Now, in most western countries “walking” insinuates doing something for exercise. It means finding a path; a huge field or perhaps a walkway to walk along. Then after pulling on some sort of tight sweat pants one goes for their stroll to sweat a bit in the illusion that they will those few extra pounds (I am know I am sounding cynical here, but it takes dieting and more intense cardio to do achieve these those sorts of goals. thanx). This is not what I mean when I talk of walking.

When I was in Eastern Europe people used to say that they were to go “walking”. But walking has an entirely different meaning there all together. When they go “walking” they do not come back after many many hours. In fact the time that they usually came home is even past midnight or at least this is what they told me. So, when I finally accompanied one of them to go walking I first learnt that the attire that they wear is all very different. Dresses are acceptable, so are high heels to some sort of extent provided they are comfortable enough. A bit of make up is jabbed on here and there and you are all ready to go.

They walk starts leisurely but instead of going towards greener pastures the stroll takes you to the subway station. You walk into the carriage and get off in what seems to be near the centre of the city. Once there you walk along the boulevards window shopping and examining all the glitz and glamour of the early evening. As the sun disappears (provided there was any sun at all during the day to notice much of a difference) the lights along the street light up the buildings in the most romantic of ways. Once your feet are a little tired after a little too much walking then you make a short turn left into whatever warm place you can find. You sit down and order food (in this case sushi) and a few drinks. You talk, you laugh, you sit in the silence of content. After forking out some cash you leave and continue your walk. This process continues, but as time goes on the food gets less, the drink gets more and most importantly the grandeur of the establishments you visit decreases. By 11:00pm you are running into supermarkets buying the last few beers that you can find for your way home. The walk ends at roughly 12 when the subway grows slowly towards its time of closure. You walk back down underground and sip your final beverages in silence on the way home. And once again this is the silence of being content.

That’d be a nice way to finish my post but in all utter excitement I would love to let you know that I intend on going walking tomorrow (although probably not as my wallet does not permit me to do as such). I will probably go to a place with friends (walk there ofcourse!) and have a good time in some sort of public drinking house. Considering that I am a student it has been ages since I have done such a thing and well, I AM FUCKING EXCITED TO RELAX IN SUCH A WAY THAT IS NOT POSSIBLE AT HOME!!!

-ok.bye

It is important to highlight the many people in the background in the wine world who are often overlooked. Importing is an art and science and a fundamental belief in wine and the product selected to distribute. It is not for the faint of heart. The U.S. is the world’s largest wine market and certainly there is no close second when it comes to the very large number of alcohol beverage control laws.

Just generation ago it would have been very difficult to find wines from Greece, Republic of Macedonia, Croatia, Slovenia, Hungary, Uruguay, Lebanon and even Austria; now it is becoming more accessible in the retail setting as well as on-premise. More available in larger markets like New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Chicago. I would expect the availability to be more widely distributed throughout the United States in the next few years.

In this interview, I wanted to highlight Frank Dietrich; Frank and his wife Zsuzsanna Molnar founded Blue Danube wines in 2002. Their principal portfolio is true to name–follow the Danube and you will find wines that the Dietrich’s import.

Currently the portfolio includes:

• Eight Austrian producers
• Two Bosnian-Herzegovinian producers
• Ten Croatian producers
• Sixteen Hungarian producers
• One Montenegro producer
• Five Slovenian producers

Frank and team have astutely added producers over time and have a sterling collection of high quality, artistically integrated and well priced wines. Each team member has presented Blue Danube’s collection across many on and off-premise establishments and have helped to not just present wines but educate about wines to optimize the dish ahead.

I will never the first bottle I picked up at a wine merchant in San Francisco (Dingač)–I couldn’t believe I had a Croatian bottle in hand. I quickly called a few friends to let them know of my discovery. I thought what an amazing testament to wine culture today. We live in amazing wine times–the best ever. No better time for great quality and excellence in a glass and wines coming from lesser known wine producing countries.

I soon meet Frank and have talked with him about his philosophy to forge a path that is not necessarily easy but one that is consistent and impeccable
The big story is that Hungarian wine is not just for Hungarian food and for that matter that extends to Croatian, Austrian, Slovenian wines and so forth. Imagine if we could only pair wines with the countries they were produced we would not have a wide diversity of possibilities at the eating table. I’ll admit that I had to break out of the mold of only country identified wines with the respective cuisines.

Even though I believe in diverse food-wine pairings–I am still working on my Paprikás Csirke (Paprika chicken) and hope to perfect this someday and share with Hungarian wines.

Blue Danube Wine Company’s wines are fun and playful and approachable for any mood, occasion and any time of year. I do think the wine list is changing restaurant-by-restaurant and we’ll see a greater diversity not just in our own homes but in our favourite restaurants and wine merchants.
For your next dinner party be adventurous–try a Kövérszőlő, Vranac, Grüner Veltliner, Hárslevelű, Sankt Laurent, Cserszegi Fűszeres, and so forth. Don’t let the diacriticals or pronunciations persuade you to not taste and try these countries wines. What you will garner and appreciate are these wines are unique, yet familiar, delightful and certainly enchanting.

http://www.bluedanubewine.com/

*****

1. Q. How did you get into the wine import business?

 After our return from a multi-year assignment in Austria and Eastern Europe my wife and I wanted to make a career and life style change from Hi-tech. We turned tables from representing American technology in Central-Eastern Europe to representing the wines from that part of the world to the American consumer.

