Desislava Oppel and her love for Bulgarian children in Austria and folklore

Love for Bulgaria warms the hearts of Bulgarians abroad, who find different ways to express their connection with the homeland - they participate in folklore groups, create Bulgarian Sunday schools, participate in festivals. All this also fills the life of Desislava Oppel, who lives in Austria.

Originally from Pleven, but raised in Sofia, the Bulgarian manages to combine her work as an engineer in an Austrian microelectronics company with the directorship of the "Nikola Vaptsarov" Sunday School in Graz, which also has a branch in the city of Klagenfurt. In addition, Desislava Oppel also leads the folklore group "Folklore Magic" in the southern Austrian city.

"The school was founded 15 years ago by active parents with the aim of our children having a place to learn Bulgarian language, history, traditions and folklore. The school has grown and in 2019 we opened a branch in the city of Klagenfurt, which is located 120 km from Graz. We are one big, close-knit family."

The school educates children from preschool to high school. A total of 52 children attend the two branches – 30 in Graz and 22 in Klagenfurt.

"Many of our students were born in Austria. Their parents have prestigious and responsible professions. Among us there are doctors, teachers, architects, mathematicians and engineers. All the parents are very hardworking and diligent and I am very grateful to them for taking their free time on Saturdays and Sundays to take their children to a Bulgarian school."

The school also has theatre groups that are organized by the teachers, Desislava Oppel says and adds:

"Children love to play roles and in this way it is much easier for them to learn Bulgarian history. Last year we had a theatre play dedicated to Rayna Knyaginya, another one about Vasil Levski, about Khan Asparuh and this year for the end of the school year we staged "Grandfather's Mitten".

Traditionally, the end of the school year in both schools is on May 23 and 24, as many of the students return home to spend the summer in Bulgaria.

Our interviewee says that she never misses an opportunity to dance. She loves Bulgarian folklore, and at the last edition of the festival "On the Square of the Other Bulgaria" in May in Munich, she was part of the folklore group "Na horoto" from the city of Graz:

"Its leader is Mirislava Turbich and it is a real pleasure for me to be at the festival because the energy is incredible and the experience is remembered for a long time. In 2013, we started rehearsals while we were waiting for the children to finish school. The group is already very large - over 45 people of three generations have been participating in it. Since last year, there has been a folklore group in Klagenfurt, called "Folklore Magic" and I have the honour and pleasure of leading it."

The first meeting with the audience is also coming up - the dancers from "Folklore Magic" will appear on stage on June 13 and within 10 minutes they will present dances from the Pirin and Rhodope regions of Bulgaria. We wish them success and many more occasions to be on stage, delighting and enthralling the local people with Bulgarian rhythms.