Just wondering what really annoys you about the British living in Bulgaria. My pet hate is when people constantly seem to compare prices here to those in Britain. Surely when you live in Bulgaria permanently this question is largely irrelevant? It also depends on your income so people will have differing views on the cost of living. Over to you......

oldun wrote:

Just wondering what really annoys you about the British living in Bulgaria. My pet hate is when people constantly seem to compare prices here to those in Britain. Surely when you live in Bulgaria permanently this question is largely irrelevant? It also depends on your income so people will have differing views on the cost of living. Over to you......

Oh, you are a one oldun, coming up with these topic's and your pet hates, but yes I agree with you, many do compare prices between the two countries, and for the reason's due to the cost of living it's a completely different ball game

Example:- I arrived at my villa last week at 22.30hrs, as I passed the village shop I noticed that the owner has added a covered area on the front which is now a bar, so having parked up I went to the shop where I was greeted with open arms. I did my shopping, water, milk, bread etc etc and decided that I would buy the six men and four women outside in the bar (including the Mayor) a drink
Six bottles of Karmenitza and a bottle of white wine 10.20 leva, approx £4.25. In the UK that same order would have cost somewhere between
£20.00 and £30.00, so there is no comparison as the people in that bar are probably earning something like 150leva a month whereas in the UK that would be more like £1500.00 a month, so my final comment is the it is all relevant and no contest ::

Well that was a quick response Willowsend. I agree that there is often a vast difference but if you live here permanently it really does no good comparing all the time does it? I am more concerned that one of our milk cartons has just gone up 30sts overnight! Inflation is alive and well here in Bulgaria just as in the rest of the world including austerity Britain but we all have to live with it. Goodness knows how the villagers cope with it because their pensions don't go up much. They constantly think we are alright and why wouldn't they because even the poorest Brit has more income than a villager. This is why I find it annoying for Brits to say 'oh we can buy a kettle cheaper in Tesco's...' for instance. For a normally passive Brit, this really gets my rag and I have to bite my tongue before retorting 'well why don't you go back to Tescos then'..... [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
Be grateful for the things that money can't buy like the picturesque countryside, less traffic (forget bad roads!) peace and quiet and living village life as it used to be in Britain years ago. Isn't that what people came here for?

oldun wrote:

Be grateful for the things that money can't buy like the picturesque countryside, less traffic (forget bad roads!) peace and quiet and living village life as it used to be in Britain years ago. Isn't that what people came here for?

We also live in a village oldun and enjoy the picturesque countryside and hardly any traffic and of course the lovely peace and quiet, but alas, we also have to put up with bad roads. The peace and quiet is what a lot of us have come here for and it is nice to step back in time as it were into Britain years ago, life in the raw takes a lot beating even if we have to bucket our water out from the well when the mains water stops for 17 hours, like yesterday. Being one step ahead is the name of the game and beat whatever the weather chucks at us or whatever utility decides to stop working for however long they decide to cut things off!!

Living in a village also means that some things are difficult to obtain and carton milk in our village is unobtainable, in fact it is not possible to buy any milk from the village shop and this has often caused us a problem when we misread how much milk we needed whilst walking around a supermarket in our nearest large town. However we discovered that almost no one in our village drinks carton milk, they all go to the farmer and get fresh milk! So another lesson learned about living in the countryside somewhere in the middle of Bulgaria.

oldun wrote:

Just wondering what really annoys you about the British living in Bulgaria. My pet hate is when people constantly seem to compare prices here to those in Britain. Surely when you live in Bulgaria permanently this question is largely irrelevant? It also depends on your income so people will have differing views on the cost of living. Over to you......

I think this topic has been raised before albeit under a different heading. But anyway to put my sixpeneth worth I hate Brits talking to Brits and talking very loudly about how crap the Bulgarian people are. But I must admit I have not seen these people in ages so hopefully they have gone elsewhere's.

Oh Tonyb60 don't get me started on that one! Some even alienate the locals because they don't like hearing English spoken all the time with no effort to mix either!
I understand the milk problem Itchyfeet. Our village had no milk of any description when we first arrived until one day I asked in the bar and was told to turn up at 8am next morning. I duly did this and was so proud to be able to buy a CocaCola bottle (2litres) for a lev straight from the local cow! It was like gold dust. Sadly we only have two cows now and so not enough milk for everyone but the village shop (KOP) now sells lots of milk cartons but even now it sometimes sells out because of demand. How times change. You really do have to think ahead as you are obviously doing. Forgot to add that there used to be goats milk available - fresh, but thanks to EU, the man with all the goats is not allowed now. Farm animals only allowed for personal use hence only two cows. None allowed to be in the street so the ladies can't supervise their hens as they used to while chatting to neighbours and passersby. So sad.
Sorry - a bit off topic.