2. Q. How did you select central Europe as your portfolio target?

Living in Vienna and Budapest we encountered the renaissance of wine making after the Austrian wine scandal and the collapse of Communism first hand. We realized that these were ancient wine regions which were just starting to re-invent their viticulture. It was clear to us that there was a tremendous upside potential just waiting to be ignited. We feel that our early predictions have been confirmed and even surpassed.

3. Q. What was the first wine you tasted and enjoyed?

We lived in a small village outside of Vienna where we often had dinner at Unter der Linde, a local restaurant with an excellent wine list. We were surprised how joyful and refreshing the Veltliners tasted, regardless whether they came from the Wachau or the Weinviertel. We also had many Austrian red wines which were making a rapid transition from relatively simple table wines to premium quality wines at that time. One wine that stood out was the Vulcano cuvee made by the late Hans Igler, a pioneer of serious Austrian reds. We visited him in Deutschkreutz, Burgenland, where we tasted in his garage which doubled as the playpen for his grand kids. There were no fancy architectural tasting temples at the time like you see today all over the place.

4. Q. The central European wine category is expanding in the US — year over year — it is no longer a question of what is Croatian wine but do you have producer X or Y or a specific variety – right?

At the risk of making a blanket statement, Central European geography, culture, language, food, and history are all still mostly unknown to most people.  Although there are a few producers who people are beginning to ask for and or recognize, the vast majority of what we do is still simply getting the wines in front of people.  Grüner Veltliner, Blaufränkisch, Plavac Mali, and Furmint are somewhat well established, but there are many more grapes like Kadarka, Žlahtina, Királyleányka, Hárslevelű, Graševina, Juhfark, Kövérszőlő, Irsai Olivér, Pošip and so on that are still unknown and or unpronounceable to many experienced buyers.   Part of the excitement of working with these grapes and places is a mutual discovery that can passed on to the consumer.

5. Q. It seems there is considerable opportunity for growth in the US on and off premise – what regions in the US are growing in terms of their love of central European wines?

In the past two years I’ve seen significant growth in the Bay Area.  That said, these wines still account for a very small percentage of by the glass pours in restaurants and rarely have their own section in wine lists or retail shelves.   While most of Western Europe can be broken down to country specific appellations, our wines are often relegated to the “strange whites,” “interesting reds,” or hidden within a tasting menu.  In addition to growth, there is a crazy amount of range within our portfolio.  We have many wines in small ethnic liquor stores as well as Michelin starred restaurants.  The price point to quality ratio is killer once you get past the diacritical marks.

6. Q. Central European wines are quite varied and present a significant opportunity for food and wine pairings–can you describe some of your success stories?

These are products with a point of view stretching back thousands of years.  They are also cultural products that are a part of a lifestyle that involves drinking everyday.  As such, a healthy majority of our wines have low alcohol, bright acidity, and are fermented in used oak or stainless steel so they are priced and built for the table everyday.   This is not a trend they are chasing; it’s what has always been done.  The dry wines of Hungary’s Tokaj for instance, come from land locked volcanic soils that are ironically amazing with seafood.  Along with great fruit, the volcanic terroir imparts a smoky, briny and mineral richness that brings out the sea regardless of preparation.

7. Q. Central Europe has such a great storehouse of both producers and varieties–can we expect more wines from these regions?

Absolutely, I firmly believe that we have only seen the early beginnings of developments which will continue to produce more and better wines. I’ve just returned from a trip to Dalmatia and Bosnia & Herzegovina where I visited many old but also many brand new wineries equipped with modern technology and run by very competent enologists. There is also a very important shift in attitude and sentiment underway: after trying to emulate and copy western style wines they are now striving to find their own identity. These means that native grape varieties and traditional wine styles are receiving the attention they deserve. It’s easy to predict that more wines will be produced here which are unique and will contribute to a constantly growing spectrum of flavor in the world of wine.

8. Q. I would expect to see many more wines from Central Europe to find their way to a nice diversity of restaurants – Mexican, Indian, North African, etc.  Do you see this as an opportunity?

It’s certainly an opportunity, but many of these cuisines are not yet focused on wine or have someone passionate about building a list that pulls from smaller suppliers like us.  There is your Slanted Door, Ler Ros and Aziza type places, but they are anomalies in respect to the majority of Vietnamese, Thai, or North African restaurants in the Bay Area.   This is bound to change and will be great for everyone in the wine business.

9. Q. Is the consumer expecting more indigenous varieties v. international varities in both their dining and wine buying experiences?

Yes and Yes. Young wine lovers are very open to making new discoveries. Today the internet allows for a rapid exchange of what we have known formerly as “Word-of-Mouth”. Within short time spans unknown grape varieties can go viral and become the trendiest hits to search out. Just witness the recent raise of interest in Sherry, Gruner, Riesling, etc. We start seeing great interest in dry wines form volcanic regions such as Somlo and Tokaj in Hungary. We also see a very strong resonance to the recently discovered Croatian  heritage of Zinfandel which triggered an explosion in interest in the story but also relative like Plavac Mali and other Croatian grapes.

10. Q. I am a huge fan of Sankt Laurent, Pinot Noir from unexpected places (Italy, Austria, Hungary, etc) Hárslevelű, Furmint, Blaufränkisch, Grüner Veltliner, Plavac Mali and so forth–these varieties are gaining a foothold in the US but have a great opportunity for growth–is that a fair assessment?

