So I’m in Sofia for the first time. However, since I’m on a business trip here I didn’t see much besides the (crowded) airport, some streets, the hotel and the office.

At night main streets were rather deserted and the smaller streets were rather dark. Yes, there were lamps but rather dim and far apart. But the hotel is great. It’s so close to the office I didn’t see much in the morning either, except cables hanging everywhere in all directions.

I’m currently in a lengthy meeting with the local office discussing the systems issue. I can now fully appreciate the challenge the multinationals face. First, the language barrier, her aggravated further by the cyrillic script used for writing (means all street sings, web pages etc. are practically illegible). Second, all local rules and regulations. Third, all local software and solutions which we are supposed to standardize. That means people hate you from the start because you want to kill their beloved toys (they developed over time) and change the way they operate.

We’ll see how it all plays out. But there is a hefty challenge and lots of work in front of us.