Product Description
"The CultureShock!" series is a dynamic and indispensable range of guides for those travellers who are looking to truly understand the countries they are visiting. Each title explains the customs, traditions, social and business etiquette in a lively and informative style."CultureShock!" authors, all of whom have experienced the joys and pitfalls of cultural adaptation, are ideally placed to provide warm and informative advice to those who seek to integrate seamlessly into diverse cultures. The books in this series have a friendly and honest writing style and are full of personal experiences, practical advice and useful information.Each "CultureShock!" book contains: insights into the people and their culture and traditions; advice on adapting into the local environment; linguistic help and hints on how to learn the language and do business; a useful list of foreign words and phrases and a comprehensive resource guide; how to get the most out of your travel experience; About "CultureShock!"; Table of Contents; Introduction/Preface/Acknowledgements/Dedication; and, Map - First Impressions, Overview of Land and History, People, Fitting into Society/Socialising with the Locals, Settling In, Food and Entertainment, Enjoying the Culture/Travel, Learning the Language, Doing Business, and Fast Facts.This book also contains: Culture Quiz; Do's and Don'ts; Glossary; Resource Guide; Further Reading; About the Author; Expatriate workers settling into a new assignment in a foreign land. They could be single or married with and without families; Visitors planning a long-term stay in a foreign country for other reasons other than work e.g. students, short-term overseas attachment, volunteer workers etc.; Tourists who are more interested in getting to know the culture and people of a country than the usual tourist spots; and, Inquisitive armchair travellers. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Nicely written!
This book was written in such a way that you won't be bored reading it even if you know nothing about Bulgaria to start with. Granted, I don't know how true the information is, since I haven't been to Bulgaria yet (although I'll be living there for 2 years early 2011!) but I feel that if I went there now, I'd feel ready for the new culture. There is a large part near the beginning of the book that is dedicated to Bulgarian history that's great if you're a history buff, but personally it bored me to tears. Aside from that though, it covers everything from buying a house, running a business, or just touring in Bulgaria. It isn't just a list of great hotels and restaurants.
Great but if you plan on going to Bulgaria!

Great Introduction to Bulgaria
Very well written and researched! Agnes has done a great job describing the culture and the people. Great introductory book to life in Bulgaria.

Superficial and outdated
There is very little in this book that can't also be found - often in more depth - in any Lonely Planet or Rough Guide.Much of the information about what is/isn't available in the country is also inaccurate; this book came out in 2008, yet it said numerous things were unavailable which I purchased regularly beginning in 2005.

I've read other Culture Shock books and learned a lot about the particulars of the culture and the views of the people, but this book was a disappointment in that regard.Other than quoting a sociologist who described Bulgaria as more collectivist than individualist, there was little useful insight on cultural points other than the usual "nodding your head means no."I felt as if the author had spent all her time among expatriates and rarely interacted with actual Bulgarians.

Skip this book and go with a good travel guide instead. ... Read more

Product Description
Designed for undergraduates with little or no background in world music, Music in Bulgaria is one of several volumes that can be used along with Thinking Musically, the main book in the Global Music Series, in any introductory world music or ethnomusicology course.Music in Bulgaria provides an overview of the cultural, historical, and political meaning of traditional Bulgarian music. It begins by exploring how Bulgaria's rural traditions affect the expression and interpretation of its music and goes on to examine how the country's social, political, and economic histories have influenced its music over many decades. The book also shows how the musical traditions of Bulgaria have been preserved despite the social changes brought about by the post-WWII era of industrialization and urbanization. It analyzes how Bulgarian music has spread throughout other cultures and how it has made its mark on new forms of popular music. Music in Bulgaria features eyewitness accounts of local performances, interviews with performers, and numerous listening examples. It is packaged with a 70-minute CD that includes examples of the music discussed in the text. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A short but fairly detailed introduction for non-ethnographers
Timothy Rice's MUSIC IN BULGARIA, part of Oxford University Press' "Global Music" series, is a concise introduction to the world of Bulgarian musical life from peasant traditions of centuries past to the pop-folk ("chalga") combination enjoyed by modern urban listeners. Unlike Rice's earlier work on the subject, MAY IT FILL YOUR SOUL: Experiencing Bulgarian Music, this volume assumes no prior study of enthography, but a knowledge of basic music theory is vital to making the most out of it.

