Yo guys,
So on the trip to Romania I watched several videos on the plane. They were, to my memory, Les Miserables, Gladiator, Mission Impossible-Ghost Protocol, and Wreck - it - Ralph. All for the first time. So in this post I'll give you all seperate little reviews on each one.
Les Miserables
For months I've heard such a fuss about this movie. A lot of the girls in my youth group loved it. I wanted to see it for a long time, and finally I got the chance. So, did it live up to my expectations? Somewhat. I have to admit (and this may sound stupid) I didn't expect it to be a musical. Heeheh, heeheh, yeah...I was kind of surprised. But as a musical, it certainly lived up to my expectations; spectacular. I thought it was awesome. The only thing is, I don't really like musicals. They're just not my piece of pie. Nonetheless, it was cool. I think the most arbitrary part of its being a musical was when 24601 had Cosette and was trying to hide from Javerre, then bursts out in this extremely loud song that made me wince. Yeah, some ninja you are.
Gladiator
One of the best movies ever made. It truly deserves its acclaim. The story of a Roman general who is named a Caesar's succesor, but betrayed by the Cesear's son. His wife and children murdered, and himself thought dead, he becomes a gladiator and fights his way to fame, revealing himself to the trecherous Caesar's son in the Coliseum. Eventually he fights Caesar himself, but seriously wounded, he dies, taking Caesar along with him. It was a compelling story, and on of the best I've seen. If you haven't seen it, WATCH IT.
Mission Impossible - Ghost Protocol
Well, I should start out by saying this is a Tom Cruise movie. That in and of itself brings up a few pre-expectations. Most Tom Cruise movies are fairly clean (as to language and sex), and this one was pretty good. If I had to estimate, I'd say it was an above average movie, but not great either. It had some really funny parts, but sometimes cheesy. They infiltrate the Kremlin, for heaven's sake. The gadgetry was pretty insane. If you wanna watch it, fine. If not, whatever. It's not spectacular.
Wreck-It-Ralph
Out of all the movies I watched, I have to say this one was neck-to-neck with Gladiator. I really enjoyed it. Their concept of arcade games was intriguing, the characters interesting, and the story riveting. I think I nearly cried during the climax, and for me, that's the sign of a good movie. If you haven't seen it, I fully recommend it. It's a great piece of film.
Sunday, June 9, 2013
Saturday, June 8, 2013
Romania - And You Said What??
So, if you haven't read the first post - 'Romania-The Trip' I recommend you do that before you read this.
As everyone...er, most everyone knows, going out of country is strange. Really, strange. It's something you want to prepare for, to lay plans for.
I was definitely not prepared - enough - for this trip.
I literally finished school and went. Bing bang boom. I had just enough time to do a little research on the culture, manners, and language before I was rushed off to Romania. And as anyone who's been out of country before knows, that isn't good.
Despite that, however, the trip went well. Language is, of course, the biggest barrier - fortunately for me, my grandparents acted as translators. And most people spoke at least a few words of English; enough to get their point across. On top of that, I know Spanish fairly well, and since most Romanian words are similar to both English and/or Spanish words, I was able to get the gist of conversations after a few days.
So here's some big (or what I found significant) differences between America and Romania.
Driving
Not a big surprise, but well worth mentioning. The driving is very different between the USA and Romania For instance, there are a lot less strict rules in Romania than in the US, yet Romania has a lower crash rate. Hmm. Says something about their standards, eh?
Speed limit in Romania has no meaning. Well...when I say no meaning, I mean very little. If you're driving like a NASCAR racer then yeah, the police might get on your tail. But it's no big deal. One guy zoomed past us on our way to the airport like he was late for something. I literally felt the shockwave from his passage. That's the sort of speeding I'm talking about.
Also, their passing skills are either crazy stupid or superhuman. At least 60 percent of the time, you're passing people. We'd pull out from behind a truck and see a car fast approaching, beams of death shooting towards us like the fires of hell and then - oh, wait, you mean we made it? Phew! I thought we were dead for certain!
Food
Also not a big shocker, but I gotta put this in. In Romania, you see, it is considered polite to refuse more food. You have to insist that you are done in order to leave the table. But when me and my older brother stayed in Dej, we were figuratively grabbed by the hair and force-fed down the throat. EAT! EAT! EAT! EAT! You not hungry? You want to go to bed? Thank you for being polite! Now EAT! EAT! EAT! I nearly exploded! Serious stuff, you know? I almost had to physically restrain them from serving me...seriously...well, at least you're ensured against starvation.
Toilets/Bathrooms
I know this may sound weird, but hey - when nature calls, you must answer. And it's a vital part of going to a different country. And it was...different, to be sure.
You know our standard-sized toilet stall in any American store or restaurant? Well, Romanians can fit a whole bathroom in a space just about as large. Toilet, sink, and shower. No joke. It's tight, I can tell you. Also, while I find it as a curiosity...on the way back home, we stopped for a bathroom break in the airport. As I exited the sacred hall of duty, I noticed a cleaning lady following me.
