Shake your head for “yes” and nod for “no”

This is quite perplexing. You can find yourself in some strange circumstances if you don't know that Bulgarians shake their heads to signify "yes" and nod to indicate "no." People will shake their heads to agree with you or nod to disagree or confirm a negative answer even if they are speaking English to you.

Learning to do the exact opposite is really challenging. After living in nations where "yes" is a nod for so long, I find myself in circumstances in Bulgaria where I don't utilize any head gestures simply because it's unclear.

When it comes to gestures, Bulgarians make a lot of them and play around with their vocal intonation, so you can think two people are arguing when they are actually just delighted about something.