Paper short abstract:

Not only German retirees decide to look for a ‘better luck’ in Bulgaria but also working Germans settle down in Bulgaria and continue their normal life, combining their native cultural habits and heritage with newly acquired elements of the cultural heritage of the new host country.

Paper long abstract:

Not only German retirees decide to look for a better life in Bulgaria but able to work Germans also settle down in Bulgaria and continue their life, combining native cultural habits and heritage with newly acquired skills and elements of the cultural heritage of the host country. In the paper will be compared individual adaptation strategies of Germans living in Bulgarian villages, more exactly the ways they manage their daily tasks, their social contacts and inclusion in the life of the local community, the spheres in which they apply their Bulgarian language knowledge, but attention will also be paid to the holidays they celebrate and the dishes they cook. Thus, living in Bulgaria, when they contact members of the host society, listen to Bulgarian radios, watch Bulgarian TV, etc., they transgress the boundaries of their own culture and try to experience the Bulgarian one in order to better understand the local people and to integrate socially in the host community.