What Do Foreigners Think About Bulgaria?
What do foreigners think about Bulgarians?
Georgi Shterev
BC 301 – Critical Thinking
Rob Stevenson
Inference Essay
April 26, 2009 As a Bulgarian, I feel quite bad when I hear negative opinions about my nation. The truth is, however, that in the past years both Bulgarian self-consciousness and foreign feedback about the people living here have been going down due to factors such as poverty and corruption. There are both positive and negative assumptions about Bulgarians ranging from thieves and gypsies to warm, welcoming and polite people proud of their heritage and history. There is not one common understanding about Bulgarians worldwide. Opinions are built on the basis of individual cases which determine them.
In order to understand how foreigners evaluate and make their assumptions about Bulgarians, it is important to explain how the typical Bulgarian distinguishes and qualifies foreigners. Relatively small countries with similar geographic and national characteristics are often confusing. Lithuania and Latvia, Norway, Sweden and Finland are such examples. The mass media also plays a big role in building the opinion of Bulgarians that don’t have any other sources of information about other countries. In cases where Bulgarians have more contact to a nation or a representative of another nation, assumptions and opinions depend much on the particular person and place and are more or less biased.
When foreigners come to Bulgaria, there are some things that they cannot miss. Even during working hours, cafes, bars, restaurants etc. are not so much emptier than in the evening. Also, when doing some kind of business, mostly deals and repairs on real estate, foreigners come to realize that people living here are lazy and don’t work that hard. There are many cases of frauds and scams which have left foreigners disappointed by Bulgarian greediness. Gypsies that went abroad to steal and beg severely damage Bulgarians’
Georgi Shterev
BC 301 – Critical Thinking
Rob Stevenson
Inference Essay
April 26, 2009 As a Bulgarian, I feel quite bad when I hear negative opinions about my nation. The truth is, however, that in the past years both Bulgarian self-consciousness and foreign feedback about the people living here have been going down due to factors such as poverty and corruption. There are both positive and negative assumptions about Bulgarians ranging from thieves and gypsies to warm, welcoming and polite people proud of their heritage and history. There is not one common understanding about Bulgarians worldwide. Opinions are built on the basis of individual cases which determine them.
In order to understand how foreigners evaluate and make their assumptions about Bulgarians, it is important to explain how the typical Bulgarian distinguishes and qualifies foreigners. Relatively small countries with similar geographic and national characteristics are often confusing. Lithuania and Latvia, Norway, Sweden and Finland are such examples. The mass media also plays a big role in building the opinion of Bulgarians that don’t have any other sources of information about other countries. In cases where Bulgarians have more contact to a nation or a representative of another nation, assumptions and opinions depend much on the particular person and place and are more or less biased.
When foreigners come to Bulgaria, there are some things that they cannot miss. Even during working hours, cafes, bars, restaurants etc. are not so much emptier than in the evening. Also, when doing some kind of business, mostly deals and repairs on real estate, foreigners come to realize that people living here are lazy and don’t work that hard. There are many cases of frauds and scams which have left foreigners disappointed by Bulgarian greediness. Gypsies that went abroad to steal and beg severely damage Bulgarians’