Can't get you out of my head

'Yes' and 'no' seem like such universals. Shaking your head side-to-side means 'yes', and up-and-down means 'no'. Right?
Unfortunately, the opposite is true here in Bulgaria. A little wiggle back and forth means 'yes'. Kind of similar to what they do in India. Then you can either go up-and-down for 'no' or a more clear side-to-side. My Bulgarian professor told me a story once of a group of Americans traveling to Bulgaria. They stopped for a beer and asked the waitress if they had Zagorka. She shook her head. They asked if she had Ariana. She shook her head again. They went through the entire list of beers and she shook her head on everyone. Disappointed they were about to leave, when she asked them why they didn't choose a beer, since they had so many choices. This Bulgarian peculiarity is truly confusing, but important to remember.
This difference, coupled with living in Seoul last year, has caused me to make an ass out of myself on a number of occasions. 'Ne' in Korean means 'yes'. 'Ne' in Bulgarian means 'no'. I'm so used to bobbing my head up and down and saying 'ne'; I can't stop this habit! My landlady was asking me yes or no questions and I was trying to agree with her, but just continually said 'no, no, no'. I think in about two more weeks I'll be Bulgarianized. Which will be great, until I leave the country. Then I'll have to confuse my lil' old brain once more.

Not everything you put in your mouth is delicious

I really enjoy food. People who know me know this. I can eat most anything. Even though I used to be a pseudo-vegetarian, while traveling I usually eat meat. At a little restaurant in a park I thought it would be fun to try something new. I looked on the menu and saw something about chicken. So I asked for that and waited for about a half an hour to be served this:

It looks pretty good, right? And the smell was wonderful. But the closer I looked at the chicken to see what part of the animal it was the more worried I became. I've tried some weird meats in Bulgaria . . . so I took a bite and immediately could tell it was one of those 'delicacy' meats. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't eat. I almost puked at the table trying to swallow the first bite. After three tastes, I gave up. The waiter tried to convince me it was delicious, but I just told him it wasn't delicious for me. Turns out it was дроб- liver. Not my cup of tea. 

Recall

One of my favorite parts about being in Bulgaria so far is the constant language recall. I studied Bulgarian for two semesters at Boston College and did two summer sessions in Veliko Turnovo, a small city in the center of the country. At the end of my studies I would say I was at about an intermediate level, with a decent conversational ability.
Coming back to Bulgaria after a year in Korea, however, has diminished me back to a bumbling pre-elementary student. Sure I remembered hi and a couple of basic verbs, but most of the vocabulary I had viscously studied in University had retreated to the far corners of my brain. This was quite upsetting.
Well, it was until I started walking around the city. I'll just see a word on a sign, and there will be an instant recall. If you would have asked me how to say, for example, 'real estate agent' five days ago, I would have had no idea. But the other day I saw 'PEMOHT' and thought to myself, 'hey, that's the word for real estate agent' and in no time its back in my lingo. Not like I can use that word very often, but it feels good to have these 'aha' moments.
This must be similar to the life of a person with photographic memory. To just see a word and instantly be able to use it. I worked hard, years ago, to memorize these vocabulary words, but now I just need a quick reminder and they are back on the tip of my tongue, ready to be used. I haven't really picked up my Bulgarian books yet, but I know I will need to soon. After these initial weeks of just recalling vocabulary that I had already learned, I will be back to the grindstone- memorizing words and studying grammar. Luckily I love grammar. And I love getting paid to do what I love.