Rice begins with the wedding music scene, the only survival of village communal music that exists in the lives of average urban Bulgarians. Describing a wedding in Sofia, he gives a portrait of Maria Stoyanova, a player of the gaida (bagpipe) brought with a well-known band for this lavish event. He next describes a Roma wedding in a village, the next place Stoyanova was invited to perform. After this fairly substantial dive into Bulgarian music, Rice gives a more systematic tour, such as the distinctive characteristics of each region's music. The reader will learn how to tell a Shop song from Pirin singing, recognise the several most common traditional instruments, and understand the origin of various kinds of music in the agricultural calendar.

The next portion of the book deals with the impact of politics on music, explaining how folk music was sanatized by the Communist government and then exported abroad as world music. "Les Mystere des Voix Bulgares" is the most well-known example. Many American musicians and listeners have been fascinated with the sound of this state-crafted music, whether because of its interesting rhythms, its otherworldly harmonies, or (for a subset of choral fans) because its female voices can be taken as a feminist statement. However, Rice is critical of those who take some aspects of Bulgaria's music without wanting to truly understand the social and cultural background of this rich heritage. Finally, Rice describes the most recent redaction of folk music in Bulgaria, the combination of folk inspiration with modern instruments that creates the genre known as popfolk or chalga.

Throughout the book Rice gives us some neat details about the music described, including instructions for the pravo horo danced at weddings, the lyrics of famous songs, and the scores of some tunes. I must say I was frustrated by the simple level of the writing. The "Global Music" series is meant for college readers but here it seems like a high-school audience is held in mind here. Nonetheless, this is a fun and informative book, sure to entertain and enlighten English-speaking fans of Bulgarian music. ... Read more

Product Description
Describes the geography, history, government, economy, and culture of this country in the heart of the Balkan peninsula. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (15)

Bulgaria
This book is part of a series on the cultures of the world.It is like reading an extended encyclopedia entry on the country portrayed.This book glosses over geography, history, government, economy, and social issues.

The history section is weak and unimpressive.There is so much history that has to be omitted because the section is limited to 8-10 pages and accompanied by photographs.You also do not get much of an idea of what life in the country is really like.Generalized statements like "the people of Bulgaria do . . . " Really.They all do this?This is like saying the people of Minnesota all play hockey.No we don't.

This book is meant for grade school children so the rougher aspects of history and the economy are sanitized.If your schoolchild has a report due on a country, this book gives the necessary overview.But there is so much more to Bulgaria than this boook alludes to.

A Great Book on Bulgaria
This book has tons of great photos showing many aspects of Bulgarian culture and geography, which I grew to love through a few years spent there.I was thrilled when I found the book in the library and later when I purchased a copy.Regarding the cover: yeah, even my wife who is a Bulgarian Roma thought it was a little weird that they should put Gypsy kids on the front.But the Roma do form a substantial minority in Bulgaria, and the background apartment building is typical, regardless of the tenants' ethnicity.Read the negative reviews of this book with a grain of salt, for many of them are simply racist (which also happens to be a rather typical trait of some Bulgarians).

Is really for kids ?
When you pick up this book for your child, think twice. Do you really want to teach your child that bulgarians are different people the way the children in Afghanistan are taught about americans? That is not an innocent book the way some people here try to present it. I am a bulgarian andit is clear for me that the book was written by a woman who hates her own country - the communists were teaching hate in Bulgaria some time ago and some people can not go overwhat they were taught when they were children.

