Penka Apostolova emigrated to Canada in 1990 following the will of her husband. Back at that time when the communist regime of Todor Zhivkov collapsed, Bulgaria embarked on the road to democracy and pluralism in a truly turbulent environment.

Penka's husband was convinced he had to look for a new life overseas and followed the then beaten track – a journey to Cuba but with a stopover in Canada. Today, after 27 years of living in Montreal, Penka feels successfully integrated into Canadian society. She does not regret her decision but also keeps track of the life of the country via the internet. She says that there is a large and inclusive Bulgarian diaspora in Canada that keeps in touch with the motherland: the community publishes its own newspapers in Bulgarian, organizes tours of Bulgarian actors and singers in Montreal, Toronto and the United States. Penka believes that this is a wonderful way to bring the Bulgarian community together: by offering live events with participants coming from Bulgaria.

Do Bulgarians easily integrate into Canadian society?

"There is a big difference between the Bulgarian emigration of the 1990s and the emigrants over the last decade," explains Penka. "When we came over here - the first big wave of emigrants from Bulgaria, we were not prepared for emigration at all. Most of us did not speak foreign languages. We had no idea how the system works here. We had only theoretical notions – borrowed from movies. We did not have the right to start work right away, because then, in order to remain in Canada, you had to seek political asylum first. Today's emigration is much more adequate. People coming here, speak languages. They have prepared all their papers and certificates. They can start work immediately. My case was different. I have not applied for political asylum. The fact that I can play chess helped me to receive a special status for persons who can contribute to the development of the country in different areas."

In Canada Penka actually reinvented herself:

"In Bulgaria I had always played chess. In Montreal I began to study shiatsu massage. Meridian exercises are practiced in shiatsu. My teacher told me that it was a good idea to focus on teaching such exercises because I am very athletic. This opened my way to yoga and I became a yoga instructor. But chess remains my passion. I began to think what I could do to combine everything I've learned so far. I had a start with the idea of ​​leading a children's chess program. Yoga was a separate thing: I was not thinking of children's classes. My line of though was as follows: yoga comes from India; chess also comes from India. Both help us get to know ourselves better. Then I realized that these two activities were the physical and mental aspect of the same thing and have come from the same place. So I combined yoga and chess together and created a unique program - yoga and chess for children, which has been working successfully ever since".

The program recruits children from the age of 5. According to Penka, the earlier one learns playing chess, the better. Chess helps children develop a different way of thinking, and do better at school. She teaches them to make the right decisions in life, to make moves forward. On the other hand, children are flexible by nature, but with age they gradually lose flexibility. Under Penka's system children combine yoga and chess. If the group is too active and children find it hard to concentrate, classes begin with yoga, for example, postures of different animals, and then they proceed to chess, or vice versa. The teacher adapts activities to the emotional profile of the group so that time spent together is as useful and enjoyable as possible. And all this goes hand in hand with incredible enthusiasm and the wide, warm smile of Penka Apostolova.

English Daniela Konstantinova

Photos: private library