Friday, January 8, 2010 - It's a funny feeling being an ex-pat these days, much different from 20 years ago in Tokyo.  Then, we were living in a very different place, but the same people.  Now, I think, we're in a very different place, and also different people.

It hits us immediately as we get on the BA flight from Sofia and they serve us a hot lunch ... God, it's good!  I can't believe it; we've got to be about the only people in the air that day thinking that airline food is fabulous!  But after food in Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria, it has taste, texture, variety, and familiarity.  Now, they didn't have Bourbon, but I can wait for 12 hours!

It was a fine semester, with Sandra as Interim Chair of the JMC Department, and she/we accomplished a lot during the short time, making solid inroads into needed changes in attitudes and curriculum (though not so much within the Administration, which is a shame).  We have adapted to life in Blagoevgrad - a fairly progressive (for Bulgaria) small city with about 20% university students, 1/10th of which are ours - which has a lengthy center-city pedestrian mall and lots of cafes, most outdoors for 2/3 of the year, and has a sort of low-rent Parisian bistro feel.  But especially Sandra feels the increasing pull of the U.S. and family ... a rather "enough adventure already, let's get home" attitude, which I don't at all dismiss.  Now, it's more a question of when we can afford the U.S., which certainly on a vacation basis is ludicrously expensive.

Arriving just over two weeks ago in Washington, DC, we both felt an instant sense of comfort, and relief, as we were in comfortable cars, on big, wide, smooth highways, and almost everything in ENGLISH!!  The variety of housing was wonderful, the range of stores and even fast-food screamed CHOICE, I saw the Washington Monument in the distance (still a source of reassurance, though after consideration, perhaps inexplicable), and then felt unusually comfortable as we sailed around the Beltway to our home-away-from-home at the Spring Hill Suites in Columbia.

We made a tough decision this trip home, and decided we just couldn't try to see everybody, which turns a 3-week visit into something like a forced march ... every night a different room, lugging 3-4 suitcases after you, deflecting genuine, heartfelt invitations to stay at somebody's home, trying to come up with lame jokes about how we don't "crash" anymore, knowing that this is insulting but trying to make our travel as non-daunting as possible.  This one has been calm, very family-centered, including much time with Bradshaw and a trip to Princeton to see the Katzenbachs, and lovely support from EPSH and DBHB.  About three days to go before we head back to Blago, and our lives have become laundry, last-minute purchases, final doctors and Swine shots, Sandra's efforts to regain sight through contacts rather than glasses, and enjoying the expensive repairs we had done on the car!  Thai food tonight which was delicious - even the 88-year-old had a large plate of Phad Thai and loved it! - and has become sort of our sine qua non in new locations.  It's virtually unknown in Bulgaria, but we found a wonderful place in Bucharest (with NBC Universal's Jeff Green's help), but just spent too much money in Istanbul.  Can we say food is our life?

We think our time in the Balkans is drawing to a close.  We adore our students and delight in their teaching, as well as supporting them afterwards (which is so damn important!).  We have another year on our current contracts, and will surely honor those, if nothing else for the great feelings we get from the teaching.  But the stunning lack of vision at the university and resistance to change in an era of change, not to mention a discouraging reluctance to be supportive and respectful to faculty, is very difficult for both of us, especially for a long-time builder like me.  We're already turned down several approaches from other institutions, which gives us hope.  And I have several leads, including a couple from this visit.  Also, as soon as we've completed the two conference papers we've had accepted, I think we'll have some pretty solid credentials, even as the academic-unwashed are still focused on Ph.D's.  Regardless, I think we both feel great about the work and impact we've enjoyed at AUBG.

Bradshaw appears in great shape; he was focused on taking the LSAT this winter, but has sort of backed off on that as he's become more comfortable as an Inside Sales Manager at Hewlett-Packard at its new back-office operation in Conway, AR (a suburb of Little Rock).  He spent a lot of time with us here which we SO enjoyed, and exhibited much of his natural intellect and humor.  He really has a unique range of expertise and sensitivity which will serve him well in whatever direction he chooses.  There's tons of pressure on all young people these days, and I spend a lot of time trying to say, "stop, slow down, make the easy decisions right now, plenty of time for the tough ones, get to know yourself a little better, make a mistake or two, learn from them, then start looking around, see what you might like in the context of work, what you really don't like ... you really do have time, take it!"

So, Sunday the 10th we'll be on our way back, via Heathrow Hell, and honestly look forward to reconnecting to students and classes.  That makes this all worthwhile.  Come visit!

