Name: Seiichiro Uto
From: Kagoshima, Japan
Age: 27
IT'S common knowledge that Japanese tourists take lots of photos and Seiichiro Uto, though not exactly a tourist, is no exception. In his one and a half years in Bulgaria he has snapped more than 10 000 pictures with his digital camera, all of which are stored on an ever-increasing pile of CDs in his office. "I love taking photos," he admitted, with a shy smile, "most of them document my scientific work, but many are of my personal experiences here."

He came to Sofia through Japan Overseas Co-operation Volunteers (JOCV) and works for the Executive Agency of the Ministry of Environment and Waters as an ecological researcher, monitoring river water quality using biological methods. It's a far cry from his request to do research in the rainforests of Bolivia, but he's very happy with the work he's doing here. "It must be my destiny to be in Bulgaria," said Seiichiro. "I wanted to go abroad somewhere anyway, and now I've gained very useful experience of water monitoring, which will complement my knowledge of rainforests."

JOCV helped him to prepare for his two-year placement with a training programme in Japan. He spent three months learning about water monitoring and a further three months on an intensive Bulgarian language course in Tokyo. "Learning the language was really difficult," he recalled. "I had never seen the Cyrillic alphabet before, so it was challenging." When he arrived here in December 2001, another month of language tuition awaited him, but it was not until he started his work that he began to pick up Bulgarian properly. "At first I understood very little, but my colleagues were very kind and soon helped me to learn the language," he said. Last month he gave his first presentation in Bulgarian.

"I like it here very much," said Seiichiro. "In Japan, although everyone is familiar with Bulgarian yoghurt, people don't know much about the country. I was very surprised when I arrived - JOCV usually works with developing countries, but Bulgaria is in Europe and is more developed than developing - Sofia airport, for example, is very modern and im-pressive." He has also learned to appreciate Bulgarian cuisine - shkembe chorba (tripe soup) is one of his favourite dishes and will, he joked, be one of the things he misses most when his placement comes to an end in December. Bulgarian red wine is another favourite, and he even managed to make his own as a scientific experiment. "It's very easy," he told me. "I just bought some grapes from the market, crushed them and followed the procedure. After six months I had six bottles of wine." He tried the first bottle last week and found it to be very tasty. "You must try it!" he said with great enthusiasm.

Seiichiro enjoys Bulgaria's abundance of hot mineral springs, and often goes to relax in the mineral baths close to Sofia. He comes from a volcanic region of Japan which also has many hot springs that are popular with locals, and was surprised to find that in Bulgaria it is the norm to bathe naked in public baths, as is the practice in Japan. "Perhaps that's the influence of the Eastern culture," he mused.

The recent Easter celebrations were also of great interest as there is no equivalent festival in Japan. "I didn't paint any eggs," he said, "but I cracked them with my colleagues." He observed that, in his opinion, Bulgaria is a 'mish-mash' of different cultures from east and west, which he finds very interesting. "Actually I don't see too many differences between Japanese and Bulgarian people," he said.

His future beyond December is vague. Unless he is accepted for another placement in a different country, he will return to Japan, either to work with the environment, become a scientific researcher, or teach school children about science and the environment - something he believes is vital to ensure future environmental protection - and he would also like to stay longer in Bulgaria. "I really don't know what I'll do," he said. "Perhaps it won't become clear until I return to Japan."

In the meantime, his parents, who initially said they wanted him to see more of the world, worry about whether he can survive the long absence from home. "They always said I should have many experiences," said Seiichiro, "but now it seems that they've changed their minds."

If you are, or know, someone who would make an interesting expat of the week, please email their name(s) and contact information to mattwillis@sofiaecho.com.