Going the Distance

Thursday nights have 5 leva shows at the theater in the Mall of Sofia. I ended up meeting up with Dian, who was one of the coordinators at my first Bulgarian language seminar in the summer of 2007, and a couple of his friends to see the movie Going the Distance with Justin Long and Drew Barrymore. Although it was a very predictable American comedy, it was enjoyable and decently funny.
I really enjoyed watching the Bulgarian subtitles and quickly remembering some vocabulary words that I had forgotten. Of course, there were also times that the subtitles did not match what was happening on the screen. Korea loved to do this. Taking curse words and replacing them with something more appropriate for polite company. When one character said 'f***er' they replaced the word with 'idiot', so of course I asked Dian how to say f***er. After he told me and helped me with my pronunciation, he immediately told me why I shouldn't use it. However, you never know when it might come in handy.
The movie is about a couple who quickly fall in love, but know that they have a deadline, since Barrymore needs to get back to Stanford to finish up grad school. They decide to try a distance relationship, and the movie explores the difficulties that are part and parcel of such a relationship. Of course, it got me to thinking about my own relationship, and how Byeong-Hun and I are trying to make it work in a much wider distance. It has only been about a month and a half, but it is not pleasant. I used to make fun of my sister, Anna, because she would ALWAYS be on the phone with Mike during their four-year long-distance relationship. Now that I have had a taste of the very real trials of a long distance relationship, I truly respect how much work and effort my sister put in for Mike. I'm already going crazy after a month and a half. I don't know how I'd fare if it was a whole year apart. Now, the time difference is easier, with just six hours separating us. However, we have such different work schedules that it is sometimes hard to connect. I just can't wait for October 15th, when we get to live together again!

Not so familiar faces

Walking around Korea it took me a while to figure out what made people look different. They tended to all have black hair, black eyes, around the same height, very white skin and dressed rather similarly. It was one of my biggest fears that I would not be able to learn my students names because they all looked alike. Of course, it turned out that I couldn't learn all of their names because I had 700 students, but that is a different story. By the time I was done teaching, however, I realized that not only did people look different, but strikingly so. I would recall faces way before I would recall names. The names were a heck of a lot more similar than the faces. So-young, Su-young, Seo-young, Su-jung, etc.
Here in Bulgaria it is quite different. I can't figure out what makes them the same. Maybe because I've been in Korea and focused on the little details. Where the eyebrows were placed, hairstyles, dimples, teeth, what have you, but here there is a smorgasbord of diversity.
Of course, practically everyone is white. However, I've seen more hair colors walking down the street in an hour than you would see for a month in Seoul. Peoples faces look so strikingly different. I think that I'm surrounded by various Europeans, and then I hear them all speaking Bulgarian. It makes me wonder if people see me and think I'm Bulgarian. Or at least Slavic. One woman in the local grocery store helped me and later asked where I was from. When I didn't understand the question at first, she prompted me with "Czecho? Slovak? Rusky?" I'm not going to lie; it felt good that she didn't presume I was from the states. Maybe if I really learn Bulgarian I can at least somewhat blend in. That really wasn't an option in Korea.
Unless I dyed my hair, got eye surgery, a facial re-construct, and lost 20 lbs.

Zagorka

Zagorka is one of the most popular beers in Bulgaria. I had one with lunch and was a little tipsy when I met with my Fulbright coordinator. (I hadn't had any alcohol in about a week, so it was kind of a shock to my system. That and I'm probably still a little bit weird from jet-lag). When I told my coordinator, Rada, that I couldn't remember all of the questions that I wanted to ask thanks to my Zagorka, she laughed and told me Bulgarians don't even consider it alcohol. When a previous teetotaler Fulbright scholar had come and told Bulgarians that he didn't drink, they would give him a beer instead. Classy.

Another great reason to be in Eastern Europe. This baby cost about a dollar, and it tastes so much better than a cheap beer in the US. Do not be fooled; it definitely DOES have alcohol in it. 

Shopska Salata

Good news for any vegetarians out there: although Bulgarians do love their meat, there are a few options for you. Vegans, however, will miss out on the best part: sirene cheese! Luckily, I love cheese, so here is my first Bulgarian recipe (serves two)

Shopska Salata
3 large tomatoes
2 cucumbers (peeled)
1/2 cup green and/or red bell pepper
2 green onions
Parsley to taste
1/2 cup of sirene cheese (can substitute with feta)

Chop all the vegetables to bite sized pieces. Mix in a large salad bowl with chopped parsley. Top with sirene cheese (a lot of it!) and drizzle with sunflower oil, vinegar, and a dash of salt and pepper. Enjoy.

It should look like this :-D