I came for 4 days and today I celebrate 5 years in Romania!

Wednesday, January 21st, 2009

Today is a very special day for me. It was Wednesday too, when I landed in the airport of Bucharest, exactly 5 years ago! It was snowing, really too much for a Greek. I did not know anyone at all in Romania; I had with me just two contact persons. One driver (working for a friend) picked me up and one banker (who became my friend after). I was really surprised to find out that even during a snow storm, all the major streets were open and clean. I arrived at Sofitel (back then it had the price of 80 euro per night) and started the “Romanian chapter” of my life.
Honestly, if someone would tell me in 2003 that “in January 2009 you will be already in Romania, having brought to the country 400 million euro investments as Real Estate broker”, I would have replied that he is crazy and I would recommend to him a good doctor. I fell in love with Romania from the very beginning. Those first 4 days that I stayed here, I was inspired of some wonderful ideas for the political campaigns I was running (the elections were on the 7th of March). I decided to return after the elections, which I did in the end of March. Then I said I want to learn the country, the market, the business and the people before to start working, it took me six months, until September (ok, I admit it, I am not so intelligent to learn all in couple of weeks or so…).
At the end of 2004, I told to my family that I intend to stay here for one or two years more. In 2005 this was again two years, in 2006 it became two or three years more and since 2007 I announced to them that I don’t intend to leave from here. I have promised to myself to stop at 2015, at the end of the second big Real Estate wave that I expect to happen the next years, but still… the contract for the new premises of my company was for 5 years and I asked to be corrected to 10…
So the… autopsy shows that this journey that started as a “curiosity” 5 years ago, has finally transformed my life. And I thank God for opening my eyes back then and letting me see clearly what I use to say since then, that “Romania is not my destination, Romania is my destiny”…

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