Greetings
Bună ziua
BOO-nuh ZEE-wah
Good day — the polite default. In Cluj you will also hear 'Szia' and 'Jó napot' from the city's Hungarian community.
Daily life
Permis de ședere
per-MEES deh SHEH-deh-reh
Residence permit, issued by the IGI office for Cluj county after you arrive on a D-series long-stay visa.
CNP
cheh-neh-PEH
Cod Numeric Personal — your personal numeric code, issued with the residence permit. Nothing works without it.
Aviz de angajare
a-VEEZ deh an-ga-JA-reh
The employment approval your employer must obtain from IGI before you can even apply for the visa. First link in a chain you cannot reorder.
Garsonieră
gar-so-nee-EH-ruh
A studio flat. The unit that dominates the Cluj rental market and the one students and newcomers compete hardest for in September.
Someș
SO-mesh
The river through the city. The Someș riverside redevelopment is the biggest civic project here after the metro.
Culture
Kolozsvár
KO-lozh-vaar
The Hungarian name for Cluj, used daily by around a sixth of the city. Street signs in the centre are bilingual.
Untold
un-TOLD
The festival that takes over the city and the Cluj Arena for four days each August. Accommodation prices triple and the centre becomes impassable.
Food
Kürtőskalács
KUER-tursh-ka-lahch
Chimney cake — a spiral of sweet dough baked on a spit. Hungarian in origin and sold on every Cluj corner.
Social
Merge
MER-jeh
'It works', or 'it'll do'. Applied to plumbing, deadlines and bureaucracy with equal confidence across Romania.
Emergency
112
OO-nu OO-nu doy
The single emergency number for police, ambulance, fire and mountain rescue. Romania has no separate legacy numbers.
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