Blessed are the flatteners?
The company that I work for has offered me a promotion, but in a separate department. I would go from being a researcher to becoming one of their headhunters. Through December I would share the country with Ellen, the woman who owns this particular franchise. She will get me up to speed on exactly the tools and skills needed to effectively be the headhunter for our company’s operations in this entire country.
I have provisionally accepted.
Click the link, I cut it for length.
The country that I would/will be responsible for is, of course, Bulgaria. God has a rather twisted and sophisticated sense of irony, it seems. I personally believe He should spend more time solving world hunger, but who I am to question the infinite? This brings my list of things that I can never get away from, no matter how hard I could ever try to:
My family
The Shindigers
The CasaMates
James Pool
The Republic of Bulgaria (Republika Balgariya)
Regardless, there are a lot of reasons to take the position, but also a lot of reasons that I really don’t want to take it. Originally, my company wanted to send me to Sofia, the capital, to live. I categorically declined any position that might force me to live outside of Budapest (I have made some really great friends here… and I actually don’t want to leave them). So I would still be working in Budapest, but I will have to travel to Sofia fairly often to meet with clients, wine and dine them, and well try to get them to realize they need to use our legal recruiting services.
Now that’s pretty cool. Also, the base pay is also close to twice what I’m currently making. Additionally, I will have the ability to make additional money on the commission from business we end up doing with those clients. Which is why it’s awesome that I will have an entire country to myself. And really, my job description is “Bulgarian HeadHunter”… and that’s pretty fantastic. I kind of want to bring a spear with me.
But I have some serious reservations about really doing this job. Firstly, if I had been offered this job in 4 or 5 months ago, I would have leapt at the opportunity. Hell I would have moved to Sofia. But I have a somewhat decreased affinity for Bulgaria since my Bulgarian BFF decided that the final “F” in the title was superfluous. I just decided not more than 2 weeks ago that I wanted to visit Bulgaria and resurrect my “Balkans World Tour” (although this will be two different tours now).
Ok, so I can deal with some wounded pride. But then the philosophy kicks in. And here’s why I chose the title of this entry. This is not the sort of job that I want to be doing right now. I’m young, I don’t have children: I have ideals. I want to be saving the world. This is not that. Bringing legal recruiting into the Eastern European market will certain flatten the world a little bit more. In a lot of ways it will begin to bring the Bulgarian legal world into the same “main” stream as Western European and American legal markets. It will, in the end, have a large effect on the legal community, and, therefore, possibly a large effect on the country itself. It will eventually bring more big, multinational legal firms to Bulgaria. Currently there are four.
I certainly will be a part of globalization, my generation’s greatest project and legacy to the future. But I don’t like the way in which it is developing. And I would be working for a legal recruiter, which is certainly not the economic model I want to see take primacy everywhere in the world. It’s part of a certain rampant and unrestrained form of capitalism that has been discredited by the current global financial meltdown. Do I want to be a part of that? Do I want to help that take root in this country?
It will not be the best possible thing for Bulgaria, and here’s exactly why: In a truly flat and global world, Bulgaria will simply be absorbed by the rest of the world. It’s not an America or a German or a China or a France where a large enough population will force the world to accept parts of its culture into a global “norm”. It’s not a stubborn Serbia that will deal with the world on its own terms. It’s lost really 3 world wars. Cultural differences, different languages, different currencies, different people, different ideas, hopes, and dreams: these are the reasons I came to Europe in the first place. However, these are all obstacles in an entirely flat world. There are apartments I couldn’t view or rent because the renter didn’t speak English. It’s inefficient. And flatting the world is not just about tariff harmonization. I don’t want to be part of ironing down and out those differences that made me want to come and living in Europe in the first place. My children will inherit the world I make for them; I don’t want it to be a global America.
I met a girl here, Orsi, who honestly believes that English will have supplanted Hungarian as the main language of Hungary by 2050 or 2075. She may not be that far off. That will be another difference ironed out, but that will be one less fascinating culture left in the world. And as rich as the world may become through trade, it may become just as culturally impoverished.
