11th October 1971

Monday 11^th October

Sofia

Dear mum and dad

Thank you for your letter which arrived today. That was the first time we heard of mum’s rise and of course we are very pleased-you certainly deserve it. Just try and save a bit of it!

We have had a busy week. All your cards arrived safely for Tony’s birthday. Tony says thank you, especially to Nanny, he was very pleased with the record token; book and record tokens are always very acceptable to us. I will try to write to Paula this week and thank her for the letter. Your parcel still has not arrived but it should be here soon.

Well Mr E MBE arrived on Tuesday. He is the boss of all the European division of ICL With him were Ralph L, head of Eastern European division and Mr L the manager of the production division of ICL. We all had dinner with them at the Hotel Sophia on Tuesday evening. I was seated next to Mr E. He was not all as I expected, a man in his early sixties who was very pleasant to talk to and not at all snobbish for an MBE. I got on very well with him, talking about his family, his grandchildren and he was very interested in Tony’s career so maybe he will do something for us- see what a useful wife I am. After dinner we went downstairs to the Sofia night club where the floor show was terrible- very low standard variety. We did not leave until 2 am.

Tony has been very busy chauffeuring the big boys round and Mr E even came to our flat one evening for coffee- just to talk to me again he said- flattery I love it.

They left on Friday. We went to the British embassy Club on Friday evening where they were having a brain trust quiz. Our team came third out of six-not very good. The winning team had Robin, an Englishman lecturing at the University here so we did not feel too ignorant. We had the disadvantage that one of the rounds was a spelling round and you know how good Tony and I are at that! (We are both dyslexic)

Saturday evening was Tony’s Birthday party and about 50 people came including five itinerant Canadians who were travelling across the world from Australia to America, the American Marines in force, three people from the British embassy, some Dutch and Swedes from the ILO (International Labour Organisation) an English schoolteacher and of course the ICL contingent.

I did my Holland bit and baked cheese straws and made trifles and a selection of savouries and everyone was impressed. We invited the neighbours but only two groups turned up. One was our block chief who speaks English. He bought Tony some beautiful gourds half yellow and half green with white stripes. It hardly looks like it could have grown naturally. Of course we will try and save some seeds for you. It seems this man works in agricultural research and they are developing new varieties of gourd which will be useful commercially. He was very proud because he had met the director of Roehampstead Agricultural Research Centre who had visited Bulgaria from England.

It was quite a swinging party- everyone became merry but no one was really drunk so I was quite pleased.

On Sunday we had no peace because we had the ICL Bar-B-Q. The Nettings plus their 3 children, Anton and family, Terry and Tanya, Jim M and Jan all piled into our cars and went up to the reservoir about 20 miles from Sofia. Anton was not happy as he had an accident on Saturday morning and had smashed the front suspension on his Ford Capri. The AA five star insurance however will pay for it to be towed to Vienna and he hopes to start the journey on Monday.

When we reached the lake we walked some distance to the side of a river which feeds the lake where there was a grassy bank to sit on. We built a fire and cooked steak and jacket potatoes and chicken legs. It was incredibly hot- I had on trousers and sweater and us women soon went off into the bushes to remove our tights, wishing we had put on summer dresses. The men were alright as they stripped down to the waist. Of course the children loved it, catching frogs and lizards and watching the fish in the river; returning with wellingtons full of water. We had a plentiful supply of Beer, wine, cider and orange squash- quite an idyllic day. After we gorged ourselves on food, followed by hot chestnuts a game of football was suggested. Needless to say every sixth kick ended in the river and Tony was chief rescuer dashing down the bank to jump on a stone and just stop himself from toppling in. We all got our trousers wet at one time or another. We had periodic choruses of ‘happy birthday to you’ for Tony’s benefit.

Afterwards we went to the Nettings flat for coffee and cards. Tony and I could not bear to face the mess in our flat left over from the party.

Today Dancha came and cleaned the flat like a whirl wind and it is looking lovely now especially as I had several bunches of flowers –carnations and roses, given to me on Saturday. I think I got more presents than Tony. I have not bought him a birthday gift yet- I shall wait until our next trip home. Even Dancha bought us a present, a tablecloth she had embroidered beautifully herself. She has just invited us to visit her home town outside Sofia for a weekend to get some country air and food.

We are enjoying our life here very much. I think it is mainly because there are more ICL people here now and we have a nice community feel. Our Sunday trip reminded me of when I was a child and we used to go to Ham Hill with all the cousins for a picnic. By the way Dad the spot we chose for our picnic was very popular with Bulgarian fishermen- I should imagine it was a very good trout river.