SUMMER - June 2009

End of Year Two.  Two more on the horizon.  While it's extraordinarily frustrating that we haven't been able to make most of the new media changes we would have liked, subtle improvements in the curriculum content seem to be having good effect.  Journalism & Mass Communications was well represented at the Commencement ceremonies, we're slowly intruding more rigor into our courses, the content of the essays in the State Exams (which we also have to grade) was several levels better than last year, and we're enjoying much more engagement with students rather than simply counting majors.  Transcending all is the incredible enjoyment and reward both Sandra and I get from teaching the diverse, bright students we have here.

The fall semester will bring a big change for Sandra, as she takes over the department as Interim Chair.  The announcement at the annual JMC Rocks party at the Piano Bar in downtown Blago in April brought long cheers and applause, clear evidence that her intensive student contact in her advanced classes is paying off.  As always here, the curious decision not to replace the courses of Prof. Dinka Spirovska while she's on sabbatical tends to offset our gains with diminished morale in the department.  Sadly, this tendency has carried over to faculty, where some peculiar contract decisions have seriously injured morale and contributed to good friends returning home. 

These are tough times everywhere, of course.  But it seems clear the problems at AUBG are more internal than external.  Even though Bulgaria's entrance into the European Union is widely seen, especially outside Bulgaria, as a good thing, it has put AUBG in a difficult position asking high schoolers here to choose us rather than an EU university at less than one-fifth the cost.  And so our Bulgarian admissions are way down.  Sounds external, doesn't it?  I don't think so.  Our heavy reliance on tuition fees, virtually non-existent marketing and PR (despite the serendipidous item reprinted below), antiquated budget procedures and concepts, apparent reluctance to be too American, opaque operations, and poorly defined and presented vision combine to offer formidable barriers to success.

So, why do we like it here so much?  I think it's the students and the promise.  Even with the problems, the potential being wasted, AUBG does offer a unique opportunity - even if it doesn't yet know how to express it - for elite students from more than 30 formerly-or-still-repressive states to engage a rapidly changing world intellectually and experientially.  And it's simply glorious being around them as they do that, as well as part of that engagement.  Also, while Bulgaria is not exactly a top-tier garden spot, we were already used to not being able to speak or read the language from our time in Tokyo, and the people here are generally nice, if rigid.  We enjoy the "cafe" feel of Blagoevgrad, the "hometown" feel when you greet students while walking the malls of downtown, the surrounding mountains mixing with the Mediterranean air up from Greece.

Our big enjoyment is but two weeks away ... Bradshaw's graduation from the University of St. Andrews with an honors Masters in Theology.  I never guessed that the Episcopal Bishops in our family background would have such impact (I don't actually think it did).  We'll be on hand, of course, and Brad's godfather will cross the pond to attend, which we're thrilled about.  Brad has been working at the swanky Fairmont Resort there and has arranged for cut-rate accommodations for us.  Brad also seems to have really focused on his academic work this year, virtually aceing his dissertation and finishing up very respectably.  We're very proud of his growth and success.  And he seems well-situated for the next stage, as he has a series of interviews set in the States in July.

We hope to take our usual month in the States from mid-July, though airline prices and the sheer cost of being in the U.S. are daunting.  Of course, people regularly ask us, "Aren't you going to check in with your doctors?"  Yes, though these days "health insurance" is right up there with "special sale."  And it's also a fair question of whether the 6-7 minutes you get with an American doctor is worth the hassle.  But it will be great to see family and friends, and to enjoy much-needed R&R at the lake in the Adirondacks. 

Amazing from the The New York Times ...

Letter from the Balkans

September 27, 2008

Now a month back in Blagoevgrad, and it's hard to believe that we're into our second year at the American University in Bulgaria.  Now, we're both full-time Assistant Professors in Journalism & Mass Communications and just teaching our hearts out!   This is such a tough environment, as the students - from 25 nations - all have different attitudes toward such basic notions as Freedom of Information and the Press, and especially the sense of purpose one should have in that pursuit.  Further, the University administration seems to struggle with who we are, seeing much of student media and operational transparency as a threat rather than a basic trust.

Also, perhaps in recognition of the reluctance of the Bulgarian Government, the University is curiously reluctant to push basic notions of what it is to be American, like holidays and the quadrennial election process.  More profound, you can't get a commitment of "we can make this work" from many people in Bulgaria.  I suspect this is the most important attitude working against the future of this  country.  I'm not sure that I have an answer of how to change this so the country (and others nearby) can succeed.

Is this part of my mandate here as a professor?  I'm not sure.  But there is plenty of room for investigation and research into why we're here, what we're supposed to do now that both USAID and the World Bank have "left" Bulgaria because "everything's working" okay here.  It is a challenging and important time to be here.