Bulgaria with Noodles

Using my nickname, "the Hippo", I often write posts on the Teaching Overseas forum, part of the TES (Times Educational Supplement) website. Quite a few teachers contact me, asking me about teaching in international schools. Dear Dario, The first thing you should do is read my blog, www.bulgariawithnoodles.blogspot.com   Some people think it is just about Bulgaria, but really it is also very much about China as well, since we ar e living in China and we will not be in Bulgaria until the summer of next year. Yes, we are in Shenzhen, where I am currently teaching at Green Oasis School, and you are going to be in Shanghai, so there will be one or two differences. So you have both been offered jobs at Dulwich College? Great! Dulwich College in the UK is, of course, a very posh and famous public school. (They are called “public schools”, but of course they are private.) Well, of course it will not be quite the same as the original Dulwich College, I am sure, but my gue...

Dear Nicholas, I had not heard from you for a while and in fact my dear Irisha said, “You really must write to Nicholas!” Then your splendid letter arrived on Friday, brightening up what would otherwise have been a rather gloomy day! Peter Adams, blog photographer That young Adams fellow seems to be suffering from a severe attack of Labor   Scholasticus , a most serious disease that poor and unfortunate prep school masters are prone to get, from time to time. Fortunately, it is not contagious! Well, my dear chap, it was excellent to read about your musical migrations. Yes, I am indeed planning to invite you to come to Bulgaria again, if you do feel up to the challenge. Flying from the UK to Bulgaria is not really any more difficult that getting from the depths of Cornwall to Canterbury! In fact, it might even be cheaper, as there are heaps of bargain flights to Sofia. Zlatka and Irena, at the garden fence However, it is difficult to think about inviting peo...

 Pancakes with Stefan & Poli My post about buying property in Bulgaria, Why buy BG , seems to have collected more "hits" than any of the other pages of my blog. In the interests of fairness, I am therefore going to write a few lines about why you should NOT buy a property in Bulgaria. I will try to be as objective as possible. Yes, I love my adopted land, but even a Bulgarophile like me has to admit that this country does have its downsides.  An abandoned house in Kalotina If you buy a property anywhere outside the capital, Sofia, then it is not going to appreciate in value. Silly Brits have this idea that buying a house is always a good idea because it must go up in value and this is not true in BG. A country house in Bulgaria is simply NOT a good investment. It will not go up in value and, if you do try to sell it, then you probably will not be able to get back what you paid for it. (That is, of course, assuming that you can find a buyer at all!)  The...

Our villa in Kalotina Dear Simon, I have been re-reading the excellent letter you sent to me a while back. Thank you very much. My enthusiastic interest in your various news has been reinforced by a splendid letter and great packs of photos from Peter Adams, Your apartment at Veliko Tarnovo and the villa at Kalotina look to be in good shape - and indeed your description of the works that have been done on them gives me confidence that your retirement will be very well accommodated.  Mildly spectacular I loved my visit to Bulgaria; Kalotina is delightfully situated in among its mildly spectacular surroundings. You and Ira have done so well! - been so wise! I hope that your plans are evolving to your satisfaction. Did you purchase the car? Yes, we did buy a car Both you and Ira look very good in photos. And as for the classroom photos of your young Chinese students, they look admirably well focused - in both senses. What adorable pupils! Your paragraph on ...

On the MTR As an elder of our church here in Shenzhen, I was asked to officiate at a Chinese wedding. Sean and Dee, a lovely Chinese couple, go to our church, so I agreed. Well, I was a bit nervous about the whole thing, as I had never “done” a wedding before, but the actual event was wonderful. Christina was my translator Skyscraper backdrop The ceremony We had a “run through” the week before, as I wanted to get the words right with Sean and Dee. After a few small changes, we agreed on what I was going to say at the ceremony. It was important to get this straight, as the words would all be translated into Mandarin. The wedding was at the Hilton Hotel in Shekou and it really was quite a “do”. The ceremony was outside, in a garden on the roof of the hotel. I thought that this was a bad idea, as I was sure that it would be too cold, but in fact the weather was perfect, a sunny and blue sky with hardly a breath of wind. Irisha looked ...

You will, I am sure, be glad to know that I am not an estate agent. Yes, I have done some silly things in my life, but I have never worked for a real estate company and no, I am not sponsored by the Bulgarian government. Go to the Med, turn right. Now the first question that many of you may have is this one: where is Bulgaria ? Well, it is tucked away in the south-eastern corner of Europe, bordering Serbia , Greece , Romania and Turkey . The capital is Sofia , which is in the western half of Bulgaria , and the second city is Plovdiv . To the east is the Black Sea coast and there are the ports of Burgas and Varna .  Veliko Tarnovo is more or less in the centre of Bulgaria and it was the old capital, before Sofia became the capital. Greece is just around the corner and there are overnight trains to Romania and to Turkey, so you can go to bed in Sofia and wake up in Bucharest or in Istanbul.   In Bulgaria , the main language that most people speak is –...