Bulgaria is also getting better because the customers are more pleasant than they were at the start of our time here. We find we do not have to work such long hours as we did at first- I am even writing this letter at work!

I must have a quiet week next week and catch up on my letters and other chores.

I will try and post Nicky’s birthday card and one for Auntie Dorothy today. Unfortunately I can’t find the cards I bought- they were tidied away for the party but I shall have a good search for them when I get home tonight. I hope they will reach England in time.

Next week we have a two day trip to Russe which should be quite interesting. I had better close now and do some work. I hope Nicky has a lovely birthday and that we will see you all soon.

Love to you all

Gillian and Tony

One of the bad aspects of working for ICL was the fact it was formed from a merger of several smaller British computer companies. At the time there was fierce competition between companies to secure a share of the market leading to mergers and the subsequent rationalisation which really meant job cuts. Machines were large with software and free support from the manufacturer included in the price. We cannot think the company made a profit in Eastern Europe. The Americans were largely banned so the European computer manufacturers had an uncontested market and the British were welcome in some countries like Czechoslovakia because of our support for them in the Second World War. We were less welcome in Bulgaria and seen as a necessary evil to help them move into the computer age. The technology in the East for commercial computers was well behind the West.

Within ICL there was a lot of competition for the management post from personnel from the previous small companies which led to a great deal of politicking within the company. We were somewhat protected from this out in the field and were too lowly in the company for it to matter but saw the effect when we were back in Putney- the head quarters of the Eastern Europe division. Some of the managers were very ruthless and spent time securing their positions rather than looking after their staff. Mr E was an exception to this- a really thoughtful caring man which was why we were so taken with him.

We can still remember the weekend from our past. The Bar B Q was an idyllic day spent in the simple pleasures of eating drinking and being with friends in a beautiful setting with warm sunshine. A week later it was snowing!

The lecturer called Robin taking part in the quizz and was working at the University of Sofia. We met up with several times at the embassy club and film evenings but lost touch with him when he moved to Africa. About sixteen years later when we lived in Sonning we popped in to see one of our neighbours only to find Robin standing in their lounge. It seemed he had worked with our neighbour Geoff at a university in Africa after he left Sofia and was on a fleeting visit to see his old colleague. It reminded us how small the world has become with travel so much more normal especially for academics and business people.

4th October 1971

4^th October 1971

Dear Mum and Dad,

It was lovely to speak to you yesterday-I hope it did not cost too much. I am sure Tony’s parcel will arrive in the next few days. I have not bought him a present yet- it is so difficult here where there is no choice in the shops.

I am feeling guilty today as I have stayed home even though my cold is almost better. I am still feeling weak but should be well enough to go to work tomorrow. Tony has not caught the bug yet but several other people in the office have gone down with the virus.

We are quite a big community now, Terry C the country manager, with his Bulgarian girlfriend Tanya, both good company and friendly; Vassel I the Bulgarian who works for us; Jan H our Australian secretary and the three family men Frano K, John N and Anton B.

Frano is Yugoslavian with a Bulgarian wife with a six month old daughter Iana who is British, because she was born in Britain. She has her own British passport. Frano was with us in Greece last weekend but could not get a visa for his wife to come with him. Anton B and John N are both English. John has a son Marc aged two and another child on the way. John has three children, Adam aged 6, Amanda aged 4 and Toby aged nine months.

We were surprised when we were all invited to the home of one of the British embassy couples as we do make rather a crowd, especially with all the children. This was last Friday and we had a pleasant afternoon, missing work until about 4 o’clock.

John and Carol and family dropped by for coffee on Sunday and we are definitely getting a better social life now there are more of us.

The British embassy is still generally depressing and we still grumble about them among themselves. We went to the film last night and had the usual reception which means the only time anyone from the embassy speaks to you is to ask you for the money for the film. They charge about 30p for the film and 10p for a bottle of bitter lemon. I am sure it is cheaper in England. Every time we go the British embassy club we resolve not to go there again. The club at the American embassy, run by our friends the marines, is so different- very friendly with cheap drinks, free films, pizza and popcorn- it makes one ashamed to be British.

One of the big bosses in ICL, Mr E is coming to visit for some high level talks with the Bulgarians. Tony has the honour of being one of the party meeting him at the airport and there is going to be a dinner in the evening at the Hotel Sofia- the best eating place in town. One thing is certain if he gets nothing else in Bulgaria we should be able to give him the ICL cold.

