Nicholas Throckmorton suffers Reverse Culture Shock after return from Peace Corps service in Bulgaria
Read and comment on this story from the Sofia Echo about Nicholas Throckmorton who is suffereing Reverse Culture Shcok after return from Peace Corps service in Bulgaria. Nick stayed in Bulgaria six months after the end of his Peace Corps assignment, "just traveling around and hanging out in Sofia because I couldn't leave." But after three years away from the US, the return home was quite difficult. "Peace Corps said reverse culture shock is really a big deal but it was a lot bigger than I expected," Nick said. It took him about two months to calm down - and get used to people driving big SUVs by themselves and grocery stores that have everything - and another two months to find a job. Read the story at:
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Expatriate repatriation Rozalia Hristova - Washington correspondent
HIS name is Nicholas Throckmorton but to people in Washington DC he is simply Nick Vrachanski (of Vratsa).
One can see him at most Bulgaria-related events in the US capital - from official embassy receptions to improvised late night Bulgarian parties. A former Peace Corps volunteer in Bulgaria, Nick considers himself more than just a visitor to the country.
"Mathematically, I'm 27 years old," he told The Echo. "I went to Bulgaria when I was 22, spent three years there, so that's like a ninth of my life, so I'm a ninth Bulgarian."
Nick has been back to the US for three years now but his heart will always be in Vratsa where he spent his unforgettable years.
Back in 1998, with a college diploma in Natural Resources, the Southeast Idahoan joined the Peace Corps with the only desire to work in a park or forestry. He had the choice between parks in Francophone Africa and Bulgaria. To many, Africa might sound more exotic and a bigger adventure, but Nick did not follow this common notion. He rather listened to his European-history-devoted mother who basically asked him to go to Bulgaria. "And I'm so glad I did because Bulgaria is the best," he said.
Before going to Bulgaria, all Nick knew about the country was the holy trinity - Sofia, Stoichkov, and Thracian gold. His Peace Corps assignment took him to Metro Park Vrachanski Balkan where he helped build trails and start the Cherepich Monastery and Ledenika Cave centres.
When he first arrived in Vratsa, Nick had gone through the standard three months of training and knew some basic Bulgarian. But when his boss Nikolai Nenchev forbade everyone at the office from speaking English, Nick followed the old saying "When in Vratsa, speak as the Vrachans do."
"Originally, we learned proper Bulgarian but then I got up on street Vrachanski and it was a lot more fun," Nick said. "So I just concentrated on learning the colloquial phrases."
Nick stayed in Bulgaria six months after the end of his Peace Corps assignment, "just traveling around and hanging out in Sofia because I couldn't leave." But after three years away from the US, the return home was quite difficult.
"Peace Corps said reverse culture shock is really a big deal but it was a lot bigger than I expected," Nick said.
It took him about two months to calm down - and get used to people driving big SUVs by themselves and grocery stores that have everything - and another two months to find a job. Luckily, his experience in Vratsa came in handy.
He applied for a public affairs position without any formal public relations or journalism education but the interviewer was impressed by Nick's experience with Bulgarian media. "In Vratsa, we were on the radio and local TV talking about the park all the time," Nick recalled. "So my boss couldn't believe that I could give on camera interviews in Bulgarian and she hired me immediately."
Nick is now a press officer for the US Fish and Wildlife Service working with federal aid and editing the agency's newsletter. But part of his heart is still in Vratsa.
"I went to Vratsa last fall and I was so amazed by our park. Our director Nikolai Nenchev is great, he keeps the park moving forward. They don't even have Peace Corps volunteers and I don't think they need them anymore."
Nick tries to be fair when talking about Bulgaria. "I think when I was in Peace Corps I was a little too patronising saying that Bulgaria is great and everything is going to be fine," he said. "But now I try to be a little more objective about it."
"It is a beautiful country, the customs are very interesting, it has very old traditions and words that we don't even have in English because we never thought about it - little things like that amaze me."
But he also considers the bad things about Bulgaria - people's pessimism, for example. "Bulgarians lack optimism, especially if you are in the same situation day in and day out, you don't see a way out, you kind of lose your optimism," Nick said adding that he has noticed it even among Bulgarians who live abroad. "No matter how optimistic they are here, they still have a bad feeling for Bulgaria."
Nick has a lot of Bulgarian friends in Washington DC, which has a large Bulgarian community. "I had such a great time in Bulgaria that I feel that I owe every Bulgarian that made my life really pleasant in Vratsa and Sofia. This is like under my skin, I can't explain it."
He also has a special bond with his fellow Peace Corps volunteers. "If you take a random group of Americans from all over the place and have them do all these different things in Bulgaria for two years, it creates a bond," Nick said.
Their love for the country inspired a group of former volunteers to start a non-profit organisation called Friends of Bulgaria (www.friendsofbulgaria.net). One of the goals of the group is to help out Peace Corps volunteers who are in, or returning from, Bulgaria. "We try to raise small communism money and ship it to volunteers as fast as possible so that they can take, for example, the students they are teaching to a hizha (mountain hut)," said Nick who is vice president of the organisation's managing board.
Friends of Bulgaria has about 150 members who maintain Bulgaria discussions via a listserv or monthly Happy Hour meetings.
There are similar organisations in Boston, Los Angeles, New York City and Chicago.
Nick has simple advice to Americans coming back to the US after time spent in Bulgaria - "Take is easy."
"It will happen. You'll re-integrate. You'll find a job."
Nick said he was kind of arrogant at the beginning thinking he was extremely smart with a college degree but then realised everybody here has college degrees and that doesn't make one that special.
"When I came back, I was so excited I wanted to tell everybody everything about Bulgaria," Nick recalled smiling. "But people just want to hear a few things and then go on."
Back in the US, Nick got rid of most of the bad habits he got in Bulgaria, like drinking rakia and working nights. He rediscovered the microwave and washing machine and learnt how to trust ATM machines again without fearing they were going to rip him off. Click on a link below for more stories on PCOL
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