Well… my dear Englishman. Since you’re here it means that you probably had the curiosity to see what the deal is with these guys. Or probably not. Anyways I can guarantee you’ll be amazed at the end of this article should you read it with an open mind. And you most probably will since you are the most open minded and accepting people I know.
Ok, let’s get crackin’.
Who are these people?
This is probably one of the main questions that pop into your head if you are not ignorant enough to plainly accept the ‘’truth’’ that The Daily Mail, The Sun and the likes disseminate so vigorously.
These people are a nation situated somewhere around the eastern borders of Europe. They have been living there since the beginning of time. Some even say that they invented writing since on their land, at Tartaria, were found the oldest tablets in the world containing writing. They were dated some 2000 years before the Sumerian ones.
But anyways, let’s come on to later times. A bit more than 2000 years ago they started being attacked by the biggest empire in the world, the Roman empire, which in spite of its power never managed to conquer their entire territory. After a few hundred years, when the Romans finally decided to leave, The Ottoman empire came into play and kept them under constant attack for about 1500 years. Just like the Romans before them they only managed to conquer part of Romania’s territory. In all of this time the Romanians were the cheeky little buggers that stopped the Turkish in their way towards imparting havoc into Europe. After the Ottoman empire finally seized to exist another empire decide they wanted a piece of them. This time it was part of the very people they had protected for so long, the newly formed Austro-Hungarian empire. This also didn’t last very long after which it was the Russians’ turn. And they had troubled the Romanians well into the 20th century.
While the Romanians were busy defending their lands and lives for the past 2000 years civilisation, culture, arts and what have you flourished unhindered in Western Europe and yet, between the two World Wars, Romania’s economy was doing pretty well (its currency was comparable in value to the US dollar) and all of the other social aspects caught up with the west up to the point where Bucharest was called ‘’little Paris’’.
Now you are probably wondering by this point what went wrong since then. How did Romania end up in the state it currently is? There is a slight possibility it could have something to do with the fact that Churchill and Stalin met at Potsdam after the Second World War and, because not all human beings are equal, decide the Romanians’ fate. Namely they wouldn’t be left to go about their way but they would be under Russian influence. And thus the Romanians were thrown behind the Iron Curtain for everything they had built to be destroyed and the country brought to its knees.
So here you have these people’s history in a nut shell.
What’s their level of culture and education? Are they barbarians?
Here there are some other two legitimate questions that you could be asking yourself. An interesting fact that might provide some hints towards the answer is that during their entire history the Romanians, unlike some other nations we know, never attacked another nation except for the purpose of regaining the territories that had unrightfully been taken away from them. They were always happy with what they had home and never wanted anything more.
It is true that they were a bit left behind by the West in the civilisation evolution game. But I am sure you can appreciate that it is next to impossible to evolve a lot when you are constantly preoccupied with defending your life and home. Had they been situated in the west, never attacked by anyone, investing in technologies to enable them to acquire new and rich territories it might have been a different story for them.
And yet these people still managed somehow to invent insulin (Nicolae Paulescu), have the first city in Europe with public street lightning (Timisoara), have the first industrial oil refinery in the world (Ploiesti), build and fly the world’s first fully self-propelled, fixed-wing airplane (Traian Vuia) and propel the world well into the 21st century by inventing the jet engine (Henri Coanda).
Are they gipsies?
The answer is no. What are the gipsies then, would be the next logical question. The gipsies are nomads originating from somewhere in Asia. They are spread all across Europe and only about 600.000 of them live in Romania out of the total of 12 million. They are a nation that seems to be reluctant towards adapting to the environment they live in. They have their own culture and customs that are different to those of Romanians.
Why are they coming to my country? Do they wish to abuse it in any way?
I’m afraid the answer is again no.
A study released by the British government shows that almost 40% of Romanians in the UK have a university degree – it is the highest proportion from all foreigners in this country. The Romanian community in the UK is characterized by a high proportion of specialists in finance, IT, performing arts, trade, medical care and constructions. There are 6,000 students, professors and researchers, and over 4,000 Romanian doctors and nurses working in the NHS.
They are coming here because they can speak the language. English is the most popular foreign language in Romania. They are simply honest, hard working people looking for a better life. Exactly like you would probably be if your country’s fate had been decided for the worst by somebody else.
So… my dear Englishman. There you have it. This is the mighty danger looming from the east.
And by the way, do try and visit Romania if you can spare some time. You’ll be amazed by the scenery, hospitality, food and the beautiful women ;) I haven’t heard anyone saying they didn’t like it.
From Romania with love…
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