English in Romanian Media is hardly a new topic. The question isn’t whether English is finding its way into Romanian. The question is: How pervasive is the phenomenon? If you’re not paying attention, you might not notice a lot. However, over these past few days, I decided to pay attention, and I’m struck by how […]
The Black Sea has been on my mind for the past few days. Odd, perhaps. Or maybe not so odd because I’m in Romania. A brutal war rages just beyond Romania’s northeastern border. Geography matters. As you see, six countries surround the Black Sea: Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania, Ukraine, Russia, and Georgia. The uncolored space between […]
If you guessed that the Prince of Transylvania is now Charles III of England, you’re right! And you might have guess it from looking at the title image. (Courtesy of Quora, no copyright infringement intended.) If the genealogists are right, the most (in)famous Romanian of all time, namely Vlad Țepeș aka Vlad the Impaler (1431-1476), […]
After a three year absence (Drat you, Pandemic!) I’m back in Bucharest. I didn’t know what to expect after such a long time away. But after only a day or two I realized I still love it! Back in Bucharest The title image tells a story. The phrase Ca la noi la nimeni is short […]
In 2012 Phillip Carter and I visited Ukraine. We started in Kyiv then took the train to Lviv. The train ride took about nine hours. During that time we went to the restaurant car and began to write our book Languages in the World. How History, Culture, and Politics Shape Language (Wiley Blackwell, 2016). Ten […]
During the pandemic, I am reposting previous blogs if they have more relevance now than when I first posted them. This current blog is originally from June 24, 2016. I am, sadly, reposting it today. Beloved friend and exercise master Cécile Dumetrier passed away yesterday – September 11, 2020 – in Bucharest, Romania. What I […]
All of my adventures these days come through reading (and taking neighborhood walks). I just finished Clay Grubb’s Creating the Urban Dream. In it I came across the term: Copenhagenize. Instant enchantment! Title Image of bicycles in Copenhagen: heatheronhertravels, Wunderstock Copenhagen is the world’s #1 bicycle city. Part of Grubb’s vision for the urban dream […]
This past week I hung out in Balchik, Bulgaria. Thus I had the opportunity to speak with the locals about famous Bulgarians. Once again, I had lots of fun with my project. People the world over like to name who among them deserve a claim to fame. Famous Bulgarians Historical: Inventors Saints Cyril and Methodius […]
Balchik, Bulgaria is a resort town on the Black Sea. The name has various spellings, which include: Balcic and Balchick. The reason for the variations derive from the fact that Bulgarian is a Slavic language written in the Cyrillic alphabet: So the name comes out as балчик. Thus, how to transliterate the letters is up […]
Before flying to JFK, I had the day in London to do what I wanted, and what I wanted was to visit the neighborhood right next to Heathrow airport, namely Hounslow, where I had chosen my hotel. Title image: A British Airways plane on its approach to landing near the back parking lot of my […]