Bulgarians do not breath - they smoke. I have never taken in so many bucket-fulls of smoke, and I lived in Paris in the 90s. But once I learned to adapt to not needing my lungs to survive, things got looking up.
So, wow, Sofia! Bulgaria! Who'd'a thunk it, eh? I am fascinated with Eastern Europe, always have been, especially since I took German and our teacher, Frau Ranz, would tell us stories about growing up in East Germany. I'm sad I didn't get to see the divided Berlin, but I loved seeing East Berlin a couple years back when I went and after that I wanted more exposure to less-changed ex-communist states. And Sofia delivered in spades.
True, it's not communist anymore, but you'd be pretty hard pressed to notice if you fell into a coma in 1990 and just woke up. It's full of the prototypical expanses of concrete residential developments, crumbling older buildings, odd local brands that would never make it outside Bulgaria, insanely crooked & cracked sidewalks, sometimes with holes covered with a slab of concrete, sometimes just open to rebar wide enough for you to fall into the sewer below if you're not paying attention. In general in really, really poor shape. But there are some exceptions, of course. Oddly, the metro is gorgeous and spotless, and there's a mobile phone signal throughout.
There's an amazing dearth of things to see for a capital city. There are some churches, some government buildings, but nothing "wow" at all. But for me this was all part of the fascination, this city the old government basically neutered and whose spirit they did their best to destroy. And the poverty is rampant, which leads to nice prices for foreigners, a hard life for Bulgarians.
But what's so odd is, I went to Prague, which was also communist, but it's much richer than Sofia, and it's also gorgeous and thriving, and the people there are downtrodden and depressed. In Sofia, where it's much worse, they are just the opposite - everyone's optimistic and happy and just purely golden. Down to the last one, every single person we met was exceedingly friendly and went out of their way for us. The Bulgarian people are beautiful.
There's a small but respectable gay scene, even a couple genuinely good bars. And again, chock full of friendly, smiling people. It makes such a difference to a holiday, and we had correspondingly great nights out. The Friday we just started talking to someone in one of the bars, Exit, and he ended up taking us around in his car (with driver) and we found out the next day he's a top TV personality in Bulgaria - very cool. :) We also met up with a friend of a classmate of mine who's from Sofia on Saturday and hung out with him, which was great. And I did well - I only knocked over two drinks all weekend!
BTW, eight beers, £5 - Sofia rocks!
We had a really hard time navigating at first because Bulgarian uses the Cyrillic alphabet, not Roman, so we're looking at road signs and such that look like "ΠΠ° ΡΠ°ΠΉΡΠ° ΠΌΠΎΠΆΠ΅ΡΠ΅ Π΄Π° Π½Π°ΠΌΠ΅ΡΠΈΡΠ΅ ΠΈΠ½ΡΠ΅ΡΠ΅ΡΠ½ΠΈ ΠΌΠ°ΡΠ΅ΡΠΈΠ°Π»ΠΈ ΠΎΡ Π°ΡΡ
ΠΈΠ²Π°" - not easy for Westerners (but also part of the exotic charm!).
But it was hilarious because we had our little gay guide, which has been transliterated to the Roman alphabet so Westerners can read the bar descriptions and addresses. Great, right? Well, no, because since the street signs are in Cyrillic, the listings you've printed out are useless. We thought briefly about buying a map in Bulgarian, but then we realized since our listings were in Western script, the map would be useless. It was an auspicious start! Fortunately Nick noticed the sign for Exit and from there we just counted streets to find another bar. Then we met Evgeni Minchev (the TV personality) and it was smooth sailing from there.
I took some photos with my mobile phone, you can check them out here:
http://tinyurl.com/yfdhlt
or the full URL:
http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/shaunec1/album?.dir=/24bescd&.src=ph&.tok=phscpqFBrD.tB0y0
My favourite's the "canal". :)
So had a lovely time, and give Sofia high marks. Go see it! I am excited to see more of the East - it's good I've found a friend who wants to see these places as much as I do! Next we're thinking Bucharest or Kyiv. But with school and all it won't happen for some time, but it will definitely happen.
