Just Knowing

All countries have their various cultural facets. Romania, of course, is no exception. Here you are often expected to simply ‘know’ certain pieces of information. As a result of this, people sometimes don’t always give you all the facts. Signs are often vague, wrong, or simply non-existent. For a newcomer this can make doing simple things, like taking the subway daunting. Two of the lines often share the same track here. While there are TV screens that tell you which line is arriving next, they lag just enough to be exactly wrong. It took me a few tries; getting on the wrong line, before I realized that the cars from the different line looked different. Taking the train can be even more confusing. I bought a ticket and then noticed on the departure board that my train was not going to, or stopping at Targoviste. When I asked about whether I had the correct ticket, the clerk looked at me as if I was crazy and told me that was in fact the correct train. Apparently, because I was going there I was just expected to know. Things like this happen often. When asking directions, responses are often vague and filled with short hand. This phenomenon also seems to carry over into the office where direction for assignments can sometimes be vague on the specifics. That being said, Romania is a country has spent years being oppressed in the eastern bloc, and as a result of this situation it makes sense that Romanian culture be more geared towards explaining things to other Romanians who are from the same city and work in the same office. They are in the process of gaining experience when it comes to making logistics easier for the increasing amount of foreigners on the streets of their cities.