Yes, see above but also keep in mind that we live today in the age of the sommelier who can guide guests to make new experiences. It also helps to have so many wine bars where you can often make your first encounter by simply ordering a glass of a wine with which you are not familiar with. Or you taste a flight of wines arranged to let you travel to distant and unfamiliar places in the wine world.

11. Q. What is your favourite food and wine pairing?

One of my favorites is Teran with blood sausage.   Teran is a grape from the Kras region in Slovenia and in Croatia’s Istria that is often grown in iron rich “Terra Rosa” (Red Earth) which complements in the iron in blood.  Along with very little tannin and high acidity it’s one of those combinations that makes you a believer.   A couple of our producers (Piquentum and Stoka) even hang curing legs of Prosciutto right above open top fermenters to start the relationship as early as possible.

Another –somewhat surprising – pairing was offered by wine maker Judit Bott when she poured one of her dry, voluptuous Furmint while she served a baked baby goat at a dinner at her home in Tokaj. I suggest that we should pair more often white wines with different kind of meats. Some actually work much better than you would expect.

12. Q. If someone wants to dive into Central European wines where should they start?

Every country has great $10-$15 red and whites to get things started.  Plavac Mali and Graševina from Croatia, Blaufränkisch and Grüner Veltliner from Austria, Kékfrankos and Olaszrizling from Hungary, and great one liter blends from Slovenia. In general, try all wines made from native grapes and see which one you like. You can’t go wrong and only gain more experience, school your palate, and develop your personal preferences.

13. Q. Central European wines have a very long lineage and have worked hard to work through their recent history.  There is a testament to not just survive but a desire to produce world class wines… why do these wine producers do what they do?

It’s easy: Often times this is what their parents and grand parents did, and so they follow in their foot  steps knowing quite well that this is a special time in which you can be part of a vinous revolution. Others join the viticultural efforts in their countries because it is one of the areas which can shine and have a lot to contribute to defining a new socio-cultural identity. And there are some that realize the commercial potential of viticulture in this region and invest.

14. Q. What are some thoughts or things that are important for the wine appreciating public to know about wines from central Europe?

Drinking these wines is the easiest way to travel to these parts of the world.  Find some recipes and music and find some new flavors.  Even in big cities, finding a Croatian, Hungarian, Slovenian or Austrian restaurant is difficult, but all the ingredients are here if you want to make it happen.

15. Q.  Any other thoughts on wines from the regions where you import wines?

As wine moves away from points and towards the story, these are new and exciting stories to tell.  These are also grapes and places aren’t on most of the exams or credential programs, so even within the wine community they are unexplored despite being ancient wine cultures.  When I read about Terry Theise or Kermit Lynch barely able to sell what are now highly sought after wines 30+ years ago, it’s exciting to be potentially apart of something similar that will result in lifelong personal relationships and financial success both at home and abroad.

Interviewed: Frank Dietrich and Eric Danch

¡Salud!

http://www.jamesthewineguy.com

***

Demystifying Wine…One Bottle at a Time from all wine regions around the world.

Read more of my wine reviews:

© 2013 James Meléndez / James the Wine Guy— All Rights Reserved.  All Other Materials, photos and interview responses courtesy of Blue Danube Wine Co.  Paprikas Csirke photo owned by the Domestic Man.

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Not long after, matters got even more risky for the social media company.  ”A fund manager loyal to Russian President Vladimir Putin suddenly acquire da 48 percent stake in VK and has spoken openly about reviewing what he called its ‘illegal content”.  Now Durov has vanished, only occasionally resurfacing online.  He claims that he has no interest in making money through VK and just wants to allow anyone to be able to use the site.  But the real issue is, if social media sites like VKontakte are regulated by the government, doesn’t it go against the whole purpose of social media?  Will the very outlet that has become a leader in freedom of speech and expression cease to exist?

Almost a year ago, the Russian parliament passed a law that called for the regulation of online content, which they claim is aimed at stopping child pornography and extremism online.  But it really seems like a way to control freedom of speech and anti government activity and stop anti-Putin protesters who use VK to organize and spread their message.  The government has even tried to use social media themselves to stop anti-Putin individuals in January 2012.  By poorly doctoring a photo of opposition leader Alexei Navalny alongside a controversial oligarch, Boris Berezovsky, the government hoped to smear his reputation.  However, it backfired and did just the opposite.

Original Undoctored photo of Alexey Navalny, Courtesy of Navalny’s Blog (http://navalny.livejournal.com/661833.html)

Doctored photo of Alexey Navalny with Boris Berezovsky, Courtesy of Navalny’s Blog (http://navalny.livejournal.com/661833.html)

What followed was a wave of internet memes showing Navalny with several other figures to show how easy it is to photoshop.  ”The reaction – more effective than any bland denail – was to release online a succession of images showing Navalny in the company of Hitler, Stalin, Napoleon, a cartoon alien, and, most unlikely of all, Vladimir Putin himself” (bbc.com).

