Expat life in Bulgaria - expectations V reality

Perhaps you moved to Bulgaria, had a bit of a nightmare, encountered unexpected problems or difficulties (such as social, language, economic, political, environmental, climate, property etc. related) and realised it wasnt for you and was not like you were expecting.

Perhaps its a lot nicer than you expected and you have a dream life now.

Discussion point -

The english to bulgarian to english language barrier is something that i suspect people may under estimate, and its big effect on everyday life. In relation to -

paying bills, your home, utilities, using a car, maintaining a car in good working order including repairs and sourcing spare parts, using the roads, organising healthcare provision, interactions with emergency services, at the shops, the street robber or hooligan looking for trouble, complaining to the neighbour about their 3am loud music.

All these "small things" add up.
For example, can't read the traffic signs, then get a traffic violation fine in the post, which you can't make sense of either, then the policeman knocks on your door cos the fine that you dont understand hasnt been paid and you cant understand what he is saying.

So in some ways the language barriers creates a lot of potential hazards for everyday life, and moving to live in a country with no knowledge of the alphabet or language and not much intention to learn either is a reckless thing to do.

Hi Nomadetta

i spoke to a bulgarian estate agent who said they know several english clients living in bulgaria who don't speak any bulgarian and manage to get along okay.

i think many eastern european migrants to GB have probably been learning english via tv, music, subtitles, and schooling since early childhood or adolescence, not so much learning bulgarian in this same way goes on in GB.

But I do think in GB there are eastern european migrants with limited english skills, but they soon pick it up within a year.
I met a hungarian person who only knew 7 words when they arrived in england, and 2 years later spoke good english.
Reading and writing present extra challenges with the different alphabet though.

In Bulgaria are street buskers aloud to use microphones?

In england they are and most seem to, and this is another minor reason to leave.

I'm not really sure how many buskers you'll encounter living in a place where you can grow fruit and veg... only the larger cities have buskers, not the villages. So does it really matter if they use microphones or not? (Which, some do, some don't)

One thing about the geographic layout of Bulgaria that isnt ideal for me is that the mountains are not closer to the sea, as ideally i'd like to be close to both but thats not possible as its about 100km from the sea before the mountains start.
If one or the other being closer to the sea and summer breezes just wins, so Sliven is probably a bit far west to be an hours drive to the sea.

If you're in bulgaria right now, particularly if you're a caucasian, whats the weather like right now in June in terms of -

Does it feel too hot and sunny or humid to do anything outside?

Is it dry heat or humid heat?

Whats the pollen count like?

Are you coping with the bulgaria summer heat / humidity / sun physically and psychologically, given it will be warm like this until around the end of september?

I've read bits and pieces about the prominence of the bulgarian mafia.
Not really sure what this is or how visible it would be to regular people in daily life.
What is it?
Is it local street gangs like exist in most places in the world?
Or is it more organised, powerful, visible or invisible?

Getting on the wrong side of the local Don would be one thing most would want to avoid.

Costs comparable to the UK are creeping up, some things are even more expensive here

I see the lidl small supermarket chain is more prominent in Bulgaria than in GB, probably as GB has more supermarket chains.

If you spent £100 on a general food shop in a GB lidl, approximately how much £ do you think the same trolley full of goods would cost in a Bulgarian lidl?

beezone wrote:

Costs comparable to the UK are creeping up, some things are even more expensive here

Such as what?

What items are more expensive than in the UK?

An interesting YouTube video HERE what €5 /BGN10 (£4.47/$5.64) gets you.

Lee4 wrote:

I see the lidl small supermarket chain is more prominent in Bulgaria than in GB, probably as GB has more supermarket chains.

If you spent £100 on a general food shop in a GB lidl, approximately how much £ do you think the same trolley full of goods would cost in a Bulgarian lidl?

The first Lidl UK opened its doors in 1994 and have well over 700 stores. The first Lidl store in Bulgaria opened in 2010 and only has 94 stores. The concept of supermarkets (and later hypermarkets) came to Bulgaria after 1989. So they are relatively quite new.