I have to say every day here is differant,Bulgarian people make you feel so welcome,our friends in our village are fantastic,if you come here to live the Bulgarian way then you will have made a good choice,my advise to all the brits is steer clear of western ways,all brits do is cause trouble,but Bulgarian people are so honest and open,and believe me they will be all you will need,as we have found out

Mike really delighted you are settled in nicely in Bulgaria and loving every minute of it by the sound of it. I think as many people have said before, you have to get to know your neighbours what ever their nationality and once you do that, life will be much better. We have found the Bulgarian people in our village always friendly and helpful. Respect works both ways

oddy

mickhev wrote:

my advise to all the brits is steer clear of western ways,all brits do is cause trouble,but Bulgarian people are so honest and open,and believe me they will be all you will need,as we have found out

Hi Mickhev...I think it's great that you seem to of settled into life in Bulgaria so well...however I think your above comments are rather unfair,
You say that 'all Brits do is cause trouble' Do you no longer socialise with the group of British people that you were socialising with when I visited Yambol in January?
If you are now of the opinion that Bulgarian friends are the only ones you need...what has happened since January to change your mind as you seemed to be quite happy in the company of those trouble making Brits!!?
As to advising people to 'steer clear of Western ways' Why? after all we are British,
I have only been living here full time since April so appreciate that you have far more experience of life here in Bulgaria than myself however I am really happy to socialise with the other British people living full time in our village (7 of them) from time to time, it certainly hasn't stopped me from meeting the local people and enjoying their company as well.
I feel that it is nice if you can strike a balance between the two and have the best of both worlds...however everyone to their own

borntolaze wrote:

mickhev wrote:

my advise to all the brits is steer clear of western ways,all brits do is cause trouble,but Bulgarian people are so honest and open,and believe me they will be all you will need,as we have found out

Hi Mickhev...I think it's great that you seem to of settled into life in Bulgaria so well...however I think your above comments are rather unfair,
You say that 'all Brits do is cause trouble' Do you no longer socialise with the group of British people that you were socialising with when I visited Yambol in January?
If you are now of the opinion that Bulgarian friends are the only ones you need...what has happened since January to change your mind as you seemed to be quite happy in the company of those trouble making Brits!!?
As to advising people to 'steer clear of Western ways' Why? after all we are British,
I have only been living here full time since April so appreciate that you have far more experience of life here in Bulgaria than myself however I am really happy to socialise with the other British people living full time in our village (7 of them) from time to time, it certainly hasn't stopped me from meeting the local people and enjoying their company as well.
I feel that it is nice if you can strike a balance between the two and have the best of both worlds...however everyone to their own

Hi Borntolaze
I do socialize with other brits but al i can say is choose your friends with care,we are now happy with our group of friends,but in honesty we came to Bulgaria to live life their way,be relaxed,enjoy the garden,and the sun,your right not all brits cause trouble just a few,i am glad you are happy in your village and you have made some nice friends

borntolaze wrote:

mickhev wrote:my advise to all the brits is steer clear of western ways,all brits do is cause trouble,but Bulgarian people are so honest and open,and believe me they will be all you will need,as we have found out


Hi Mickhev...I think it's great that you seem to of settled into life in Bulgaria so well...however I think your above comments are rather unfair,
You say that 'all Brits do is cause trouble' Do you no longer socialise with the group of British people that you were socialising with when I visited Yambol in January?
If you are now of the opinion that Bulgarian friends are the only ones you need...what has happened since January to change your mind as you seemed to be quite happy in the company of those trouble making Brits!!?
As to advising people to 'steer clear of Western ways' Why? after all we are British,
I have only been living here full time since April so appreciate that you have far more experience of life here in Bulgaria than myself however I am really happy to socialise with the other British people living full time in our village (7 of them) from time to time, it certainly hasn't stopped me from meeting the local people and enjoying their company as well.
I feel that it is nice if you can strike a balance between the two and have the best of both worlds...however everyone to their own

Hello Bornto laze,

I do agree with you that Mickhevs comments do seem to be a bit unfair.

It would seem that he has probably had some bad experiences with Brits latterly, but only he would be able to expound on that.

I would hardly say that all Brits cause trouble, though some do seem to be a bit overfond of the sauce. And, of course, some are involved in various frauds.

people should be appreciated, or not, as the case may be for what they are. There are good and bad Brits just as there are good and bad Bulgarians and good and bad throughout the whole world.