I have just realised in my list of ICL personnel in Bulgaria I forgot Jim M the engineer whose wife and three children are in England.

Do you realise we have been married 4 years this September. We forgot our anniversary until two days later so we did not celebrate. I think we have enough celebrations in our life at present as there is always someone coming or leaving or holding a birthday party or house warming.

We are having a party for Tony next weekend on the Saturday and have invited several embassy friends as well as ICL people. Needless to say most of them are from the American and Austrian embassy, though we did put out a general invite to the British embassy. We thought it would be nice to invite the neighbours and at least warn them of the noise so we approached the block chief who speaks some English. He was very enthusiastic and we have the feeling he is going to invite the whole block which as there are40 flats would mean a huge number of people. I wish I had you here mum so you could produce your world famous buffet with scones, sponges, trifles etc but I expect they will have to make do with my poor efforts. I hope my Margaret Patten book will inspire me and I can produce some nice cakes. However the flat is singularly lacking in baking trays so I shall have to try and buy some first- heaven knows where they are sold. We are hoping to cook some hot soup and potatoes in their jackets in keeping with the autumn season. It is quite autumnal here and the weather is very changeable, cold one day and hot the next. The heating in the block of flats is not switched on till the 15^th October so we have been very glad of our German duck down duvets in the last couple of weeks.

It seems incredible it was so much hotter in Greece only a couple of hundred miles further south but I expect the altitude in Sofia does not help.

We met two very interesting Americans last night- quite clean and presentable who were walking round the world with a donkey. It is the first time this has been attempted and they expect it to take about three years.

I had better close now and pop to the shops for milk and onions. There are three little shops only about 100yds away which are quite good for everyday needs.

I will write next weekend

Lots of love to you all

Gillian and Tony

We were settling into the expat life style after nearly two years behind the iron curtain. The scenery in Bulgaria was dramatic and beautiful. Our flat was on the edge of the large park inside the centre of the city and there were plenty of places to walk sledge and ski. The American and British embassy had film evenings and the British embassy had a club on Friday nights which we occasionally visited. They had a table tennis table and the occasional quiz but most people went there for the cheap booze. What was interesting was the strange people that occasionally turned up like the Americans walking round the world with a donkey. Often such people had a rosy view of communism and were quite surprised when they met the dour unhelpful Bulgarians. I suppose we were on one of the old trade routes between east and west. Drug smuggling was already a problem and the Bulgarian’s were particularly harsh with any westerners caught travelling through their country with drugs. In the West it was the height of the flower power era but one of the good things about communism at that time was the lack of drug use apart from the old favourite alcohol. Most of the world travelling hippies avoided Bulgaria and travelled to Greece or Turkey or further afield to India. There was a fashion at that time to take the bus to Australia, camping on the way and we saw examples of this during our camping trip to Turkey.

24th September 1971

Greece

24/09/71

Dear Mum Dad and Nanny,

Thank you for the nice long letter which arrived in a record time of 4 days. I am sorry I have been so long writing we have been very busy this week without actually achieving anything.

I was amused at your account of the wedding but was puzzled by your reference to Trudi’s sister. Did you mean her sister from Switzerland? I agree with Harry- you are a good driver- but have I ever said otherwise? I hope you are recovered from your influx of visitors.

I was pleased to hear about your proposed trip to America. I can’t guarantee we will be there to welcome you but you never know, it is always a possibility. Tony’s application to ILO was too late and all the posts had been taken but they will put him on a waiting list and consider him if anything else comes up. The posts advertised had to be filled straight away so would not have been possible for us to take. Tony has written to several employment agencies and will also wait to see what is available in ICL so we still have no idea where we will be going next. I think living here has made us appreciate England a bit more. Of course our plans will also depend on how our family plans progress or not. I have hopefully started knitting but I think it will be Marc Ivor’s Christmas present and not for a small son or daughter.

Well now I must tell you about our holiday. If I wrote everything it would take a book. We travelled to via Erdine to Istanbul and camped on the outskirts in a Mo camp. These sites are run by BP garages and were the best we have ever stayed in with all facilities. They are scattered around Turkey in easy driving distance.

Istanbul was a little disappointing as it was not quite what we had expected but after a while we quite liked it. We visited the normal sites; the Blue Mosque- full of carpets and 19^th Century English grandfather clocks; The Topkapi museum where all the collections of past sultans are kept including beautiful china, Chinese vases, jewellery, and glassware. Very interesting. Also a very nice restaurant within the palace overlooking the Bosphorus- a very romantic setting.

