Since it’s open season for exams and evaluations right now, we have asked some members of “Teach you how to stunt” division to write down what they’re thinking about while jogging (if they’re not listening to Britney Spears or other pop queens). Here’s what Gina Underwater wrote us:

Dear Olga friend, here’s the news in a totally random order:

Jon Stewart retires from the Daily Show, my laptop is slowly dying – I can feel it breathing heavily every time I open the browser, Johnny delusional is playing at the radio in this moment, rain starts flooding the streets again which is good news, I got my skin all burned while tanning like an idiot for 7 hours, Lana del Rey is a bit depressing, my golden shoes haven’t been used yet, I found a cool book with gypsy poems, Matlab is finally installed on my laptop, how is Brooklyn during the winter? My Bolivia fund went to shit, made some musical discoveries that go well with the commute, I plan on running away from home with the motorcycle, never again will I eat pizza, a normal conversation takes place at 60dB, pain is not fun, library rats are nice people, the perfume I stole from my sister is mine now, the yoga mat has disintegrated, the planet Uranus rolls around the Sun like a dandy, I have added some new words to my vocabulary that I’m not willing to share, the concerts from last weekend were really cool, Camino del Santiago is my newest interest, a tattoo with a bear riding a bicycle saying “less upsetti more spaghetti” seems like a good idea, I need a tent for 4 nights, why the fuck did I go running last time? Bucharest is not a bad place to live in, the central nervous system does not regenerate, today I almost rescued a cat, wine is dangerous, taxi drivers are most likely to end up in jail, I think a skateboard would really improve my commute, Wild Tales should be on everyone’s “must watch” list, solid fuel is better than liquid fuel, the “magnets, BITCH” guy got a bit fat in the final season, there’s a blue shirt that I have to iron, shitstorm is a good name for a dog, sometimes I want to move out, dolphins have feelings, nobody gives a shit about Monica Lewinsky anymore, I should definitely go to Sweden this summer, facebook is a stubborn bitch that won’t let go easily, I should listen more often the albums I have home, a lime costs more than a lemon, my empathizing friends are good with empathy, wikihow should make an article about how to steal a tent and get away with it, nails are unnecessary and I CAN judge a book by its cover.

Million thanks, bye!

Once a month, the board members of Teach you how to stunt travel outside of Bucharest to hold seminars on English grammar and punctuation in high schools. This time, we traveled by train to beautiful Moldova and shared some interesting stories with a young motocross rider. Unfortunately,  our train broke down and we had to go separate ways, but we kept in touch by e-mail and this is what our inbox offered us a few days ago:

Ahoy, my CFR acquaintaces,

I’ve made it home, finally. A trip that’s normally 5 to 6 hours long turned into a 9 hours obstacle race with 4 different trains, coffee, melted ice-cream and lots of stray dogs. All I kept thinking about was “YOU SHOULD HAVE BOUGHT A SQUIRREL”, the scene from Rat Race; maybe if I had waited for the 1 o’clock train I wouldn’t have had this adventure. No regrets, though, it wasn’t that bad because I had music and enough time for a coffee in each train station. 

The best thing about music is that it can transcend you from the shitstorm you’re witnessing, in my case away from the angry people screaming like maniacs because the train broke down, to a place of  stillness and guitar solos.  If it hadn’t been for my mp3 player I would have probably high-fived someone. In the face.

I have decided to dedicate my Saturday to motorcycling, as I received 5l worth of magic fuel to burn on the road. For something that’s so amazingly wonderful, beyond freedom and adrenaline, the motorcycle is still viewed as a death wish in my hometown. Again, I am not doing wheelies or trying to go all Evil Knievel, I’m just enjoying the journey. On Sunday I’ll try to wake up as early as possible and wish for non-rainy weather so I can burn the remaining of those 5 liters. 

Greetings from home, strangers from the train. I’ll be back after I finish my soup.

Alessandra. 

A wise man once said: “be careful what you wish for ‘cause you just might get”. Even though it’s a Pussycat Dolls lyric and not a famous quote that doesn’t make it any less true. I wished for a two-day road trip with four perfectly sane friends and what I got was a migraine, some dancing skills and too much coffee. And no moussaka.

Transportation. The road from Bucharest to Sofia stretches across approx. 390 km from the Danubian plain and into the Balkans. It’s basically a 5-6 hours drive, unless it’s a national holiday and you’re stuck at border control with 73% of the population that leaves the country. The scenery is a bit boring for the first 300 km but once you enter the Balkans and start sipping some “afinată” the scenery (and everything) gets better. Bulgaria’s landscape is varied, from boring plains to ups-and-downs, tunnels into the Balkans and motocross valleys, and a road trip by car lets you enjoy all of it.