A cleaning lady. A cleaning lady. In the mens' bathroom. With other guys doin' their thing around and...yeah, let's leave it at that.
A few random points/stories now.
Me, my brother, and my grandpa went to Vima Mica, my grandpa's birthplace. No sweat. Cool place. But, er...see, the old Romanian folks greet you with kisses on either cheek. While some merely touch, others...actually follow through. One guy in particular was expecially...um...enthusiastic? About it. Let's just say we were both washing our faces very thoroughly after Vima Mica.
In the previous post about our trip, I mentioned we went to a hotel. At said hotel, there was a spa. And where there's a spa, there's people. Skimpily dressed people. And this is Europe. They're basically wearing their undies to the pool.
Now, I can handle that...sort of. But the thing was, most all of the people were middle-aged or older. You ever seen a seventy-year-old man in his underwear swimtrunks? Not a pretty sight. Even less attractive were the seventy-year-old women wearing two-piece swimsuits. Want my opinion on that? It's EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW.
I may add more as stuff comes to mind, but for now, that'll be it. Hope you enjoyed this little story, and as they say in Romania - La Revedere!
As everyone...er, most everyone knows, going out of country is strange. Really, strange. It's something you want to prepare for, to lay plans for.
I was definitely not prepared - enough - for this trip.
I literally finished school and went. Bing bang boom. I had just enough time to do a little research on the culture, manners, and language before I was rushed off to Romania. And as anyone who's been out of country before knows, that isn't good.
Despite that, however, the trip went well. Language is, of course, the biggest barrier - fortunately for me, my grandparents acted as translators. And most people spoke at least a few words of English; enough to get their point across. On top of that, I know Spanish fairly well, and since most Romanian words are similar to both English and/or Spanish words, I was able to get the gist of conversations after a few days.
So here's some big (or what I found significant) differences between America and Romania.
Driving
Not a big surprise, but well worth mentioning. The driving is very different between the USA and Romania For instance, there are a lot less strict rules in Romania than in the US, yet Romania has a lower crash rate. Hmm. Says something about their standards, eh?
Speed limit in Romania has no meaning. Well...when I say no meaning, I mean very little. If you're driving like a NASCAR racer then yeah, the police might get on your tail. But it's no big deal. One guy zoomed past us on our way to the airport like he was late for something. I literally felt the shockwave from his passage. That's the sort of speeding I'm talking about.
Also, their passing skills are either crazy stupid or superhuman. At least 60 percent of the time, you're passing people. We'd pull out from behind a truck and see a car fast approaching, beams of death shooting towards us like the fires of hell and then - oh, wait, you mean we made it? Phew! I thought we were dead for certain!
Food
Also not a big shocker, but I gotta put this in. In Romania, you see, it is considered polite to refuse more food. You have to insist that you are done in order to leave the table. But when me and my older brother stayed in Dej, we were figuratively grabbed by the hair and force-fed down the throat. EAT! EAT! EAT! EAT! You not hungry? You want to go to bed? Thank you for being polite! Now EAT! EAT! EAT! I nearly exploded! Serious stuff, you know? I almost had to physically restrain them from serving me...seriously...well, at least you're ensured against starvation.
Toilets/Bathrooms
I know this may sound weird, but hey - when nature calls, you must answer. And it's a vital part of going to a different country. And it was...different, to be sure.
You know our standard-sized toilet stall in any American store or restaurant? Well, Romanians can fit a whole bathroom in a space just about as large. Toilet, sink, and shower. No joke. It's tight, I can tell you. Also, while I find it as a curiosity...on the way back home, we stopped for a bathroom break in the airport. As I exited the sacred hall of duty, I noticed a cleaning lady following me.
A cleaning lady. A cleaning lady. In the mens' bathroom. With other guys doin' their thing around and...yeah, let's leave it at that.
A few random points/stories now.
Me, my brother, and my grandpa went to Vima Mica, my grandpa's birthplace. No sweat. Cool place. But, er...see, the old Romanian folks greet you with kisses on either cheek. While some merely touch, others...actually follow through. One guy in particular was expecially...um...enthusiastic? About it. Let's just say we were both washing our faces very thoroughly after Vima Mica.
In the previous post about our trip, I mentioned we went to a hotel. At said hotel, there was a spa. And where there's a spa, there's people. Skimpily dressed people. And this is Europe. They're basically wearing their undies to the pool.
Now, I can handle that...sort of. But the thing was, most all of the people were middle-aged or older. You ever seen a seventy-year-old man in his underwear swimtrunks? Not a pretty sight. Even less attractive were the seventy-year-old women wearing two-piece swimsuits. Want my opinion on that? It's EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW.
