This week...in your letters

“I listen to your English shortwave broadcast on 6145 kHz via your Galbeni transmitter. I am in the USA state of Florida. Your transmitted signal is very clear and clean; my reception of your broadcast is excellent. I really enjoy the music portions of your program. Thank your for being on the air for us!” (Thomas Carroll, USA)

“Hello there! My name is Jennifer Clark, and I just listened to you for the first time in Chicago. I found you on shortwave (on my cheap little Radio Shack receiver) at 6020 kHz. I enjoyed your show, and I intend to listen again. I would like a QSL card. (…) I just want you to know that listening to you now at 22:00 Central Standard Time (04:00 GMT) is now part of my nighttime ritual. There's nothing more relaxing after a frustrating day at work than turning on my new Grundig G8 Traveler Digital, tuning it to 6020 kHz, and listening Radio Romania International.  Just a word of advice-have the instructor for the Romanian Without Tears segment slow down a bit so us "students" can follow along. Anyway, it's a great show to listen to, as always, and I love listening.” (Jennifer Clark, Illinois, USA)

 “Hello to everyone at RRI. Thank you for another month of excellent programmes, and the QSL card for January. I notice the June card is for Bran Castle, a place I visited in 2010 and spent a very enjoyable day at the castle and the market in the village. Please find attached, my report for this month. The SINPO has been typical for this frequency, at this particular time, throughout the month.” (Mick Edwards, UK)

 “Hello Radio Romania, We are really moving in these months into 2014,It only seems like yesterday I was sending you my last monthly report. Your broadcast transmission today I picked up and received at midday on your frequency of 15.460 Khz with exceptionally good audio and some very minor background static. On Visit Romania you took the listener to Targu Jiu in the southeastern part of the country to learn about traditions and things to do and see when visited. Romanian without tears gave me a quick- to- learn guide of things to say while at the cinema. Some other program titles I heard was Romanian Musicians were some enjoyable classical music was being taken from sonic bridges, sports on RRI, pick of the week on arts and culture, and I learnt a little bit about the red breasted goose on think greener that seems to be a dying breed of bird. Also the cooking show rounded things off with an insight into Transylvania Saxon food culture. Talking of food on Tuesdays business club I heard about your dairy industry and which countries Romania imports and exports its produce too. Great Britain unfortunately is not one of them, but later down the line this I feel may change as now a number of Romanians and Bulgarians have come to live in the UK we might see over time pop up shops that cater for them like over the years we have seen a great deal of with Polish shops and delicatessens for the Polish communities. It would be very nice indeed to taste a bit of Romania some day! As always I am constantly learning from your broadcasts as it gives the listener a great insight into Romania's life and culture. The daily events in Romania for people like myself who share a weak spot for your country are very important indeed. To you all there in Bucharest at the English section and until the next time I am sending you my very best wishes.” (James Obrien, Cardiff, UK)

 “Hello there; while this isn't really a formal signal report I did want to write to you and let you know about a few recent thoughts on some changes that it seems RRI has been going through. I was actually really surprised when I saw that the Radio Romania International website was changed. I never got a chance to say that before. By the way, I also discovered that RRI has a Youtube channel. I never realized that before. As a lover of classical music, I especially liked the video of the National Radio Romania Orchestra in Shanghai. I would like to see more of that for sure! By the way, I was a little curious about the phone call service that Radio Romania International is now offering. I had never really heard of an on demand phone in service like that, so I decided to give it a try by calling 716-274-2526, and was surprised that it worked so well. Thank you for setting something up like that. Like I said, I wasn't aware of any other station doing anything like that, so I was once again pretty surprised. Though like I said this wasn't really intended to be a formalized reception report like I used to send in, I wanted to say that I could hear you strong on 6,020 kHz for your North America (West Coast) broadcast from my location here in Illinois in the United States of America. Thank you again for everything, and I hope to continue listening to your programs for many years to come! PS: I wanted to say that of all your programs, the Cooking Show is still my favorite! I hope to try out some of these Romanian recipes and share them with some of my friends and family shortly. Thank you very much for continuing this broadcast!” (John Rendace, USA)

“Dear friends at RRI, I was very glad to catch your recent broadcast on shortwave, which was received well here in Maine on the morning of March 9th.  Although the signal strength was not as strong as it is most evenings, I still copied 100% of the content. I enjoy listening to RRI to catch up on the news and events effecting Romania, but I especially like the music and cultural features, as they offer a glimpse into your traditions and history. This latest broadcast affirmed another reason to listen, as RRI offers a closer look and perspective into the events taking place in neighboring Ukraine. Thanks for continuing to broadcast on the shortwaves – which is, in my opinion, the most effective way for legitimate news and information to reach beyond borders and efforts to censor. Although it’s common lately to hear people comment about the Internet and mobile devices being a better source of information, I don’t know many who would go out of their way to listen to an international broadcaster via that medium. Shortwave radio has an element that few consider when bringing up these topics. Listening becomes a hobby in itself, and develops a kind of an interaction with the listener that is both personal and unique. Keep up the good work. P.S. – To all the ladies working in the English Section, Happy Women’s Day!” (Tim Watson, USA)