Weather here is very pleasant and a lot less cloudy days than Britain (where I have been living). Having said that August can be exceptionally hot and Air conditioning is a godsend. If you like dogs there are plenty of wild dogs roaming freely each pack its own territory. They are friendly on the whole and do not bother pedestrians. Eating out is well catered for and some of my favourite restaurants are Serbian, I was at one the other day where a wedding was being celebrated together with folk music - great fun.

I start work at 8am and finish at 4pm. getting to work is easy the public transport is good. There are frequent pastry shops many of them a small window with friendly ladies who you see wrapped up warm in Romania's cold winters. It is a dry cold and even at -15 degrees is not as unpleasant as it sounds. There is an amazing amount of new buildings and infrastructure work going on, and in the short time I have been here there are many good changes although many of the roads are deeply pot-holed.

I like Romania and Romanian people they are very friendly and they do appreciate it if you have a basic understanding of their language. The company I work for is a company specialising in aircraft components and I travel extensively handling some of their sales. Have not met the man of my dreams yet but am happy to make Romania my home. Found a website redence.com who appear to have a lot of east European properties will spend this weekend looking for a house. I don't mind commuting from outside the city as I am often away. I think if my work entailed me to be regularly at the office I would buy an apartment where I am now as it is close to shops and central. My friend has asked me for the weekend in Cluj where she is taking me for a Mud bath treatment. Never tried it but nothing ventured nothing gained

Anna Bawdeswell