Cheers,
Shaun
--
Shaun Coley
scoley@gmail.com
Clerkenwell, Islington
London, UK
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Monday, 16 October 2006
Saturday, 14 October 2006
[The Life of Shaun #73] Wow
I cannot believe I am less than three hours from London. You should have to fly at least eight hours to be this far away. It is so different here. This is the East.
More to come when I get home.
Cheers,
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Wednesday, 11 October 2006
[The Life of Shaun #72] Come live in England with me!
Ah, a moment! Breath in... hold it... savour it... release!
It's been quite the whirlwind since school started four-and-a-half weeks ago. From saving the sinking ship to our first two projects, I've been pretty busy - and loving it! After my mind-numbing year at St. Ives it feels so good to use my brain again. I love being a student, and love this program. Though the topics of this four-week block aren't my favourites, I can see the end in the near distance and us moving on to more interesting things. (Well, *I* consider macroeconomics very interesting - someone's gotta!)
I was really lucky with the team I've ended up on as well, cassian. On the first day of orientation we were asked to get into groups, and since we really didn't know anyone it was almost random. But there were rules in forming teams - no more than four men and no more than three people from the same country. I attached to a group helmed by two Portuguese guys, but it quickly grew to too many men. As I was seeing the team form I was less excited about being on it, so I volunteered to leave. I swapped with a girl on a team with too many girls and it turned out to be a huge boon.
My team is awesome! I definitely think it's the best team, and so does everyone else! We get comments from other classmates all the time how they wish their teams were more like ours, how they admire how well we all get on and how we hang out together. We mesh well, and there're no alpha egos. Perfect. I hope it stays this copacetic as the grind wears on, but it's certainly a great place to start.
Two very cool things about my program! In February I will be going to Gdansk, Poland for a week for our group's strategy project. Never been to Poland, so that will be great. And how interesting it'll be to work for a week for a Polish company. Then at the end of June I'll be going to Beijing and Shanghai for an International Business Symposium elective! How cool is that?! Add in to that my trips to the West Coast in December and East Coast in April and this is gonna be a great year.
So that's an update from me. Hope everything's going well where you are.
Oh, almost forgot - regarding the subject of this eMail. If anyone wants to move over here and has had any inclination to do an MBA, apply to my program here at Cass. When you graduate you are guaranteed a Highly Skilled Migration visa which will allow you to stay indefinitely. So c'mon over! I'll have a pint waiting for you.
Cheers,
Shaun
--
Shaun Coley
scoley@gmail.com
Clerkenwell, Islington
London, UK
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It's been quite the whirlwind since school started four-and-a-half weeks ago. From saving the sinking ship to our first two projects, I've been pretty busy - and loving it! After my mind-numbing year at St. Ives it feels so good to use my brain again. I love being a student, and love this program. Though the topics of this four-week block aren't my favourites, I can see the end in the near distance and us moving on to more interesting things. (Well, *I* consider macroeconomics very interesting - someone's gotta!)
I was really lucky with the team I've ended up on as well, cassian. On the first day of orientation we were asked to get into groups, and since we really didn't know anyone it was almost random. But there were rules in forming teams - no more than four men and no more than three people from the same country. I attached to a group helmed by two Portuguese guys, but it quickly grew to too many men. As I was seeing the team form I was less excited about being on it, so I volunteered to leave. I swapped with a girl on a team with too many girls and it turned out to be a huge boon.
My team is awesome! I definitely think it's the best team, and so does everyone else! We get comments from other classmates all the time how they wish their teams were more like ours, how they admire how well we all get on and how we hang out together. We mesh well, and there're no alpha egos. Perfect. I hope it stays this copacetic as the grind wears on, but it's certainly a great place to start.
Two very cool things about my program! In February I will be going to Gdansk, Poland for a week for our group's strategy project. Never been to Poland, so that will be great. And how interesting it'll be to work for a week for a Polish company. Then at the end of June I'll be going to Beijing and Shanghai for an International Business Symposium elective! How cool is that?! Add in to that my trips to the West Coast in December and East Coast in April and this is gonna be a great year.
So that's an update from me. Hope everything's going well where you are.
Oh, almost forgot - regarding the subject of this eMail. If anyone wants to move over here and has had any inclination to do an MBA, apply to my program here at Cass. When you graduate you are guaranteed a Highly Skilled Migration visa which will allow you to stay indefinitely. So c'mon over! I'll have a pint waiting for you.
