Bucharest city tales: Buna Ziua, people on my walks!

Columnist Eleonore af Schaumburg-Lippe writes in her weekly column about life as an expat in Romania. This week she reflects on the people she meets and greets on her walks in Bucharest. During my time here in Bucharest I have met a lot of people, and some people that are not part of either my work or school life have become a part of my life here. They are the people that I meet on one of my many daily walks going to work, school, meetings or some event. During my stay the number has grown quite a lot, and actually I appreciate the little chit chat I have with them. The first lady I talked to a few days after I arrived in Romania was the lady who works in my favorite covrigi shop near my place. In the beginning I couldn’t say a word in Romanian and I didn’t understand a word, but now it is possible to have a little talk about life in general, besides getting the best covrigi in town. As I walk down the street, I always say hello, morning or buna ziua to the shop owners, one man works in a kiosk, and his wife works in the gift shop next to his kiosk, she is called Elena, and as that is sort of my name, we always have a little chat, and then of course there is the young boy working in the shawarma shop that I always say hello to, when I don’t stop by in the late evenings to buy a shawarma. He has actually taught me how to say the ingredients in Romanian. Then there are the flower ladies, there are three on the way, I always greet them with a big bow while they, with a big smile, ask me when I am back to buy flowers. But when I reach Piata Amzei, the real greeting begins, because during my stay I have ended up saying hello to a big group there: it is a whole family, the father who is often standing around and speaking with his friends, a parking guy for a restaurant who says hello, and the father's daughter who works in the shawarma shop, and then the lady selling stockings. And then there is my favorite, the parking guy: each time he sees me, he almost runs to say hello, and tells me how gorgeous I look, if that doesn’t put a smile on a girl's face, then I don’t know what can. For a long time he has asked me out for coffee each time I passed by him, I must admit I always tell him I am busy, and I don’t expect to change my mind about that, but his greeting continues. All these people waving, cheering, smiling and saying hello as I pass them, can just make my day, it is like a tradition now. I remember in the beginning when I got here, I would smile and say hello if I met the same people every day going to work, this I also did in Denmark, but here they just looked strange, and now after a while, they stop me to say hello, and sometimes I even have to run a little not to get late, because when I think about it, I actually say hello, buna and good morning to around 15 people every day, plus or minus depending on which way I walk. And if they haven’t seen me for some time, they will ask where I have been, for Christmas I actually bought some Christmas chocolates, and then I handed them out to my Buna Ziua friends. And actually I think we all enjoy the little greetings. So expats, pay attention to whom you walk by on your way to work, if you begin to say hello, you will see that it can actually lift your day.