Money, money, money - relating to money in France vs. Romania

Before getting into the different categories of Romanians - and we'll start with the most visible ones, don't worry - I would like to talk about a topic which is very much taboo in the country I live now, which is France.

Money. 





 Yes - people don't speak about money here in France, or if they do it is seen as quite vulgar. (No wonder the guys from ABBA were not French :) 

Either one has it, and one doesn't have to say it, because the way one dresses, talks, their friends, their jobs etc. speak for themselves. Either one hasn’t, and the same applies. Therefore no one is forced to talk about money.

So when, as a Romanian, one arrives in a society like this, it is very strange. Why? Because in Romania money is part of the everyday life, and one has to show it - via a big belly if you're a man over 50 or by being very fit if you're in your 30s, or expensive clothes, bags, etc. if you're a woman) or to endure not having it. 

Having grown in an environment where money came and went, I remember precisely the moments when my father, after a successful short- term project, would give me some money (that I would have invariably put aside, for later - or that he would have forced me to use to buy books - which I was really happy to buy, but not from my "own" money!). For me, it was pure happiness. Even now, I can't resist a smile if - for whatever reason, he would give me some money.

I guess that in my case money = love. At the same time, outside of my family, I've always been taught to practice the 50/50 rule, because as Romanians know very well "we might be brothers, but the cheese is not for free" (“frate,frate, dar branza-i pe bani!”).

So given this very maslowian relationship that Romanians have with money, they don't have any issue in talking about it, saying that things are too expensive etc. While "Trop cher" is not something that one would hear very often in France – “above my revenues”, yes (“au-dessus de mes moyens”). But not “trop cher” !

Or as a Romanian I use that a lot. And from time to time, I would see a brow raised, someone looking up too eagerly to assess the Martian who just committed sacrilege.

And you, what is your relationship to money? How's it like in your home or host country? Do you recognize yourself in the above or have a completely different position?

Comments

  1. Ioana25 February 2018 at 03:22

    Thanks for this post. As a Romanian living the the UK, I recognise those raised eyebrows as a response to "it's too expensive" oh so well! I have a bit of an unrelated question: I'm wondering how come you decided to write this blog in English? I find it an interesting choice - form personal experience, I find that every different language I speak has a way of structuring my communication in interesting ways. Good luck on this journey! I'll be reading with interest.

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    Replies
    1. dalvaim26 February 2018 at 05:14

      Thanks for the read. Glad to see that my experience has an echo in your life, too, even though it's not at all the same country we're living in !
      As for your question, I would answer it by saying that English seems to me more neutral and in the same time more direct than French or Romanian. So I needed that 3rd language when talking about 2 of the languages I master the most and who are most intimately tied together in my life, which is Romanian and French languages. Maybe your experience as a Romanian living in UK is a bit different, but this difference also interests me - and why not, maybe I'll write it about it, too one day :)

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