Further, I have some problems that are specific to the country I would be working in. Bulgaria has a major corruption problem. The local law firms that I would be working with and their lawyers are probably pretty complicit in it. The international firms that I would be working with are also part of the problem. It’s much more lucrative for them to simply bribe off who and whatever they need and keep operating as if it’s just business as usual than to fight for real judicial and corruption reform. I’ve seen this already in Russia. It’s awful. It’s just giving money and solidifying the position of a really bad system. By joining these ranks, I think I would also be complicit in this as well.
The corruption in Bulgaria is really a terrible thing. People really do lose hope. They do stupid, stupid things. And families and lives are ruined over it. I’ve seen how it can affect people. It’s not pretty. It can really tear your heart out. It tore my heart out just to be there and watch what happened.
So even though I have never been a leftist, I have never taken to the streets to protest, I am not a hippie radical, I still feel like this is me selling out. And while this is a little easier to do because neither the World Wildlife Foundation, Greenpeace, or any of the other leftist peacenik NGOs accepted my job application, I still have some major hang ups. Of course only I could turn a job promotion into a fight into world peace. But I don’t have that person here who knows the country enough to just slap me on the side of the head and tell me “shut up and just take the job”
But I have found my own solution of sorts to this conundrum: I have provisionally accepted this job, but I can still turn it down sometime before Jan 1st. And after that, we’ve agreed that if I really don’t think this is where I want to be, I can quit and return to my research position. And in the meantime, I’m going to apply this weekend to a job that my friend Judd sent me. Oh, and I’m going to www.change.gov and apply for a position in Barack Obama’s administration, because… well I do believe that we can change the world. That and… maybe I can get some Taminy hall “I voted for you, now get me a job” going on here :D. And really, if things are still just really awful after a year… I’ll just move to Malaysia and work for a microcredit organization for a year. Maybe I should just do that anyway. Nah, my mother would KILL ME if I moved even further away… and I didn’t get internet.
So that’s what’s been going on recently. That and apartment hunting. And hanging out. And drinking. And long conversations on the Chain bridge. Oh and I took my coworkers on a night picnic on top of the citadel over looking the city. And I’m learning how to salsa.
Europe is an amazing place.
For more information on Bulgaria: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/bu.html
Thank you for reading, here are some pretty pictures to get your mind off some of the potential evils of unrestrained capitalism:
We took Eli on a tour of the city for her birthday
Then we went on a night picnic at the citadella, over looking the city
There are so many more... but I only have so much time. Sorry!
I have provisionally accepted.
Click the link, I cut it for length.
The country that I would/will be responsible for is, of course, Bulgaria. God has a rather twisted and sophisticated sense of irony, it seems. I personally believe He should spend more time solving world hunger, but who I am to question the infinite? This brings my list of things that I can never get away from, no matter how hard I could ever try to:
My family
The Shindigers
The CasaMates
James Pool
The Republic of Bulgaria (Republika Balgariya)
Regardless, there are a lot of reasons to take the position, but also a lot of reasons that I really don’t want to take it. Originally, my company wanted to send me to Sofia, the capital, to live. I categorically declined any position that might force me to live outside of Budapest (I have made some really great friends here… and I actually don’t want to leave them). So I would still be working in Budapest, but I will have to travel to Sofia fairly often to meet with clients, wine and dine them, and well try to get them to realize they need to use our legal recruiting services.
Now that’s pretty cool. Also, the base pay is also close to twice what I’m currently making. Additionally, I will have the ability to make additional money on the commission from business we end up doing with those clients. Which is why it’s awesome that I will have an entire country to myself. And really, my job description is “Bulgarian HeadHunter”… and that’s pretty fantastic. I kind of want to bring a spear with me.
But I have some serious reservations about really doing this job. Firstly, if I had been offered this job in 4 or 5 months ago, I would have leapt at the opportunity. Hell I would have moved to Sofia. But I have a somewhat decreased affinity for Bulgaria since my Bulgarian BFF decided that the final “F” in the title was superfluous. I just decided not more than 2 weeks ago that I wanted to visit Bulgaria and resurrect my “Balkans World Tour” (although this will be two different tours now).
Ok, so I can deal with some wounded pride. But then the philosophy kicks in. And here’s why I chose the title of this entry. This is not the sort of job that I want to be doing right now. I’m young, I don’t have children: I have ideals. I want to be saving the world. This is not that. Bringing legal recruiting into the Eastern European market will certain flatten the world a little bit more. In a lot of ways it will begin to bring the Bulgarian legal world into the same “main” stream as Western European and American legal markets. It will, in the end, have a large effect on the legal community, and, therefore, possibly a large effect on the country itself. It will eventually bring more big, multinational legal firms to Bulgaria. Currently there are four.
