* I have never been in a country that has entered the
European Union before. Now that Romania has ascended
to the EU there will be enormous amounts of change.
  I will attempt to share, what I learn and observe,
throughtout the duration of my time here regarding
changes and their effects.
  Yesterday a friend of mine from Nădlac, who works as
a teacher in the city of Arad, (50 kilometers due east)
received information. It was that a controller of schools
was going to her high school with an agenda relating to EU
educational policies and methods.
  This is the first EU activity that anyone has been aware
of.
  The school system here in Romania does need change,
many teachers concur. The existing practices are that of
the somewhat outdated system of rote learning.
  One of Newton’s laws states that an object will continue
going along without a change of direction unless affected by
a force. I think that without the EU ‘force’ affecting it, the
educational system would stay the same.
  The school children of today are actually outdistancing
the teachers. The kids are from the 'information generation'
and due to the internet and other media, are actually more
advanced it their thinking.
  I have to state here that the people of Romania, in general,
are extremely intelligent.
  One big criticism of the educational curriculum is that
it doesn’t promote creative thinking.   That is why the
new EU guidelines should help turn it around.
  Many teachers are concerned that they will begin to
have some sort of problem as a result, but that is yet
to be seen.
  We all know that change is something that many people
fear. I guess you can resist and be stressed, or in this
case, where there is no other option, embrace.
  My thought is that it is going to be an truly interesting
time with a lot of opportunities for people with imaginations.
Hopefully it is all good imagination.
  Despite problems the educational future is actually bright.
There is no way but up.
  I will continue to monitor the school situation in Arad and
will keep you up to date on the changes and complaints.