School inauguration (2-3 december 2023)

Goodby dear guests! We hope to see you again, thank you for everything! ❤️💛💙

Here we are in the country! Our trip to Glasgow within the project “Hi! Come and get to know Romania together!” ended. It was a great joy and honour to meet the extraordinary children from St. Nicholas Romanian School – Glasgow and the Romanian community from “Welcome to God” Parish in Glasgow. Together we spent some wonderful days, which will remain in our soul for life! We cannot put into words our appreciation and gratitude for these admirable people, who overwhelmed us with everything they did for us with so much love and dedication!

THANK YOU, dear friends and we hope to see you all!

Professor Gabriela Ion

Today was an eventful day and lots of sunshine! After visiting David’s school, we all went to the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, a museum opened in 1901, where we explored and admired collections of art, history, Egyptian antiquities, medieval weapons, animals, etc. It is said that if you only have one day to visit Glasgow, this museum must see!

He then attended the University of Glasgow, founded in 1451. At this university many Romanians in our community studied and being a highly rated university worldwide, we made big plans for the future! 😀

Very close to the University is the Greek church ‘St. Luke’ where the friend of our parish and school, Fr. Mark Mitchell, serves. So, the last stop before Vespers was at Fr Mark’s, where we worshipped, sang carols and talked to Father Mark about the importance of learning Romanian and preserving ancestral traditions!

In all these trips we were accompanied by our priests, teachers and our dear guest, Father Nicolae Tanase- Pro Vita Valea Plopului Social Center. We thank the parents of the children, the volunteers of our school, the students from “Fanus Neagu” School Brăila, Mrs. Gabriela Ion and our sponsors who made possible the organization of this wonderful visit! ❤️❤️❤️

Romanian carols also reached the Greek church ‘St. Luke’ in Glasgow. Father Mark opened the door to our soul, who received our traditional carol! ❤️

A gorgeous December day in Glasgow, Scotland! Children from St. Nicholas Romanian School – Glasgow and “Fanus Neagu” School Braila, accompanied by their teacher, Mrs. Gabriela Ion and Prof. Daniela Ciupală from St. Nicholas Romanian School Glasgow visited Wellshot Primary school, where David Podaru studies.

We were all received extraordinarily well, and it was an unforgettable experience! David was very proud to introduce us to every corner of the school, and the teachers and the school principal prepared many surprises for us: we drank their national juice, Irn-Bru, tasted the delicious Scottish toffee and watched a game of dodgeball. David also prepared a presentation about Scotland in Romanian, and David’s colleagues asked us a lot of questions about Romania and the school where Braila students’ study!

Thank you to Mrs. Laing, the principal of the school, Mr. Hardie, principal teacher, and Ms. Dineley, the P6B teacher, for the extraordinarily warm welcome they gave us and for the love with which they welcomed us!

Today still has many surprises, we will be back! ❤️

P.S. David’s colleagues, Scottish and otherwise, pronounce in a Romanian gorgeous language: Good morning! and thank you, just as David taught them!

The most beautiful ‘Good morning’ that the children from “Fanus Neagu” School Braila heard was the one uttered by the colleagues of David Podaru, P6B student, at Wellshot Primary School in Glasgow and St. Nicholas Romanian School – Glasgow! Thank you, children, thank you David, you were a very good Romanian teacher! ❤️

December day in the capital of Scotland, in Edinburgh: it is raining, windy, dark and cold! But in bus no. 35, which takes us from the Parliament of Scotland to the National Museum is warm and great cheerfulness! Students “Fanus Neagu” School Braila and St. Nicholas Romanian School – Glasgow, their parents, teachers and priests, Father Nicolae Tanase – Pro Vita Valea Plopului Social Center sing carols together, enjoy and amaze the Scots who listen to them with delight!

Today, December 10th, we officially ended our school days, St. Nicholas Romanian School – Glasgow with a long-awaited event: we celebrated all our volunteers who made possible the inauguration of the school! They fulfilled the word of Fr Arsenie Papacioc who says that: “You do not have as much as you have, but you have as much as you give. And you don’t give of what you have, you give of what you are!” All these people gave of their time, of their love, of what they are and for this we thank them, and we are grateful! ❤️

Today we also said goodbye to Father Nicolae Tanase- Pro Vita Valea Plopului Social Center, who has been with us all these days and from whom we have all learned a lot! We hope to see you soon!

We told you about many of our activities at this time of year. We were glad to discover St. Nicholas as a quick helper and protector of our school, we enjoyed the guests, we enjoyed the children, but we have not yet shared with you our experiences from the big day of the inauguration of the school.