Cheers,
Shaun
--
Shaun Coley
scoley@gmail.com
Clerkenwell, Islington
London, UK
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Sunday, 24 September 2006
[The Life of Shaun #71] I've got a sinking feeling...
Wow, what an exhausting two weeks this has been. Cass has been very good at keeping us busy - we've had two weeks of orientation & introduction, culminating with Flagship this weekend.
I was not looking forward to it - dreading it, actually. I hate these corny, touchy-freely corporate team-building type things. Also, this one's not just a retreat, it's a weekend away at a Naval base ending in a sinking ship simulation. Well, to my shock, the weekend was absolutely brilliant. The program was fantastic, I really met several more people on my course, and got to do something I would never even think to do normally.
Friday we arrived at school to be bussed down to Portsmouth where we were greeted, shown our quarters in the barracks on HMS Bristol (which fought in the Falklands war), attended some short simple lectures, had dinner and drank at the Naval bar (£2 pints!), getting acquainted, then off to bed. I have to say outright, the sleeping situation was... less than ideal. It was in authentic military triple bunks, 20+ to a room. And the showers, also not the best as they were open, but I have as a result now gotten over any hangups I have about showering naked around people I don't really know.
Saturday, after being awoken at 06.30, we were broken into teams and spent the day split between tasks, lectures and lunch. I've been so lucky with teams at Cass; my study group at school is awesome, and my team this weekend was great - it makes all the difference, the day was so much fun. This was followed by dinner at the Officer's club and, of course, drinks until the bar closed.
But today was the main even - the sinking ship simulation! This is midsection of a warship attached to hydraulic arms, capable of rotating it up to 20° to simulate waves. Then you are put inside with your team for a "hit" from an enemy and charged with doing emergency repairs to keep the ship from sinking. As you are trying to do this, on top of the wave motion, hundreds of gallons of water are pouring through the holes from the missile damage, water's shooting at high pressure from broken pipes and there is a lot of smoke. And there wasn't like 6" of water - it was at my head at its highest when the ship was level, causing it to reach near the roof on a side as it rolled in the waves.
My first job required me diving underwater to repair a blown out door portal, and then it was on to the holes in the walls and securing the portal door. After we were done & back up in our starting room, another attack happens and much more damage is done. This is when the room totally fills and your team and you are bobbing about in 6+ feet of water. And these holes were big and the water just shot through them. We were proud when the safety man gave us our review and told us we were one of the fastest teams he'd ever had with the first half of that task. Which was great since the first half we were a little less cohesive, but we pulled together for the tougher challenge.
I've attached the only picture I could find online of the experience, but of course it doesn't capture it - It was intense! And exciting and such a great team activity, and something unlike anything I've ever done or am likely to do again. And as a result, I am exhausted! It's back to class in the morning.
A great start to what I hope will be a great year!
"Navem servavi" - I saved the ship.
Cheers,
Shaun
--
Shaun Coley
scoley@gmail.com
Clerkenwell, Islington
London, UK
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I was not looking forward to it - dreading it, actually. I hate these corny, touchy-freely corporate team-building type things. Also, this one's not just a retreat, it's a weekend away at a Naval base ending in a sinking ship simulation. Well, to my shock, the weekend was absolutely brilliant. The program was fantastic, I really met several more people on my course, and got to do something I would never even think to do normally.
Friday we arrived at school to be bussed down to Portsmouth where we were greeted, shown our quarters in the barracks on HMS Bristol (which fought in the Falklands war), attended some short simple lectures, had dinner and drank at the Naval bar (£2 pints!), getting acquainted, then off to bed. I have to say outright, the sleeping situation was... less than ideal. It was in authentic military triple bunks, 20+ to a room. And the showers, also not the best as they were open, but I have as a result now gotten over any hangups I have about showering naked around people I don't really know.
Saturday, after being awoken at 06.30, we were broken into teams and spent the day split between tasks, lectures and lunch. I've been so lucky with teams at Cass; my study group at school is awesome, and my team this weekend was great - it makes all the difference, the day was so much fun. This was followed by dinner at the Officer's club and, of course, drinks until the bar closed.
