Columnist Eleonore af Schaumburg-Lippe writes in her weekly column about life as an expat in Romania. This weeks she writes about having to attend yet another farewell party, a sad part of the expat life in Romania.

I just received an invitation to a farewell party: one of my expat friends has decided to leave Romania to go to another country. I must admit, one of the hardest things about being an expat living in Romania is saying goodbye and hope to see you soon again, to your friends.

In Romania there is quite a big expat community, and some of them will sadly go back to their home country after a while or decide for different reasons to move to another country. Not to say I have only been invited to farewell parties among expats only, some of my Romanian friends too decided to go to other countries for good job opportunities or following loved ones.

I know that this is a part of life, but as an expat you might experience this more often, usually during June or July. Especially if you have friends within the diplomatic circles, they will usually have to move on in life after 3-4 years, and you know this when you meet them. But still a friendship is something special; you might even say a special gift.

Just think about how many people we meet during a lifetime and then only a handful become our dear friends, our real friends, the ones we spend our lives with and with whom we experience many great adventures. We share good and bad news with them, we call or meet them when we need a shoulder to lean on or to celebrate good news. Or simply sharing something we know our friend would be happy to hear.

I know it’s a part of the expat life, but I can’t get used to it. Luckily new friends will for sure come along, and maybe paths in life will cross again, so goodbyes we have to say will hopefully only turn out to be temporary goodbyes. Luckily with all the modern technology Facebook, Skype etc. it is possible to keep in touch with friends, including friends from our home countries and our past.
As an expat I sincerely believe it is very important to keep in touch with friends from childhood, school or work from our home countries. They know you in a different way than new friends, and the stories and talks you share have a different depth, because they have been there all the way and know you from other times.

And I am grateful still to Skype with my “old” childhood friends, but at the same time, I also truly appreciate the friends I have meet during my journey here in Romania. I've got quite a diverse group of friends here, many Romanians and Danish, but also people from all over the world that have broadened my horizons and told me about their home countries and their backgrounds.

Some ask me if it is difficult to find friends in Romania, and my answer would be: No. Romanians are in general very warm-hearted people and very open to foreigners, and you will very easily meet a lot of people here, so don’t worry about getting a social network, if you consider moving to Romania. But real friends are special, the ones who stand out and spread light to each other’s life, those are rarer to find. But as we all know friends remain friends for life, some grow apart from each other for a while, but with real friends, you can meet again after years and you just pick up the conversation like you last saw each other yesterday.

Romania is for some people only a place where they stay for a while, for a few years, and then they go on a new path in their life. Life is a journey, and some friends just cross your path for a while, I know it sounds a little over the edge but some friends I believe we meet just to get on a new or maybe even the right path in life. They are there for a while, and you both guide and support each other to reach new levels and experiences in life. And to create memories today, that you can cherish on a rainy day tomorrow.

By Eleonore af Schaumburg-Lippe, columnist

Eleonore is Danish, she holds a BA in Organization and Management and specializes in Corporate Communication & Strategic Development. She is also a Market Economist and a Multimedia Designer. As a Danish Viking in Romania, with a great passion for ’covrigi’, she has a burning desire to find out more about Romania especially Bucharest, and enlighten the small differences in the culture between Denmark and Romania. Her weekly columns will give you insights into an expat’s life in Bucharest written with humor and a big Danish smile.