On December 3, 2023, the dream called St. Nicholas Romanian School – Glasgow came true. The day began with the Bishops’ Divine Liturgy celebrated by His Eminence Joseph, Metropolitan of Western and Southern Europe. With us were Mrs. Ioana Rădulescu, Acting German Consul General of Romania in Edinburgh, Consul Aurelia Titirez, Head of Belfast Consular Office, Mrs. Maria Marcas, Honorary Consulate of Romania in Aberdeen, Father Nicolae Tanase- Pro Vita Valea Plopului Social Center, servants’ parents from Scotland, grandparents, parents, children, guests from Braila from “Fanus Neagu” School Braila accompanied by Prof. Gabriela Ion.

After the Divine Liturgy, the long-awaited moment of the children’s celebration arrived, organized on the occasion of Romania’s National Day. This celebration was attended by both the children of the Romanian School “St. Nicholas” in Glasgow and students from the Secondary School “Fănuș Neagu” in Brăila, coordinated by prof. Daniela Elena Ciupala and Gabriela Ion, all dressed in folk costumes and T-shirts with the school’s logo.

All the guests present admired the sweet Romanian language in which our children recited and sang their longing for their native lands, grandparents and everything that Romania means. A special moment was the presentation of the model made with much love by the students from Braila, through which it was highlighted that, no matter how far we are from each other, no matter how great the physical distances between our schools, we are all Romanians, and we will always be close to each other with heart and thought. The celebration ended with the “Hora Unirii” in which we all got caught up and through which we expressed our brotherhood and connection between us.

The official speeches that followed emphasized the importance of preserving our ancestral identity, language and traditions. Although they could not be present for objective reasons, the ambassadors from the Embassy of Romania in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, British Embassy Bucharest and UK in Moldova – British Embassy Chisinau sent us messages of congratulations and encouragement! We thank them this way too! The guests and priests present received a small gift from the children, and Prof. Gabriela Ion offered our school a wonderful icon dressed in the traditional Romanian towel with the patron saint of the school, St. Hierarch Nicholas.

All children present in the church received rich gifts from St. Nicholas through the Parish “Welcome to the Lord” – Glasgow, FloTek – Print & Signs, but also the school “Fănuș Neagu”. The events were publicized by TRINITAS TV, whom we thank for their receptivity and professionalism.

The surprises for children didn’t end at church! Alina Pascaru cakes made a cake in the shape of a school, which the children enjoyed with great pleasure. Also, Elena’s Art-Crafts offered all guests traditional handmade products.

We remind you that this project “Hi! Come and get to know Romania together!” was carried out with the support of the Department for Romanians Abroad and in collaboration with “Meeting of our Lord” Parish – Glasgow and “Fanus Neagu” School Braila and which had as finality the official inauguration of our school!

All these things would not have been possible, first of all, without the help of St. Nicholas who showed us his great love for children, without the contribution of the heartfelt team of volunteers of the Romanian School “St. Nicholas” in Glasgow, without the support of our sponsors, without Father Nicolae Tanase who was with us throughout this period and supported us and without the presence and involvement of our wonderful children!

To all of you, to those who have been with us

To all of you who have always helped us

To all of you, to those who have given us your time, your love, your trust

To all of you, to those who believed in us and in our dream of having a Romanian school

To all of you… Thank you! ❤️❤️❤️

The project “Hi! Come and get to know Romania together!” has recently ended and we want to share with you some of the most wonderful events we have all taken part in!

On Saturday, December 2, 2023, after spending a morning together at the Science Centre in Glasgow, we then went to church where we participated in the most uplifting moment of the day, of the project until then: the service of St. Nicholas Akathist with Father Nicolae Tanase- Pro Vita Valea Plopului Social Center.

There were moments we will never forget: children from two schools in Glasgow and Romania, St. Nicholas Romanian School – Glasgow and “Fanus Neagu” School Braila, dressed in folk costumes, with candles in their hands, learning to thank the patron saint of their school, St. Nicholas.

Father Nicolae Tanase, an outstanding friend of our school, emphasized the important role that Romanian children have as permanent ambassadors of Romania in the countries where they live! ❤️

We were honoured and very happy to have by our side Mrs. Interim Consul from the General Consulate of Romania in Edinburgh, Mrs. Ioana Rădulescu and Mrs. Consul, Head of the Consular Office in Belfast, Mrs. Aurelia Titirez. Thank you for joining us every time!

First winter day in Glasgow! Maximum joy for all our children from St. Nicholas Romanian School – Glasgow and “Fanus Neagu” School Brăila who played with snow and were fascinated by the multitude of experiments they were able to participate in at the Science Centre in Glasgow! It is just the beginning of a wonderful day; we are all going to meet at the “Meeting of our Lord Parish” church – Glasgow. Here we will make the last rehearsal for tomorrow’s celebration, we will participate in St. Nicholas Akathist, and we will talk to Fr. Nicolae Tanase- Pro Vita Valea Plopului Social Center! We will be glad to have in our midst Mrs. Consul, interim manager, Ioana Rădulescu, from the Consulate General of Romania in Edinburgh! We look forward to welcoming all of you who can join us! ❤️