Associate Professor from Western Carolina University

visiting Technical University of Sofia, Bulgaria

as a Fulbright U.S. Scholar

Plovdiv

Sozopol boasts 7000 years of history with an exhibit of ancient pottery and gold leafs even at the entrance of a grocery store, then I can’t help imagining Plovdiv saying, “hold my beer”, or, “hold my rhyton”, as there has been 8000 years of civilization in Plovdiv...

Conference in Sozopol

The 10th Automatics conference organized by TU-Sofia was during last weekend in Sozopol, a coastal town by the Black Sea. I left the Fulbright orientation in Sofia early and went to Sozopol to catch the latter part of the conference. Due to COVID, this conference had...

Nestinari (fire dancing)

The Nestinari (fire dancing) ritual is a UNESCO World Heritage legacy of non-material culture in Bulgaria, and many people are wondering how it is done, including me. During the Fulbrighter orientation this week, we had a dinner in a restaurant outdoor and we were...

Eight thousand years of civilization

About eight or nine thousand years ago (6 or 7 millennium BC) , there was already civilization in Bulgaria. The unique patterns on their potteries were distinct from later civilizations (Greek, Roman, or Ottoman, etc.). Bulgaria’s Varna Gold Treasure is...

Layered Sofia

My family arrived in Sofia later on Sat, and we took a stroll around town on Sun. They liked Sofia at once. They think that Sofia is full of layers from various periods, and it is very vibrant with colors. I finally entered the Cathedral Saint Aleksandar Nevski but...

Back to Sofia

When I came back to Sofia from Rome, I knew exactly where to go, just like a local. I even found an open-air market near here that perhaps only locals would frequent. It is a good feeling to feel settled down here. Orpheus was a famous Thracian in the ancient Greek...