As you say, striking a balance is the way forward.

Regards.

"
steer clear of brits and the western way ."
...no way !
steer cleer of bulgarians...................no way

its as been said many times before... choose your friend of any nationality with care and caution....only time will tell if they are true and genuine...and it does !!

as for ....."
And, of course, some are involved in various frauds."
oh surely not


Also ,its great that some have embraced the bulgarian way of living...but its not a necessity for intergrating and being accepted here

I totally agree with you Varna Girl,but dont you think that when your in a foreign country you should live as them,and respect their way of living,after all we are the visitors

yes Mike ,def respect their way of living..without a doubt , ...but that does not mean one has to live the same way ,if one does not wish to.....
I adore "
most "
of my neighbours , and get on well ..we help them ,they help us
they live their way..we live ours ...and both parties over the years have come to respect and accept that
as long as we adhere to their laws and customs , I think thats fine... We enjoy joining them in their customs ..and in return they actually enjoy ours too

Totally agree with Mike

Yes we are Brits and proud of it but apart from the people we choose as friends the majority of the one's near us we avoid. We have seen first hand how some people gather in supermarket car parks and slate the Bulgarians. Maybe these are the rare few and maybe we have been unlucky with the so called friends that we once made and have since gladly lost A true Bulgarian friend is a true friend indeed. Would not be without my mate and he would not be without me

Well said Tony glad i am not alone here

varnagirl wrote:

"
steer clear of brits and the western way ."
...no way !
steer cleer of bulgarians...................no way

its as been said many times before... choose your friend of any nationality with care and caution....only time will tell if they are true and genuine...and it does !!

as for ....."
And, of course, some are involved in various frauds."
oh surely not


Also ,its great that some have embraced the bulgarian way of living...but its not a necessity for intergrating and being accepted here

:Clap:Well put varnagirl

I have to say during the five years we've been here we've had to meet lots of people, both Bulgarian and from the UK.

However, I'd have to say, the amount of people I could consider 'real' friends, could be counted on my fingers (that goes for the Bulgarians and the Ex-pats).

As Varnagirl said ... choose care and caution and don't rush into hurried 'friendships' that you may later regret!

ChrisQBG wrote:

However, I'd have to say, the amount of people I could consider 'real' friends, could be counted on my fingers (that goes for the Bulgarians and the Ex-pats).

As Varnagirl said ... choose care and caution and don't rush into hurried 'friendships' that you may later regret!

Well said :Handshake:Chris &
varnagirl

But Mike is right about fraud. Claiming NHS treatment and Medication whilst in BG is fraud in the eyes of them in the UK. I feel strongly about this as we have to pay for medication when we have paid into and still pay into the UK pot via taxes. Yes we have our Euro Medical card. But we get nowt back from all the money we paid in.

tonyb60 wrote:

A true Bulgarian friend is a true friend indeed. Would not be without my mate and he would not be without me

It's good to hear that Mickhev and yourself feel that you have made good friends with your Bulgarian neighboors.
How do you know if someone is a true friend or whether their just being polite?
I'd be interested to know whether you are some of the fortunate few that have learnt to speak Bulgarian well enough to understand your neighboors or do your Bulgarian neighboors speak fluent English?.
I ask simply because I would never be able to trust anyone fully or even consider them a genuine friend if I couldn't communicate with them properly...they could quite easily be smiling at you and insulting you at the same time!

Hi borntolaze,

You make a valid point

But does anyone truly know if anyone is a true friend until you need them.

Our Bulgarian friends have proved their friendship on more than one occasion,actions sometimes speak louder than words But our so called British friends now discarded, also proved how we all can be used and abused. Used for repair work for no reward, abused by being sworn at in public using gutter language. Due to the fact that they could not control the alcoholic intake and showing off in front of others. The sort of behaviour that you would expect from a 10 year old not 60+.

But I take your point about the language barrier. I do believe that they understand us better than we of them.

We did have the type of Bulgarian friend that said they could get us cheap winter fuel. We found out that this person was making a profit from the deal. Our true friend found out and put a stop to it and has not spoken to this person since, which was over 1 years ago. This so called friend took advantage of our lack of understanding and as such you are right for your concerns.