I am about to finish my dissertation proposal which will mark the end of my second year at university. This, I believe, is the ideal time for some more self-reflection (or procrastination, if you wish).
Pic: Google
I noticed how often I have started reflecting on the things I do. It seems to be a good thing to do: not only have I started appreciating every single moment, but it also helps me learn fast from my mistakes.
One of the most important events in the last few months was that I started work as a Marketing Guru at Timefinity Group – an incubator for ideas for technical solutions that save time. The team is great and the work is quite interesting, as it allows me to learn a lot about corporate blogging and building up a whole marketing strategy from scratch. I get to do things that not a lot of students can actually implement in real life. All those skills will “look great on my CV” (as they say about everything from the Careers Service), but more importantly, they give me insights in something completely different from journalism.
I will have the opportunity to make an informed decision whether to go into PR and marketing or to follow the plan which since the second grade has been to be a journalist. The idea that I will soon have to decide which way to take is slightly scaring, but for some reason somehow I am pretty sure that everything will happen in the best possible way.
In Timefinity we talk a lot about time and how important it is. That always makes me wonder why it flies so fast. Why can’t I go back a couple of years ago and relieved them again? I will hardly change anything, but it will be incredible to be there, knowing that those times won’t come back.
The same applies for today! Today will be gone in a couple of hours and it won’t come back! Probably this time next year, I will be regretting why didn’t I appreciate the time I had to write my dissertation proposal more; why didn’t I make the most out of it?
The general elections in Bulgaria are over. But the circus just begins.
Circus, not crisis.
The turnout was just above 50%. In comparison, in 2009 it was 60%. The decrease is actually surprising, because of the weekly protests in the last few months. They made me believe that our civil society is getting more active than I have ever seen it. This appeared to be just an illusion and the fact that Bristol, Cardiff and Bath together couldn’t get 100 registration forms from their Bulgarian residents that would have led to the creation of a polling station in Bristol, should have been a good sign, even before the actual elections. As a matter of fact there are 184 Bulgarians only in Bristol (as the answer of my latest FOI request revealed) and 100 forms from the three cities are not that impossible.
The results themselves show that GERB, the Bulgarian Socialists Party (BSP), DPS (the party of the Turkish minority) and Ataka (the Bulgarian equivalent of UKIP) have made it above the 4% barrier and will have their MPs. If we go back to 2009, we will see that GERB had 20% more than BSP (who were part of a coalition at the time) and managed to form its own government. This time none of the parties has above 50%, so we should witness a coalition. Or new elections.
Apart from the low turnout, what I don’t understand is how people have such a short memory and although they made Boyko Borisov and GERB resign just a couple of months ago, they still voted for them. However, this proves once again that the PR of the party works and they really managed to use their resignation as a way to win new voters. Maybe not as many, as they wished, but have they not resigned their results would have been even lower.
The other interesting point that follows from the election results is that 25% of the votes went to different small parties that couldn’t go above 4%. Probably this is to show how dissatisfied these 25% are with the “mainstream” parties.
The results also led to the resignations of many of the leaders of the losing political parties.
What follows now?
After the exact results are published, negotiations will begin. GERB and BSP are the two parties with most voters, but it’s not likely that they will make a coalition together. The most credible scenario is a coalition between either BSP, DPS and Ataka; or just BSP and DPS, depending on the exact numbers of MPs. DPS and Ataka together sounds strange enough, having in mind that the first party represents the ethnic Turkish minority and the second are nationalists. However, the leader of Ataka seems to have somehow accepted in the night of the elections that they might have to work together.
If no coalition is formed, we will have new elections. How different will the results be, probably depends only on the number of underhand tactics that the parties will use. But what I forecast are some more months of circus performances. And if this is the case, don’t think that I am a fortune-teller, because (as UKIP might put it) it’s just “common sense”.
*Although there is a chance that it might not make it into the ruling coalition.
Although I’m Orthodox, so it’s not a traditional holiday for us. As someone suggested in twitter today, wishing us “Happy St. Valentine’s day!” is like saying “Merry Christmas!” to a Muslim – pointless. In the last years, however, we’ve also started following the St. Valentine’s Day trend.
Whatever – each reason to celebrate is fabulous, as everyone with a Balkan spirit will tell you, so I don’t mind joining the Bulgarian day of the wine – Trifon Zarezan, with the day of love.