But today was the main even - the sinking ship simulation! This is midsection of a warship attached to hydraulic arms, capable of rotating it up to 20° to simulate waves. Then you are put inside with your team for a "hit" from an enemy and charged with doing emergency repairs to keep the ship from sinking. As you are trying to do this, on top of the wave motion, hundreds of gallons of water are pouring through the holes from the missile damage, water's shooting at high pressure from broken pipes and there is a lot of smoke. And there wasn't like 6" of water - it was at my head at its highest when the ship was level, causing it to reach near the roof on a side as it rolled in the waves.
My first job required me diving underwater to repair a blown out door portal, and then it was on to the holes in the walls and securing the portal door. After we were done & back up in our starting room, another attack happens and much more damage is done. This is when the room totally fills and your team and you are bobbing about in 6+ feet of water. And these holes were big and the water just shot through them. We were proud when the safety man gave us our review and told us we were one of the fastest teams he'd ever had with the first half of that task. Which was great since the first half we were a little less cohesive, but we pulled together for the tougher challenge.
I've attached the only picture I could find online of the experience, but of course it doesn't capture it - It was intense! And exciting and such a great team activity, and something unlike anything I've ever done or am likely to do again. And as a result, I am exhausted! It's back to class in the morning.
A great start to what I hope will be a great year!
"Navem servavi" - I saved the ship.
Cheers,
Shaun
--
Shaun Coley
scoley@gmail.com
Clerkenwell, Islington
London, UK
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Tuesday, 19 September 2006
[The Life of Shaun #70] Dublin & London
Dublin & London
Here're some pics of Mary & me from our time in Dublin & London.
Cheers,
Shaun
http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/shaunec1/album?.dir=/8e6fscd&.src=ph&.tok=ph_2rhFBtNetRNRL
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Sunday, 17 September 2006
[The Life of Shaun #69] School, Dublin, the Scissor Sisters & London
So, wow, grad school kicked my, um, bum last week; it's going to be a lot more work than I'd supposed - I am so glad I decided to take a year off to do it. This week was just part of orientation & wind-up, so no "real" classes, but it's been all day, every day. This coming week will be too, then at the weekend they're shipping us off to the naval base at Portsmouth to a flagship seminar where we'll stay in the barracks on the HMS Bristol (or some ship...) and participate in a sinking ship simulation where they put us in a section of a boat on hydraulics in a tank and proceed to fill it with thousands of gallons of seawater while we try and save it. How this will help me with monetary policy I've yet to learn, but it will certainly be interesting...
On the travel front, I went to Dublin last weekend to meet up with my friend Mary Keany from New York. I had a great time! I have to admit, when I first got to the city I wasn't very hopeful. It's very unassuming and decidedly poor for being the capital of the Celtic Tiger. But as we were there for three days it grew on me. It's so charming! From the friendly people, to the accent, to the good night out, even to its blue-collar-ness. I have to say, I can really see the roots of America in Ireland. It has the same mix of middle class friendliness, zest for fun and overtones of religion. I felt quite comfortable there.
But let me tell you, it's expensive. Shockingly so. It's not often a Londoner gets shocked about prices, but €17.50 for enchiladas? Come on, now you're just taking the piss! But I duly emptied my wallet several times and did my bit to support the Irish economy and keep multiple breweries in business. Oh, yes, I had Guinness while I was there - I still don't like it.
More locally, I spent last night in Trafalgar Square at a Scissor Sisters concert I won tickets for. They and it were fantastic. I don't understand how they're not more popular in America. They are huge here - the #1 album in 2004 and their new single "I Don't Feel Like Dancing" went right to #1 in the charts when it was released last week.
A notable paraphrase from Ana Matronic: "Prince William went to a party last week dressed as a Bond girl, and it makes us, the Scissor Sisters, very happy to know that the future king of England has a little bit of queen in him."
So a great concert, and a great band - buy their first album immediately and the new one as soon as it comes out (tomorrow here...). And the whole night was amazing, being in Trafalgar Square for that. I had a moment again where I realized how lucky I am to live in such an amazing city.
