A few months ago, I had the privilege to spend five weeks in a country I have never heard before in my life, for an exchange program with AIESEC. To be honest, I had no idea that a country named Romania exists in Europe. When I told my friends and family, their response would be “Where is Romania?” or even worse, “Why Romania? There is nothing to see there!” In fact, it lowered down my expectation for the perfect summer trip in Europe.
But I was wrong. Turns out that traveling to a country that’s not a main tourist destination and a few people know about has its own beauty. The moment I stepped my feet on Romanian soil I was soaking in everything. The fact that I had no single clue about their culture, their history, their language, their food, and their custom, pushed my adventurous self to the limit.
Through this trip, I learnt to love where I come from more - that is my Tanah Air, Indonesia. Whenever a Romanian ask me where I come from, they would be puzzled and clueless about where is Indonesia in the map - the same way how I responded when I heard 'Romania' the first time. Then they would start asking me tons of questions about Indonesia and for the record, 10 out of 10 of them would be amazed by every single thing I told them about my beloved country. It makes me realise that I come from a very special place and I should be forever grateful for that.
To conclude, I had the time of my life there. And to me, Romania - especially Brasov - will have a special place in my heart forever.
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Scroll to the end of the post to read my personal travel guide.