Some changes of my mind on this book
I am the author of the review from Nov 13 (title "This book is a crime against Bulgaria!", November 13, 2002, Reviewer: A reader from Toronto, Canada )

Although I have seen the book before I have written my first review, I didn't have the time to go thoroughly through it.
Now that I bought the book, I have changed my mind about the content and the author.

The following things I have stated in my first review are NOT true:
- that "more than half of the book is on the topic of the minorities in Bulgaria" (only 5 pages out of total 128) discuss the minorities (mostly turks and gypsies)
- that "pictures of Gypsy minorities dominate the book"
- that "this publication is an insult on the objective and balanced writing"

I have read a statement of the author in the internet forum of the Bulgarian newspaper "Sega", which says that the author was responsible only for the text, but did not have any power on the pictures. Now I find the text very good and covering correctly most of the Bulgarian culture, history, politics and economy.

I still do not understand, though, if the author Kirilka Stavreva was at all involved somehow with the pictures of the book: each picture has a small text attached to it to explain what is shown. Was this text written by the author of the book? If so, the author knew what pictures will be shown in the book. Did she make enough effort to convince the publisher that some of them are very bad choice to represent the respective topic?

Unfortunately, a book is judged as a whole. That is why I still could not give it higher mark because of few pictures disgraceful pictures that ruin the good text:

- mostly the cover which is one of the worst three pictures the publisher could pick among all the 114 of them in the book to give a first impression to the prospective reader

- in section "Pride and Learning", p. 64 with text "Students in class looking a little tense. Most of the children their age start learning at least one foreign language" shows two gypsy children in the foreground and few more gypsy children in the background, creating a wrong impression how most of the classes and children in Bulgaria look like

- again in section "Pride and Learning", p. 65 with text "Two college students on a visit to Bachkovo monastery" which includes two lambs (!!!) in the foreground and the actual students in the backgrounds (why exactly the picture with lambs in the monastery?!?!? No pictures of that monastery with no lambs? Are actually lambs hanging around freely in each monastery?)

- the cover picture AGAIN in the section Lifestyle (!?!?!?), with text "Boys in front of a government housing building". No mention that this is ONLY Gypsies shown, which will lead again to a wrong impressions how Bulgarians look like and what children do (two of the three boys holding slingshot in their hands!)

- in section "Leasure", p. 103, under "Gabrovo: home of humor and satire", a picture of road trader who is NOT a Bulgarian at all (the license plate on the car is Russian, and the guy with obviously Armenian or Aserbaijani appearance)

Interestingly enough, all but one of the above described pictures are made by "Hutchison" (as stated at the very last page of the book, Picture Credits).

I still think the damage caused by a few pictures is big enough.

the cultures of the world :the roma culture
The children on the cover are roma not bulgarian.The roma minority DO NOT CONSIDER THEMSELVS TO BE PART OF BULGARIAN NATION OR CULTURE.Nothing against themthey have their oun culture which is very rich and interesting...but has nothing in common with the bulgarian culture. ... Read more

Product Description
This volume compares the prehistoric settlement patterns in adjacent small valleys in South East Bulgaria - an area with an important geographical location and intensive investigations but with very little archaeologically relevant synthesis and no history of landscape research. The research investigates prehistoric sites within three selected microregions - the Kalnitsa valley and the valleys of the middle and lower courses of the Sokolitsa and Ovcharitsa. ... Read more