Doctored photo of Alexey Navalny with Unidentified Extra Terrestrial, Courtesy of Navalny’s Blog (http://navalny.livejournal.com/661833.html)

Doctored photo of Alexey Navalny with Lord Voldemort, Courtesy of Navalny’s Blog (http://navalny.livejournal.com/661833.html)

Doctored photo of Alexey Navalny with Vladimir Putin, Courtesy of Navalny’s Blog (http://navalny.livejournal.com/661833.html)

In Central Eastern Europe, VKontakte proves to be far more popular than Facebook.  However, Facebook does not have the same controversy that VKontakte has regarding government regulation.  VKontakte, the Russian counterpart to Facebook, was launched in 2006 after Durov started an online student forum at St. Petersburg State University where he studied.  Today, the site has roughly “200 million users, 50 million of whom use it daily.  That’s about 10 times the daily users Facebook has in Russia”.  Maybe the government regulation issue could be fixed by Russian citizens adopting Facebook instead, but what about justice for VK and their survival as a groundbreaking tool for Russia?  And how does social media activism work when the actual outlet of social media is at stake?  Perhaps memes and other online tools could prove to be the answer.

Smith, who plays for Phoenix in the NHL, was at his best in the third period with 17 saves.

Steven Stamkos, Luke Schenn and Jordan Staal scored for Canada. Matt Read contributed two assists in front of an announced sellout of 12,500 at Globe Arena.

Jhonas Enroth of the Buffalo Sabres made 22 saves on 25 shots for Sweden in the loss. Trailing 3-0 with just under 10 minutes remaining in the game, Sweden replaced him with Jacob Markstrom.

Canada (3-0-1) vaulted over Sweden into second spot in the Stockholm pool with the victory. Unbeaten Switzerland led with 11 points followed by Canada with 10 and the Swedes with nine. Norway was fourth with six.

Canada faces Belarus (1-2) on Friday for a second game in as many days. The Czech Republic (1-2-1) got by Denmark 2-1 in a shootout, but remained fifth in the Stockholm pool with five points.

France shocked Russia 2-1 in the Helsinki pool with Antoine Roussel of the Dallas Stars scored winning goal for the French in the second period.

The Russians remained tied with the United States for first at nine points each. Finland was second with eight points ahead of France and Slovakia tied with six apiece. Latvia downed the Slovaks 5-3 on Thursday.

The top four teams in each pool of eight qualify for the quarter-finals in each city. Canada lost quarter-final game the last three years at the world championship despite finishing first in its group the last two.

Ranked No. 4 in the world, Sweden was No. 5 Canada’s highest-ranked opponent yet.

The Swedes had been getting their feet back under them with three wins after an opening loss to the Swiss.

The host team is expecting the arrival of Vancouver Canucks forwards Daniel and Henrik Sedin and defenceman Alex Edler in the next few days. Those players were still in Vancouver on Thursday following the elimination of the Canucks from the NHL’s first round of playoffs.

Canada’s special teams were the keys to the victory Thursday. The Canadians scored first with a power-play goal by Stamkos and held the Swedes scoreless on three chances with an extra attacker.

The Canadians had all the momentum in a two-goal second period. Their multi-pronged attacked poked holes in Sweden’s defence and left Enroth exposed.

Read fed Schenn from the opposite boards when the Philadelphia Flyers defenceman took three strides in from the blue-line, and Schenn beat Enroth with a high shot 55 seconds into the second period.

Jordan Staal scored his first goal of the tournament at the 13:00 mark. He swept puck past Enroth on an odd-man rush with Ryan O’Reilly to give Canada a three-goal cushion heading into the third period.

Canada’s power play was an anemic 14 per cent heading into the game, but the opening goal at 8:56 was their best shift with a man advantage yet.

Justin Schultz, Brian Campbell and Claude Giroux snapped the puck around the offensive zone with precision and Stamkos finished it with a one-timer from his right knee.

The Canadians couldn’t turn their even-strength chances into a second goal in the first period though as Enroth stopped Stamkos, Matt Duchene, Taylor Hall and Eric Staal on juicy opportunities.

Vitosha mountain and St Nedelya Church, Sofia, Bulgaria by Andrey Andreev Photography

So you have just finished with your final exams (YAY! Job well done!) and are more than ready to jump into some serious summer adventures, but you do NOT want to break the bank! Is this even possible? YES! Yes it is! And guess what? You are in luck, because I know a place that is as adventurous as they get, guaranteeing you that “summer to remember” experience that you are craving for & at a ridiculously affordable price tag.

So where is this place?! Pull up a map and tucked away in the bottom right hand corner of Europe, locate one of Europe’s best kept secrets: Sofia the capital city of Bulgaria!

Sofia is in the top 4 of the most impressive, yet affordable cities in Europe. It delivers great value for a fraction of the cost that you would find in other European cities (near and far!) yet relatively few have made the journey there and discovered the sparkle of this hidden gem. For What to see?, Where to eat, drink and sleep?, and How to get around? check out Exploring Sofia, Bulgaria for Less than $25 and get packing! 

Happy travels and don’t forget to come back and tell us ALL about it!

~WithLoveFromBG~

(Can’t wait to hear about your time in Sofia. If you have been or are going there this summer, please share your experience with us in the comments bellow.)

*This post is dedicated to baba (grandma), a true Sofian, who would have been 80 today. 

My memory of my first lesson is a little fuzzy, but I do remember the first exchange we had with my teacher. My mom and I walked into the dimly-lit, circuitous bowels of the conservatory where I studied and found my room. A scared-looking preteen scurried out as soon as the door opened, leaving my teacher, dressed entirely in black, with a scruffy head of similarly dark hair, framed by the door.

We all introduced ourselves and shook hands. Of course, after saying “nice to meet you,” the next sentence out of my mom’s mouth was “So, where are you from? We’re Polish.”

