When I last went back home, I experienced something quite unique. My parents, having grown older, are now looking forward to an altogether different period in their lives. All my siblings, having settled in different parts of the world, have left the house rather empty. It was once a house where the five of us
Going Green: St. Patrick’s Day in Berlin
On the 17th of March, Berlin turned green for the third time: since 2011, people armed with glasses of Guinness and dressed like Irish Leprechauns disregard the freezing cold and hit the streets to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. The festival started a few days earlier with Irish whiskey tastings, film screenings, costume-making workshops and culminated
Watch the Gods Falling: Backstage Visit to “Götterdämmerung” at the Schiller Theater
The typical image of a visit to the opera is associated with elegantly dressed ladies, men in tuxedos, glasses of sparkling champagne, and polite conversations. However, at the end of February, ECLA of Bard students had the rare opportunity to get a glimpse behind the curtains of the shiny art world, by attending a rehearsal
Kinnaird Days
In 2010, I received my BS in Economics from the Kinnaird College for Women in Lahore, Pakistan. After graduation, I enrolled in ECLA of Bard’s Academy Year to further my studies in philosophy. I was so engaged with academics at ECLA that I never quite had the time to reconnect back with Kinnaird. Due to
Appearance vs Reality: A Quick Guide to a Young Student’s Impressions of the Great Bear City
Before Arriving I arrived to Berlin on a late February morning, along with other fellow students from Bard College supposed to spend a semester abroad at ECLA of Bard. As any good student would, I heartily researched my new home before arriving there. Speaking with many who had either previously lived or traveled there, I
Sophie’s Choice: The Agonizing Process to Find the Perfect Course
At the close of every school term, students brood over next semester’s course selections. Evermore the neurotic endeavor, the success or failure of the upcoming term hinges upon striking a careful balance of the right classes. Navigating the process tests one’s wisdom, intuition, and tenacity. This whole drama is explicitly acted out in the cafeteria,
Between Motherland and a Spiritual Home
I finished my fall semester in Berlin and went back home to Kyiv in Ukraine quite abruptly—leaving for the airport immediately after the Goethe Training Exam for the German Language A1 level, which I took in the cozy office of ECLA of Bard’s German Instructor Dirk Deichfuss on December 20th. This space served me well in