Romanians are friendly, in a cold New England cold sort of way.
You don't see a lot of people smiling on the streets. More than in Lithuania though. People stare at you as you go by. Well, they stare at me, but I look out of place almost anywhere. And saying good morning seldom gets a response.
Once you break the ice though, they are great and very friendly people. If they think you need help, they will stop to help if they think they can. Otherwise, you are a pink unicorn.
I have been invited to midnight Romanian Barbeques. I have been offered home made wine, plumb whiskey, blueberry liquor. Really, very nice.
BUT, According to one Romanian women, " See! Women are exploded here?". She said this as she smiled and told her husband to go do the dishes. Yes, she said exploded instead of exploited.
I love Romanians.
BUT...., there is always a but. The Service Industry. Oh Boy. The wait staff in restaurants, hotel managers, store clerks? Snarl. A "what are you doing here bothering me snarl". Even if they understand English perfectly, they will not offer anything but the bare minimum. There will be no suggestions, no offers of help in menu translation. If you ask, they will help. They answer ONLY the question they are asked. If you ask if the tour starts here, they will say yes. They will not tell you it is not for another hour. If you say you are concerned about the security of the parking lot, do you have cameras, they will answer yes. They won't mention that the cameras point at nothing but trees. They will also not mention the 24 hour security guard that would basically be staring at the bike all night. In between questions there is a Bovine lack of interest. They do tend to be competent and will perform their job quite well, but with no enthusiasm. It is not just Romania, Hungary and Czechia and other countries here are like this. The wait staff does not get paid well, so at least a 10% tip is expected. Maybe they have not served enough Americans, but where I come from, better service means better tips.
I was at one place, although this might have been before Romania, where it was obvious that someone had tried to train the staff in how to treat their guests. The staff would come by and ask how your meal is or if they can get you anything, all with a painful looking smile like they were biting into an onion. Of course, they asked these questions as they were running by, so you did not really have a chance to answer. At least they tried. It was a good effort.
It is not as if they are unfriendly, or unhappy, it is just a culture, just the way it is.
Culture is slow to change, but it does change.
The other day I was in a restaurant, and the waiter came to the table to ask if I wanted wine. I asked if he spoke English, he nodded. That does not mean much. I said I already ordered wine. Confusion followed, as I thought he just did not understand English, but he did, and was sent over to my table specifically because he spoke English. Then he made a suggestion of a better, less expensive Romanian wine that he said I could get by the glass, despite what the menu said. He also made menu choice suggestions without being asked. And checked up on me frequently. And in the end asked if I wanted desert and made a good suggestion there. Crazy. I almost had a heart attack when he actually smiled. Not a snarl, but an actual, honest smile.
Another annoying thing they do, at least to this American's way of thinking, is when they come to your table with the menu, they immediately stand there with pen and paper in hand ready to take your order. If you order a drink they will write that down and wait. If you tell them you need a few minutes, they will leave never to be seen again.
I don't need to pick on Romanians, that just happens to be the country I am in as I write this. Any of the former communist countries tend to be like this. It is more a regional thing. The younger the person is, the less likely the person is like that. As I said, culture is hard to change but it does change.
As for friendly Romanians, it is not just the Romanians. Everywhere I go I meet friendly people. Some places they are more outgoing and with others it takes longer to break the ice, but people are great all over the world.