The grand bazaar was a bit disappointing as it was obviously for tourists. I did buy a blue leather coat for £10 and Tony bought some new shoes. We left the Daf in a garage in a hotel to pick up on our return journey.

After Istanbul (where it had started raining anyway) we travelled to Izmir, a very sophisticated city, and spent the night there. We then travelled to the Mocamp at Kusadasi- shown in the postcard I sent you and stayed there three nights. It was a lovely area and very warm with temperatures around 100 degrees F. The sea was warm and nearby there many interesting places including Ephesus, a well preserved ancient Greek town which was deserted because of a malaria epidemic in the first century AD. All the places we visited in Turkey had connections with early Christians. At Ephesus not only did St Paul preach but St John was supposed to have written his gospel there and there was a house which was reputed to be the home of the virgin Mary. We also visited the cave of the ‘seven sleepers’ which was quite deserted and difficult to find. They were a series of caves which were used to bury early Christians and the tombs were decorated with frescoes.

After Kusadasi we went inland to reach the South coast at Atalanya. The scenery on this journey was particularly beautiful and varied. There were great sandstone mountains that had deep erosion gullies down their sides and still blue mountain lakes, steep mountain passes and fertile valleys. We stopped at Parmukkale for dinner. There have been  hot springs there since Roman times, containing white silt which deposits on the mountainsides in pools and makes the rocks brilliant white as they cool. This looks like a petrified white waterfall all down the mountainside. On route we saw Turks in native dress, threshing the corn in a traditional manner with flails then throwing it into the air to separate the wheat from the chaff.

We camped next at Sifliki. Here the camp site was in the middle of a Roman city. We could wander through the remains picking up pieces of roman glass and pottery disturbed only by an occasional donkey grazing nearby. Nearby was a town dating back to the pre Roman Hittite era where there were huge potholes 200yds in diameter with stalagmites and stalactites.

One day we drove to Antioch which is now quite a small town. In biblical times it had a population of half a million but now there were only 60,000 people living there. Hardly any of the Roman city has survived. There was an interesting museum full of well preserved mosaics from a nearby settlement where the rich Romans must have lived.

Antioch also contained remains of the first Christian church, hollowed out in the rock face from a natural cave and founded by St Peter. It is the first Christian church because Antioch was the first place the term ‘Christian’ was used to label the followers of Christ. As the religion was illegal there were tunnels in the rock leading from the church so worshippers could make a quick getaway if their church was discovered.

The south coast of Turkey is very hot and interesting with fields of bananas and cotton growing. The Turks harvest the cotton by hand and you can see rows of brightly clothed Turks of all ages walking through the fields turning them from white to green. We spent about five days on the coast resting and swimming before travelling inland to Goreme. This area is famous for some of the earliest churches and monasteries all hollowed out in soft sandstone rocks. These rocks are weathered into a conical shape like a dunce’s cap about 30 foot high giving the impression of a moon landscape. Inside the churches are decorated with portraits of the saints. We only stayed a day here and then travelled to Ankara where we found a nice hotel. Ankara was very quiet with lots of soldiers on every corner but there was no trouble while we were there. In fact it was a lovely city with a fabulous museum which we spent a couple of hours visiting.

We came home via Istanbul and Thessaloniki and had both cars serviced. At present I am sitting in a small restaurant in a fishing village about 10 miles from Thessalonica as we had to come back to Greece this weekend to get the Daf mended. The gear stick got stuck in forward gear. Tony said it was a good job it had not got stuck in reverse gear as we would have to drive here backwards. It is mended now and we are enjoying a weekend in Greece. Tony bought some new swinging clothes and is looking very smart and disco. It is still warm here but cold for swimming after Turkey.

Last night we went to a discotheque- a new experience for us- all coloured lights and loud music. We did not get to bed until 1 o’clock. Two of our acquaintances from the American and Austrian embassy are also here plus one of our colleagues Frano.K. from ICL, and we plan to go out together for a meal tonight. I had better close now or this letter will never get posted- it should only take three days from here. My lunch has arrived, cheese pastries, salad, octopus and a lamb chop, eaten sitting looking at the deep blue Mediterranean sea under pine trees- paradise.

