Ian Stewart is leaving. Director of the British Council in Sofia since July 2002, he is now directing his life in another path: retirement, a spell at the family house in Gilford, a town within the 35 mile radius of the centre of London, and then, something.

He does not yet know, exactly, where or what he will be or be doing in a year, but seems at peace with that. Or, as much at peace as someone could be after wrapping up a nearly 30-year and 12-country career with the institution.

His penchant for Finland introduced him to the British Council back in 1969. A geography student at University of Edinburgh, he had spent a number of summers working on a farm near Lapland but wanted to experience the true Finnish winter. To do that he needed a job, and applied for an open position at the British Council. He got the teaching post in Raahe, and spent a year there, during which time he found that he “quite liked teaching English”.

Back in the United Kingdom, Stewart, a native of Scotland, then took a one-year post-graduate teaching course, and started off on the teaching track. Over his two-year stints in each of Portugal, Iran and Sudan, he saw that he liked how the council functioned and decided to enter management. So he studied for a master’s of applied linguistics back at Edinburgh and joined British Council management in 1978. Helsinki, Rabat in Morocco, London, Thailand, Manchester and then, soon after communism fell, Croatia, followed by the Baltic nations with a base in Latvia, Belgrade, and finally, Sofia.

“I’ve spent nearly 13 years in Eastern Europe,” he says in an interview with The Sofia Echo, 35 days before his official good-bye. “I feel very much at home in this environment; though every country is different, there are certain similarities.

“Cleaning out a drawer yesterday, I discovered a file from Croatia dating to 1995. So much has happened since then. Obviously, the European Union, relative peace in Yugoslavia... When we were there, they were still throwing bombs at Zagreb and it was very intense.”

He compares his time in Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia to his time in Bulgaria, saying that “there’s a sort of closure to see a country through” to its EU entry, something he experienced during both posts. However, in the Baltics, English was used among the three countries as opposed to Russian – which everyone spoke, anyway – because of its neutral status. Whereas in Bulgaria, it was slightly different. “When we first came, it was almost as if we were helping them to gain a skill that would help them leave the country,” he says. “But I do feel that it has changed since. English is almost like IT skills now – it’s an automatic requirement” for a successful career.

As regards use of the English language in Bulgaria, one thing he would like to see is an improvement to the correctness of translations. Given that the effort has been made to translate something into English, and then have it printed and presented to the public, it only makes sense that the English should be correct, he says. “It is almost as if people are not aware of the impact that poor translations can have,” he also says, a fact to which anyone reading an English-language menu at a restaurant, or information panels at a museum, can attest.

Interpreters, on the other hand, have proved more than capable.

Stewart sees many similarities between the British and the Bulgarian mentalities: tolerance of others’ faults, discomfort in projecting one’s own successes and a proclivity for “mumbling, moaning and groaning”, along with a sense of humour that translates well between the two cultures.

Yet setting Bulgaria apart is its special rhythm. “One of my failures,” he says, “has been to master the art of the horo, and I know that there are hundreds of variations. It’s the rhythm, the change of the rhythm. It’s strange for a Westerner.” And this reaches to Bulgarian society in general – he calls it a rhythm that comes from a depth of time, from a geographical spread.

Also impressing him is Bulgarian folk medicine, the natural remedies and healing methods.

“One of the real joys of being here for so long is being able to get under the surface. I’d be foolish to say that I understand Bulgarians, but I understand what I do not understand,” he says.

He appreciates the “family and friends network” that is lacking in England, as in many other Western cultures.

And travelling. In their free time, Stewart and his wife Anne enjoy exploring the country, both with a guide and independently. They prefer staying in small independent establishments, visiting places that receive endorsement from the Bulgarian Association for Alternative Tourism (BAAT). The only area to which they have not been is the north-west.

With travelling comes books, or, more so, reading. Stewart travels often for his job, flying or taking the train here or there, and spends this time in the pages of another world. He prefers two general categories: for travelling, thriller/detective editions – “It’s my way of switching off” – and for more of an intellectual challenge, he favours books that combine historic or scientific issues or facts in a novel. When asked for specifics, it is The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco, Q by Luther Blissett and The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova that first come to his mind.

When moving house, like he and Anne have done numerous times and are in the throes of doing once again, books are “the biggest issue”, he says. “We carry around with us more books than we probably need. They’re like old friends; they represent stages in our life; they represent a continuity. We were counting recently, and each of us has lived in 27 or 28 houses – and it’s nice to have familiarity around you.”

It takes moving to fully realise the impact that it can have, in both the short-term, with packing, baggage and breakage, and the long-term psychological affects on all members of the family. Regarding their two daughters, he hopes that it has been “a stimulating experience for them” to live in so many countries.

He describes moving as an “angst”, though the British Council does assist. In some ways it has been good moving so often, providing a regular “cleansing of the system”, as he puts it. This time around, the International Women’s Club’s Christmas Bazaar is receiving many of their not-vital items, including books.

Organisation facilitates the process, along with planning the move well in advance. “Part of you does not want to” think about leaving, but must. So make endless lists, and don’t just rely on your brain.

While in Croatia, then a war zone, they had to be ready to evacuate at any moment, meaning that they had to evaluate which things held the most significance for them, those that would be devastating to lose. The Stewarts decided on photographs, jewellery and “one or two sentimental items”.

“It’s an interesting mental exercise to say ‘What could I leave and what do I really want?’” he says.

“Leaving Bulgaria will be difficult; we’ve become very attached here. I don’t think that (leaving) becomes any easier.”

Neither is it easy to just plug (back) into a place, be it new or known.

They do go back to the UK every year, to see family and friends and check up on the house, and Stewart makes an effort to go to Scotland annually.

It is there that he can have his kilt dry-cleaned by someone who knows how. Encompassing six metres of Graham-clan (following the matrilineal traditions of the Celts) wool tartan, it is a very heavy piece of clothing. And, it being his original kilt that he had tailored in 1978, it rightly makes him proud that he can still wear, and does on occasion.

Through what he has guided and seen done at the British Council in Sofia, what gives him the most satisfaction is the work that the council has done in the science field. “I think people need to be aware of science, to not be afraid of it, to address current issues like climate change, genetically modified organisms, in vitro fertilisation... It has the advantage of not really being political, while having a political background. Everyone should hold an opinion,” he says.

Cafe Scientifique, which brings together scientists and the public for discussion on science-related topics, shows people that “science is not scary, that it is as intellectually challenging as the arts”.

One of the British Council’s other science projects was making a two-metre model of a DNA molecule, which 250 pupils built in shifts in Halite, thus sparking discussion with shopkeepers.

From the frigid winters of Finland to the striking mountains of Bulgaria, all his experiences have provided much in way of promoting English. And much in way of growth.

Ian Stewart’s last official day as director of the British Council Bulgaria is December 7 2007.