Local cuisine. Or bars, because the cuisine was closed. Our attempt to eat moussaka failed gracefully because we got lost, Siri lost her voice because of the low battery, the restaurants in the city center were all sushi based and the traditional restaurant we did find on the map was not yet open. Our meal plan included the holy sandwiches, coffee from gas stations, some veal/duck meat with colored sauce and drinks to keep us hydrated. Interesting enough was that pubs and bars open late in the night, after 11-12 pm it’s when people start showing up.

Top attractions. Well, Aleksander Nevsky cathedral – the massive symbol of Sofia, and Bulgaria, is hard to miss, Saint Sofia statue standing on a column in the middle of the road replacing Mr. Lenin since 2000, the mineral baths (closed, unfortunately), Sveta Nedelya cathedral – a pretty domed church near the city center, Banya Bashi mosque and plenty of other churches, parks and nice boulevards. You can find free walking tours, food tours, pub crawls, sushi bars.

The city itself is amazing, it’s a combination of Balkan energy and western mystery, both peaceful and busy at the same time. It’s the orthodox crossroads of the Balkan peninsula.

P.S. just listen to this madness.

Ozana is one of the kids who started from the very beginning of the program back in 2006 when she was still in high school. Now she’s writing us weekly “thank you” notes or little stories from her daily life.  Teach you how to stunt has proven, once again, to be an inspiration for young individuals.

My beloved teachers,

I have been studying German lately as an addition to the English courses I’m currently enrolled in. It is challenging indeed, but I praise myself for leaving no stone unturned. I have organized my day in a sequence of learning sessions, starting as early as 5 o’clock some days. It has been proven that an action turns to habit if repeated 66 days in a row. The calendar on my wall informs me I’m currently at day 3 and I can say this experiment I’m conducting it’s everything except nice. 

Firstly, why on planet Earth would someone wake up at such an early hour? The subways barely work at 5, how am I supposed to do that ? The phone starts screaming like a maniac at 05:00, strategically positioned 4 meters away from the bed, waiting for me to move my ass to snooze it. Oh I do, I snooze the shit out of it until a more decent hour (normally 06:30).

Secondly, from the moment I’m supposed to wake up until I get to work it’s already a difference of 4 to 5 hours. Which means I’m hungry (again) and can barely keep my eyelids open at 09:30. Thanks to the holy mother of the baby Joseph for coffee and ghetto music. 

I know Andaluzia has told you about our trip to Sofia this weekend, I’m pretty excited myself. Road trips are always a source of inspiration. And disease, but I’m trying to keep a positive note here. The Berlitz pocket phrase book that’s helping me on my foreign studies is always in my bag, not pocket. Yesterday I realized, while shopping for groceries, that I was speaking loudly in Lidl, in German nonetheless. Die katze, schmetterling, flughafen, apfelkuchen, schuh. I think listening to some german rap music will do wonders, I’ll check with youtube. 

Hope you are all ok and the program is still helping students improve their English, it has been wonderful for me so far. Teach you how to stunt has taught me not to think of Shakespeare as an arrogant ass anymore, million thanks for that. 

Hugs and kisses,
Ing. Ozana. 

Andaluzia, a 24 years old architecture student, has been very diligent and keen on showing us her progress.

Hello miss Olga,

Today i wake up at 6 jumate, i go swimming, i walk around just in chiloti while the others cover their bodies, i laugh. Now i ride the “ciuma subterană” to work while i drink a cappuccino and eat a napolitană la 1 leu 50 very gustoasa. Andaluzia is super încântată cause she’s going to Sofia on a low budget with 4 other humans, very cool humans, on Friday morning. Hopefully Dănuț, or Adela, se vor trezi early without cursing and kicking me in the face. I know Ozana and Daniela are early birds, the others are my concern. At bazin i met this nice lady, a little old but totally naked. It’s the second time we shower together, but now i don’t look at her genitals anymore, i think we friends now. i remember my days in pijamale 24/7 laughing with Mimosa and drinking vișinată. life in bucharest is cool and wonderful and has flowers and căței except when it’s not cool and wonderful and the flowers die. today nice, although i have small headache because i sleep like idiot with geamul deschis. next week on the 8th i go to huge concert i paid moneyz for, billionz in Romanian currency, very excited also. Miss Olga, please accept my greetings from nice Bucharest where we have flowers înflorite and hope to see you very soon because mă apucă jalea sometimes when i listen to Stelu Enache. I hope you see my English language improving everyday, i just bought a dictionary from the anticariat which i try to use more often.

Love love love,
Andaluzia 🙂