As a single woman over 50 moving to Bulgaria in 2005 I found it almost impossible to have much social life. Most people are couples. Couples are pleasant enough in a one-off but most do not try to interact often with single women. It took me a year just to know a couple of people. I believe men聽 fare better in Bulgaria and in the world in general, for very obvious reasons.
I was embarrassed to find at work that 'foreigners' were considered to be drunks and could be found passed out on village greens, filling a certain local hostelry all day and generally behaving like slobs. I was even asked if I knew these people and if I spent time in the bar in question.
I'm not a village or gardner type of person聽 so I had hoped to be able to make friends for socialising such as I know my relatives have done at their holiday home in Greece. I needed to work full time and did not have time nor inclination to sit around chugging beer and watching the world go by. Not everybody did that, but quite a few.聽 It seemed that most were retired or had chosen to retire from working.
As a person who has worked in many countries, I have found this to be the situation wherever I go. Perhaps younger single women feel that an older woman cramps their style? Maybe the guys think I may hit on them?? Maybe women think I will hit on their husbands?
Countless young, very young, men have hit on me, particularly Americans, and young men from Internations in Turkey, not all of whom are Turkish, and one was from UK. I do not think they were looking for a relationship! I once met an American woman here of 53 who told me directly of all the young, Turkish聽 men she was 'dating'. This is not my style but is certainly easily available as an option for those who like it.
I'm selling up in Bulgaria because there is nothing for me there. The lack of social life when I did live there full-time is a large part of the reason. Also, although I worked full time for my entire stay, I could not earn enough to live on. I believe that, as the economy stands, two salaries are needed. (I don't include those who come with a generous pension, of course).
A place is, for me, largely about the people around you. Here in Turkey, I enjoy working with my students, and my boss is wonderfully appreciative - not something I have much experience of. The pay and working conditions are terrible but I do like having a job at all! Also, I have considerable opportunity to be creative and to write plays, which are used as an official part of the curriculum.
For the future, I hope to publish a couple of books as well as to sell my home in BG. As for social life, I grab the odd Saturday night when I get the chance but spend most of them at home. This was the same in BG but in BG I didn't have the compensation of such a fulfilling job.
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