What l hate mostly about the Brits is their sinister plans to dupe other Brits to depart you of your money without handing over the goods as well as the services they promised.Does the Brits with a criminal mind knows they have a better oppurtunity to make dirty money from people's misery in Bulgaria because the laws do not protect the victim.l never have had issues with the Bulgarians,but the Brits were the main problem to cause such terrible problems.
l will never forget the foul sinster Brits that have set out a plan to swindle.l wish the Bulgarian government would bring in tough laws to severly punish these criminals and also to install proper non corrupt regulative boards to aid and guide the victim to a true justice.l love Bulgaria,and always will.Sadly that dream was destroyed by selfish evil minds.

So sorry to hear that Snail but I do know what you mean. I really cannot understand how British people can dupe their own kind. It is difficult enough to settle in a new country. Unfortunately, some people treat living abroad as a way to cheat the system and do not care who they hurt. Eventually they will move on, but meanwhile many will suffer as you have Snail. Years ago when our family emigrated to Canada we were invited to an Italian's house for a party. It was amazing with so much food and friendliness. As Italian immigrants to Canada themselves, they knew how difficult it could be to integrate into new ways but they banded together and all their friends had helped to build their home. Then the next new immigrants were helped to build their home. How different the British seem to behave here. It seems its like dog eat dog as those who start businesses resort to very low levels to deter others arriving. Very sad.

Even now Oldun[and l am not ashamed to say it]l still cry with such sadness why people have to be so selfish towards ech other.l left Bulgaria late March feeling a dream l had wished all my life was taken away from me.
Maybe one day,a opportunity might appear for the taking,and this time,l will never ever trust on one.My suspicions are now very strong when l invovled with people now.l do not believe no one is friendly until they prove themselves first.
l left Bulgaria with little money and some of my personnal belongings still left behind in The village l lived in.

l just hope l can recover from all these terrible experiences l had from these evil minds.Thanks for the reply Oldun and wish you well and your family in the future

snail wrote:

Even now Oldun[and l am not ashamed to say it]l still cry with such sadness why people have to be so selfish towards ech other.l left Bulgaria late March feeling a dream l had wished all my life was taken away from me.
Maybe one day,a opportunity might appear for the taking,and this time,l will never ever trust on one.My suspicions are now very strong when l invovled with people now.l do not believe no one is friendly until they prove themselves first.
l left Bulgaria with little money and some of my personnal belongings still left behind in The village l lived in.

l just hope l can recover from all these terrible experiences l had from these evil minds.Thanks for the reply Oldun and wish you well and your family in the future

I know exactly where you are coming from snail and I can fully understand and appreciate your feelings, being a victim of crime myself
I and my family, like you love Bulgaria and when we purchased it was our decision to go for a property in a village but within shouting distance of the airport, town and beach, It was also important that we wanted to be part of Bulgarian life and be appreciated by our neighbour's, that much I feel we have achieved but in the process it has cost a lot of money, which like many expats we have found out the hard way

I, like you snail hope and pray that we can recover from all these terrible experiences we've had from these evil minds, and to those out there with evil minds LIVE and LET LIVE

my pet hate is strangers stopping me, usually in the middle of shopping or outside in supermarket carparks at 30 degrees, just because im english. They generally dont want anything except to say hello are you english too. Normally i love to meet people except when im trying to keep track of how much money im spending in the supermarket, but if random strangers are going to come up to me i'd like them to say hi do you want to come to the pub etc. not just im english too then walk off. [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

beautifulangel wrote:

my pet hate is strangers stopping me, usually in the middle of shopping or outside in supermarket carparks at 30 degrees, just because im english. They generally dont want anything except to say hello are you english too. Normally i love to meet people except when im trying to keep track of how much money im spending in the supermarket, but if random strangers are going to come up to me i'd like them to say hi do you want to come to the pub etc. not just im english too then walk off. [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

If you are a beautiful angel what do you expect

Worse than that ... Recently a couple came round to see what things we had for sale and frightened me to death. They had managed to get in the gate and walk through the garden to round the back where I was reading with my dog (who had barked at them!) They then spoke my name and chatted as if they were my new best friend. They had been in the village for weeks but never spoken or been introduced and they haven't spoken since.
Maybe because I decided not to sell after all. [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]