RECEPTIONRECEPTION BOOKLETBOOKLET OFOF LCLC SVISHTOVSVISHTOV Dear Trainee, If you are reading this message it means that you are facing the challenge to get known Bulgaria - its culture, its spirit, the way people live, work… and have fun. Our reception booklet is prepared as a guide for you in help of your integration and perception of Bulgarian lifestyle. It contains some useful information you will need in your preparation for coming to Bulgaria. So my advice for you is to read it carefully and thus help us to help you in making your staying here comfortable and enjoyable. In case you have any kind of problems your reception officer (RO) will be happy to help you. BulgariaBulgaria MAPMAP BULGARIABULGARIA ININ BRIEFBRIEF • Bulgaria is situated on the Balkan Peninsula and covers part of the Southeastern Europe. Its boundaries are with Romania to the North, ex-Yugoslavia to the West, Black Sea to the East, Greece to the South and Turkey to the Southeast part of the land. • TERRITORY: 111 000 km2 • POPULATION: Apr. 8 millions • CAPITAL: Sofia • LANGUAGE: Bulgarian belongs to the group of the Slavic languages • RELIGION: Predominantly Eastern Orthodox. The Bulgarian church is autonomous and headed by a Patriarch. SVISHTOVSVISHTOV BeforeBefore && NowNow HistoryHistory • Svishtov is a small town beautifully situated on the Danube River, in the northern part of Bulgaria. It has rich and fascinating history. During the 3-4 c. B.C. there was a Roman fortress, which remains can be still seen in the suburbs of the city. • The name Svishtov originates from the word "light", "candle" because in the past people used to make fires on the highest point of the town as an orientation for fishermen. The location of Svishtov gave it the opportunity to become the biggest commercial and cultural centre of Bulgaria. In the time of our Renaissance here were founded the first Bulgarian choir, theatre and school of trade and commerce. • In present days Svishtov looks like a small town that is extremely populated with students. THETHE ACADEMYACADEMY OFOF ECONOMICSECONOMICS "D."D. A.A. TSENOV"TSENOV" • The inhabitants of Svishtov gave their charities for establishment of various schools and one of them was our economic university. Dimitar Tsenov founded it in 1936. He wanted to create a trade school like the German ones at that time. The economic university has the tradition in teaching finance, accounting, insurance, marketing, management, and international business. PLACESPLACES TOTO GO,GO, PLACESPLACES TOTO SEESEE • The "check point" of most students is the CLOCK TOWER. It is the symbol of the town like the BIG BEN in London. PLACESPLACES TOTO GO,GO, PLACESPLACES TOTO SEESEE • One of the unforgettable sightseeing is the Church of Kolio Ficheto. PLACES TO GO, PLACES TO SEE • The "Monuments" and "Kaleto" are wonderful places for walks and picnics. There are some museums also, such as the home of Aleko Konstantinov – one of the great Bulgarian writers. ENTERTAIMENTENTERTAIMENT Welcome to the town of 101 pubs. The nightlife is quite amusing - discos, bars, national pubs, and parties at the students' residence . ClimateClimate andand clothingclothing • Bulgaria is a country with continental climate. As Svishtov is situated at the Danube coast its climate is under the deep influence of the river. During the summer it is often scorching (sometimes up to 35- 37 °C) so light clothes (T-shirts, shorts) are needed for you to feel comfortable. In the winter the temperatures might fall to - 23°C combined cold strong north wind. Therefore you need warm sweaters, winter coats and shoes. Spring and autumn are seasons of weather changes. Temperatures vary in wide ranges and it rains often. During these periods you will need both warm and summer clothes althoughtit is neither as cold as in the winter, nor as scorching as in the summer. SOME IMPORTANT PRACTICAL INFORMATION GETTING TO BULGARIA • BY AIR: both foreign, as well as several Bulgarian state- owned and private airline companies link the country with the five continents. • BY TRAIN: the main Trans-European and Trans- continental trains run through Bulgaria. International trains link Sofia with many European capital cities and the inland rail network provides access to all larger settlements. • BY BOAT: there are sea and river connections via the Black Sea and the Danube. The majority is tourist cruises rather than regular boat links. ARRIVALARRIVAL • PLEASE SEND YOUR ARRIVAL NOTE AT LEAST TWO WEEKS BEFORE YOUR ARRIVAL • Our telephone number is +359 (631) 64208 