A MESSAGE and request for friendship is circulating throughout several Bulgarian cities. One foreigner has taken the search for friendship or love outside the conventional dating game and developed his own very personal and unique way to find that someone special.

Finding a prospective partner in life always has its challenges. We all know someone who has fallen in love at first sight and lived happily ever after, but we all know more people who are passing through life wondering when or if they will find the perfect partner to live a blissful life forever more.

"Where are all the nice guys or girls?". Does that comment sound familiar?

Over the past generations, the dating game has changed somewhat. It was not uncommon for our grandparents to send hot romantic love letters to admirers that expressed messages of endless love. In more recent times, the power of the pen has taken a backseat and the new generation has become more used to the telephone. SMS text messaging has taken this modern phenomenon to a new level and brought in the power of the mobile phone keypad to woo prospective romances.

For many, the ways of old or new do not matter so much as the result. Boy meets girl, girl meets boy; but what are the chances of success? One disillusioned 21-year-old calculus student asked himself why he was having such difficulty finding that special person. He carried out a mathematical exercise to find the probability of meeting that special girl. In short, he analysed the world's population of women and then through a process of elimination: age, in a relationship or married, geographical proximity, someone who would be above average, he came up with the number of 18 726 possible candidates. Given that he was looking for what he considered to be beauty and intelligence, which by definition are in the eye of the beholder, he determined that he would need to be dating a different girl every week for 3493 weeks, or until he was 67 years old. Given that the average age of a male in today's society is little more than 70, he determined that death would be more likely than achieving bliss with a perfect mate.

Now, back to reality. We are left to our own resources to either wait in hope for someone to knock on our doorstep or to take fate in our own hands and go in search of that wonderful mystical phenomenon called love. Peter is an individual who has done just that.

Choosing to ignore the mathematical averages and the defeatist attitudes of peers, he has creatively joined both the ways of new and old in search of his soul mate and designed a postcard of friendship to introduce himself across Bulgaria. Not your normal postcard that is sent through the mail, but the type that is left in shops, restaurants and public places, generally used by companies or entertainment venues promoting an event or product.

Unique, most certainly, but this is Peter and, as he says, "The way to describe me is that I am different, happy and active." His friendship postcard displays two teddy bears with the message: "Me to have you - You to have me... together."  On the back he begins with: "Where is this natural beauty, down to earth, with a big motivation to discover life and to enjoy it in an environment of understanding and mutual support? " (for the rest of the message please see the text box) and leaves an SMS number and email address to contact him. He says that he chose the teddy bears because they were cute and had a positive, tender and romantic impact on people. His message is open to all women who feel attracted or challenged to respond.

Peter is Swiss, a real one as he says, as he eats cheese and chocolate on a daily basis. His interest in Bulgaria started in 2000 when he first came as a financial consultant to the Bulgarian bank his company had bought. During his first and subsequent business trips he discovered that Bulgarian women were intelligent, very natural, unpretentious and wonderfully self-confident. He was left with the impression that Bulgaria was the Switzerland of the Balkans, but offered so much more beauty and depth when it came to finding that special girl.

In Peter's eyes "that special girl" is enthusiastic, happy, motivated and eager to learn, with an academic background and lots of humour. Somebody who likes the exceptional and recognises him as somebody different, creative and happy. In general, he is looking for a younger person, preferably still studying, slender and fitting to his 186cm. However, he says he is not running behind an ideal picture; everybody is unique and has their own set of advantages and disadvantages. In fact, everyone who has a big portfolio of interests, is motivated for discovery and open to challenges is welcome. Peter expresses that he is a person who is innovative and constantly searching for improvement. "A relationship with me does not dry out. There is a lot lot lot to do," he says with enthusiasm.

The world is Peter's home, as he travels extensively for business and for leisure. Having lived a few years in the fast lane, he now tries to find a better balance in life; he thinks that the constant search for excellence has made him one-sided and feels it's important to balance having a social life and not only a corporate life. "Living fast" has made him more vigilant and careful and able to handle all kinds of situations. He says that now he has the ability and time to give even more attention to his environment, something that makes him a more considerate and pleasant person. He is looking for his `natural beauty', where he and his partner not only find a way to enjoy life together, but also develop and mutually support and understand each other along life's journey.

So, has it worked? To date Peter has received over 50 replies, of which he says unfortunately not all were what he expected. Many have been women who were curious or intrigued, others, however, have been abuse. Peter says that it's in his nature to reply to each and every person that responds whether it be kind or not.

Bulgarian girls generally say that this is a very unusual way to meet people. One 27 year-old girl, Milena said, " I typically meet boyfriends through friends. More recently I have used the internet, or dating agencies. I don't think that I would respond, more because I don't like typing or text messaging all that much, I'd rather use the phone and talk." Iva, a 21 year-old art student, said that she thought the idea was very creative and the message was very sweet, but said that she would probably not reply because she was having a good time being single and this was not the time in her life to have a long distance relationship.

No one that I spoke to said that they would definitely respond, but some said they would consider it, because they were curious. They all agreed with the opinion that if a person had not yet found love, then it was undoubtedly something each person was searching for, in one way or another.

What does love mean to Peter, who is so keen in his search? He says that love is the greatest thing on earth. It revives people from eight to 80. Love is the motor of a relationship and trust is the oil that keeps it smooth, the fuel however is the action and mutual support for development. "Although I went through a couple of relationships, I have really only had one `fall-in-love' and `break-my-heart' story," says Peter. " I have learned from it. I will, as with anything else I learn, bring it into a new relationship as a positive experience to make it better."

No matter what your personal choice of method for taking part in the search for love may be, finding that special mate which makes the heart skip a beat and captures just about our every thought and action, is not an easy task. The top three most popular places to meet someone determined by a Selectsmart survey are: art galleries, community service and sports. How about for you?

Good Luck out there!