Dr. K (as his students called him, since his two-syllable name with an unfamiliar consonant cluster clearly required too much effort for the untrained American tongue) looked unimpressed, and told us he was from Bulgaria. Then my first lesson began.

Our inauspicious beginning wasn’t a fluke. Since I wasn’t the most committed student and Dr. K hadn’t lost his communist-style relationship to music and its performance, our efforts never really jived. After lessons, I would laugh with my mom about how he sometimes suddenly exclaimed “Heeere eet eez!” after my tenth repetition of a difficult passage. Or about how he needed to clip his nose hairs.

Given that I’ve ended up a total Slavophile, sometimes I wonder what went wrong with me and Dr. K. Less than 10 years after Bulgaria became an independent, seemingly-democratic country, was he offended to be continually lumped in with other post-Communist countries like Poland by uninformed but well-intentioned westerners like me and my mom? I would wager that he got asked by at least a few of our compatriots if he had seen Dracula, even though everyone’s favorite vampire is from Romania (and, needless to say, fictional). If I saw Dr. K today, what would he think about the interest I’ve developed in “his” region over the past 14 years? Would we speak Russian and Bulgarian and get along, or would I offend him by even suggesting such a thing?

Neither outcome is totally unlikely. Former bloc members still struggle to define their membership in their own continent, thanks to the labels the West constantly slaps on them. Hungarian author Peter Esterhazy aptly described the Eastern Europe’s 20th Century identity crisis:

“Once, I was an Eastern European; then I was promoted to the rank of Central European. Those were great times…there were European dreams, visions, and images of the future…Then a few months ago, I became a new European. But before I had a chance to get used to this status – before I could even refuse it – I became a non-core European.”*

Bulgaria is often referred to as one of the EU’s “problem children.” Experts say that it was admitted too early, that not enough reforms had been implemented before accession, that its economy drags the EU further into recession. By many accounts, it is because of Bulgaria and Romania that the EU is experiencing such strong enlargement fatigue. And it’s understandable, really. Any moderately wealthy, “old” European country must look at a chart of GDP per capita in the EU and cringe:

Bulgaria’s GDP as compared to other EU countries. Via Eurostat.

Sadly, Bulgaria’s problems are not contained to the economic sphere. In March, the country was engulfed in nationwide protests against monopolies of the energy sector.  In late April, the country was gripped by an illegal wiretap scandal that reeked of the work of communist-era security services. Today, the country faces widespread voter disillusionment as its parliamentary elections approach with no clear majority in sight. Though it may seem that a political plague has struck Bulgaria, it’s not alone; most post-communist countries have seen a major decline in voter turnout since independence. It’s one more thing we can use to label this part of Europe “Eastern.”

I think of Dr. K every time I pour myself a drink; our glasses are from IKEA and were made in Bulgaria. I wonder if Bulgaria’s 2007 EU accession has changed his defensiveness about his identity, or if, like his government and the rest post-communist Europe, he is struggling to define exactly what it means to be both European and Eastern.

—–
*(Quoted in “Naming Europe with the East” by Pekka Korhonen, in The East and the Idea of Europe, eds. Katalin Miklossy and Korhonen (Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2010), p. 20.)

What has been the role of foreign banks in financing growth and convergence in Central, Eastern and Southeastern Europe, and how is that role changing? This is discussed in the first issue of a new series of analytical work on the region called Regional Economic Issues, which we launched at a joint IMF/Czech National Bank conference two weeks ago in Prague.

In the 1990s, there were very few foreign banks—state-owned banks were dominant. Many countries went through severe banking crises. When banking systems were opened to foreign investors, foreign ownership quickly became prevalent (Figure 1) and the incidence of banking crises dropped dramatically. And where they still occurred, they were the usually the result of failing domestic banks—not foreign-owned banks.

During the mid 2000s, though, foreign banks fueled and financed tremendous domestic demand booms which in many countries ended in busts. This was because foreign banks had access to large amounts of foreign funding (Figure 2)—mostly from their parent banks in Western Europe, who in turn were tapping wholesale funding markets—which they used to expand credit where demand was strongest and profits were highest.  Countries in the region, with their bright growth prospects and relatively low credit penetration to start with, were attractive lending destintations. The ensuing booms were extraordinary in many countries.

When the global crisis hit in 2008, new parent funding dried up and much of the previous inflows reversed, triggering deep recessions. The larger were the inflows during the boom years, the larger have been the outflows since 2008 (Figure 3), and the sharper the economic contraction (Figure 4).

Since late 2008, parent banks have been scaling back funding of their subsidiaries, who are increasingly relying on domestic deposit funding. Over time, this will help reduce boom-bust cycles, since retail deposits tend to be more stable. But the shift bears close watch to make sure it does not go too fast nor too far.

How can policy makers help? Establishing a banking union would facilitate home-host supervisory cooperation which, together with more coordinated use of macro prudential policies, would reduce the magnitude, and possibly also the likelihood, of future credit cycles. And tackling nonperforming loans—which in many countries are still very high—and developing local capital markets as an alternative source for investment finance would offset some of the headwinds to economic growth from less plentiful foreign funding.

via Recipient of International Charlemagne Prize of Aachen – 2013 – Dalia Grybauskaitė.

Offshore

Offshoring is the practice of moving certain business activities to another country often to a foreign subsidiary. For example a company might setup an offshore IT team in India or Eastern Europe to develop and maintain their backoffice systems or website.

