Live Breaking News & Updates on Speaking Bulgarian
Stay updated with breaking news from Speaking bulgarian. Get real-time updates on events, politics, business, and more. Visit us for reliable news and exclusive interviews.
We know a thing by its opposite. Hot Means Nothing without cold, and since im traveling the world to explore the nature of happiness and my own struggles to find it, i decide to visit an unhappy place. And if im going to do unhappy, i want somewhere that does it with panache and takes pride in its wallowing, somewhere full of beautiful expressions like, i dont want to feel good. I just want my neighbor to feel bad. [upbeat acoustic music] welcome to bulgaria. [nicky blitz blast off] getting too close, better pull on back what if i travel the world, exploring what makes some places happier than others . Need a onetwo. Im looking at the ways that where we are. Yeah, im acomin, im acomin affect who we are. Whoo, im acomin im acomin, yeah. Its been said that the search for happiness is the chief source of unhappiness. Im acomin, im acomin. Well, thats okay. Im already unhappy, so ive got nothing to lose. Lets go lets all blast off [pro ....
- it used to be the pub the city s pub, the village pub. - used to be a pub. - but now it s the store. - yeah. - [speaking bulgarian] - having a beer. ok. his name is nestor? - nestor. - is that right? - yes. - nestor, hello. - [chuckles] - nice to meet you. so he works twice a week, nestor? - yeah. twice a week, the bread comes. - and that s when they open the store is when the bread comes? - yeah. - people come to get the bread, and then they pick up beer, and buckets, and. - and things like that, yeah. - potatoes, yeah. does nestor remember a time when it was more busy, that the store was open every day? - [speaking bulgarian] - [speaking bulgarian] - and now there are 25, 30. - wow. ....
You ever watch the office? - the office? - the tv show, the office ? no? [humming the office theme] - no. [upbeat music] - a very nice city, sofia. lots of trees, lots of parks. - no, not very nice. before 20 years maybe. now too much people from village. - oh, coming. - is coming to sofia. - too many people from the villages are coming into sofia? - yeah. life is different now. - ok. so are you happy? - [speaking bulgarian] - i feel you. [tense music] if people are fleeing to the city from the countryside, i m curious to know what it is that they re running away from. ....
Over time happiness doesn t continue to increase just because wealth does. [cash register chimes] basically, money makes a place happier, but only up to a point. since joining the european union in 2007, bulgaria has improved its economic standing, but now, rather than comparing themselves to other former soviet countries, bulgarians measure themselves against wealthier ones like germany and france. it fostered a culture of envy and introduced an unhappiness that s harder to define. fortunately, i know where they re working on a definition. it s a beautiful book fair you got here. i was looking for something on a kind of that really ineffable, particular bulgarian strain of sadness. - [speaking bulgarian] - the grief that anchors the bulgarian soul. - ok, my book is the physics of sorrow, so it s if it works for you ....
- holy hell, have things changed since then. [quirky music] bulgaria ranks 85th on the world happiness report, smack dab in the middle. when you adjust for income, bulgaria, a member of the european union, suddenly ranks near the absolute bottom. - i m a really happy person, and that s not a common answer here in bulgaria. - the air is very polluted. it s a problem. - [speaking bulgarian] - there are bumps in the roads, holes in the sidewalks. - political problems. - someone may push you in the metro. - older people are really more pessimistic. - we complain to each other all the time, and then after we exchange complaints, we say, let s go to have a beer together. we have to discuss this. - i hold a black belt in dwelling on the negative, so i knew bulgaria would be the ultimate place to be amongst my fault-finding brethren. ....