A 2005 retrospective with Sarah Scheele Denisa Maruntoiu Sarah Scheele is the wife of Jonathan Scheele, the head of the European Commission's Delegation in Romania. She is also one of the most active members of the International Women's Association (IWA), an independent, voluntary, and charitable organization which includes 300 expat ladies living in Romania. For four years, Scheele has been a part of Romania. For four years, she has shared great moments with the friends she and her husband made in Romania. For four years, she has learned how to be a Romanian and she has tried to teach Romanians how to be true Europeans. But Sarah Scheele wants the 2005 Christmas to be the last she will spend here, as this would mean Romania will join the EU in January 2007.
What do you consider to be your greatest accomplishments in 2005? 2005 has been a very interesting year. I am very proud of myself because I've given up smoking. The trouble is that when you give up smoking you have to find other activities to keep you busy and replace the bad habit. And there are still things that I can't do because I associate these things with smoking. For example, I and my husband always used to watch the 8 a.m. news. We used to have breakfast in the kitchen and than we would go to watch the news, drink our coffee and smoke a cigarette. But now I can't watch the news. Giving up smoking is one big accomplishment for me! I also stopped being president of the International Women's Association in April and I got more involved in charity projects, which is very interesting and rewarding. I am very pleased with this work, as it is something I didn't have time for when I was president of the IWA. But now I do more and I will definitely do much more next year. It is one of my wishes, to develop IWA's charity projects. Is there any particular charity project that you've become very fond of? Together with the IWA, I got involved in improving parenting at a Bucharest kindergarten. We have been able to give the parents simple things, like an interphone which is much safer when your child is home alone. We've also given them sophisticated equipment that they can use when organizing different conferences so they won't be behind everybody else. The Charity Committee is also working with ADPARE, an NGO that is helping girls who have been trafficked. We are helping them get back on to their feet. There are many projects and I am proud that we can make life easier for some people. Please share with us the most surprising moment of 2005. In May I suddenly had an appendicitis crisis. My husband was out of the country and it was very dramatic for me. But I must say that I received wonderful treatment from the doctors in the Emergency Hospital. It was unbelievable and it wasn't a simple operation, as by the time I got to the hospital I had peritonitis. But in spite of the complications, the doctors and nurses were great. I was very grateful to them. And I was amazed by the way they reacted because I know that there are a lot of problems with the Romanian health system. We have a friend who's in hospital at the moment and whom I went to see in the Emergency Hospital. The room where he was staying was so small and suffocating. He was in the same room as another very ill man and they were sharing a drip feed. However, I truly believe that doctors in Romania are very competent, kind and very well trained. What was the most impressing place that you have visited this year? This year, we decided we deserved a beautiful holiday, so we spent our spring break in the Caribbean. Afterwards, we went home to England and we also traveled to Scotland. I haven't traveled much this year, but I had the chance to go to Cluj and visit the wonderful Banffi Castle. It was the first place we had visited four years ago, when we arrived in Romania and I feel it very close to me heart. The castle is amazing and it is developing into a wonderful school for training people to restore old buildings. The people working to restore the castle have done a very good job. They have done it cleverly, little by little. They have struggled to obtain funds and they have proved to be so devoted to their work. Banffi Castle is going to be a masterpiece one day. Has Romania changed much in the four years that have passed since you arrived? >From an expat point of view, life in Romania is easier now than it was in >2001. Generally, you can get what you need and there are no major differences >between Romania and other European countries. But the major change that I have noticed is that prices went up tremendously in 2005. It is a fact that must be hurting a lot of people, as the basic needs are now harder to fulfill. I do a big monthly shop and the price for the same type and amount of goods is now three times higher than it was three years ago. Another change is that Romanians are more and more demanding. More and more have traveled and had the chance to see how life is in other countries, so they have started to want a better life in Romania as well. But are Romanians more responsible? Well, responsibility is a matter of civil society. And civil society has always been a problem. For example, we have seen an enormous increase in the number of cars in Bucharest, which proves that living standards are higher and higher. However, a sense of responsibility should go with this change. And that means not parking on the pavement, as a child or a person in a wheelchair might be hurt. This is all part of looking after those who are less advantaged than you are. This is where civil society should intervene: to teach you that paying your taxes is a normal thing, that parking on the pavement is not nice and that throwing garbage on the street will affect both you and other citizens. On the other hand, there are many things that have been improved. Many NGOs are now being taken over by Romanians, which is great and as it should be, because Romanians know better what to do to improve people's outlook. Romanians have started to understand that no foreigner is entitled to impose his values and principles, as long as Romanians have their own strong values. The changes are also obvious in the business field. Boards of international companies present in Romania, which have been chaired for a long time by expats, now have Romanian chairmen. And let's not forget about the fact that more and more foreign investors are coming to Romania. This proves that Romania's image abroad has much improved. Where and with whom are you going to spend this year's Christmas? I always want to spend more time with my family, especially during winter holidays, but unfortunately we all are so busy. I have two grown-up children, a boy and a girl. The girl is a doctor in England, and the boy is a civil engineer. The last time I saw them was at the beginning of November, when they came to Romania for their father's birthday. We had a wonderful family dinner! Last year, they also came for Christmas and it was so great! My sister and her husband also came and we had a wonderful family party. But this year, we will be the ones to leave home. We are going to spend Christmas in Brussels. And I think it's going to be an interesting Christmas, because my nephew is expecting his third baby exactly on December 25. I think there will be a lot of babysitting! Tell us your impressions about Christmas in Romania. The thing I love most about Christmas in Romania are the preparations. Romanians really like to prepare for Christmas, to cook and buy presents. I love the tradition of the colinde and the fantastic lights in Bucharest! Plus, in the last two years, we have organized a wonderful snow party in our garden and all our friends came. Snow is one thing that makes Christmas in Romania more beautiful. What do you think were the most important events which happened in Romania in 2005? Obviously, the development of the government at the beginning of the year was a major event. Unfortunately, the floods also marked this year. The consequences of the floods are still affecting so many people. In May, I flew in a helicopter over Timis County and I was terrified. I have never seen anything like it. I felt like a voyeur on people's misery. By the time the waters receded, people had lost heir houses, cattle, livestock, everything. It was one of the saddest sites I've ever seen. Another big event was the EU country report, which made me very optimistic. I'm sure that Romania will join the EU in 2007. From a Romanian's point of view, I hope that we will leave Romania around October 2006, because that would mean that Romania will join the EU on January 1, 2007. Would you like to send a message to all Romanians? I wish every one health and happiness! Keep your health, be happy and calmly make for the EU! <http://www.daily-news.ro/images/spacer_mov.gif> Print this article! <http://www.daily-news.ro/print_preview.php?idarticle=19487> <http://www.daily-news.ro/article_detail.php?idarticle=19487#top> ^ top <http://www.daily-news.ro/comments.php?idarticle=19487> _____ I am using the free version of SPAMfighter for private users. It has removed 2959 spam emails to date. Paying users do not have this message in their emails. Try SPAMfighter <http://www.spamfighter.com/Product_Info.asp?> for free now! _____ I am using the free version of SPAMfighter for private users. It has removed 2959 spam emails to date. 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