Lots of love for now

Love to Paula and family

Tony and Gill

We remember our first disco experience. Strange amoebic shapes were projected on the walls, the music was loud and cheerful and there were very few people there. We probably went to bed too early for the main action after driving to Greece. That day we had gone to a clothes shop in Saloniki and bought a completely new outfit for Tony. This was the beginning of the 70’s when clothes became more colourful and exotic. We can still remember the purple and rose shirts we bought.

We definitely had a love affair with Greece. We felt a feeling of freedom when we reached the border crossing. The Greeks were ruled by the Colonels at this time but it felt like a free country compared with Bulgaria. It developed further our interest in ancient history which has stayed with us for the rest of our lives. We were lucky to travel in Turkey and Greece and see the sites before they became swamped with tourists.

One weekend we went down to Kavalla and took a boat to the island of Thasos. Here Gill bought a bright yellow sun dress and we walked down the streets of the main town full of boutiques and night spots and cafes where you could drink ouza and eat calamari and stuffed vine leaves. The countryside on Thassos was beautiful. Unlike most Greek islands its mountains were still covered with chestnut forests making it a green oasis even in the summer. The beaches were sandy and deserted. The Greeks had the habit of building houses piecemeal. Starting with the ground floor and then gradually adding higher floors as they got the money to do so. We were very tempted to buy a plot of land on the beach and build a summer hideaway but then our practical natures took over. How would we get there from the UK? There were no budget airlines and the drive from the UK would take at least three days.

Another experience we remember from our Greek visits was one night driving to Salonika in the rain when suddenly the road was full of frogs. We tried to swerve round them so as not to crush them but there were just too many to miss them all. With the rain bouncing from the tarmac it looked as if for all the world it was raining frogs.

We remember one experience  of cultural misunderstanding in Greece  which also occurred in Bulgaria. In that part of the world people nodded their heads for ‘no’ and shook them for ‘yes’. A further complication in Bulgaria was that ‘ano’ meant ‘yes’ but was often shortened to ‘no’. So ask a question in Bulgaria you were likely to get a shake of the head and someone saying ‘no’. It worked against us in Greece one time when quite late at night we stopped at the first Xenia Hotel (a chain run by the state of very reasonable clean hotels) It was in a small village where they did not speak English. Tony went to enquire about a room and the shake of the head sent him back to the car to say the Hotel was full. This seemed unlikely but it was only later we realised he had misinterpreted the body language. We stayed at a rather inferior hotel with no en suite bedrooms in the next village.

25th August 1971

C/O British embassy

Boulevard Marshal Tolbukhin

Sofia

25^th August 1971

Dear Mum and Dad

Thanks for your letter; I am slow at replying as usual. I think my letters are a bit stilted when I type them as I am not fast enough to keep up with my thoughts. You have a choice lyricism versus clarity- which do you prefer?

We are pleased to hear the news about Marc Ivor and are looking forward to seeing him. No news about my baby i.e. I don’t have one on the way yet but I am not worried about it. We have just had our annual assessments so I feel quite motivated to work at present waiting for my rise (I hope I get one!)

We were quite sad to see A.L. and V.L. back to Prague on Monday. We enjoyed having them with us and hope to be able to visit them in Prague before the end of the year.

Last Sunday we went to the lake about 20 miles out of Sofia and met 2 more ICL families there. Jim M. the engineer who had his wife and children staying with him at present and Anton B with his wife and 2 yr old son, Mark. Anton B. is one of the new salesmen and we are going to dinner with him tomorrow to have someone else’s curry for a change. The lake was beautiful, the water really warm and quite clean- it is Sofia’s drinking water. I think we will stick to drinking mineral water while we are here. I went swimming twice and sun bathed. We ate some fresh trout for dinner and then came home to coq au vin and a film show of our Greek holidays for A.L. and V.L. This week has dragged as it is only Tuesday. This is because we got up at 5.30 on Monday to take A.L. and V.L. to the airport to catch their plane to Prague. We also had the hub caps stolen from the VW over the weekend so we spent time before going to work inspecting all the hub caps on the cars in our neighbourhood to see if we could spot ours. I was particularly annoyed as I had spent a long time on Saturday cleaning them.

On Monday afternoon we helped Jan H move flats. Her boyfriend Bill the marine was there and he took us back to the marine bar afterwards for lemonade. Anton B. was there as well and we had a very pleasant time.

I don’t know what we would do without Bill and the American Embassy. He is so friendly and helpful. We had a private showing of two American films on Monday evening at the Marine house, one called ‘The game’ about the Olympic games and the second ‘bloody Mama’ a very blood thirsty film about a gang of American hoodlums.

