Issue 18

People often imagine expat life as easy and glamorous, a combination of Hemingway-esque bohemianism and Indiana Jones-style adventure, full of exotic food and drink, and attractive young locals eager to practice their English. Anyone who has started a new life abroad, however, knows that it can also have its downside: in fact, relocation ranks as the third most stressful life event after the death of a loved one and marriage or divorce. Numerous research studies show that the biggest stressor for expats is not culture shock, but the lack of a social circle.

What (if any) are the guidelines on this? I have been told that the electricity companies are now supposed to offer “domestic” tariffs to UK owners. Could you please help to clarify the legality of this. Also, my December bill seems excessive to me – what can I do, if anything, about it?
 

"Under Communism we stopped people from sneaking out of Bulgaria, now we stop them from sneaking in,” the border guard explained as he unlocked the padlock at one of the checkpoints in the border zone near Malko Tarnovo. Between Bulgaria and Turkey lies a strip of barren land surrounded by barbed wire. Before he let us through, the officer alerted his colleagues by telephone – an old bakelite receiver tucked under a sheet metal awning that looked like a throwback to the Korean War.