1, 2, 3, 4, 5... That's right.

Apparently it's time for the Bulgarian census. Like all good censuses, this one is not without a little controversy or a few stumbling blocks. There's a new system allowing Bulgarians to complete the census online. But the system crashed. Hey, at least it means that Bulgarians were trying to complete the census electronically.

The English language expat newspaper the Sofia Echo's headline was this: <a href="http://sofiaecho.com/2011/02/04/1036997_you-count-too?ref=rss" target="_blank">You Count Too</a>! Turns out I'd better be ready to be counted or risk a 120 leva fine. This fine seems a little steep when the fine for riding a bus without a ticket is only 10 leva but that's another story. Here's a quick rundown from the article.
<blockquote>Bulgaria’s 2011 census got underway on February 1, not without some teething troubles in the online phase of the exercise – and with a reminder that foreigners permanently or temporarily resident in the country should also take part, or face a fine of 120 leva.<!--more-->

However, those foreigners who would prefer to take part online rather than answer questions from a census taker could do so only if at least one person in the household has Bulgarian citizenship and an EGN, a Bulgarian identity number – a category that, for example, would embrace those foreigners with a Bulgarian spouse.

Other foreigners to be counted in include tourists and people in Bulgaria on business trips. The principle is that the "reference moment" of the census is the midnight that February 1 started, so everyone present in the country and eligible for inclusion in the census should be reported.

Some foreigners are exempt from the census, including diplomats and other representatives of foreign governments, foreign military personnel and their families, people resident in properties owned by foreign governments and representatives of international organisations.

Foreigners unable to speak Bulgarian can request census takers able to speak, respectively, English, French or Russian. To make the request, call the helpline, 0700 16 310.</blockquote>
Well, I am happy to be counted. The only question seems to be what language will I be counted in? I know my basic demographic answers in Bulgarian including my name, my occupation, my home country, my age. But will I be able to understand the census speaker's Bulgarian and the questions being asked? Hum.

Then again maybe I should request an English speaking census taker. But it seems like a lot of work to call and set that up. I also have the sneaking suspicion that whoever answers the helpline will only speak Bulgarian. Things like this happen a lot to me. Then again maybe I'll wait and see if the school is going to set anything up for the foreign teachers. They do things like for us.

The other question seems to be when will the census takers come to find me? I basically work 8-5:30 or 6pm during the week and on the weekends I am out and about.  To top this off, I never answer the front door bell to our building when it rings because I don't want to let some random person into my building. My mother taught me better than that. And, it's not like I need one more flyer for Billa, Hit, or Kaufland stuffed in my mailbox.