We’ve been been talking about living in Cluj almost since we met in January of ’07, and since then, I’ve been dreaming about what might be the best-case scenario for our life there. Of course, over the past seven years, those dream situations have changed and evolved. First, when I decided to change careers from coffee roaster to full-time designer, then, when we thought of moving to a house here first, and last, when we found that we couldn’t have children.
The details always change, the neighborhood shifts, even the city sometimes, but we have always kept closeness to family and friends a solid requirement.
Like Vio wrote, a friend of ours advised us ‘not to go to Cluj for what it has to offer, but what we have to offer it, as people and places may disappoint’. I disagree to a degree. I tend to think that people are cynical regarding their own cities; it’s hard to see the charm and value of a place if you’re too used to it. I agree, I don’t see the charm in San Jose sometimes, I wish I did. I know it has a lot to offer, but I’m used to it. I have wanderlust and I thrive in the unfamiliar, so I tend to get used to places quicker than most, and it’s something I’d like to change about myself.
So, like anyone who lives anywhere, and wants to live in a new place—whether easier or harder—I’m biased. Maybe it’s just a honeymoon phase that’s lasted seven years, and eventually the tedium of living in a place that’s harder than here will grow tired. But like a good marriage, when the honeymoon phase ends, you find the true values in a life together; and I believe that there are many of those values to living in Cluj around friends, family, careers, travel, and whatever gets tossed in our lap.
Just a few of the adventures I’m looking forward to include a small business that sits down with young kids after school to teach them how to read English using storybooks (a small library of which I’ll be carrying back with me), a blossoming specialty coffee industry headed by passionate and intelligent people who are hungry to learn, a collection of tech and start-up companies who have warranted the coining of the term “Silicon Valley of Eastern Europe”, and a small group of passionate people who have identified a need for a more personal and growth oriented ministry.
There are more, and I look forward to both contributing and feeding off of each. As long as there’s a balance, I don’t foresee getting tired of Cluj any time soon.