McDejaVu
Yesterday I managed to sink to a new low.
I had two out of three meals, lunch and dinner, 5 hours apart, at a McDonald's. Not only that, it was the same McDonald's and I was served by the same McEmployee. I had the weirdest sensation of Deja vu, or rather "Deja Eaten".
I pray my body will have the power to forgive me, considering my guilty conscience made me order a McSalad for dinner.
Oh, yeah! Guess where I'm having lunch in an hour?!
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| Christian Nasulea - 03.12.2008 | |
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Elections
December is about again. Happy Birthday, Romania!
But that's not what I want to talk about. We had elections for parliament on Sunday and I'd like to make a few notes on the subject.
The social democrats (PSD+PC) "won" the elections with 33.09% of all the votes for Camera Deputatilor and 34.12% for the Senate.
The trouble is the liberal democrats (PD-L) got 32.34% of all the votes for Camera Deputatilor and 33.57% for the Senate. Yep, that's less than 1% (one percent) difference.
The bigger trouble is that the liberals (PNL) also got 18.57% for Camera Deputatilor and 18.75% for the Senate.
So, we don't really know who's going to form the government because I guess it's up to the guys in 3rd place to decide who's side they want to take. Way to go, guys, it seems YOU've WON!
An interesting fact comes from some intermediary results of votes from Romanians living abroad made public on national television (TVRI) 24 hours after votes had been submitted. Apparently only about 15% of Romanians abroad voted for PSD, not that I'm trying to suggest that they only get voted by pensioners and village people or anything like that.
All percentages above are taken from the official website of the president of the Social-Democratic Party (PSD), Mr. Mircea Geoana, and represent the situation when 99.62% of all votes were counted.
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| Christian Nasulea - 02.12.2008 | |
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Chutney - Jam?
A big part of my English cultural experience is made up of me being
exposed to the different and peculiar foods they get around here on the
island. I've rather enjoyed most of the things I've had so far. The
only negative comments I have so far are related to malted milk and
liquorice, the latter being in my opinion simply not edible.
One of the most interesting things I've had these past couple of days was chutney. Follow me closely. It's jam... which I've had with my ham... because it contains... ONIONS. And it's good! (surprisingly).
Well, truth be told, it's dreadful on its own, but once you combine it
with a ham or beef sandwich you find yourself in front of a very tasty
result. I'd never even have considered putting together Mango, Plum and
Apple in a jam, nevermind adding onion and ginger to it, but it's
probably a good thing someone came up with the strange combination.
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| Christian Nasulea - 19.11.2008 | |
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Political Compass
With the US elections ending in Obama's election and everybody all over the world talking about it so much you might find yourself wondering "Eu cu cine votez?" (EN: "Who do I vote for?" - quote from renowned Romanian playwright Ion Luca Caragiale's just as renowned play "O scrisoare pierduta " EN: "A Lost Letter").
To come to your aid I recommend you give the Political Compass a go and take their test.
Read the introduction and comments carefully as they're likely to help you put things into perspective as well. I think it should all be very welcome considering Romanian parliament elections are coming up in a couple of weeks and many of us seem to be in the "Cetateanul Turmentat" position (EN: "drunken citizen" - further Lost Letter reference).
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| Christian Nasulea - 16.11.2008 | |
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Lincoln Cathedral Works
Today, among many other activities, I had the opportunity to see the
Lincoln Cathedral restoration workshops and experience what the
maintenance of a cathedral the size and importance of Lincoln is like.
Climbing up the scaffolding on the south side of the cathedral was a
highlight of the day. That's one type of helmet I hadn't worn before.
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| Christian Nasulea - 14.11.2008 | |
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Lincolnshire
FYI I will be in Lincolnshire for the better part of the next two
weeks. Although my schedule appears to be quite busy I am always
willing to meet up with friends for a friendly chat.
Can't track me down? Email me and I'll reply with a new Romanian and UK phone number by which I can be reached.
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| Christian Nasulea - 13.11.2008 | |
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5 Flights @ Lempes
When I left for Lempes at noon today, in a hurry, skipping lunch and
turning my entire schedule upside down I had no idea the day could go
so well. I got to the top of the hill overlooking Sinpetru with the sun
shining undisturbed on my face and the most perfect head-wind blowing
from the direction of the airfield.
I flew!
I flew 5 times today. It was true flight, on my own, like I had only
done before in tandem with the instructor. I learned what it feels like
to climb a hill 5 times in a row as fast as you can to get back up for
another go. All the fatigue gets dialed down by the exhilarating
feeling of the flight.
For the first time I came back from my paragliding classes happy, with
myself and the world around me. To top it all, right after my classes,
I met someone I hadn't seen in a very long time so I was able to share
my enthusiasm which just made it all so much better.
I'm very glad Adi agreed to have this class today and I'm very glad Grandpa was there to take the attached picture.
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| Christian Nasulea - 10.11.2008 | |
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Poiana Brasov Down Hill
After taking an exhausting few hours of paragliding classes this morning we headed up to Poiana Brasov for a little downhill mountain biking.
It was supposed to be a little but as Mihai described a trail for us that would take us all the way down to Brasov it turned into a two hour down hill mountain biking marathon. It feels like I'd never been mountain biking before. We started right at the top of the first cable car (around 1800 m altitude) and got all the way down into the old center of Brasov (less than 600 m altitude).
The trail was superb, with wide forest roads and narrow footpaths. However, it was definitely more than I could handle considering my level of general fatigue. I took two major falls (resulting in both material and physical damage) and countless "almost" falls. The main thing is that no one took any shortcuts off the "narrow" paths into the "deep" valleys bordering them.
We got down safe and sound and very much looking forward to the next mountain trail.
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| Christian Nasulea - 09.11.2008 | |
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Speeding Ticket
As a global premiere, an hour ago I got my first speeding ticket... ever! No, I did not get it drafting behind another car at 160 kph on the Turbo Zone, I got it driving at 70 kph in a 50 zone in Bucharest.
Note to self: do not keep radar detector in glove compartment, use it!
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| Christian Nasulea - 06.11.2008 | |
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Christians, Muslims, Wine and Whiskey
The following is a transcript of a discussion at dinner in Azerbaijan with my new friend, Fuad.
Waiter: More wine?
Chris (to waiter): No, thank you!
Chris (to Fuad): By the way, I did not get a chance to introduce myself properly. I'm Christian.
Fuad: I'm muslim but I like to drink whiskey...
Everyone: HA! HA!
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| Christian Nasulea - 06.11.2008 | |
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