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Chapters: Lgbt Culture in Bulgaria, Lgbt Events in Bulgaria, Lgbt People From Bulgaria, Lgbt Rights in Bulgaria, Ferdinand I of Bulgaria, Ludmilla Diakovska, Bgo Gemini, Azis, Recognition of Same-Sex Unions in Bulgaria, Desislava Petrova, Sofia Pride. Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 40. Not illustrated. Free updates online. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt:The Bulgarian Gay Organization Gemini is the primary organization in the LGBT rights movement in Bulgaria , based in Sofia . It was legally registered in 1992 by an HIV-positive gay couple and since then has grown to become the main LGBT organization in the country. Bulgaria's entrance into the European Union has created new opportunities for gay , lesbian , bisexual , and transgender rights for Bulgaria and Gemini. In 2006, it hosted the International Lesbian and Gay Association (ILGA) European Conference in Sofia. The theme was "We Are Family - Our Families in Europe and the European Family".History BGO Gemini was established as an NGO in the Sofia District Court on September 9, 1992. It first launched a hotline, run by volunteers who gave advice to all who called with questions about HIV /AIDS and LGBT issues. From 1997 on, with the support of UNAIDS , Gemini provided social support and informational materials about HIV/AIDS.In 2001, Gemini was jumpstarted and expanded its focus to more general LGBT issues. In that year it held the first legislative workshop in Bulgaria to discuss the situation of LGBT people in the country. The meeting, supported by the Open Society Institute, was attended by judges, politicians, journalists, policemen, and leaders of NGOs. It helped to establish ties that would lead to a grassroots movement for the decriminalization of homosexuality and other advances in LGBT rights.The next important step Gemini took was participating in the Balkan Triangle Project, which laste... ... Read more

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This volume is the first comprehensive collection to gather together the records of the medieval Bulgarian centuries in English translation. Stone annals, works of religious instructions, anti-heretical treatises, apocrypha, royal charters, as well as numerous graffiti and marginal notes, shed abundant light onto a major cultural tradition of the European southeast from the seventh to the fifteenth century. Produced by Bulgarians of all walks of life, the evidence testifies, among other things, to the unique features of Bulgarian historical consciousness, political custom, and religious sensibility as well as the country's conformity to the broad currents of medieval Europe's cultural development and evolution. The volume furnishes a fundamental reading for all those interested in the historical destiny of the "other" Europe. ... Read more

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Chapters: Culture of Bulgaria, Belote, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, List of World Heritage Sites in Bulgaria, Bulgarian National Film Archive, Medieval Bulgarian Royal Charters, Bulgarian Cultural Club - Skopje, Bulgarian Name Days, Bulgarian National Revival, Bulgarian Budnik, Kourbania, National Palace of Culture, Unification Day, Opanak, July Morning, Public Holidays in Bulgaria, Chitalishte, Meyhane, Baba Marta Day, Institute for Bulgarian Language, Bulgarian Customs. Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 88. Not illustrated. Free updates online. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: A number of ancient civilizations, most notably the Thracians, Greeks, Romans, Slavs, and Bulgars, have left their mark on the culture, history and heritage of Bulgaria. Thracian artifacts include numerous tombs and golden treasures, while ancient Bulgars have left traces of their heritage in music and early architecture. Thracian rituals such as the Zarezan, Kukeri and Martenitza are to this day kept alive in the modern Bulgarian culture. The oldest treasure of worked gold in the world, dating back to the 5th millennium BC, comes from the site of the Varna Necropolis. Bulgaria functioned as the hub of Slavic Europe during much of the Middle Ages, exerting considerable literary and cultural influence over the Eastern Orthodox Slavic world by means of the Preslav and Ohrid Literary Schools. Bulgaria also gave the world the Cyrillic alphabet, the second most-widely used alphabet in the world, which originated in these two schools in the tenth century AD. Bulgaria's contribution to humanity continued throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, with individuals such as John Atanasoff a United States citizen of Bulgarian descent, regarded as the father of the digital computer. A number of noted opera-singers (Nicolai Ghiaurov, Boris Christof...More: http://booksllc.net/?id=251620 ... Read more

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On the demand side, exporters and strategic planners focusing on human blood, prepared animal blood, toxins, cultures of micro-organisms, and similar products excluding yeasts in Bulgaria face a number of questions. Which countries are supplying human blood, prepared animal blood, toxins, cultures of micro-organisms, and similar products excluding yeasts to Bulgaria? How important is Bulgaria compared to others in terms of the entire global and regional market? How much do the imports of human blood, prepared animal blood, toxins, cultures of micro-organisms, and similar products excluding yeasts vary from one country of origin to another in Bulgaria? On the supply side, Bulgaria also exports human blood, prepared animal blood, toxins, cultures of micro-organisms, and similar products excluding yeasts. Which countries receive the most exports from Bulgaria? How are these exports concentrated across buyers? What is the value of these exports and which countries are the largest buyers?

