<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Hello, everyone!<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
We’re slowly getting back to our business-as-usual way of
\ndoing things around the office. Last week we saw the last reruns of our
\n7-minute features over the summer period, as we’ve accustomed you in recent
\nyears. We’re also getting ready to launch the 2023-2024 programme schedule, but
\nwe’ll let you know about that both on air and online. Meanwhile, we are
\ngrateful we are able to post this new roundup of your contributions, which as
\nusual have arrived in great numbers at our office. So without further ado,
\nlet’s look at some of the more interesting messages we got from you.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
***<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Mohamad Haidir Hasim (Malaysia) listened to our station on
\nthe National Day of his country – (Happy Independence Day, btw). Our listener
\nenjoyed our Romanian-language broadcast, managed to understand some of the
\nwords spoken and benefitted from good reception conditions, as you can see for
\nyourself. Thanks, Mohamad, we’re happy you are always try to listen to our
\nother language broadcasts as well.<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
***<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
From India, Bidhan Chandra Sanyal reminded us September 1
\nmarked International Letter Day. And what better way to celebrate this occasion
\nthan to send an electronic letter (admittedly) to our station. Here is his
\nmessage. <\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Today is International Letter Day. Letters were once one
\nof the means of communication. With the evolution of time, the medium of letter
\nwriting has also changed.<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
What the English orator Somerset Mum said long ago is true
\nin today’s reality. Letter writing is truly a lost art. I’m good, I’m
\ngood, write a letter to the address of the sky, poet Rudra Muhammad
\nShahidullah while writing the lyrics of this song, did he ever think that
\npeople will write letters only to the address of the sky, that is, on the
\ninternet (e-mail)!<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Although there is disagreement about how letters were
\nexchanged before Shershah’s horse mail was in vogue, it is well known that
\nnowadays no one goes to the post office without a letter of paperwork or an
\napplication letter. But once upon a time, letters were a means of communication
\nwith people who were far away. Not only far away, the words that could not be
\nsaid to someone very close to the heart were also carefully arranged in the
\nletter. How many stories, how much history would be in one letter! And there
\nwas a lot of emotion.<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Letter! There are many memories and emotions associated
\nwith this matter. Letters were once one of the means of communication. Before
\nthe age of mobile phones and e-mails, letters were valued everywhere. The
\nemotion of letter writing is not found in today’s messenger text or mail. Earlier,
\neach letter used to become a life-blood in each person’s life. Nowadays letters
\nare hardly used except for official work. Very few people now write letters
\nabout their loved ones. Letters were not only love, but all forms of
\ncommunication. An unemployed job news, a letter to the mother of a son abroad
\nor a letter written by a mother for her son abroad. A death letter would once
\nagain bring chaos to the family. Not only did people write letters to distant
\nor unseen people, with whom they met often or lovers who met every day also
\nwrote letters to each other. Because, the feelings of the heart can be
\nexpressed in beautiful words in a letter, but it cannot be said in the mouth Greetings,
\ninquiries, sending money, job offers all used to come through letters at one
\ntime. As before, letter boxes are no longer seen at the gates of houses. Many
\npeople may have heard that a lover used to write letters to his beloved with
\nperfume. These are not fake stories, they are true.<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
As a result of the advancement of science, mobile phones
\nare now one of the main sources of communication. Due to the use of various
\nsocial media, the letter has lost its tradition. In social media where the mind
\nis being communicated instantly, who would use letters anymore?<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Bankimchandra wrote, ‘The day of the stick is gone.’ Yes,
\nthe day of the stick is long gone. Also, with the advancement of social media,
\nthe days of many other things may have passed. The letter has now become a
\n‘text’. So by borrowing the words of Bankimchandra, it can be said that the
\nletter has passed away!<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
However, you can write letters today on International
\nLetter Day. Today, you can write a letter in a colorful envelope with red and
\nblue pages in bold colors. whose beginning is loving and whose end will be
\nyours. Not just lovers or lovers to each other; You may have never been able to
\ntell your father that you love him, but you can tell him in a letter. You can
\nalso write a letter to your mother today. You can also write a letter to an old
\nfriend from your childhood who you may not be in touch with much now. After
\nmany days of married life, those who are no longer romantic can write letters
\nfull of compassion to each other today.<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Thanks again, Bidhan, for this message. Your insights are
\nalways valuable to our community!<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
***<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Christer Brunstr\u00f6m (Sweden) sent us his usual monthly
\nreport, adding: In Sweden the months of July and August were extremely wet
\nresulting in huge damage to infrastructure and to the farmers’ crops. The month
\nof September has started with sunnier and mostly dry weather. I suppose we are
\nnow witnessing the impact of climate change. Is this being seriously discussed
\nin Romania?<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
There have been a number of measures designed to improve
\ncrop harvest and planning in recent years, which unfortunately turned
\nineffective due to rainfall getting increasingly limited, even in traditionally
\nhumid months (such as May and June). And then of course there are EU-wide
\nmeasures that are implemented in Romania too, meant to curb the effects of
\nclimate change. Unfortunately, the results are late to appear, much like
\neverywhere else.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