I certainly will be a part of globalization, my generation’s greatest project and legacy to the future. But I don’t like the way in which it is developing. And I would be working for a legal recruiter, which is certainly not the economic model I want to see take primacy everywhere in the world. It’s part of a certain rampant and unrestrained form of capitalism that has been discredited by the current global financial meltdown. Do I want to be a part of that? Do I want to help that take root in this country?
It will not be the best possible thing for Bulgaria, and here’s exactly why: In a truly flat and global world, Bulgaria will simply be absorbed by the rest of the world. It’s not an America or a German or a China or a France where a large enough population will force the world to accept parts of its culture into a global “norm”. It’s not a stubborn Serbia that will deal with the world on its own terms. It’s lost really 3 world wars. Cultural differences, different languages, different currencies, different people, different ideas, hopes, and dreams: these are the reasons I came to Europe in the first place. However, these are all obstacles in an entirely flat world. There are apartments I couldn’t view or rent because the renter didn’t speak English. It’s inefficient. And flatting the world is not just about tariff harmonization. I don’t want to be part of ironing down and out those differences that made me want to come and living in Europe in the first place. My children will inherit the world I make for them; I don’t want it to be a global America.
I met a girl here, Orsi, who honestly believes that English will have supplanted Hungarian as the main language of Hungary by 2050 or 2075. She may not be that far off. That will be another difference ironed out, but that will be one less fascinating culture left in the world. And as rich as the world may become through trade, it may become just as culturally impoverished.
Further, I have some problems that are specific to the country I would be working in. Bulgaria has a major corruption problem. The local law firms that I would be working with and their lawyers are probably pretty complicit in it. The international firms that I would be working with are also part of the problem. It’s much more lucrative for them to simply bribe off who and whatever they need and keep operating as if it’s just business as usual than to fight for real judicial and corruption reform. I’ve seen this already in Russia. It’s awful. It’s just giving money and solidifying the position of a really bad system. By joining these ranks, I think I would also be complicit in this as well.
The corruption in Bulgaria is really a terrible thing. People really do lose hope. They do stupid, stupid things. And families and lives are ruined over it. I’ve seen how it can affect people. It’s not pretty. It can really tear your heart out. It tore my heart out just to be there and watch what happened.
So even though I have never been a leftist, I have never taken to the streets to protest, I am not a hippie radical, I still feel like this is me selling out. And while this is a little easier to do because neither the World Wildlife Foundation, Greenpeace, or any of the other leftist peacenik NGOs accepted my job application, I still have some major hang ups. Of course only I could turn a job promotion into a fight into world peace. But I don’t have that person here who knows the country enough to just slap me on the side of the head and tell me “shut up and just take the job”
But I have found my own solution of sorts to this conundrum: I have provisionally accepted this job, but I can still turn it down sometime before Jan 1st. And after that, we’ve agreed that if I really don’t think this is where I want to be, I can quit and return to my research position. And in the meantime, I’m going to apply this weekend to a job that my friend Judd sent me. Oh, and I’m going to www.change.gov and apply for a position in Barack Obama’s administration, because… well I do believe that we can change the world. That and… maybe I can get some Taminy hall “I voted for you, now get me a job” going on here :D. And really, if things are still just really awful after a year… I’ll just move to Malaysia and work for a microcredit organization for a year. Maybe I should just do that anyway. Nah, my mother would KILL ME if I moved even further away… and I didn’t get internet.
So that’s what’s been going on recently. That and apartment hunting. And hanging out. And drinking. And long conversations on the Chain bridge. Oh and I took my coworkers on a night picnic on top of the citadel over looking the city. And I’m learning how to salsa.
Europe is an amazing place.
For more information on Bulgaria: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/bu.html
Thank you for reading, here are some pretty pictures to get your mind off some of the potential evils of unrestrained capitalism:
We took Eli on a tour of the city for her birthday
Then we went on a night picnic at the citadella, over looking the city
There are so many more... but I only have so much time. Sorry!