This report was created for strategic planners, international marketing executives and import/export managers who are concerned with the market for human blood, prepared animal blood, toxins, cultures of micro-organisms, and similar products excluding yeasts in Bulgaria. With the globalization of this market, managers can no longer be contented with a local view. Nor can managers be contented with out-of-date statistics which appear several years after the fact. I have developed a methodology, based on macroeconomic and trade models, to estimate the market for human blood, prepared animal blood, toxins, cultures of micro-organisms, and similar products excluding yeasts for those countries serving Bulgaria via exports, or supplying from Bulgaria via imports. It does so for the current year based on a variety of key historical indicators and econometric models.

In what follows, Chapter 2 begins by summarizing where Bulgaria fits into the world market for imported and exported human blood, prepared animal blood, toxins, cultures of micro-organisms, and similar products excluding yeasts. The total level of imports and exports on a worldwide basis, and those for Bulgaria in particular, is estimated using a model which aggregates across over 150 key country markets and projects these to the current year. From there, each country represents a percent of the world market. This market is served from a number of competitive countries of origin. Based on both demand- and supply-side dynamics, market shares by country of origin are then calculated across each country market destination. These shares lead to a volume of import and export values for each country and are aggregated to regional and world totals. In doing so, we are able to obtain maximum likelihood estimates of both the value of each market and the share that Bulgaria is likely to receive this year. From these figures, rankings are calculated to allow managers to prioritize Bulgaria compared to other major country markets. In this way, all the figures provided in this report are forecasts that can be combined with internal information sources for strategic planning purposes. ... Read more

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Chapters: Boian Culture. Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 60. Not illustrated. Free updates online. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: The Boian culture (43003500 BC), sometimes referred to as the Giuleti-Marica culture, and in Bulgaria as the Marita culture, was a Neolithic archaeological culture in Romania and Bulgaria in southeast Europe. It was primarily spread across the lower Danube Valley, but made its way into adjacent regions before its end, and is thus considered one of the archaeological Danubian cultures. Native vegetation of the Wallachian Plain. The Boian culture began on the Wallachian Plain north of the Danube River in southeastern Romania. At its peak, the culture spread to include settlements in the Brgan Plain and the Danube Delta in Romania, Dobruja in eastern Romania and northeastern Bulgaria, and the Danubian Plain and the Balkan Mountains in Bulgaria. The culture's geographical extent went as far west as the Jiu River on the border of Transylvania in south-central Romania, as far north as the Chilia branch of the Danube Delta along the Romanian border with Ukraine and the coast of the Black Sea, and as far south as the Rhodope Mountains and the Aegean Sea in Greece. The Boian culture was formed as a melding of two earlier Neolithic groups, the Dudeti culture that originated in Anatolia (present-day Turkey), and the Musical note culture (also known as the Middle Linear Pottery culture, or "LBK"), from the northern Subcarpathian region of southeastern Poland and western Ukraine. The first Boian village found was located on an island on Lake Boian in the region of Muntenia, on the Wallachian Plain north of the Danube River. Landscape of the Danube Delta in Romania. The Boian culture is divided traditionally into four phases, each of which is given a name of one of the archaeological sites that are a...More: http://booksllc.net/?id=25967353 ... Read more

