First topic message reminder :

We've all read about how happy some people are and how others are not so happy so what I want to know is why are you so happy in Bulgaria or why you're not? and better still lets hear what you would like to change if you could but only things that are possible so nothing to extreme and looking back how would you have done things would you have made any changes to your choice of village/town? or the type of property you bought? or the time you spent looking for it?

Bureaucracy maybe daunting when you first arrive. Buying property, residency and registering a car but once its done what's left other than annual taxes? I would say that wherever you go in the world, setting up a new home and/or business is equally difficult. Not understanding the way it works and a foreign language plus worrying about who to trust makes the whole thing very worrying. I must have a guardian angel because the professional Bulgarians that I put my trust in have all made the bureaucracy easy and with a good price.
What bureaucracy do folks find most worrying? In my case it was getting residency in the days of Lichna Carta because we arrived from Greece with no visa and completely forgetting that residency would be required. I was used to my lovely Greek accountant lady guiding me through everything!!!!

Things I would change are the obvious - roads, corruption, poverty etc.

Beaurocracy - As oldun says - Is only bad in the beginning - you soon get to know what you need to do, where you need to go, who best to speak to, who can help you etc. I actually found tying everything up in the UK quite hard work - at least here you get to speak to a person not an automated service.

One thing I do also find quite bad here is customer service or, should I say, the lack of it. Big European companies set up in Bulgaria and adapt Bulgarian "
Customer Service"
standards. At a large German food store I dropped a carton of Yoghurt on the floor and it cracked - The assistant picked it up and scanned it - and , with a shrug of the shoulders, said I had to buy it as I had broken it. I know they would not treat a customer in Germany like that.

Telling you something will be in stock next week - when they know it will not be in for two, three or even four weeks - just to get you to part with a deposit. I now tend to buy off the shelf.

You go to EVN, Vik the post office etc. and some of the staff talk to you as if you are stupid - I do speak enough Bulgarian now - so I can and do talk back. It does get better as time goes on and they get to know you a bit.

I would also strike the word "
nisnam"
(I don't know) from the Bulgarian language - How many times have I asked someone something only to be answered with this very unhelpful phrase?

Esta wrote:

One thing I do also find quite bad here is customer service or, should I say, the lack of it. Big European companies set up in Bulgaria and adapt Bulgarian "
Customer Service"
standards. At a large German food store I dropped a carton of Yoghurt on the floor and it cracked - The assistant picked it up and scanned it - and , with a shrug of the shoulders, said I had to buy it as I had broken it. I know they would not treat a customer in Germany like that.

Telling you something will be in stock next week - when they know it will not be in for two, three or even four weeks - just to get you to part with a deposit. I now tend to buy off the shelf.

You go to EVN, Vik the post office etc. and some of the staff talk to you as if you are stupid - I do speak enough Bulgarian now - so I can and do talk back. It does get better as time goes on and they get to know you a bit.

I would also strike the word "
nisnam"
(I don't know) from the Bulgarian language - How many times have I asked someone something only to be answered with this very unhelpful phrase?

This is all very true EXCEPT for it getting better as time goes by and they get to know you. This is in my experience. After almost seven years here, I'm finding it getting much, much worse. Maybe 5 years ago, I used to spend a couple of very solid days a month running around Dobrich dealing with various officials, but eventually getting somewhere. Now, this is up to at least 2 solid days per week and includes Balchik and getting virtually nowhere every time. If I didn't have an exceptionally good Accountant and exceptionally good lawyer, I'd be completely screwed.

If I could change anything it would be the prejudice against groups of people based on their birth. When we first went to bulgaria we were told by people at the london embassy that we shouldn't take to some people. My neighbours are all turkish bulgarians and my best friends are gypsies. All were really kind to us and help all the time when i'm committing my latest diy blunders. So I wish more people would judge on a personal basis rather than race. The other thing i'd really like to change is all the skinny animals and the dogs being frightened of people.
The things i'd like to stay the same is the laid back attitude and the friendiness we've encountered as we have travelled around the country. I've lost count of how many strangers have gone out of their way to help me and make me feel welcome in their country.

beautifulangel wrote:

If I could change anything it would be the prejudice against groups of people based on their birth. When we first went to bulgaria we were told by people at the london embassy that we shouldn't take to some people. My neighbours are all turkish bulgarians and my best friends are gypsies. All were really kind to us and help all the time when i'm committing my latest diy blunders. So I wish more people would judge on a personal basis rather than race. The other thing i'd really like to change is all the skinny animals and the dogs being frightened of people.
The things i'd like to stay the same is the laid back attitude and the friendiness we've encountered as we have travelled around the country. I've lost count of how many strangers have gone out of their way to help me and make me feel welcome in their country.

Beautifulangel

Oddy

starlite wrote:

after 3 and a half years, i thought i had adapted to the bulgarian way of life, the dust, the mud, growing your fruit and veg, the paper chasing you have to endure while enjoying the peaceful way of life in a country that has so much beautiful countryside, what more could one ask for. but my one gripe is the tiled floors, the amount of maintenance and cleaning has drove me mad, every day the dust,the mud, dog hairs is high maintenance. then came the carpet shops, and i thought i miss carpets, so this week i had fitted a carpet, well it is luxury, the room is warmer, the feel is so nice underfoot, i now realise that there are things that i have not had for a long time but have missed and carpets is one of them. sorry to say but that is what i would change, the ways of many bulgarians is to be admired but the truth is it is 50 years behind western ways and the way of life is hard, some luxuries are hard to let go of.

Yes, I can also relate to tiled floors, 'hard work' are the only words required. Dust, dogs hairs, constantly washing the darn things. Carpets, oh yes carpets, much easier. Only trouble here in Turkey, they only have the equivalent of cylinder vacuums, good at sucking things off floors, but totally useless at cleaning carpets and the only solution was buying an upright cleaner from the UK on one of my visits there . . . Heaven!!