***<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Alan Holder (England) sent us the following message: <\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
I trust that everyone at your radio is in good health. By
\nnow I expect you will all have taken your summer vacations and I hope that you
\nhave enjoyed your break from work and perhaps have done some travelling as
\nwell.<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Being
\nBritish I guess I have to speak about the weather. Lately it has been very hot
\nhere (for us anyway) with temperatures around the 30 degree mark. What makes it
\nso unbearable is the humidity. As I write this letter, the situation is
\nchanging, with cooler weather on the way, thank goodness. In a previous Mailbag
\nshow, I have heard you speak about how hot the summers can get in Romania.<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
I
\ncontinue to derive great pleasure from listening to your programming. RRI has
\nsuch a great variety of interesting and entertaining programmes on offer. In my
\nopinion, few international broadcasters can match your standards.<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Traveler’s Guide is one of my long time favorite
\nprogrammes. I have learned so much about the many spectacular scenic places and
\nhistorical towns and cities that can be found in your country.<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
The History Show recently focused on the German Deutsche
\nWelle’s Romanian service, which was set up during the cold war days. I do
\nremember coming across it on my short wave radio many times in the past. With
\nthe changed political situation in Europe and budget cuts, sadly now there is
\nonly an Internet web page offering in your language.<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
On August 23rd, Inside Romania presented an excellent
\nreport about the Oradea Tram Drivers’ Championship. It must have been a great
\nexperience for those taking part, coming from many different European
\ncountries. I sure wish I was there as a spectator. However, fortunately I was
\nable to watch a YouTube video of the event. I am a particularly keen railways
\nand trams enthusiast.<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Society Today recently presented an item about Jeno
\nMajor, and his work to preserve a photographic history of archaic Romanian
\nvillages. Without such archive material, evidence of these places and
\ntraditions will surely disappear as time passes so he is to be commended for
\nhis actions.<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
In the Spotlight on August 30th had a report about the
\nfuture of education in Romania and the plans to follow the Finnish model. I’d
\nlike to ask you to present an account of Home Schooling in Romania. Is it
\nbecoming a more popular option for parents and how does your government view
\nit? In the U.K. more children are being home schooled, with numbers increasing
\nafter the Covid lockdown. Personally, I am not in favour of it as I think it is
\ndetrimental to a child’s social skills. In addition, many parents can hardly do
\nthe job of a qualified teacher. In the U.K. parents do not have to follow the
\nNational Curriculum, so it is up to them what subjects they can teach and how
\noften. There is no assessment of the child’s work by any education official
\neither.<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Regarding suggestions for future broadcasts, please can we
\nhave a return to the pre-Covid lockdown situation, where RRI broadcast both the
\nListener’s Letterbox AND DX Mailbag every week?<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Dear Alan, we’ll try to provide answers to each of your
\ncomments \/ inquiries. <\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
We did have an unseasonably hot summer, with the start of
\nSeptember peaking in the mid 30s during the day and in the lower 20s at night,
\nwhich is at any rate far better than August. <\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Sadly, due to the budget cuts, there is little room for
\nadditional content available both on air as well as online. We hope the overall
\neconomic context will improve, also allowing our station to revert to its
\nnormal broadcasting habits.<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
We are aware of the education in the UK allowing parents to
\nopt out of standard curricula, something which unfortunately is not the case in
\nRomania – at the end of each cycle, to be able to pass a degree all students \/
\npupils must take exams testing a very specific set of curricula, and the
\nassessment is pretty much standard, without discriminating between the type of
\nschooling children benefited from. Home schooling is indeed not as commonplace
\nin Romania as it is elsewhere, and it could make for an interesting topic for
\nour future programmes. <\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
As regards your suggestion, it is very hard for us to run
\nthe LLX and DX mailbags on a weekly basis, partly because we don’t have the
\nsanctioned slots in our schedule (we need to make a formal request in this
\nregard), and also because we often don’t have enough comments and suggestions
\nto present in our Listeners Letterbox programme on a weekly basis. Most of our
\nmessages are reception reports and technical feedback, which is why we decided
\nto increase our online visibility with the Listeners Corner section, where we
\ntry to cover as many of the contributions you send us as possible, inviting you
\nalso to contribute as often as you can.<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
At any rate, thanks a lot for this message, Alan, we very
\nmuch appreciate it.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
***<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
From the USA, we go a nice message from our listener and
\nfriend Gary Paulson, who has been picking up our signal loud and clear in his
\narea. Here is what our listener writes:<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Good evening my friends at Radio Romania!<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
In spite of cutbacks in Shortwave Signals available since
\nAugust 1st, picking you up on 9850 khz in Seattle Washington USA is coming in
\nso good that I had to Re-EQ to tone down the Overload! But trust me, that’s a
\ngood thing! Lol<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Thank you for your honorable mention of my last reception
\nreport! A first from you all! I was camping last night in the mountains while
\ntuning in and I was telling my wife, Catherine that I had sent a message to you
\nlast week and I was actually wondering at that time if you Would mention it!
