Published: Thursday, 10th April, 2008 08:00
Special guests tour town
By Alex Gore
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Welcome: Back row (l-r) Elena Platon and acting headteacher Elode Bathe; middle row children (l-r) Alex Graves, 8, Jessica Graves; Front row adults (l-r) Calin Nandra, Mary Voicu, Camelia Stanciu, Zsuzsa Pilbath; front row children (l-r) Abbey Skinner, 9, Iona Skinner, 7. 080856a by Richard Velardo
Pic by: Richard Verlado
A GROUP of young eastern European professionals received the red carpet treatment during a visit to the Reading area.
The group – a lawyer, tax consultant, two university lecturers and an anaesthetist – from Romania and Moldova were taking part in an annual exchange programme organised by Pangbourne Rotary Club.
Reading police station, the Minster Church of St Mary, Reading Museum and the university were on the visit itinerary, and last Thursday the party visited Springfield Primary School in Barton Road, Tilehurst.
Zsuzsa Pilbath, a lawyer from Sfântu Gheorghe in central Romania, said:
“We have had a great time. The people here are very friendly and I have been impressed by all the green spaces around the town, as well as all the lovely architecture.”
Calin Nandra, an anaesthetist from Marghita in north western Romania, said: “Reading is such a nice town. I have enjoyed our stay very much, especially the older part of it. I love all the old buildings that you have here.
“I really like all the old churches and the old abbey, but most of all I have enjoyed the people. Everyone we have met in Reading has received us very well and helped us to enjoy our stay.
“It is a little different from where I’m living in Romania. It is more economically developed, but I think we will develop more and more as we joined the EU a year ago.”
Elena Platon, who lectures in molecular biology and human genetics at a university in the Moldovan capital Chisinau, said: “Reading is a fabulous place, surrounded by some beautiful countryside and the people are all very friendly and warm.
“I was also impressed by the university. It has many more facilities then the one I work in and the campus is about twice the size.”
Jim Skinner, a former president of the Rotary club and organiser of the visit, said: “The whole trip has gone very smoothly.
“They have been really impressed by Reading and seemed genuinely interested in everything they have seen and everyone they have met.”
The party spent last weekend at the Rotary Club annual conference in Bournemouth before heading to Banbury in Oxfordshire on Monday for the remainder of their stay in England.
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