I finally made it to the Black Sea! Warm waters, sandy beaches, and absolutely no tourists! Tourist season for Germans and other western Europeans is over so the east coast of Bulgaria is pretty deserted. Right now I'm sitting out on my balcony looking at the Black Sea and there's just resort after resort that stretches for miles down the beach.
I'm staying at the Festa Hotel via Pontica in Burgas, Bulgaria. Supposedly it's a 5-star resort, but eastern European standards and a bit different than others--no offense Bulgarians. Don't get me wrong, growing up in rural Michigantown had its benefits, but this hotel is on another level. My suite has more rooms than I know what to do with and even 2 separate bathrooms. I thought about renting out the other rooms to some local gypsies to make a few extra levs (bucks). But I don't know where I would put their donkey or cart.
Work is so much better here because the people are much more friendly. It just goes to show, the closer you are to water and sun, the people become nicer and less suicidal. The two port cities are Burgas and Varna, both significant players in the Black Sea trade and infrastructure. Upon Bulgaria's EU membership, there's been a ton of customs reforms and policies so trade has somewhat been rejuvenated. But that's my business talk coming out, I'll leave that for the conference room.
On a side note, the highway between Sofia (the capital) and Burgas does not really have mandated speed limits. So while I was driving our little 5-speed manual Renault, I noticed a green reflective vest walking out towards the road. Now see, the cops here in Bulgaria are a bit different. They don't hide in their cars waiting to pull someone over. Instead, they sit on the hood of their cars with a wand in their hand that has a red dot at the end. If they think you're going too fast, they simply stand up and stick the wand out towards your car.
I somewhat knew this as I was speeding by the officer, but then realized the most important thing in the entire world: I'm American. After realizing the cops here do not pursue anyone, I chose to simply keep driving on. Saying that I "ran from the cops" would definitely be an exaggeration; however, I did not respect his authority (said in Cartman's voice).
Alas, speeding past cops and swimming in the Black Sea is quite enjoyable, but I do work mind you! It's tough to talk fancy all day in boardrooms and do research on companies to see if they are still receiving money from commies.
A few pictures are updated as well! Cheers.
Wyatt
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Friday, September 17, 2010
Plovdiv, Bulgaria
Things have an interesting way of always working out, eh? You may ask, "Wyatt, why would you start out your post with a weird comment like that? Is there a story behind it?" The truth is, my last post started with the word 'well' and that's originally what I wanted to start this one out with it. So no, there is no weird story behind it, I just simply didn't know how to start my post--but now I have.
So I'm still Sofia, Bulgaria. Flew back in from Brussels two weeks ago and have been loving the post-communist life style for quite some time. The people are finally starting to warm up to me, the men at least. I no longer smile or say ridiculous phrases such as, "please, thank you, excuse me, you're welcome." Instead, I just look angry at the world, grunt, and be as rude as possible. It helps me fit right into society. I call it being cultural and understanding their way of life.
Biggest news that has happened is I witnessed my first earthquake! Supposedly there was a sizable quake back in Indiana when I was there but I was asleep so it doesn't count. But we were in a meeting with a milk processing company outside of the U.S. Embassy (don't worry, they don't process the milk near the embassy), then all of the sudden the whole building started to shake. At first I thought it was bad indigestion, but then I realized I did take my Metamucil earlier than morning so that definitely couldn't be it. That's usually the train of thought that my body goes through. First: make sure what ever happened wasn't directly caused by one of my bodily functions. Second: check the area for human remains. Luckily for the people of Sofia, it was only an earthquake and not one of my bodily functions.
Of course now my parents (correction--Mom) are ashamed that I am once again talking about one of my bowel movements instead of living/working abroad. Well, to be honest, Sofia could be more interesting. Not more interesting than one of my bowel movements of course, but you get my whiff... err drift. Sofia is a great city, don't get me wrong. But unless you like clubbing every night or stargazing at the reflection of lights off of abandoned communist blocks, you're out of luck. But the food is great and cheap, which is always good when you're a broke college student fresh out of college. Thank you once again Anderson University for an amazing education but also an equally amazing amount of debt.