OK, off to take a bus tour with Mary Keany! Hope all's well with you wherever you are.
Cheers,
Shaun
--
Shaun Coley
scoley@gmail.com
London, UK
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On the travel front, I went to Dublin last weekend to meet up with my friend Mary Keany from New York. I had a great time! I have to admit, when I first got to the city I wasn't very hopeful. It's very unassuming and decidedly poor for being the capital of the Celtic Tiger. But as we were there for three days it grew on me. It's so charming! From the friendly people, to the accent, to the good night out, even to its blue-collar-ness. I have to say, I can really see the roots of America in Ireland. It has the same mix of middle class friendliness, zest for fun and overtones of religion. I felt quite comfortable there.
But let me tell you, it's expensive. Shockingly so. It's not often a Londoner gets shocked about prices, but €17.50 for enchiladas? Come on, now you're just taking the piss! But I duly emptied my wallet several times and did my bit to support the Irish economy and keep multiple breweries in business. Oh, yes, I had Guinness while I was there - I still don't like it.
More locally, I spent last night in Trafalgar Square at a Scissor Sisters concert I won tickets for. They and it were fantastic. I don't understand how they're not more popular in America. They are huge here - the #1 album in 2004 and their new single "I Don't Feel Like Dancing" went right to #1 in the charts when it was released last week.
A notable paraphrase from Ana Matronic: "Prince William went to a party last week dressed as a Bond girl, and it makes us, the Scissor Sisters, very happy to know that the future king of England has a little bit of queen in him."
So a great concert, and a great band - buy their first album immediately and the new one as soon as it comes out (tomorrow here...). And the whole night was amazing, being in Trafalgar Square for that. I had a moment again where I realized how lucky I am to live in such an amazing city.
OK, off to take a bus tour with Mary Keany! Hope all's well with you wherever you are.
Cheers,
Shaun
--
Shaun Coley
scoley@gmail.com
London, UK
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Friday, 8 September 2006
[The Life of Shaun #68] Safe on the Emerald Isle!
Hello!
Just letting you all know I've arrived safely in Dublin. First impression: it's cute. :) And TOO warm! Who'd'a thunk it? But I'll give more on the city when the weekend's done. Just waiting across from the hotel for Mary Keany to show, so wasting time on here.
Cheers,
Shaun
--
Shaun Coley
scoley@gmail.com
http://www.friendster.com/shaunism
London, UK
"Mission Accomplished." -- George W. Bush, 01 May 2003
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Just letting you all know I've arrived safely in Dublin. First impression: it's cute. :) And TOO warm! Who'd'a thunk it? But I'll give more on the city when the weekend's done. Just waiting across from the hotel for Mary Keany to show, so wasting time on here.
Cheers,
Shaun
--
Shaun Coley
scoley@gmail.com
http://www.friendster.com/shaunism
London, UK
"Mission Accomplished." -- George W. Bush, 01 May 2003
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Thursday, 7 September 2006
[The Life of Shaun #67] And we're off!
Fifty-three minutes of work left, but who's counting?
Today is my last day at St. Ives before starting graduate school and I am so excited about it. I am definitely ready for this next step.
My team and I went out to lunch at my favourite local pub, The Nelson. Good panang curry and three pints - not bad for a Thursday! My direct boss, who's only here for four months since my original boss left two weeks ago, bought dinner for everyone. The payroll head bought my friend Nick and me an extra round, and my colleague Julia gave me a card and €20 for beer in Dublin. All-in-all, pretty cool. Those of you who've heard tell about my work know it hasn't been a total love affair. But in the end, I can't complain; nice people and, honestly, if I'd've had a better job, I might well not've gotten the courage to take a full year off for school. What's that about things always happen for a reason...?
Tonight: pack!
Tomorrow: Dublin, where I will be meeting Mary Keany (Hi Mary! See you tomorrow!)
Weekend: Guinness! (Well, just one, I'm more a lager man, but c'mon, you gotta have Guinness when you're in Dublin!)
Monday: School starts! Yikes!
Orientation promises to be wretched. Every day for two weeks, at late as 21h00 some nights. And they're shipping me and half the class off to Portsmouth for the weekend two weeks hence. I've been there before -- I am not excited. But then after the two weeks "real" school gets down to business - and that I am excited about.