\nAnd behold! You did! I was beyond excitement! I called Catherine over real
\nquick and we both listened very closely, with great excitement! We were already
\nexperiencing a wonderful place that we don’t get to spend enough time at so
\nit’s precious when we’re there! And your Hello from Romania made the evening
\neven more Special!!<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
So thank you very much!<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Tonight at 3:00 UTC the signal is dancing at the very top
\nof my SDR display! Reception is Very Sharp! No less than perfect! And Crystal
\nClear! I’m home now in the city and surprisingly, against all of the RF and
\nAtmospheric challenges that we’re usually faced with, your signal couldn’t be
\ncoming in better if it were FM Stereo!????<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
I hope that this report finds all of you whom make this
\nwonderful hour of Shortwave Radio possible, in the Greatest of Spirits!<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Thank you for from your friends Gary Catherine, Gidget and
\nRudy (our dogs)<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
From Seattle Washington USA!<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Cheers!<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Well, that’s surely one big happy listening to our station.
\nThanks for all your latest contributions, Gary, we are very grateful. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
***<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Alan Gale (UK) wrote to us sending his Listeners Club
\nreport for August 2023. Here is what he adds: <\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
After two very cool and wet (and welcome) months in July
\nand August, September has seen a mini-heatwave here in the UK – what an unusual
\nsummer we have had. With the Equinox just a couple of weeks away we should soon
\nsee a change, not only to the terrestrial weather, but also to the solar
\nweather too, and it will be interesting to see how this affects the reception
\nof RRI here.<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
I have been mainly listening to the DRM service on 13750
\nkHz, which is very good on the majority of days, but still occasionally suffers
\nwith splatter from the very wide signal of China Radio International, which can
\ncause some drop- outs, but when time permits I listen to the 1100 UTC broadcast
\non 17630 kHz, which can be a bit variable depending on solar activity, but is
\nusually readable here. <\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Well, we’re happy you’re still able to listen to RRI, all
\nthings considered. We hope reception quality will remain decent, despite
\nweather changes.<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Dear Alan, hope the weather won’t affect reception quality
\nthat much and you will still be able to following on DRM broadcasts. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
***<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Sakae Onozawa (Japan) sent us his usual monthly report,
\nadding the following: <\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
In this program, I was very interested in Andrei
\nSchwartz’s latest documentary film, Europa Passage.<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
In Japan, there are very few opportunities to watch
\nRomanian documentary films, either in movie theaters or on TV. Japan
\nBroadcasting Corporation (NHK) occasionally airs special programs on foreign
\ndocumentaries, so this is one of the few opportunities I have to watch them. I
\nam looking forward to the day when Europa Passage will be aired in
\nJapan.<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Dear Sakae, we’re happy you enjoyed our broadcast and hope
\nthe film reaches your country as well. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
***<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
It’s the end of this post, but as usual, at the end, we’d
\nlike to thank everyone who send us reception reports, comments and feedback. We
\nappreciate all your contributions and we hope to hear more from you in the
\ncoming period. Our thanks thus go to Jaouad Saber (Morocco), Abdul Mannan
\n(Bangladesh), Anand Mohan Bain (India), Tomasz Kotas (Poland), Kraig Krist
\n(USA), Vincent Everett (USA), Toshiki Tsuboi (Japan), Ray Erlandson (USA),
\nNorihiko Ide (Japan), Alex Choroba (Germany), Timofeyev Uhra (Kazakhstan), Art
\nWormald (Canada), Francis Lawlor (Ireland), Hiromichi Kinoshita (Japan), Hans
\nVerner Lollike (Denmark), Igor Belevich (Belarus), Shin Makino (Japan), Alex
\nMitalikov (Ukraine), Siddhartha Bhattacharjee (India), Muhammad Shamim (India),
\nMisayo Tanaka (Japan), Jaydee Llave (USA), Jay Ayer (USA), Chris Malboeuf (Canada),
\nRichard Lemke (Canada), Malik Allah Bachaya (Pakistan), Ratan Kumar Paul (India),
\nEddy Witano (Indonesia), John Jurasek (USA), Cyril MacDonald (Canada), <\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A roundup of messages we’ve received in the last two weeks<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":41,"featured_media":176727,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[111],"tags":[],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-721818","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-povestea-vorbei"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n