News

On Wednesday, 18^th of December 2024, in the space of the fourth floor of the L building, there took its place another event of the “Meet my Culture” cycle. The participants gathered there could get themselves acquainted with the Bulgarian culture, presented by the Bulgarian students, living in Bielsko-Biała this semester within the framework of their Erasmus+ mobility.

The meeting started with reiterating the information about the project “Internationalisation Starts at Home – the Right Direction”, financed within the framework of the “Welcome to Poland” programme by the Polish National Agency for the Academic Exchange, presented by dr Dagmara Mika, Head of the International Relations Office of the UBB. Then, together with Bartosz Dębowski, they presented the general information on the history and contemporality of the Polish-Bulgarian bilateral relations.

After that, the time has come for the presentation prepared by the Bulgarian students: Mr. Hari Hristov Haralampiev, Mr. Petar Vilianov Nikolov and Mr. Stoyan Lazarov. All three, in a long and impressively well-prepared performance, they presented the information on Bulgaria that they found the most important. They displayed the Bulgarian national symbols: the white, green and red flag and the coat of arms: the golden lion rampant over a red shield and a national motto: Съединението прави силата (“Unity makes strength”). They showed the wide variety of the landscapes: not only the more and more popular Black Sea Coast with its attractive, sandy beaches, but also the mountains with the tourist infrastructure for skiing in winter. They told about a long and complicated history, during the course of which, the ancestors of today’s Bulgarians of today settled down in the lower reaches of the Danube and established their state there, after which event they lost and regained their independence several times. They recalled the meeting points of the Polish and Bulgarian history, mentioning the persons of: the king Władysław III Warneńczyk, Sabin Zenon Hałatkiewicz and Mieczysław Domaradzki. They reminded the Bulgarian origins of the Cyrillic alphabet and the connections of its early development with the Preslav Literary School. They underlined the importance of the Bulgarian language in preserving the national culture during hard times of lack of independence. They presented the most important creators of the Bulgarian literature: Ivan Vazov, Hristo Botev, Aleko Konstantinov, Elin Pelin, Peyo Yavorov and Petya Dubarova. They mentioned six regions to which Bulgaria can be divided, each with its distinctive culture: Shopska, Pirin, Rhodope, Thrace, Strandzha, the Northern Bulgaria and Dobrudzha. For each of them, they indicated the characteristic songs and dances and they showed typical folk costumes. They indicated the Bulgarian reasons for pride in economy, sport and science.

The presentation ended with an interactive quiz consisting on 25 questions. Three of the participants who had given the highest number of the correct answers given in the shortest time were awarded with the prizes prepared by the International Relations Office and the UBB Welcome Point.

The next point of the programme was the presentation of the Bulgarian cuisine. The Bulgarian students prepared a variety of meals making up their national culture. There was, shopska salad, well known to Polish tourist in Bulgaria, but also other meals: banitsa, pogacha, tarator, kiufteta and kebapczeta – all described with specially prepared labels, specifying their ingredients and indicating the form of serving (with ajvar, with honey or sprinkled with savory-based mix of herbs called chubritsa).

As the Christmas time was coming, the organisers enriched the programme of the event with decorating a Christmas tree. The Erasmus+ students, not only the Bulgarians now, but also the representatives of other nationalities present at the UBB this semester, eagerly started do adorn the tree. They used the decorations prepared last year by their predecessors, during a similar event.

The last “Meet my Culture” event of this year was a success. We hope that it has effectively enriched the knowledge of the participants on Bulgaria and her culture as well as that it has helped to integrate our academic community.