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We developed a taste for these trips, so we filed for permission to go to Italy again, then to France.
After we filed our requests, I received a phone call from a man who was the chairman of the PTA in my class. I had no idea where he worked, as I didn’t care for those things. ‘You want to take a trip to Europe, right?’ he asked me. ‘How do you know?’ – ‘I handle the passport-related issued at the Central Committee. Your passport and your wife’s passport arrived on my desk. Don’t you want to take your boy with you too?’ – ‘Please, don’t try to set me up. What do you take me for? I wouldn’t want to give you reasons to believe that I’m not planning to return.’ – ‘Comrade Roseanu, listen to me: have your boy apply for a visa too [16]!’ The man was right. One month later the three of us left for Europe by train. We crossed Hungary and Austria and we got to Italy. My son was in 11th grade and he enjoyed this trip a lot.
We were in Rome that night when Armstrong landed on the Moon. As you can imagine, we stayed tuned all night long. When he got off and took the first step, we were completely flabbergasted. It was an event impossible to forget. We went to Nice, then Marseilles, then Paris, where we spent a few days. We went window shopping and we were amazed by the comparisons that we made. For instance, we asked for a pair of shoes made of canvas, so they would be as cheap as possible – about 10 francs. Well, I think the shop-assistant spent no less than half an hour in the warehouse, looking for what we wanted. Not to mention the fact that they agreed to replace a pair of shoes someone back home had given us, asking us to try to have them replaced. It was a whole different world! And we began to wonder why we hadn’t been born in that world. But we came back. There were no second thoughts about that.
After we filed our requests, I received a phone call from a man who was the chairman of the PTA in my class. I had no idea where he worked, as I didn’t care for those things. ‘You want to take a trip to Europe, right?’ he asked me. ‘How do you know?’ – ‘I handle the passport-related issued at the Central Committee. Your passport and your wife’s passport arrived on my desk. Don’t you want to take your boy with you too?’ – ‘Please, don’t try to set me up. What do you take me for? I wouldn’t want to give you reasons to believe that I’m not planning to return.’ – ‘Comrade Roseanu, listen to me: have your boy apply for a visa too [16]!’ The man was right. One month later the three of us left for Europe by train. We crossed Hungary and Austria and we got to Italy. My son was in 11th grade and he enjoyed this trip a lot.
We were in Rome that night when Armstrong landed on the Moon. As you can imagine, we stayed tuned all night long. When he got off and took the first step, we were completely flabbergasted. It was an event impossible to forget. We went to Nice, then Marseilles, then Paris, where we spent a few days. We went window shopping and we were amazed by the comparisons that we made. For instance, we asked for a pair of shoes made of canvas, so they would be as cheap as possible – about 10 francs. Well, I think the shop-assistant spent no less than half an hour in the warehouse, looking for what we wanted. Not to mention the fact that they agreed to replace a pair of shoes someone back home had given us, asking us to try to have them replaced. It was a whole different world! And we began to wonder why we hadn’t been born in that world. But we came back. There were no second thoughts about that.
Period
Interview
Roseanu Oscar