Proponents of offshoring cite greater control, flexibility and transparency over outsourcing.

The term is often used by people incorrectly to refer to offshore and offshore outsourcing.

Nearshore

Nearshoring is a form of offshoring albeit much closer physically. For example a company in London sets up operations in Eastern Europe and India. Eastern Europe being less than 3 hours travel from London is nearshore whereas India being 8-10 hours from London is offshore.

There are other benefits including but not limited to

• Time zone difference is typically 1-2 hours
• Cultural affinity, e.g. humour, music, sports, education system, etc.
• Freedom to travel, e.g. visa waiver
• Laws, e.g. if source and destination are part of Europe
• Currency, e.g. if source and destination use the same currency

Outsourcing

Outsourcing is the practice of hiring an external organisation to perform certain business activities whether they be in the same country or a foreign country.

Offshore outsourcing

Offshore outsourcing is the practice of hiring an external organisation to perform certain business activities in another country. For example, outsourcing IT development of a website in PHP to a company in India.

Critics of outsourcing often cite lack of control, flexibility and transparency as issues.

How we can help

If you would like to learn more about offshore IT and nearshore IT please visit our website www.techhuddle.com

“Time is the longest distance between two places.”
~ Tennessee Williams, The Glass Menagerie

I mentioned my grandfather—my mother’s father—to a friend in a cycle class at the gym last week. I told her that he had been in great physical shape even when he was in his nineties because he walked everywhere. He walked several miles every day. (And yes, thank you, I do get the irony that I drive a car to the gym to ride a bike.)

Later I was thinking about my grandfather, and it suddenly struck me that he was born in the last decade of the nineteenth-century. Of course, I knew that, but now that we’re on our way to the second decade of the twenty-first century, the realization that I had known someone who was born in the nineteenth century—not simply the previous century, but the one before that—slammed into my brain like a thought-wave missile. Actually both of my grandfathers, as well as some other relatives were born in the nineteenth-century, so I’ve conversed and interacted with people who might even have known people who were born in the eighteenth-century. How wild is that?

 
Last weekend, my husband and I attended an honors and awards ceremony and dinner for our younger daughter, who will graduate from college in a couple weeks. I looked at her and her classmates, bright and glowing with that youthful radiance that does not last, but is oh-so-beautiful while it does. They are all so eager and fearful to face the world. Excited, trembling, and ready to vomit all at the same time. I imagine it is something like the feeling my daughter has when she is ready to make an entrance onto a theatre stage, only this time the stage is the real world.
I tell her it will all work out. Just decide what you want to do now; you don’t have to decide what you will do for the rest of your life. I want her to find success, but even more, I want her to be happy.

 
When my grandfather was about the age of these soon-to-be college graduates, he literally stepped onto a new stage, an unknown world. He crossed an ocean to do so, and never returned to his homeland. He was a Russian Jew, escaping persecution and hoping for a better life in America. He was one of about 1.75 million Jews who came from Eastern Europe to the US between 1900 and 1924, when tighter immigration restrictions were put into place. By 1920, Russian Jews made up the largest immigrant population in Philadelphia. Shortly after my grandfather arrived in Philadelphia, he was drafted into the US Navy, in what was not to be “the War to End All Wars.”

 
My grandfather was born before commercial air flights were commonplace; for that matter, before cars were common. (The first gasoline-powered cars were invented toward the end of the nineteenth-century. See .) However, he traveled in both. He did not have a telephone as a child. He died before computers were an essential feature of everyday life in the US. I suspect he would have enjoyed Facebook though and seeing photos of grandchildren and great-children.

 
My grandparents were practical people. College was for their son, not their daughter, who would surely get married, although secretarial school was an acceptable compromise. After he retired though, this practical man learned to paint and discovered the joys of ballroom dancing with other retirees in Miami Beach. When my husband and I got married, my grandfather attempted to dance with every woman, young and old, at the reception. I think he succeeded.

 
My younger sister and I saw my grandfather only once or twice a year. My cousins in Miami saw him regularly. The relationship between parents and children and grandparents and children is different. My mother was sometimes impatient and annoyed with her father—he was her dad, and he could be stubborn. My sister and I loved that he was the grandfather who had countless hours to play hide and seek with us, to take us on long walks, and to show us surprises like the duck pond that we did not know existed near our house. When I was in college he wrote letters to me—that to my regret, I did not keep. Each letter was one long run-on sentence. The words were spelled phonetically as he pronounced them in his accented English. I loved receiving these letters. He did not live to see the books I’ve written or to know my children.

 
When I was at college, I called my mom once a week. Collect. From the payphone in dormitory hallway. In contrast, I communicate with my college daughter through text, Facebook, email, and phone calls almost every day.

I only knew my grandfather as an old man. I look at a photograph of him as a young man, and I know he must have had the hopes, dreams, fears that we all have when we are young. He was born an ocean away and in a time that now seems like ancient history. Yet, he was young once. He sailed across a sea. He fell in love. He raised a family, and he lived to see his grandchildren grow up. Time and space separate and connect us.

“There is no present or future, only the past, happening over and over again, now.”
EUGENE O’NEILL, A Moon for the Misbegotten

I backpacked through Europe a couple years ago, and one of the most unique (and unsettling) experiences I had was exploring the salt mines in Krakow, Poland. Here is my take on the Medieval city.

