Meeting a Frontier Writer - Students' feedback

Raluca's feelings

It is said that one person can change your life for ever … and that was the feeling I had a few moments after meeting Mr Marian Ilea –the writer, the most extraordinary human being I’ve met in my entire life.
It is strange how a person (of whose existence you’ve never known before) can influence you that much so as to see life in a different light and also to make you feel free to give your opinion on subjects on which I, honestly did not even dare to reflect. Mr Ilea “freed” my mind and starved, as it was, he started to nourish it… He had a lot of things to share with us but the only problem seemed to be the time even though he did not show to even believe in the existence of time, as a notion, after all.
Our gift- because Mr Ilea was supposed to be a gift (it was more than that!!!!) surprised us all firstly due to his natural and surprisingly normal presence. Through his way of behaving he helped us discover that all writers are in fact tangible presences and why not even humans, and definitely not immortals or any other supernatural existences. Moreover he helped us enter into Romania’s literary society and he also gave us the chance to know it as it is and not how we’ve been told to from our teachers. Now I do know that we, Romanians, have a rich and of high quality literature and that (some of) today’s Romanians writers can actually be very good. In this respect, Mr Ilea’s words made me understand that our generation can do a lot of things in order to help these modern writers. Their works have to be known and advertising is the key!! If we (lucid beings) encourage, through the media, people to read works of high quality and if we show them which is the standard for quality our culture will be saved!!!!!!!!!
So, Mr Ilea, I’m very looking forward to reading your books and not only, and I promise you I’ll do my best to always choose quality and to admire (even if you do not approve) the writers that are worth being admired. Because, you see, despite all that you’ve said the writer remains covered in a heavenly and magical obscurity. Finally, I’ll have to disapprove you, Mr Marian Ilea- the writer, and say that being a writer is more than having a job; and I’ll say this in Romanian too: A fi scriitor e mult mai mult decat o meserie!!! It’s knowledge through which writers like you keep people like us alive!

Raluca Popa

11th C

2. Alexandra

I start by saying that the meeting on Saturday, 04.03.2006 was the best experience of my life. It was my first meeting with a writer.
I was very pleased to meet Mr. Marian Ilea.
I think that I could have stayed and listened to him for hours and hours and I would have wanted more.
I liked very much the way he was talking to us. It is a very open-minded person. Mr. Marian Ilea fascinated me completely, and he raised in me the interest for literature. I was really impressed by the familiar way Mr. Marian Ilea behaved.
I must admit that at first when I found out that a frontier writer was coming I was a little bit nervous, but as soon as I saw him and he started to talk, I was all ears and soon I noticed I wasn’t nervous any longer. I must say that I wanted very much to ask him a question but I was too impressed to think of one. Mr. Marian Ilea made me very curious about his books, especially “Desistea”, and I will certainly read it.
Besides the incredible meeting with Mr. Marian Ilea, the whole meeting on Saturday was great. Mrs. Mariana Hudrea is a great person, and even if I didn’t know her before the meeting, I can say that she is the best teacher. A person who cares for her students. After the meeting I can say that I don’t regret at all that I am involved in this project.

Alexandra Faje

3. Alin

My “borderline” feelings

On the 4th of March 2006 I lived the most unbelievable experience in my life .
It was such a joyful Saturday for me.
Even if the meeting we had been invited to attend was programmed for only 1 hour, we got out of there after three and a half hours.
And you know why? Because we felt very well together. I could even say that after that meeting we are just like a small family: “the borderline family”.
I like very much my colleagues from the project. Even if we are in the same high school, I didn’t have the chance to really know them, to see how they live, what their feelings are. But after this meeting I felt closer to them.

I live in a beautiful town called Baia Mare with very nice people, and very beautiful places , like the places that are in the whole Maramures county.
This part of Romania has the borderline with another Eastern Europe country, Ukraine. This part of Romania is known in the whole country as a place full of history, full of traditions and with very charming people.

I personally feel proud because I am living in a borderline county. We are very close to our neighbors, the Ukrainians.
Some Ukrainians, living in Romania, are students at Colegiul National “Mihai Eminescu”, Baia Mare, and with this occasion, I had the opportunity to be in contact with them , to see how they feel in Romania , and I also want to know if Ukraine is different from ours and in which way. Most of the people say that if you live in a borderline county you aren’t very familiar with the real world and you are isolated. But those words aren’t true at all. I feel very good in my county, because my friends are here, they help me whenever I want, and in my county the people are very respectful with the strangers, and very warm to them.
So, if some of you, who read this essay will visit my county, you should know that in this part of Europe you will find all you need to fill at home, because you will be surrounded by the Romanians people , a very friendly and good nation.
We will wait for you in Romania, to visit Maramures and it’s surroundings!

Alin Suteu 11 G

4. Mirela

Hello teacher!

I am very pleased by the meeting that occured on Saturday.

I think that the meeting was a great success because you and even the writer Mr Ilea gave to us a "push" in trying to do a better job in this project. I hope that we all will do a great job in presenting Romania to the others.

But still I would like to talk about many things with the students from abroad.

In a few words the meeting was very succesful . I hope that from now on everyone will be motivated to go on with this project. After this meeting I realised that I enlarged my knoledge.

Mirela Campeanu 11E