British expats are spread throughout the world, sometimes in countries that you might not have considered yourself. Today British Expats Directory offers you a small insight into being a British expat in Bulgaria thanks to Martin a Londoner who has made his home in Skalitsa a small village near Yambol, Bulgaria.
Where do you originate from?
I originate from London, England.
Where did you move too and where are you living now?
I have moved to a town called Yambol and my home is in a small village called Skalitsa in southeast Bulgaria and that’s where I live now.
What made you choose to move to another country?
Choosing to leave the UK had many reasons attached to it, but the main reason was I wasn’t happy in England and was lucky that Bulgaria was affordable for me to make the move. If it weren’t Bulgaria it would have been somewhere else in the world that had not been totally infected with materialistic and still retain family values.
How difficult was the process of moving, do you have any advice for someone seeking to do the same?
The process of moving down the road is difficult; moving abroad just makes it even more complicated. The advice is to plan ahead and seek advice from others who have made the move. Don’t always believe what you read or what people tell you, get advice from different sources and find common answers.
Moving abroad encounters many things that are different from the norm and that includes attitude. It is a matter of doing your best to foresee these differences and trying to deal with them. There will always be something that can’t be planned, but that’s all part of the adventure.
What are medical facilities like in your adopted country?
In Bulgaria the medical facilities are very basic, but adequate. I recommend private medical insurance if you can afford it, this is essential as there is a two-tier tariff on medical expenses here. Generally the medical profession are well qualified and caring, but the lack of investment in out of city areas is not to British ideals.
What is the climate like and would it suit someone from the UK?
For some Brits, the extremes of weather would become stressful. It may be too hot in the summer and too cold in the winter. Spring and autumn are like British summers with less rain. Storms and winds tend to be more violent than the UK and some parts of the country in the north and south are subjected to regular earthquakes.
What have you done to learn to speak the local language?
My learning started from day one here. Learning the Cyrillic Alphabet initially then building up my vocabulary by sticking labels to object all around the house Get out and meet local people and don’t be afraid to try out some Bulgarian, it is a mark of disrespect if you don’t! I found that learning from phrase books has it’s limits and didn’t flow with local dialect anyway so I steered clear from these after a short time. Many won’t be as luck as I am to living in a Bulgarian-speaking household.
Do you have any regrets about moving?
I feel that I have done the right thing; therefore I have absolutely no regrets.
What do you really miss from home?
I have thought long and hard about this for many years and the only things I can come up with is my kids and British humour, (that is old British humour now of course,) which doesn’t translate that well here in Bulgaria. The Internet has solved much of this though.
What are your plans for the future?
Who knows? You only have one life and that is too short. Right now I can’t see me moving anywhere else unless Bulgaria goes down the self-destruct route like the UK. I can’t see that happening in my lifetime. One plan that I hope to achieve is never to return to living back in the UK.
I might add that Martin, apart from being an extremely pleasant man, is an accomplished author and has had several books published. He is also a avid blogger and maintains several blogs if you follow this link to, Bulgarian Slivatree, his main blog, you can view his other work and books.
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