Krakow, the land of cobblestones, horse drawn carriages and post offices in old school buggies. Honestly, I hadn’t heard much about Krakow before visiting, but I found myself enamored by the relatively small and historical city. My most notable story by far was exploring the salt mines, the oldest in the world and in operation for 700 years.

It was pretty amazing, discovering another city far beneath the earth. It’s seven levels altogether, the first level was about 400 steps down, we only made it to the 3rd level and that took 3 hours. It is a massive testament to the strength of human intellect and what we are capable of. I would not recommend going down there if you’re at all claustrophobic, however.

Once you get to the first level with a tour guide, it’s impossible to simply get out whenever you want. Part way through the tour, half of our group broke into a run to try and get to the elevators (a big no-no in the salt mine – and being that I was in the group that didn’t know about the plan to escape the salt mine, we were constantly left with the blame for the rest of the tour).

Once our three hour tour was finished, it took another 45 minutes of waiting in lines for the two elevators that take you up to the top level in a swift 45 seconds. The elevator was another experience in itself, they squeeze eight people in a small lift with hardly any room to breathe, the only thing protecting you from falling far below are shaky wooden planks that you can see in between when you’re going up.

I don’t think Poland is as big on safety requirements as the States. The lines themselves were a clear sign of that; hundreds of people were lined up in a small tunnel for almost an hour with no way to escape if there was an emergency. Thank god I survived to tell the tale. After spending much longer underneath the ground than we had originally planned, we went off to enjoy the rest of what Krakow had to offer for the day.

It may not have a hundred famous sights as many of the other cities I’ve visited in Europe, but it has a charm about it that remindes me a lot of Florence, Italy (my favorite place in the world), especially the main square with street art and performers everywhere. Taking a taxi home that night, looking out at the city of Krakow, our driver started randomly blasting Backstreet Boys with the windows rolled down…yeah, Krakow is pretty sweet.

We have the entire 7th floor of this brand new building completed in early 2013.

View from the office balcony. Yes there is a ski resort on that mountain. Its 30 mins from the office. You can night ski there.

Metro (underground) is 100 yards from our office so staff can get to work cheaply and quickly.

One of several shared meeting rooms. This being the larger. All offices and rooms are fitted with modern air-conditioning units.

TechHuddle chill out area complete with large LCD TV, sofas, view of mountains and balcony.

Example of one of our customers dedicated teams. Larger offices are available. Each office has its own balcony.

TechHuddle staff hard at work.

Prague’s Metronome

There are a lot of lessons we can draw from cities. Like people, cities have personalities, stories, life stages,  and changing character resulting from the larger world forces shaping them. For example, in Prague there is a metronome that oscillates above the city to remind the Czechs that the good AND the bad times don’t last forever. The Czech Republic and Prague  has been decimated by nationalism, fascism, and communism to the point that the entire character of the city is defined through the prism of their shared experience.

Yesterday I visited Dresden, Germany, a city that had a completely different and more optimistic reaction to the adversity they encountered. In 1945, over 1200 USAF and the RAF bombers dropped 2400 tons of bombs on Dresden, destroying 90 percent of the city center. The destructive bombing remains a controversial episode of WWII due to the bombing’s collateral damage and the deaths of many civilians. However the Allie’s claim their target was the military industrial complex of Albertstadt. After WWII Dresden was occupied by the Red Army and fell under the repression of the Iron Curtain.

Bombed-out Dresden from the top of the Rathaus

Three months is roughly the amount of time I spent just in Eastern Europe last year. It’s one month longer than the two months I spent with my friend Georgia in Asia to begin my big adventure last April.

And it’s the exact amount of time I’ve been back in Australia, as of today. We’re still a week away from the day I returned to Adelaide and my “real life”, but nonetheless, today feels auspicious.

A lot has happened in the last three months, although in many ways, it seems as though nothing has happened. In any given three months out of last year, I traveled to countless ancient sites, learned phrases in any number of different languages, met a thousand people, some of whom I would Facebook friend, and worried constantly about missing my next bus/plane/train/taxi, and getting robbed or losing my passport/wallet/camera/laptop.

In many ways the last three months have been incredibly relaxing compared to life on the road. I know by the end of the ten months, it was wearing on me. I wasn’t feeling healthy, I was a little stressed, and I started to forget, lose, or misplace things. I needed a break.

Yet the coming home was incredibly stressful too, in its own way. I didn’t particularly want to come home; as much as I love Australia, my heart just isn’t here right now. I want to travel, meet people, eat exotic food, and learn other languages. I’m not sure if that will ever go away, and it’s certainly not gone anywhere at the moment.

Then there was the stress of figuring out where I fitted into life back here. Not knowing if I will be going away again in the foreseeable future meant that I needed to make an honest go of living my life here again, for the time being.

But it was hard.

I knew it would be, which was partly why I dreaded the homecoming. My “reverse entry culture shock” as it’s sometimes referred to, after my first overseas trip to Africa in 2009, was one of the worst periods of depression I’ve ever experienced.

It was a period where no one could help me because I couldn’t help myself. I was in a place I’d always liked living in, but my world had been turned upside down. I missed my new friends, my old friends didn’t understand me, and I felt helpless to deal with all the feelings I was having. I eventually got over that period, and have tried to incorporate the positive lessons I learned from my Kenyan experience in life ever since.

I’m not sure if I’ve always succeeded, but remembering those few months made me so aware of how things could turn out when I came home this time.