Originally we were planning to go to Budapest, Hungary or Thessaloniki, Greece this weekend. The driving ended up being too much and we have a jam-packed schedule next week. We meet with big companies such as Astra Zeneca, HP, Kaufland, and Novatris Pharma. Good news is Bulgaria has a national holiday on Wednesday so we don't have any meetings that day. Instead, we stay cooped up in our luxury hotel doing prep and background work for the upcoming meetings. I asked if they have fireworks, food, or star spangled banner festivals going on anywhere but I couldn't really get a straight answer out of anyone. Man I hate when people try to shove their culture down others' throats.
Well, I think that's about it for me. If you didn't get any of my jokes or need things broken down further I have the nursing home version available for download, just feel free to video Skype me to ask for it. Just remember I'm 6-9hours ahead of you. Hope all is well on your end.
Cheers.
-Wyatt
So I'm still Sofia, Bulgaria. Flew back in from Brussels two weeks ago and have been loving the post-communist life style for quite some time. The people are finally starting to warm up to me, the men at least. I no longer smile or say ridiculous phrases such as, "please, thank you, excuse me, you're welcome." Instead, I just look angry at the world, grunt, and be as rude as possible. It helps me fit right into society. I call it being cultural and understanding their way of life.
Biggest news that has happened is I witnessed my first earthquake! Supposedly there was a sizable quake back in Indiana when I was there but I was asleep so it doesn't count. But we were in a meeting with a milk processing company outside of the U.S. Embassy (don't worry, they don't process the milk near the embassy), then all of the sudden the whole building started to shake. At first I thought it was bad indigestion, but then I realized I did take my Metamucil earlier than morning so that definitely couldn't be it. That's usually the train of thought that my body goes through. First: make sure what ever happened wasn't directly caused by one of my bodily functions. Second: check the area for human remains. Luckily for the people of Sofia, it was only an earthquake and not one of my bodily functions.
Of course now my parents (correction--Mom) are ashamed that I am once again talking about one of my bowel movements instead of living/working abroad. Well, to be honest, Sofia could be more interesting. Not more interesting than one of my bowel movements of course, but you get my whiff... err drift. Sofia is a great city, don't get me wrong. But unless you like clubbing every night or stargazing at the reflection of lights off of abandoned communist blocks, you're out of luck. But the food is great and cheap, which is always good when you're a broke college student fresh out of college. Thank you once again Anderson University for an amazing education but also an equally amazing amount of debt.
Originally we were planning to go to Budapest, Hungary or Thessaloniki, Greece this weekend. The driving ended up being too much and we have a jam-packed schedule next week. We meet with big companies such as Astra Zeneca, HP, Kaufland, and Novatris Pharma. Good news is Bulgaria has a national holiday on Wednesday so we don't have any meetings that day. Instead, we stay cooped up in our luxury hotel doing prep and background work for the upcoming meetings. I asked if they have fireworks, food, or star spangled banner festivals going on anywhere but I couldn't really get a straight answer out of anyone. Man I hate when people try to shove their culture down others' throats.
Well, I think that's about it for me. If you didn't get any of my jokes or need things broken down further I have the nursing home version available for download, just feel free to video Skype me to ask for it. Just remember I'm 6-9hours ahead of you. Hope all is well on your end.
Cheers.
-Wyatt
Sunday, September 5, 2010
Sofia, Bulgaria
Well, a lot sure has happened in these past couple weeks. We finished up our training in Lommel, Belgium and received our country assignments. There are 7 of us in the training group, all of which are going to different countries. My country assignment was Bulgaria (located in the Balkan region right above Greece and Turkey). The other 6 people in our training group (all of which are girls) got sent to; the Caribbean (island hopping), Singapore, Finland, India, Panama, and Romania.
This past Tuesday, I flew from Eindhoven, Netherlands to Sofia, Bulgaria. I stayed there 3 full days starting on my project before I was called back for regional training here in Overpelt, Belgium. Tomorrow morning at 5:30am I will leave here and head back to Bulgaria for about 2 months.