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Chapters: Lgbt Culture in Austria, Lgbt Culture in Brazil, Lgbt Culture in Bulgaria, Lgbt Culture in Canada, Lgbt Culture in Denmark, Lgbt Culture in Germany, Lgbt Culture in Hungary, Lgbt Culture in India, Lgbt Culture in Ireland, Lgbt Culture in Italy, Lgbt Culture in Japan, Lgbt Culture in New Zealand, Lgbt Culture in Norway, Lgbt Culture in Russia, Lgbt Culture in Singapore, Lgbt Culture in South Africa, Lgbt Culture in Spain, Lgbt Culture in Thailand, Lgbt Culture in Turkey, Lgbt Culture in the Netherlands, Lgbt Culture in the United Kingdom, Lgbt Culture in the United States, Lgbt in Egypt, Lgbt in Israel, Polari, Buddy Cole, Sitges, G Magazine, Ball Culture, Budapest Pride, Fire, 2009 Tel Aviv Gay Centre Shooting, Vándormások, Singapore Gay Literature, Kathoey, History of Lgbt People in Singapore Film, Singapore Gay Documentaries, Singapore Gay Theatre, Dumba, Homosexuality in English Football, Teddy Award, Singapore Gay Art, Banjee, Gaynz.com, Vinegar Hill, New Zealand, Queer Lion 2009, Freedom Band of Los Angeles, Emerald Warriors, 68 Pages, the Pink Mirror, Vogue, Yours Emotionally, Mumbai Queer Film Festival, 2006 Jerusalem Gay Pride Parade, International Gay and Lesbian Film Festival «side by Side», Queer Lion 2008, Dublin Pride, Queer Lion 2007, Gay Muslims, a Couple of Guys, the Mostly Unfabulous Social Life of Ethan Green, Bgo Gemini, Gay.co.nz, Khnumhotep and Niankhkhnum, Grupo Gay Da Bahia, Amasong, Tehila, Cairo 52, Life Ball, Brenda Howard Award, Isingqumo, Dunst, Lgbt Danmark, Gayle Language, Venus Flytrap, Trevvy, Azaad Bazaar, Billy Doll, Waacking, the Empress Hotel, Gay Community News, Queentastic, Wrapped, Earring Magic Ken, the Drill Hall, Gay Bob, Afm International Independent Film Festival, the Outhouse, Israeli Gay Youth, Kiwifruit, Chueca, Kings N Things, Great Garlic Girls, up Magazine, the George, Dublin, Tel Aviv Municipal Center for the Lgbt Community, International Federation of Black Prid...More: http://booksllc.net/?id=11857255 ... Read more

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This digital document is an article from Argumentation and Advocacy, published by American Forensic Association on September 22, 2009. The length of the article is 2274 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Cultures of argument and the democratic imaginary: notes from Bulgaria.(Report)
Author: Zornitsa Keremidchieva
Publication: Argumentation and Advocacy (Magazine/Journal)
Date: September 22, 2009
Publisher: American Forensic Association
Volume: 46Issue: 2Page: 116(4)

Article Type: Report

Distributed by Gale, a part of Cengage Learning ... Read more

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This digital document is an article from Countries and Their Cultures, brought to you by Gale®, a part of Cengage Learning, a world leader in e-research and educational publishing for libraries, schools and businesses.The length of the article is 2403 words.The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase.You can view it with any web browser.Covers the broad range of popular religious culture of the United States at the close of the twentieth century. Beliefs, practices, symbols, traditions, movements, organizations, and leaders from the many traditions in the pluralistic American community are represented. Also includes cults and phenomena that drew followers, such as Heaven's Gale and UFOs. ... Read more

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Bulgaria has recently come to the attention to global strategic planners.This report puts these executives on the fast track.Ten chapters provide: an overview of how to strategically access this important market, a discussion on economic fundamentals, marketing & distribution options, export and direct investment options, and full risk assessments (political, cultural, legal, human resources).Ample statistical benchmarks and comparative graphs are given. ... Read more