I should really be packing tonight but I feel too tired after the long day yesterday. As we are going out tomorrow evening I shall not have much time to get ready for the holiday- still we will set off when we are packed. The camping sites look very good in Turkey. I will try and keep the post cards flowing but don’t be surprised if you don’t get a letter in the next three weeks.

We are getting very mean lately and keep counting our money. I have just had to miss two pages on this writing pad because they are covered with calculations. Tony is starting to think about his next job. He has applied to join the ILO- the UN International Labour Organisation but does not hold out much hope of getting post as most people they employ are a lot older. Still no harm in trying. I must admit it would be great to have diplomatic status with special number plates on my car and be able to sail through border posts without problems. Of course the other attraction is the salary- the lowest about £7000 a year- I could quite easily retire Tony would be able to support us both on that amount. In any case we won’t hear anything from Geneva for at least a month. Tony has applied for no particular job but there are several going at the moment in different countries. Unfortunately South America is out for us because we don’t speak Spanish. We have also written to some Computer personnel companies to see what else is out there. Tony can’t see what the next logical step would be inside ICL so it is probable we will change employers unless they offer us some fantastic post. We shall see.

No more news really. We are both well and healthy now- it is quite difficult to get us both well together. The weather here is hot and the trees are turning brown already and Sofia looks quite autumnal especially as the horse chestnut trees are full of conkers.

What are you going to do with your winter holiday mum? Why don’t you come and visit us.? It is said to be quite nice here in November, I am sure it is time Dad stopped working. Let me know what you think. We could always give you some help with the air fare.

I hope Auntie Dorothy had a good time with you. Give my love to Paula and family I proudly show your photo to all our friends here. I will send a cheque to Paula when we come back after the holiday for Nicola’s and her birthdays. I will also buy Paula a handbag next time I come home.

Love Gillian

Ps I am still trying to give up smoking and I have run out of cigarettes. I have just found a crushed one down the back of the sofa and I am frantically puffing on it.

We remember counting our money; not only our bank accounts but also our loose change. On one occasion we found we had £1000 in our various pockets and wallets in a variety of currencies including Bulgarian Lev, Czech Crowns, American Dollars, Greek Drachmas, Austrian Schillings and German Marks reflecting the travelling we did around Europe at that time,  Oh of course a few pounds sterling as well.

We became very used to driving long distances throughout Europe and changing from language to another and one currency to another.

We would think nothing of driving to Greece for a weekend although it took over five hours to reach Saloniki. The first time we went we stayed at the hotel Victoria just on the road into Saloniki but on later trips we favoured the Hotel Delta more in the centre. The hotels were very cheap and of a good quality. The markets in Greece were bursting with fresh fish, meat and vegetables and the other shops had a Western selection of clothes, pharmaceutical products and household goods.

 We remember a weekend when went to Kavalla with Jan our secretary and Bill the marine. It was a real culture shock when we picked up Bill to find him armed with a cool box full of ice and coca cola which no self respecting American could travel without. Jan and Bill had separate rooms. Bill tried his hardest to gain entry to Jan’s room including singing ‘knock three times ‘ and knocking on the wall. Unfortunately it was our bedroom that abutted his so Jan never received the message.

It had only taken us eight months in Bulgaria to decide our next posting should be outside Eastern Europe. Some ICL people spent many years behind the iron curtain but we felt we were falling behind in the technology advances. Computers were evolving at a very fast rate at that time and computer companies were always bringing out new versions of the hardware and software.

Working with the ILO team opened our eyes to the great possibilities of working for a UN agency. The salaries were way above what the industry was paying and the perks were equally attractive.  The down side was that contracts were only allocated for fixed number of years, usually around three. This led to the last year in a post being taken up trying to negotiate the next contract to the detriment of the job the UN person was suppose to be performing.  In our limited experience with ILO, it seemed a bit like the particular regime of communism in Bulgaria, as it became a rather closed shop with the same people being re-employed over and over again regardless of merit.

Working in Eastern Europe also had its financial benefits for us. We did not pay tax in Bulgaria as we were on tourist visas. We did not pay tax in the UK because we were non resident. UK income tax was quite high at the time around 30% if we remember correctly. ICL paid for our rent, gave us car millage for when we used the car on business and paid our accommodation and meals if we went to other countries, or towns in Bulgaria. We were able to save a large proportion of our salaries and have a good time as well.