ROMANIA

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The International School Network went to the Embassy of Romania. We interviewed the Ambassador, HE Mr. Radu Serban, about his country.

The International School Network went to the Embassy of Romania. We interviewed the Ambassador, Mr. Radu Serban, about his country. During the encounter, he had shared to us about numerous things, including the nation’s delicious cuisines, as well as his opions on the Romania-Japan relationship. Romania is located in southeastern-central Europe and borders countries such as Hungary, Serbia, Ukraine, Moldova, and Bulgaria. The nation is highly known for it’s natural eco system. Romania has a very precious inhabitant of brown bears as it consists of about 50% of Europe’s population of brown bears.

Romania is also well known for their food production due to their highly-advanced agriculture. Some popular food we were introduced to that day were mamaliga (a Romanian cornmeal porridge), mititei (the romanian word for “little things” and a dish consisting of beef, lamb, and pork with some spice seasonings), papanasi (a fried pastry with cheese, sour cream, and jam), and sarmale (rolled cabbage made with grape leaves). Mr. Serban especially talked about how sarmale are eaten during special occasions, such as during Christmas or the New Years. In addition, mititei are most commonly eaten during Labour Day. We were then served some delicious Romanian cheese cookies at the embassy.

Ambassador Mr. Farhad Khlif Keito Madoka Haruka Karen

At the end of the interview, Radu Serban, Ph. D gave a presentation about the relationship between Romania and Japan. Romania and Japan have been developing a good relationship. Presently, Romania has about 170 Japanese comanies operating and offering a good amount of employment. As for trading, the two country’s commerce has reached to about six thousand million dollars. The most impressive episode to me was about the warm supports from the Romanian students at the incident of the great Tohoku earthquake. Supportive messages and drawings were sent to the children around the Fukushima area. The art works have carried out the strong bondage between Japan and Romania, which has developed into a friendship exchange relation.

(Reported by Kurumi Onishi)