An Expat Talks about Living in Timisoara, Romania

What is the name of the city or town that you are reporting on?

Timisoara

How long have you lived there?

6 years

What activities, clubs and organizations would you recommend to newcomers to help them meet others?

Timisoara is an old city in the west of the country, 100+km from the country borders. You can meet many romanians, sirbs, hungarians, germans, although most germans have migrated back to their homeland after the comunist regim fell.

The city revolves around a few centers of interest like: Iulius Mall (very big mall, shopping center, etc.) , the student area of dormitories where there are many clubs besides dorms, the city center with the cathdral, the opera, liberty square, unity square, the old (greco)catholic dome. Unity square has free wireless if you got a laptop.

ADVICE: use known company taxi like CITY, GRUP, TUDO. Driving in the city is a mess. Plan your GPS for major streets, no shortcuts.

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In terms of religious, racial, economic and cultural diversity, are the people of this city or town diverse? Are they accepting of differences? Describe.

Timisoara is a city with many nationalities, most important being romanians, many hungarians, germans, sirbs. It was teh capital of the austro-hungarian empire for a very short time even. Having this hisotry the city is inhabited by very tolerant people. The two main religions of teh city are greco-orthodox and greco-catholic.

What are the main industries in this city? What types of career opportunities commonly exist? How do most people find new jobs?

The city has Siemens software division and testing, Alcatel software division and economics, Continental tires, many divisions for companies producing, cables, fans, etc. for the eu auto industry including Opel, BMW, VW, Renault (Hella, Cromberg, Solectron, etc.)

The job market in the city is very much alive. There are several job "festivals" organised for the students and young unemployed, but the city has a very low unemployment rate.

In general, what are peoples' priorities in this city? For example, do lives revolve around work, family, socializing, sports, etc.?

Most Romanians put family first, but as a nation their are "warm blooded" and like sociliazing, most of the youth, teenagers like clubbing, while those in their 30s prefer normal bars and pubs. Many of those in the 40s and more like to make house visits for rummy, card, etc.

Most go on picnics in the weekend with family and friends in teh nearby areas of teh city.

If a friend of yours was thinking of moving to this city or town from far away, what other advice would you give them.

Contact the ambassy, consulate, before any action; come here by airplane because many roads are in bad state and the authorities are working on them to get to a EU like state. If you GPS, pay for good maps.

Also, visit Timisoara and Romania as a tourist first (city of: Sibiu, Cluj, Oradea, Iasi, Craiova, Contanta on the seaside and teh capital Bucharest) and stay for a couple of weeks than decide teh right course of action.