{"id":6003,"date":"2018-04-11T16:06:24","date_gmt":"2018-04-11T15:06:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/postgraduate\/?p=6003"},"modified":"2021-11-11T12:36:54","modified_gmt":"2021-11-11T11:36:54","slug":"life-in-bournemouth-2-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/student-blog\/2018\/04\/11\/life-in-bournemouth-2-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Survival guide for a Bulgarian in Bournemouth"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Martina Gardeva (Bulgaria)<\/p><\/div>\n

I am Martina Gardeva from Bulgaria studying MSc Tourism Management and Marketing. I came to Bournemouth more than 7 months ago and in this time, I can proudly say I have learnt some tricks on how to make the most of my time here. Life in a country like the UK, with quite a different culture, can be sometimes challenging. It takes time to get used to it but is definitely not \u201cmission impossible\u201d! Here are my top tips for surviving in Bournemouth:<\/p>\n

Driving in the left lane<\/strong><\/p>\n

Be extra careful when you cross the streets and forget what you learned at elementary school \u2013 always first look at the left and then on the right side! Even the elevators in the shopping malls are on the opposite side.<\/p>\n

The body language<\/strong><\/p>\n

We all know that Bulgarians (probably the only ones in the world) shake their heads when they mean \u201cYes\u201d and nod when they mean \u201cNo\u201d. Here it\u2019s just the opposite, so avoid using the body language when answering questions and simply say \u201cYes\u201d or \u201cNo\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>The food<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>We are famous for our love of good food and our extremely tasty recipes. Grandma\u2019s cooking is the best! However, the English cuisine is quite different from our own, but this doesn\u2019t mean it is not as good. Instead of \u201cmekitsi\u201d try the full English breakfast and instead of \u201cbanitsa\u201d give a try to Shepard\u2019s pie, you may surprise yourself. Try the Balkan store near Lansdowne campus \u2013 it has traditional food from Bulgaria, Greece, Turkey, Romania, etc. You can find Bulgarian yoghurt, cheese, lutenitsa and a bunch of other national meals.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>Be very polite<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>I\u2019ve noticed that English people use a lot of words like sorry\/please\/thank you for unusual occasions like saying \u201cthank you\u201d to the bus driver when you are getting off the bus. I find this practice really nice and I have got used to it very easily, showing appreciation is always valued!<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>Control the Bulgarian spirit!<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>Bulgarians are often too emotional, talking loudly and gesticulating too much, which sometimes could be taken as a rude sign and a lack of respect by more conservative people.<\/p>\n

Only the brave go in the water<\/strong><\/p>\n

You will probably have the chance to spend at least one summer in Bournemouth. Bear in mind that most of the people here when going on the beach don\u2019t actually go in the water to swim as we are used to in our Black sea. In the Summer, the temperature of the water is usually around 16-17\u00b0C and is definitely not for everybody!<\/p>\n

Regardless of the obstacles you may encounter when you first arrive here, I\u2019m sure you will get used to it soon and as Stephanie Gilmore said \u201cExperiencing different cultures is one of the best things a human being can do. It puts your whole world into perspective.\u201d<\/p>\n

By Martina Gardeva, Bulgaria, MSc Tourism Management and Marketing, 2017\/18<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I am Martina Gardeva from Bulgaria studying MSc Tourism Management and Marketing. I came to Bournemouth more than 7 months ago and in this time, I can proudly say I have learnt some tricks on how to make the most of my time here. Life in a country like the UK, with quite a different… Read more » about Survival guide for a Bulgarian in Bournemouth<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1268,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[336,1658],"tags":[1246,2005,2046,2110],"class_list":["post-6003","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blogs-archive","category-blog-archive","tag-bulgaria","tag-life-in-bournemouth","tag-martina-gardeva","tag-msc-tourism-management-and-marketing"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/student-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6003","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/student-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/student-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/student-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1268"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/student-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6003"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/student-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6003\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18485,"href":"https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/student-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6003\/revisions\/18485"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/student-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6003"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/student-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6003"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/student-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6003"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}