So, here I am, just over one year in London starting another new chapter in life (I hate that clichΓ©, but after three pints it's hard to be original). Life is exciting and good.
Cheers,
Shaun
--
Shaun Coley
scoley@gmail.com
http://www.friendster.com/shaunism
London, UK
"Mission Accomplished." -- George W. Bush, 01 May 2003
--
Shaun Coley
scoley@gmail.com
http://www.friendster.com/shaunism
London, UK
"Mission Accomplished." -- George W. Bush, 01 May 2003
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Wednesday, 30 August 2006
[The Life of Shaun #66] This is a small country
Living in the middle of a huge city on the edge of Europe, I sometimes lapse and forget that Britain is a small country. To remember, all it can take is realizing you've gone from London to the other end of the country in three hours. Or you can watch X Factor, nΓ©e Pop Idol, antecedent to American Idol.
I'm watching it now and the talent level of the audition pool is leagues below American Idol. Yes, there are great ones, and yes, America has just as many humorously bad ones, but I am talking about the average. So many of the people who are going through to the next round wouldn't stand a chance in the States. And hearing Simon say, to someone who'd surely be shown the door on American Idol, "you're fantastic" makes you feel a bit bad for him - it must be hard coming back to this after hosting the show over there.
I know the UK has hugely talented people - there just isn't nearly as big a pool to draw from. To emphasize this they've even had to expand what they draw from. There are three categories here now: 16-24s, 25 & overs, and groups. In the end each judge coaches a category and they "compete" to have someone from their category win.
We could very well get another Will Young out of this season, but we're gonna have to wade through a lot more pain than my American friends will finding the next Kelly Clarkson.
Cheers,
Shaun
--
Shaun Coley
scoley@gmail.com
http://www.friendster.com/shaunism
London, UK
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I'm watching it now and the talent level of the audition pool is leagues below American Idol. Yes, there are great ones, and yes, America has just as many humorously bad ones, but I am talking about the average. So many of the people who are going through to the next round wouldn't stand a chance in the States. And hearing Simon say, to someone who'd surely be shown the door on American Idol, "you're fantastic" makes you feel a bit bad for him - it must be hard coming back to this after hosting the show over there.
I know the UK has hugely talented people - there just isn't nearly as big a pool to draw from. To emphasize this they've even had to expand what they draw from. There are three categories here now: 16-24s, 25 & overs, and groups. In the end each judge coaches a category and they "compete" to have someone from their category win.
We could very well get another Will Young out of this season, but we're gonna have to wade through a lot more pain than my American friends will finding the next Kelly Clarkson.
Cheers,
Shaun
--
Shaun Coley
scoley@gmail.com
http://www.friendster.com/shaunism
London, UK
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Saturday, 26 August 2006
[The Life of Shaun #65] Our cool flat, Definitely Nottingham and my bad chi
As you know, Natasha and I love our flat; it's a perfect fit for us, ideally located, and just a great place to live. Well, this past Thursday the management agency threw a BBQ for the residents (in the private garden, natch) - they had (veggie) burgers and dogs, salads and lots of wine and beer! Very cool. Seeing that it was a fight to get my last management agency in New York to change the bulb in the hallway, having this one do all this definitely took me aback. Oh, and we got to take three unopened bottles of wine with us as a parting gift at the end of the party. ;-)Last weekend I took an overnight trip to Nottingham - just to see another city, check out some new bars and clubs. Well, I had a good time out, but I can definitely see why the town's not called Yessingham. Oi! Gertude Stein would've been at home - there is no there there.
Lastly, we tried to rearrange my room today to improve my feng shui; my bed's in the coffin position - very bad. But unfortunately the size and shape really won't allow any other set up, so it's as it was. But, I did notice that my door actually opens on an angle, so I think technically it's not the coffin position. However, anyone who knows any tricks for improved chi or energy flow, please let me know
That's about it at Rosebery Court this week - just wanted to give an update. Hope all's well where you are. It's a bank holiday weekend here - so long weekend here! Yahooey!
Cheers,
Shaun
--
Shaun Coley
scoley@gmail.com
http://www.friendster.com/shaunism
London, UK
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