However, I can’t agree with one thing – why do you have to buy teddies, sweets and other unnecessary stuffs to prove someone that you love them?
Of course, I’m really biased telling this, because exactly a year ago with a bunch of friends we were literally begging strangers to donate some money to save one of us. I clearly remember how I was offering the tickets for our first concert (which was on the 16th) as a great gift for St. Valentine. We needed the money so desperately that I thought it would be a great way to advertise. Hardly anyone was willing to buy a ticket for a charity concert in stead of a teddy bear and I was really disappointed (although later most of these people actually donated).
I keep wondering whether the outcome of our campaign would have been different, if we have managed to convenience people that we needed the money more than they needed the teddies. That would have made a better start!
It’s pointless to regret now. Sometimes I’m sure that it’s even pointless to think what we could have done better.
It’s interesting how we tend to remember only certain details from past periods of our lives. Sometimes we remember whole days – from the morning till the next morning when we’ve went to bed. The last 14th February was one of these days for me and it had nothing to do with St. Valentine’s. However, it did teach me a lot of important things for the life, as a whole. Every time I see a Valentine’s teddy now, I try not to think of what we didn’t do, but of how important the life itself is and how we should be able to concentrate on the positive things. We should appreciate the small things and never take them for granted. You never now what tomorrow will bring you and if you’d have someone to share it with – I’m not talking about unstable relationships, but about the surprises of the fate and how sometimes she takes away someone, before he had turned 19.
I have Internet at home! 😀 Not really, but I bought a GiffGaff goody bag and I transferred the Internet to my laptop, so I’m really satisfied!
Apart from that, I should point out that I got 76% on my Newsgathering module, which is a 1st. At first I was so disappointed, because I was comparing it with a 76% on an English test at my elementary school (the last time I got a mark with percentage), but eventually I found out it is quite a good mark for a university here. So I am glad : )
In contrast to my previous posts that had such a clear topic and wanted to make you aware of the problems of Bulgarian and Romanian students in the UK, this one won’t be well-structured, if structured at all. I just want to write. In the end, this was the purpose of the blog – a place for me to write randomly. Because writing is one of the best pleasures in life 🙂
During our first day in the studio in the uni
Reading is another pleasure. Right now I am reading one of the best books ever – East of the West. The author is a Bulgarian who is living in the USA. His name is Miroslav Penkov and the book can be found on various languages. I recommend it to all of you living somewhere abroad and searching the answer of the question where do I belong?
Today I heard somewhere that if you aren’t following your passion, you don’t have anything to lose. Interestingly, I was listing what I have to do in the next days and here are some of the points to be covered: prepare for my radio show (soon more info); think of a topic for the Bulgarian magazine I’m starting to write for from this month; go to the parliament in London, etc…. so definitely, I’m following my passion : )
On the other hand, I have what a friend called “the poison” – Bulgarian rakia (traditional Bulgarian alcohol drink) and I am more than trilled to share it with everyone here who is brave enough for it!
I also brought so many presents from friends and family that now my room looks much better. It’s incredible how a small gift can make you feel so special…
To sum up, January is going on quite well. And don’t forget to sign our petition 😀
Late yesterday I saw that the Boarder Agency has changed that particular sentence which we all were looking at – “This week we are working on cases that were received in July 2012. ” The day before it said “February 2012”.
This shows, I believe, that things are going in the right direction! (And I’m more than happy, because it means that they’re coming closer to my documents which were sent in October.)
But let’s leave this whole thing aside for a while…
I just want to say I feel so happy right now.
People usually don’t write when they feel happy. How many songs or novels were written when the author was happy? Not that many. The reason is because when you’re happy you don’t feel the need to write. But of course, you can write so that you can later come to that moment of joy when you’re down. And that’s what I’m doing.
Why I’m happy?
I love Sofia! Meeting random people on the street; going out to see a friend and ending up with 10 other people; drinking coffee, real coffee; the underground (no, I’m not thanking our prime minister with that, I just missed how convenient it is, while I was in Bristol)… Sofia’s spirit as a whole ❤
On the other hand, January for me has always been a month of realizations and this makes me feel, as if I’m flying high in the sky.
A friend yesterday told me that when she was younger, she didn’t believe she can do anything big. “But now I see big things around me every day. And I love it!”, she added. She undoubtedly has right!
Big things are all around us and each of us can do something big and good! Help a stranger today! Just to brake the habit of ignoring the world around.
Or be brave enough to change something!