I may add more as stuff comes to mind, but for now, that'll be it. Hope you enjoyed this little story, and as they say in Romania - La Revedere!
Romania - The Trip
Hey one hey all, I'm back!
I don't know if most of you knew, but I was recently overseas on a two-week trip to Romania. Why Romania? Because half my distant family lives there. And because it's in Europe. Heck. Why not.
If I tried doing it all in one post it'd be too long, so I'll split it in two. This post will be purely the trip - what we did, where we went, who we met. The next post will be contrasting some differences between Romania and America, and maybe giving an anecdote or two. So here goes.
We caught a flight on Sunday afternoon, May 26. It took us all night to get to Amsterdam, and from there we caught a flight to Bucharest, Romania. We arrived Monday evening, and spent the night in a seminary.
Tuesday, we began the long drive from Bucharest to Dej, which was far north. Over mountains and through plains, it took all of Tuesday to cross the distance. Beautiful scenery, of course. We got to our Aunt Fivi and Uncle Felice's house at midnight that night. The next day we did practically nothing, because we were so exhausted.
Thursday, we embarked on a trip to a resort. It took about half the day to get to, because we made a detour in order to visit a violin shop to buy my aunt Anca a viola. We spent the rest of Thursday, all of Friday, and half of Saturday in the hotel there visiting the shops, enjoying the scenery, and swimming in their warm salt tubs. We then went back to Dej.
Sunday, of course, we went to church. It was about 20 minutes away in a small town called Chetan, where we met our cousins Mihai and Raluka for the first time. (Mihai's a small boy about 8 years old, and Raluka - definitely the prettiest cousin I have so far ;D - is about 17) We had met three others - Adi, Stephi, and Sergiu on Wednesday of the last week (which I neglected to mention, sorry).
Monday was purely a lay-around day. We did nothing but relax. Tuesday we went to a cafeteria with Adi. Wednesday we went to Cluj by train, visiting several other cousins/uncles/whatevers around the area, taking the train back.
Thursday we prepared to go. Luggage was packed, clothes were washed and all was ready. We had a good time with our cousins before saying good-bye that night. The next day we drove all day back to Bucharest, visiting a mideval castle along the way and spending the night in the same seminary from Monday of the last week.
And, of course, Saturday (today) we boarded our flight back home. From Bucharest to Amsterdam, and from there to Atlanta - encountering a lot of contingencies along the way. Luggage problems, passport issues, etc. But thank the Lord, we made it back.
So that was our trip. If you want a little more specific detail and story, visit the next post. Sayonara!
I don't know if most of you knew, but I was recently overseas on a two-week trip to Romania. Why Romania? Because half my distant family lives there. And because it's in Europe. Heck. Why not.
If I tried doing it all in one post it'd be too long, so I'll split it in two. This post will be purely the trip - what we did, where we went, who we met. The next post will be contrasting some differences between Romania and America, and maybe giving an anecdote or two. So here goes.
We caught a flight on Sunday afternoon, May 26. It took us all night to get to Amsterdam, and from there we caught a flight to Bucharest, Romania. We arrived Monday evening, and spent the night in a seminary.
Tuesday, we began the long drive from Bucharest to Dej, which was far north. Over mountains and through plains, it took all of Tuesday to cross the distance. Beautiful scenery, of course. We got to our Aunt Fivi and Uncle Felice's house at midnight that night. The next day we did practically nothing, because we were so exhausted.
Thursday, we embarked on a trip to a resort. It took about half the day to get to, because we made a detour in order to visit a violin shop to buy my aunt Anca a viola. We spent the rest of Thursday, all of Friday, and half of Saturday in the hotel there visiting the shops, enjoying the scenery, and swimming in their warm salt tubs. We then went back to Dej.
Sunday, of course, we went to church. It was about 20 minutes away in a small town called Chetan, where we met our cousins Mihai and Raluka for the first time. (Mihai's a small boy about 8 years old, and Raluka - definitely the prettiest cousin I have so far ;D - is about 17) We had met three others - Adi, Stephi, and Sergiu on Wednesday of the last week (which I neglected to mention, sorry).
Monday was purely a lay-around day. We did nothing but relax. Tuesday we went to a cafeteria with Adi. Wednesday we went to Cluj by train, visiting several other cousins/uncles/whatevers around the area, taking the train back.
Thursday we prepared to go. Luggage was packed, clothes were washed and all was ready. We had a good time with our cousins before saying good-bye that night. The next day we drove all day back to Bucharest, visiting a mideval castle along the way and spending the night in the same seminary from Monday of the last week.
And, of course, Saturday (today) we boarded our flight back home. From Bucharest to Amsterdam, and from there to Atlanta - encountering a lot of contingencies along the way. Luggage problems, passport issues, etc. But thank the Lord, we made it back.
So that was our trip. If you want a little more specific detail and story, visit the next post. Sayonara!
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