored, they started to dance.
Another failure strike happened recently. Because the gas price is going up madly, some people went on strike and did not buy any gas in two days that were announced as strike days. Some paid only with small coins. But most people with cars just treated the “strike days” like and other day, so they did buy gas. Today, the gas companies in Romania announced that they will rise the prices again.

Note: I have offensive intentions. If you have any other examples, please share them.

What’s up with sizes?

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Pleasant surprises welcomed me in Germany when regarding clothes and shoes. I was happy-happy to see that I have lost one size on the clothes labels. Everything fits me and the pants are long enough for my legs.

Shoes sizes stay the same, so I am still 38 like in beautiful Romania. However, here, I have seen for the first time lady shoes size 43. And not as an exceptions, but for every design, in most of the shops. Also, I have seen size 47-48 for men on the shelves.

But the thing that raised my interest is that last weekend, when shopping in Köln, I have seen scarfs that have sizes in a Zara store. Normal scarfs with sizes: S, M, L and XL.

How can you have sizes for ladies’s scarfs?

Long story made short: finally, finally … I can wear something size S :)

It’s not bad luck, it’s you

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You lost the tram this morning. And you forgot something, somewhere. You were late for work. Again.
Your wallet was stolen. You haven’t pass the exams.
Not only these, but you do not get the love you deserve, the job that you dream about.
You have never been the lucky person in your family, in your group of friends, in your class. You are beautiful, but people just do not see that. You are ambitious, but the every day activities make you stay still and not move a step ahead.

Dear friend,
You have a very negative attitude. If rain starts and you do not have an umbrella, whose fault is it? Of course, everything looks different if you enjoy the rain and then take a hot shower.

Have a coffee while waiting for the next tram or loved one.

Change your job. Don’t get a job. Be an entrepreneur if that makes you happy! Do some volunteering while you decide what you want to change in your life.

We tend to blame the universe because we are too lazy to really live.
Love yourself, respect yourself and will hear colors of the rain smelling better on your face. You’ll see :)

The only thing I do not like in Germany

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I like everything here, in Germany. Nice people, nice administration, nice buildings, nice streets, nice towns, nice view, nice shoes, nice life.
But man, this is not the way a Coca-Cola bottle should open:

It’s just wrong, uncomfortable, ugly, most of the times it hurts … and all the bottles open like this. It’s a small thing, but it makes me stop buying 0,5l Coca-Cola and switch to 1.5l because that one opens the right-nice way.

Note: Germany is Coca-Cola country, not a Pepsi one.

Colored weekend for a grey winter

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Last weekend I had a fast visit to Frankfurt. It was my second time in this German town and my expectations were pretty low.

If I would have take the train alone, it would have cost me something between 34 and 72 euros. We were a group of 5 ladies and so we paid only 8 euros each for the train ticket because Germany has this cool system that encourages travelling in groups of 5. Another friend got there a night before by bus and paid 12 euros (still a really good deal for Germany).

So, 4 hours later we were already in our host house (another nice Romanian guy from Botosani) and got ready to explore the city.

First stop:
City Center (Obviously). We took pictures with the bear and the bull and of course with the Frankfurt Stock Exchange building. Next important stop: top of the Main building (we went up 200 m and saw the entire city). It was windy, impressive, but most important: beautiful. All in all, we spent more than 5 hours in the city center so there are a lot of things to see and a lot of pictures to take.

Second Stop:
McKinsey party. Once a month, at the 25th floor of the McKinsey Business Building in Frankfurt there is a party that is opened to everyone. Most of the clubs are underground, but from this one you can see the entire town. Good music, good drinks, good people, good atmosphere.

Last and Best Stop:
Second day. Palmengarten, the Botanic Garden. Beautiful colored flowers everywhere in an immense park of plants. Because its winter most of the plants that grow outside were not awake yet, but the building of the continents its one thing to remember. So, imagine: you pass from one room to another and see and feel different atmosphere, air and vegetation. My favorite: Asia.

We had one small incident: we forgot the group ticket at our host house and got a fine in the tram when the controller? (guy that asks for you ticket) came. This is how I discovered a big difference between Bonn and Frankfurt. I live in Bonn for 4 months now and only once I have met these guys. They were wearing read coats on which it was written: Bus and Tram Controller. The ones in Frankfurt reminded me of our Romanian special agents that hunt you down. So, the fine is 40 euros and I am not sure yet if I need to pay it and where. The group ticket has only has one of our 5 names on it and the other 4 people cannot prove that we own the ticket before the fee or … we just bought it from some random person in the train station.