It has been tough, but I think I’m through the worst of it. I’ve got a job, I’m basically eating my parents out of house and home (and loving eating my way through Adelaide), and I’ve got some good things happening in regards to writing. I have spent loads of time with people who a year ago, I would never have predicted I would, and I have spent almost no time with the people I would have sworn I’d be inseparable from. I’ve felt loved, missed, hurt, neglected, misunderstood, and appreciated. Sometimes all at once!

To everyone who’s made the effort, you can’t ever know how much it means to me. I know I make the choice to leave and I don’t  expect life to simply stand still. But I’m so appreciative of those who understand why I need to do the things and go to the places that I do, and welcome me home with open arms.

To everyone who has continued or started to read here even though I am no longer traveling, it really means a lot that people are enjoying hearing what I have to say.

I hope to continue bringing stories of exciting and exotic food, places and people from all over the world for a long time.

Has anyone else experienced a tough time when coming home from overseas? Or found it easier than they expected?

As always, like, comment and share x

Image: kerryj.com CC-BY-NC

Many commentators saw the governments of non-party technocrats formed in Greece and Italy in 2011 as an ill omen for development of party-based democracy in Europe. Established parties, it is suggested, are turning to technocratic caretaker administrations as a device to manage economic and political crisis, which allows them both to duck (or least share) responsibility for painful austerity measures. Such non-partisan governments of experts, it is argued, can only widen the yawning the legitimacy gap between governors and governed.

 Technocratically-imposed austerity backed by big established parties can further undermine party democracy by provoking anti-elite electoral backlashes:  the rise of new populist parties or breakthroughs by previously marginal radical groups. This in turn, makes coalition formation difficult and further rounds of caretaker government or awkward left-right co-operation more likely. The success of the Five Star Movement in Italy and its difficult political aftermath, which has finally resulted in an implausible Grand Coalition, seems to illustrate this scenario perfectly. Sometimes, caretaker technocrats themselves even add to the uncertainty, revolting against their erstwhile masters and founding their own new parties.

 How has the drift towards technocratic crisis management impacted Central and Eastern Europe?  The region is sometimes grouped with debt- and crisis-afflicted Southern Europe states as an economically weak periphery of flawed and potentially unstable democracies, where technocratic crisis governments are the order of the day.

Photo European Parliament CC-NC-ND

And not without reason. In March this year the President of Bulgaria Rosen Plevneliev appointed a technocratic caretaker government to lead the country to early elections on 12 May following the resignation of prime minister Boyko Borisov in the face of street protests against poverty, high utility prices and corruption. Hungary had a year-long technocrat-led government in 2009-11, as did the Czech Republic in 2009-10 following the fall the centre-right minority government of Miroslav Topolánek. Meanwhile, Slovenia – one of three CEE states in the Eurozone – is set for a Southern European-style bailout following the downgrading of its bonds to junk status with undoubted domestic ramifications.

 In fact, however, as in Western Europe technocrat-led caretaker governments are something of a rarity in Central and Eastern Europe. Other than the Czech, Bulgarian and Hungarian cases, potential examples are confined to episodes in the immediate post-transition period of the early-mid 1990s. The image of technocrats emerging deus ex machina from ministries and international organisations to relieve a shattered, discredited party establishment is also misleading. While parties in the region are increasingly embattled, technocratic caretaker administrations often seem as much as a tactic to buy time and placate angry electorate and ensure business as usual than a threat to party government per se.

 In some instances this is self-evident. Hungary’s Gordon Bajnai had been a minister in outgoing Socialist-led government and led a semi-political administration, which included Socialist ministers as well as non-party experts and which drew parliamentary supported in parliament only by parties of the liberal left. In other cases the pattern is more subtle. The ‘government of experts’ installed by the Czech Republic’s two main rival parties in 2009 to steer the country down the constitutionally tricky path to early elections seems at first archetypically technocratic: the caretaker prime minister was the previously obscure head of the Czech Statistical Office Jan Fischer and neither he nor any of the civil servants and public managers appointed as ministers were party members.

Photo : Óli Jón CC-BY-ND

Closer examination, however, shows a somewhat different picture. Around a third of Fischer’s cabinet had close ties with the party that nominated them. A few were party members, who simply resigned their party membership on joining the government and resumed it after leaving. Several had stood for national elected office, pursuing on-off political involvement in parallel with careers in public administration. In other cases, links were looser and more informal, but nevertheless real.

 Such partisan ties do not mean that caretaker non-political administrations are mere puppets. Even the grey and seemingly unassertive Fischer sought from the outset to slip the lease of party control imposed on his government. But they do highlight the in some newer European democracies to rethink assumptions about the divide between party politicians and their technocratic replacements.

 In such systems the boundaries between top-level public administration and party structures are fluid and blurred: while formally traditional membership organisations, parties are de facto more loose elite networks, which routinely use partisan appointment to public bodies to enhance their political control and, conversely, seek to bring high-ranking public officials into party organisations chronically lacking well qualified policy specialists.

 In such a context the ideal of non-partisan neutral technocratic government standing above – and against – parties is often more important than the reality. Indeed, it is striking that the national contexts where technocratic caretakers governments have so far emerged (Greece, Italy, Czech Republic, Bulgaria), are precisely those where public administration and the (top level) state apparatus is more subject to party patronage  and predation by informal networks.

 This post draws on a paper to be presented at the EUSA conference in Baltimore 9 – 11 May examining the 2009-10 Fischer government in the Czech Republic.