In Sofia, Bulgaria I am staying at the Hotel Metropolitan with a business suite. It is by far the nicest hotel I have ever stayed in. They do all my laundry and dry cleaning for free everyday. Evidently they even iron your boxers too which is nice. They have complimentary beverages and all the other amenities you can imagine. I very much look forward to flying back tomorrow and spending the rest of the day there. Once I get back I'll upload some photos of my room and whatnot.
After two weeks of being in Sofia, I will move to a city on the Black Sea coast for roughly two weeks. During this stay I plan to go visit a few Purdue friends who live in Istanbul. It's about a 6 hour drive south to Istanbul so hopefully border control won't be too big of an issue.
As far as what people think of the Balkan region--yes, Bulgaria is a post-communist country that still has Russia's imprint, but it is developing quite rapidly. Sofia is a great city with tons of new construction and development. The city just needs road signs because it's impossible to navigate anywhere around there. We just recently got a GPS device for our car and we have to use exact GPS coordinates because there are few cross streets let alone addresses.
But I have met with the Greece/Bulgarian Dannone CEO and the German Metro's GM for Bulgaria which was quite cool. To see these big business men in action is actually quite inspiring. Although excelling through the ranks in a post-communist country may be a 'bit' different than the States, it's still cool nonetheless. For those of you who still don't know what I do, well that's no surprise. I work for a large media conglomerate based in Brussels, Belgium called Big Media Group. They own several different country investment analysis publications. I am currently working for The European Times as a country analyst/journalist. I basically meet with ministers, CEO's, and GM's to receive endorsement to publish a country report involving their sector.
It's a very challenging job but luckily the team I am on in Bulgaria has a PR girl that is a local. That makes our job incredibly easier in regards to translation and scheduling meetings. That being said, the company is now taking us out for supper in Eindhoven, Holland. Hope all is well on your end.
(P.S. There's a few new uploaded pictures. Sorry, not many.)
Cheers.
This past Tuesday, I flew from Eindhoven, Netherlands to Sofia, Bulgaria. I stayed there 3 full days starting on my project before I was called back for regional training here in Overpelt, Belgium. Tomorrow morning at 5:30am I will leave here and head back to Bulgaria for about 2 months.
In Sofia, Bulgaria I am staying at the Hotel Metropolitan with a business suite. It is by far the nicest hotel I have ever stayed in. They do all my laundry and dry cleaning for free everyday. Evidently they even iron your boxers too which is nice. They have complimentary beverages and all the other amenities you can imagine. I very much look forward to flying back tomorrow and spending the rest of the day there. Once I get back I'll upload some photos of my room and whatnot.
After two weeks of being in Sofia, I will move to a city on the Black Sea coast for roughly two weeks. During this stay I plan to go visit a few Purdue friends who live in Istanbul. It's about a 6 hour drive south to Istanbul so hopefully border control won't be too big of an issue.
As far as what people think of the Balkan region--yes, Bulgaria is a post-communist country that still has Russia's imprint, but it is developing quite rapidly. Sofia is a great city with tons of new construction and development. The city just needs road signs because it's impossible to navigate anywhere around there. We just recently got a GPS device for our car and we have to use exact GPS coordinates because there are few cross streets let alone addresses.
But I have met with the Greece/Bulgarian Dannone CEO and the German Metro's GM for Bulgaria which was quite cool. To see these big business men in action is actually quite inspiring. Although excelling through the ranks in a post-communist country may be a 'bit' different than the States, it's still cool nonetheless. For those of you who still don't know what I do, well that's no surprise. I work for a large media conglomerate based in Brussels, Belgium called Big Media Group. They own several different country investment analysis publications. I am currently working for The European Times as a country analyst/journalist. I basically meet with ministers, CEO's, and GM's to receive endorsement to publish a country report involving their sector.
It's a very challenging job but luckily the team I am on in Bulgaria has a PR girl that is a local. That makes our job incredibly easier in regards to translation and scheduling meetings. That being said, the company is now taking us out for supper in Eindhoven, Holland. Hope all is well on your end.
(P.S. There's a few new uploaded pictures. Sorry, not many.)
Cheers.
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