Douglas Harms, professor, DePauw University, Indiana
Discipline: computer science
Lecturing: Workshops, Pedagogy, and History of Computing
Host Institution: University of Rousse, Bulgaria
August 2004 – May 2005

My experience
This is my first experience living in an unfamiliar culture for more than a few weeks, and I have been invigorated and humbled. I have a better appreciation for what it must be like for immigrants and visitors to the United States who are unfamiliar with U.S. customs and procedures. For example, I realize that U.S. coins must be horribly difficult for non-English speakers to use because they do not contain numeric representations of the monetary value (e.g., the U.S. coin is marked “quarter dollar” rather than “25 cents”). I was thankful that Bulgarian coins are friendlier than U.S. coins.

Shopping in Fruit and Vegetable Market

I also have an appreciation for how frustrating it can be to live in a society where one does not speak the language very well. On many occasions (e.g., at local shops, taxi drivers, ticket sellers, etc.) I had to interact with Bulgarians where we did not share a common language; on almost all of these occasions we managed to successfully complete our transaction and the vast majority of Bulgarians were very understanding and extremely helpful. These experiences have helped me improve my non-verbal communication skills, and I might even be a better charades player.

St. Mark's in Venice

I also have a better understanding and appreciation for differences and similarities between people of different cultures. I am a product of the Cold War, and growing up I was constantly told how evil communism was. I suspected that contemporaries of mine growing up under communism were given similar propaganda concerning capitalists by their governments, and in conversations with Bulgarians this suspicion was confirmed. It was intriguing to realize that many of my new Bulgarian friends had aspirations to advance in the Communist Party; I can only imagine how different our interactions would have been 20 years ago. I also found it interesting that almost every Bulgarian with whom I spoke had positive things to say about communism; no one wished to return to that era, but most made comments about how it was safer then, how children were better behaved, how the streets were cleaner, how one didn’t need to lock their houses, etc.

Fishing with Nets on the Danube

I also believe Bulgarians have a better appreciation for U.S. citizens because of my time here. There are not many U.S. citizens in Rousse, and I suspect I’m the first U.S. citizen many of my students and colleagues have met. I was often asked to compare the United States with Bulgaria, and I did my best to provide an honest and candid comparison. Colleagues at the university were also interested in the similarities and differences between United States and Bulgarian higher education, and I made several formal and informal presentations on this subject. Also, in September and October many Bulgarian friends initiated conversations about the U.S. presidential election, and they were intrigued at how I could vote via absentee ballot in this election while living in Bulgaria.  Following the election we had additional conversations about the outcome as well as discussions about the path the current administration was taking. These conversations were healthy.

I will conclude this section by relating an experience I had with a Yanko who is an undergraduate student here who attended several of my lectures. Just before Christmas, Yanko stopped by my office and asked if I had a minute or two to spare. He then explained that when he heard an American would be lecturing this year he was very skeptical, felt it was a bad idea, and was not at all supportive. He then confided in me that after having me in class and visiting me in my office on one or two occasions he was very supportive of my being here and grateful that I chose Rousse for my Fulbright experience.

My immediate family’s experience

My wife and three youngest children accompanied me to Bulgaria, and this was their first time living in a foreign culture. Everyone told us that our two youngest children (ages 8 and 9 when we moved here) would pick up the language like a sponge and make friends very quickly. Well, they haven’t learned any Bulgarian, though they have made friends at school. They have been invited to birthday parties and seem to get along with their schoolmates.

Abbie and Friends

Although they can’t communicate well verbally with their friends they have learned to use non-verbal skills quite effectively. For example, our son regularly trades “Yu-Gi-Oh” trading cards with classmates after school and I find these transactions very interesting. Isaac and his schoolmate exchange their decks of cards and each examines the deck for cards they’d like to have; using non-verbal signals they indicate what they want and what they’re willing to part with, and after several rounds an agreement is reached and both leave, pleased with the results.

Although almost all instruction in their school is in Bulgarian, which they don’t understand, both Isaac and Abigail are willing to attend school and seem enthusiastic and happy when we pick them up at the end of the day. I doubt they are making lifelong friends here, but I’m sure they will have good memories of this experience.

Riding a Rousse City Bus

Our 15 year old daughter, Alisha, attends the English language school where all students have some level of English proficiency. She has made several Bulgarian friends and periodically goes out to parties and the like with them, chats with them online, and communicates with them via cell phone. Alisha has also made some friends in Bucharest and has spent some time visiting them in Romania. She spends a good deal of time chatting on the Internet with her friends from the United States, Bulgaria, Romania and England; I have no doubt she’ll maintain many of these friendships for year to come.

My extended family and friends’ experience

University of Rousse Computer Science Building

During our time in Bulgaria several family members and friends have visited us. Our two oldest daughters and some of their friends have spent various amounts of time in Rousse, my wife’s parents spent a week visiting us, and our niece and a friend spent several days here. Rousse is not a normal tourist destination, and everyone who has visited us has been very intrigued by Bulgaria and Rousse and has had a very good experience here. I suspect that most of our visitors were unfamiliar with Bulgaria prior to their visit, and the trip was eye-opening for them.

Meal at Leo's Apartment

I created a Web page describing our experiences and periodically send out e-mail to family, friends, and colleagues in the United States mentioning things that we’ve been doing. Many friends of ours have let us know that they enjoy learning about Bulgaria and reading about our experiences here. We’ve also shared some Bulgarian traditions with family and friends (e.g., 8th of March Day, Baba Marta Day, Name Days, etc.). We sent over one hundred martenitzi to friends and relatives in the United States along with an explanation of Baba Marta Day; students in our children’s classes in Indiana celebrated this Bulgarian tradition on the 1st of March, which to my knowledge is something that had not been done in Greencastle, Indiana, until now.

Concluding remarks

Folk Dancers

I honestly believe my Fulbright experience has had an impact on practically everyone we know, both family and friends in the United States as well as new friends and colleagues in Bulgaria. I believe my family and I have a better understanding of other cultures and societies, and I hope our friends have a better appreciation similarities and differences between Bulgaria and the United States. I realize we’ve been more expensive to support than a single scholar, since we require accommodations and transportation for five people; however, I believe and hope this additional expense has been worthwhile because it helped provide experiences that are only possible with families. I am honored to be a Fulbright Scholar and grateful for this priceless experience.

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