If each of us changes something that is not so productive, sooner than expected we will notice such a positive transformation around us. But if the world seems too scaring, try changing yourself first and living in peace with you. It’s more than enough.
I met the author of this film the day before. He has a Hollywood prize and lives in peace with himseld.
2012 is almost gone, we’re obviously alive and like most people now and then I look back to see what has changed in the last 12 months, how I and the people around me have changed.
I should start with the most significant change: I moved to a new country and I live quite an exciting uni life. Apart from the things I’ve learned about journalism, apart from all the people from around the world that I got to know, I learned that I can cope alone. To be honest it wasn’t such a surprise, but still it gives you a great sense of relief and enthusiasm to go on and do what you think is important in life.
The “Goodbye” party
Back home I left wonderful people – friends and family, classmates and a lot more. Many of them are now across the world – England, Germany, Holland, Russia… But here there will always be a special feeling of home, which will bring us together at least for the holidays. The world is so specious when you have friends at a distance!
Meine neue Jungen 😀 ❤
When I went to England, I thought that I’ll completely forget German, as I’ll be speaking only English. This not only didn’t happen, but I improved my German quite a lot – I met so many Germans and with some of them I get along really well.
The completely unknown Romanian girl I met on the airport! We share the same English destiny ❤
I found out how close we stay to Romanians and that I understand Romanian, although it has nothing to do with Bulgarian. The Balkan peninsula is a magical place that you have to visit, in order to understand it. Culturally we are different from the rest of the world, but we’re close to one another and you can feel that when you meet other Balkan people abroad.
I saw how discriminating the English politic towards Bulgarian and Romanian students is. And I’m happy to say that this may end sooner than we all have expected. Keep your fingers crossed!
The journalism crew from the conference where I met all that great people
I met some great young Bulgarians, studying around the world. They all have the same goal: to make Bulgaria a better place. More than 150 students gathered in Sofia in the beginning of September to discus what should be changed and how. Now they are working on their projects – they are introducing menus for blind people across the country, they are making the education in Bulgaria better and more up to date and they are going to show the world what a beautiful country Bulgaria is (www.oib.bg). Now while I’m at home, I’m more than happy to meet them all! They are really inspiring and hardworking. Luckily, many are planning to come back to Bulgaria after they finish their education and that are great news for our country.
Danny during one of the concerts
This would have been a fantastic year, if it wasn’t for one lost. I lost a dear friend. He was just 18 and he fought for his life for 5 years. He had leukemia. The last 6 months of his battle were really intense – we had to find 216 000 Euro for around a month. This is a lot and it’s even more in Bulgaria. However, we did it! He traveled to Germany to have a transplantation. It was one of the moments when you show the world that miracles do happen, if we all stick together. I will never ever be able to say enough of “Thank you”-s to all the artist that took part in our concerts; to the organizers – most of them teenagers; to the people who donated and supported us in every possible way; to my friends who were next to me all the time. The operation, however, was unsuccessful. My friend came back and a month after that he passed away (just a week after my birthday).
It’s funny how someone who you knew for less than a year can take such a large part in your life. I will never forget that and I’ll keep trying to fight, as he did, and to appreciate the little things in life, as he did. Furthermore, as a journalist, I’ll know forever that when you know something for sure and when you see how someone (our lovely government, in the case) tries to change the focus and to draw dividends from something so pure as someone’s fight for life, you should not go with the flow and keep quite of what is going on. We were on the other side and it hurts to see yourself on the first page and to feel as a PR-tool.
– Is there an impenetrable fog? Is this why I can’t see you?
– No, there is no fog….
The black earth has hidden me.
I watered the green grass with my blood
and now I’m hidden from all the enemies. *
Now this doesn’t matter that much. If the outcome of the operation was different, everything would have been different… but right now all that matters to me is that I know that miracles do happen, but so do bad things. Sometimes we can’t do anything about them. We have to accept them. It’s hard, but that’s life.
That’s why my new year resolution is to try not to take control over everything and everyone. It’s impossible to control the world – sometimes things happen without asking for your permission; sometimes your phone rings in the most unexpected time of the day and you just don’t know how to react to what you hear… and you hope it’s a joke; sometimes things go totally wrong and you need months to recover from the inside.
I don’t want to leave anyone who has made it through the end of this post with a bitter taste. I want to wish you a fantastic new year – don’t underestimate the people around you, smile every morning and appreciate all you have! Be brave! And let 2013 be healthy for you and let it bring you all that what you really wish to have in life!
