Romania's rich tapestry: A personal account by Anne Taylor

Denise Fourie, publicity coordinator at the University of the Third Age (U3A), Helderberg

What do Dracula, castles, communism, mountains, and bears have in common? They are all part of Romania’s story.

And Romania features prominently in the topic of the U3A Helderberg meeting to be held at the Dutch Reformed Church, 82 Firmount Road, Monte Sereno, Somerset West, at 10am on Wednesday, October 1.

Anne Taylor, a lecturer in hospitality management, spent three and a half years in Romania, culminating her 45-year career in shaping minds in the hospitality industry. Ms Taylor's professional life was in education – a platform that granted her many opportunities to travel, share, educate, learn, and experience life and its people.

Using her teaching training as a base, and with some experience in the food colouring and flavouring industry, she became a lecturer in the hospitality industry, focusing on management.

Her knowledge of pedagogy (how teaching and learning happen and need to be structured) enabled her to assist with and develop hospitality programmes in South Africa, Bhutan, and then Romania.

This ultimately led to her full-time appointment at a Romanian academy in 2016, an offer she grabbed with both hands, and she landed in Bucharest in the middle of winter, at minus 30°C.

According to Ms Taylor, Romania and South Africa share a similar political trajectory: both gained their democratic status quite recently – South Africa in 1994; Romania in 1991.

Both have had to deal with changes in political, financial, and business structures, as well as integration into the wider international business and tourism communities. For both it has been a steep learning curve, including dealing with food and job shortages, and different political ideals and financial demands.

There have also been external international demands, and tourism has had to meet the demands of the discerning international tourist.

Before 1991, Romanian tourism had been largely limited to the locals. Then, to meet the new challenges, a private hospitality or hotel academy offering relevant courses, programmes, and training was established in Brasov.

It was to this institution she was appointed. In Brasov, she learnt of snow and cold, mountains and valleys, disturbing newer and older history, local customs and people, bears and birds, religion as old as time itself, but even more relevant, she learnt a lot about herself, her beliefs, and challenges to her values.

She feels that the years spent in Brasov and her experiences there changed her for the better. She finally retired when she was almost 67, and now lives peacefully in Somerset West, still dabbling moderately in research supervision and course advising.

However, she is devoting much of her retirement to perfecting the art of wine and wit, and avoiding early mornings.

This promises to be a very interesting address with a decidedly personal flavour! Members enter free of charge; visitors pay R20 at the door.

For more information, contact Ms Fourie at 072 2111 173.