Name: Magdalena Kowalska
From: Dunsk, Poland
Age: 34

Magdalena Kowalska's only been in the country for a few short months but so far, she likes what she sees. Continuing her work with Small Enterprise Assistance Funds, she helps the country's small and medium-sized businesses manage in an often-difficult climate. She's presently in no rush to leave, and is fascinated by watching Bulgaria as it makes its economic transition.

One of Magdalena and her husband's first impressions about Bulgaria is that it's a country of opposites.

Coming from Poland, where the word naprovo means "right," it took the two a while to figure out why cab drivers were never taking them in the direction they wanted to go. "And they shake their heads for `yes' and nod for `no,'" she said, adding one more observation confirming this early impression. "The cars are on the sidewalks, and the pedestrians are on the streets."

Magdalena arrived in Bulgaria last July as part of her work for Small Enterprise Assistance Funds. She had spent three months earlier this year working in Latvia, but jumped at the opportunity to work in Bulgaria. "I've always been pretty interested in travelling and I like different cultures," she said. "It's interesting to see how different transition economies are doing."

Working as the general director of the funds, Magdalena is responsible for a range of operations and everything the funds are doing. The program invests in small and medium-sized businesses for a three to five-year period. Once the period of investment expires, the businesses are either sold outright to strategic investors, or the company they invested in buys them out.

"I like the job, and working with private businesses," she said. "It brings a challenge but it exposes you to different business areas. From agriculture to IT, it cuts through the whole economy."

She's also optimistic about the country's current investment environment, which she said could be risky, but also deliver profit. "There's a pretty good chance to get good returns. I believe the economy in Bulgaria is developing."

One of Magdalena's first joys in the country was Bulgaria's shopska salad. "At some point, I was addicted. I was eating two per lunch," she said, adding she also really enjoys the warm, open people, and the country's climate.

"It's nice weather for a person coming from Poland."

And as a person who likes spending her time outdoors, Magdalena couldn't have asked for more than Bulgaria delivered. "It's a very attractive country with mountains and a great warm sea. Sofia has a great location right by Vitosha Mountain," she said, adding one of her favourite activities is mountain biking. It's also perfect for her "international globetrotting dog," which she brought with her to Latvia, and now Bulgaria.

She's making out all right with the language, noting that, in her rough estimation, about 50 per cent of Polish and Bulgarian words are similar. "I just have to guess in the right half," she said.

"We've been taking Bulgarian classes," she added. "I'm not speaking yet, but I'm starting to understand. But when they start speaking fast - I'm gone."

Thinking back to Poland, Magdalena most misses how green the country is, a "juicy" green which can be seen everywhere. "I also miss my friends, of course. I'm trying to bring as many people as possible here," she said.

She's also been in Bulgaria long enough to identify one of the country's great dangers. "The driving. They're going to kill us all," she said. "You really have to be careful. The Polish are crazy drivers, but compared to Bulgarians, they would lose.

"You have to have really good reflexes."

Magdalena's managed to travel a fair bit throughout the country, and particularly enjoyed the Rila Monastery and Melnik. "Melnik has a special feeling," she said. "I expected it to be much bigger, and there to be more tourism. It's such a tiny, cool place."

She isn't sure how long she'll be in Bulgaria, but she's in no rush to leave. "In order to achieve something in your professional career, you have to stay here awhile, invest money and work with a company to grow its value, so, in the end, you can see effects.

"I don't have plans to go back - I like it here."

When and if she does move on, she finds Romania, and Bosnia and Herzegovina to be of interest. "Different countries have different models of transition and it's interesting to see how they do it."