**
*This song was emblematic for me and some of my friends in the days after Danny died. And will be emblematic forever.
I want to warn you about something. It might sound obvious, but it is not. Not in the moments when you are planning how you will move away (even abroad) and you will keep in touch with your friends back home. You imagine the lovely holidays at home (after hard exams for example) when everything is the same, don’t you?
Well, this unfortunately is a mistake!
I just found out something and I feel that I should tell you, so that you are prepared.
It is impossible to live in two places at one and the same time!
Don’t get me wrong! Normally I am the person who can convince anyone that everything is possible. Anyone.
And I did believe this is the case whit living abroad. “It’s just a matter of good organisation and time management”, the immature me said.
However, it is not. Despite my good organisation and time management, I saw it is impossible to have the same contact with everyone as you did before. It is impossible to live so far away and to take the same place in someone’s live, as you did before. Even if you talk every single day on Skype. It’s just not the same as real life, as real people that surround you every day.
If someone is to prove me wrong, I’ll be more than happy to hear it! However now it’ll sound rather as a fairly tail.
But good news, guys! I heard about someone who traveled between two countries every week (4 days in country A, 3 days in country B) and I’m almost sure that his case was different! So if you don’t mind having your luggage constantly ready and giving quite a lot money for tickets, then maybe this is the way to live in two places at the same time!
Every cloud has a silver lining : )
P.S. And just to add some more tension, my essay wasn’t recorded as handed in. And now I’m waiting the mistake to be corrected, because I did hand it in!
In the plane, with the other Bulgarian students that were going home for the first time after 3 months or so, we were wondering what would it be like. We (or at least I) expected an enormous change. In the last months everything was new for us, so for some reason we expected that new things were going on here. No, not at all. People here haven’t faced something that big and new, as we have. That’s why they are almost the same.
Of course, we’ve missed the last parties, but it still feels that we’ve been in a holiday for a week and we’ve came back to tell everyone what is it in the new place.
We have probably grown apart the everyday problems here. But we have faced our own obstacles. Those obstacles bring us (the students from abroad) closer to one another and it’s interesting to compare the differences across the UK and the other parts of the world.
On the other hand, the snow here is so beautiful that it can definitively make you forget about the essays that you have to write. And it’s interesting to find how the city has (not) changed.
Sofia is an amazing city. The buildings are from different ages. However, they fit nicely together and you have the feeling that you are in a place with an incredible history and even brighter future. And so is it! Especially for the history part!
I will soon write an article about Sofia, so do follow me on twitter (@Yuliya_K_BG), if you are interested in coming to Bulgaria. Apart from that I have some other interesting plans for writing, but we’ll see if they will work! Fingers crossed! : )
I had some trivial problems that forced me to. I should mention from the beginning that I didn’t have Internet only at home and I was able to use the library at the University, so I’m not such a hero, as you might think.
However, I do feel as a hero and I can tell you why.
First of all, we (or I, if you prefer) are so used to the Internet that we no longer remember what it was to have an ordinary day without it. Ordinary is the key word here, because I don’t talk about one of those interesting days when you travel or see a friend, who you haven’t met for ages.
Secondly, the fact that I’m so far away from home has its role. Adding the absence of TV and only METRO as a newspaper, the lack of information about what is going on in the world and back home can certainly frustrate a journalism student. But the reason is not that this journalism student is so keen to go into the job as soon as possible and needs to know the latest news for achieving this primary goal. The reason is that she is so used to knowing everything that is going on that when the information stops it feels as a big hole. It is almost the same feeling as when you are missing a real person.
Actually, it’s even worse. The constant information stream doesn’t allow us to hear our own thoughts. Being so used to hear what is going on in the world and even who is eating what, at one point we no longer hear ourselves. We forget the five or ten minutes that we need to clear our heads from the unwanted information. And then you ask yourself why you can’t concentrate…
On the second day without Internet, suddenly I got extremely sociable. So did my housemates! I talked with one of them for the first time! Well, if you don’t count the first day when I asked him could I drink the water from the tap and then some “Hey!”-s.
So if you feel that you need a change in your life, a new viewpoint or more concentration, I’d highly recommend you to try to live without Internet for the one half of the day. If you don’t break your promise for a day or two. you will definitely start enjoying it after that.
tea story box 
