1. People have a quizzical look on their face when you tell them where you are from

2. You usually have to explain where/what your country is

3. Have a significant number of acquaintances who work abroad illegally

4. You have, or are striving to get, several passports

5. You use Romanian words with Russian endings and the other way around. Also, you freely mix Russian and Romanian when you speak (i.e. Ian uitate shi sumka prikolinaia)

5.1 Supposedly bilingual from "birth" (Romanian and Russian), you barely speak properly either language …rather, you’re somewhere in between

6. In a 12-seat Maxi Taxi (marshrutka) twice as many people manage to find a place (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yUJOIWbtxgo)

6.1 You hope you'll get a seat in the Marshrutka when you hear the plastic bag noise in the back

7. You study abroad and always have the highest grades and explain it through Chernobyl’s positive influence on your brain. If you get low grades, you blame Chernobyl

8. Your foreign friends all know Zdob si Zdub because you keep playing it when you feel homesick

9. People still call you Russian after you already told them you are from Moldova

10. Once they find out that you are Moldovan, people from other ex-Soviet countries immediately start speaking to you in Russian



11. You have/had carpets on your walls

12. You always cook a LOT of food for the New Year as if it were your last dinner. Olivie salad and “chiftie” (or “racitura) are among the prepared dishes

13. You or someone in your family celebrates Christmas on Jan 7th and New Year’s on Jan 14th

14. You reuse plastic bags as trash bags. Also, you reuse gift wraps.

15. You use the term “Fanta” as a name for plastic bottles AND you reuse your Fanta bottles (i.e. for wine)

16. Bad language with references to someone’s mother is something fairly common

17. You enjoy bargaining, even at the grocery store

18. Rasarita prajita (sunflower seeds) is a perfectly acceptable dinner and helps bond with your female relatives

19. You greatly enjoy eating various pickled vegetables (i.e. castraveti shi patlagele murate) with several of your meals

20. Your mom never throws away anything. If you manage to sneak something in the garbage your mom takes it from there and puts it wherever it was before



21. You think that drinking a glass of red wine every day helps you “get more blood.” Alternatively, it serves as good protection against radiation.

22. You’ve been reproached for being disrespectful when you refused to drink alcohol at someone’s house (even though you had a whole pitcher of wine prior to that and can barely walk)

23. You have witnessed gatherings where everyone drinks from the same glass by taking turns

24. Taking shots of wine is normal

25. You’ve seen your 5 year old sibling drinking alcohol at the dinner table on several occasions

26. You, or your parents, scream when talking on the phone with someone far away

26.1 You only make long distance calls after 11 p.m

27. You have a drink (or several) “la botul calului” when you leave someone’s house

28. You’re 20 and unmarried and your mom thinks that you are getting old

29. You’ve observed the ritual of “kidnapping” the bride and “selling” her back to the groom at a wedding ceremony

30. You’ve attended a wedding where all the guests take turns in announcing what they give to the young family as a gift



31. At the train station in Chisinau you saw written "La casa informatie nu se poate" (At the cash register information cannot ...)

32. You are all dressed in fancy clothes and high heels but you use cheap public transportation (troleibuz)

33. You have a 400-euro cell phone but no credit, so you “beep” somebody

34. When you go out in a club or fancy cafe, you display all your keys and always play with them noisily

35. You wear sunglasses in a disco.

36. You always dress up even if you are just going grocery shopping

37. When someone asks you how you are (ce mai faci) you give an honest answer instead saying you’re doing well (bine)

38. You are afraid of open windows in a moving vehicle because of the Curent (draft). The Curent is the root of all evils and will get you sick.

39. You do business with your relatives because “singele apa nu se face.”

40. It is legal for you to get married at 16, but illegal to smoke, drink and watch porn until 18



41. You can only travel if there are 5 persons at least to see you off or receive you whether you are traveling by bus, train or plane

42. When a woman asks "do you love me?" you usually answer: "What’s wrong with you?" (shii cu tini fa?)

43. Your mom tells you that you are too skinny even if you are 300 kilos overweight and have a stroke every time you breathe

44. You keep leftover food in your fridge in as many bowls as possible

45. Your vote was bought with a bag containing 200 grams of macaroni, detergent, and some cheap soap

45.1 You didn't go to the elections because no political party gave you the respective bag of generous "gifts"

46. Not many nations in Europe may have a better idea (on the national level!) about the difference between the European Union and Schengen Agreement area…

47. You talk for an hour at the front door when leaving someone's house

48. You refuse to pay 15 lei a month for the stairwell cleaning...but u r always pissed of how dirty your appartment building stairwell looks!

49. You know you need to move fast when at the "Piata centrala", cause you'll definitely get hit by a cart...

50. You wait for a commercial when watching TV, to wash the dishes



51. You understand what a policeman REALLY wants from you!

52. You enroll in that university, where you "have" someone....

53. You know at least one song from radio "Noroc" thanks to RuTieRaS.

54. In your opinion, Moldovan wine is better than French wine. You never had French wine...

54.1. You heard that Queen Elizabeth of England really likes Moldovan wine too...