y E-mail: [email protected] • In case you do not know the exact date or time of arrival, please contact LC Svishtov to confirm that you are still coming. • The LC needs the information to arrange the lodging. THETHE ARRIVALARRIVAL NOTENOTE SHOULDSHOULD INCLUDE:INCLUDE: • *Name • *Date, time and place of arrival • *Means of travelling (plane, train, etc.) • *Details (flight, etc.) • REMEMBER: • Your RO needs all this information to pick you up. SOMESOME AVERAGEAVERAGE PRICESPRICES ARE:ARE: Price Sausages 4.00 1 kg Type of food (in lv.) Quantity Potatoes 0.60 1 kg Bread 0.90 800 g Onions 0.40 1 bunch Butter 2.00 125 g Tomatoes 2.00 1 kg Margarine 1.50 500 g Cucumbers 1.10 1 kg Cheese 4.50 1 kg Apples 1.60 1 kg Yellow cheese 7.50 1 kg Bananas 2.20 1 kg Milk 1.00 1 l Oranges 2.30 1 kg Yogurt 0.50 500 g Coffee 1.30 100 g Egg 0.24 1 egg Beer 0.90 1 bottle Wine 3.50 1 bottle Chicken 3.50 1 kg • CREDIT CARDS • American Express, Diners Club, Bankamericard Visa, Access, Euorocard, MasterCard and Carte Blanche, among others are accepted in Bulgaria. They can be used as means of payment for standard services: hotel accommodation, restaurants, nightclubs, shopping, car rentals, plane tickets, etc. • You can change money in banks, airports, hotels and change bureaus. • CAUTION!!! • Do not trust anybody who offers to change your money at the street! Use the numerous banks and exchange offices. • IMPORTANT! • Please, bring some money with you to cover the first month, as the salary is paid at the end of the month. • LOCAL TIME: • October till March GMT +2 hr. • April till September GMT+3 hr. • WEIGHT AND MEASURES • Metric System is used. MONEYMONEY Coins: • POSTAL SERVICE • The major post office in Svishtov is open from 8 am to 9 pm, including weekends when it closes at 8. • Post stamps: • To Europe - 2,50 lv. by air. • To Asia - 4,00 lv. by air • To America - 4,00 lv., by air • TELEPHONE SERVICE • You can make a call with a coin of 0,50 lv, but we recommend you to use a magnetic phone card, as it is more reliable. Telex and fax services, as well as direct dialing are also available. • Local telephone calls: with a coin or with a phone card. • International telephone calls: with a phone card-the same amount impulses as for the automatic dialing. • Automatic dialing: • To neighbors countries –0,8 - 1 lv per minute; • To Europe –1,2 - 1,6 lv per minute; • To North Africa and Asia – 2 – 2,4 lv. per minute; • To any other country – 3 lv. per minute. • * One impulse costs 0,13 leva • EMERGENCY TELEPHONE NUMBERS: • Ambulance 150 • Police 166 • Fire Brigade 160 SOME USEFUL WORDS AND PHRASES YES DA NO NE PLEASE MOLYA THANK YOU BLAGODARYA HALO?!? ALLO?!? HELLO! ZDRAVEY! GOOD MORNING! DOBRO UTRO! GOOD EVENING! DOBAR VETCHER! GOOD NIGHT! LEKA NOSHT! WHERE IS...? KADE E...? HOW ARE YOU? KAK SI (STE)? MY NAME IS... KAZVAM SE... HOW MUCH? KOLKO? WHAT IS THE PRICE? KOLKO STRUVA? A LOT MNOGO A LITTLE MALKO WHY? ZASHTO? BECAUSE… ZASHTOTO… OK! OK! I AM HUNGRY! GLADEN SAM! I AM THIRSTY! ZHADEN SAM! I DON’T UNDERSTAND! NE RAZBIRAM! SOME USEFUL WORDS AND PHRASES HELP! POMOSHT! DO YOU REMEMBER ME? POMNISH LI ME? And now the most important part ☺: I LOVE YOU! OBICHAM TE! I MISS YOU! LIPSVASH MI! FUCK OFF! CHUPKATA! RAZKARAI SE! CHEERS! NAZDRAVE! BULGARIANBULGARIAN CYRILLICCYRILLIC TOTO LATINLATIN ALPHABETALPHABET TRANSCRIPTTRANSCRIPT • You can find some more useful information about Bulgaria at the following web sites: • http://www.cl.bas.bg/Bulgaria/ • http://abcnews.go.com/reference/countries/bu.html • http://dir.yahoo.com/Regional/Countries/Bulgaria/ • http://www.omda.bg/indexa.htm NATIONAL AND LOCAL COMMITTEES: MEMBER COMMITTEE AIESEC IN BULGARIA 10 Narodno Sabranie Sq. 1000 Sofia, Bulgaria Tel:+359 2 871681 Fax:+359 2 803791 LC SOFIA - THE UNIVERSITY OF NATIONAL AND WORLD ECONOMIC (UNWE) Student’s town “Hristo Botev“ 1100 Sofia, Bulgaria Tel:+359 2 625 2587 +359 2 628 987 Fax:+359 2 759 104 LC TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY -SOFIA 1756 Sofia, Bulgaria P.O.BOX 21 Tel:+359 2 636 2926 Fax:+359 2 689 133 NATIONALNATIONAL ANDAND LOCALLOCAL COMMITTEES:COMMITTEES: LC VARNA UNIVERSITY OF ECONOMICS 77, “ Kniaz Boris I “ blvd. 9000 Varna, Bulgaria P.O.BOX 304 Tel: +359 52 255 218 LC Blagoevgrad American University in Bulgaria 1, Georgi Izmirliev Sq. 2700 Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria LC SVISHTOV ACADEMY OF ECONMICS 11 A, “Tsanko Tserkovski” bl. 1, room 533 5250 Svishtov, Bulgaria Tel: +359 (631) 64208 E-mail: [email protected] Web site: www.aiesec.org/bulgaria ☺☺ ☺☺ ☺☺ .