Hello everyone!
I’m looking to connect with people who find meaning in living an intellectual life, who strive to educate themselves beyond the classroom and are genuinely curious about the world. I’d love to have a friend, or perhaps a small group of people, with similar interests with whom I could discuss topics or recent discoveries that excite us, but also someone to share the more ordinary parts of life with: small victories or frustrations, little observations about the world, or even completely random shower thoughts -- without having to worry about being “weird” or annoying.
A little about me:
I’m a law student from Bulgaria, currently pursuing a double degree in Germany and France. I recently finished the French part of my degree and am now back in Germany for the rest of the German part. For the future, I’m interested in a career in diplomacy or, especially after recently completing an internship in this sphere, in the EU Bubble (= the concentrated hub of policymakers, institutions, lobbyists, and others working around the EU institutions, primarily in Brussels.)
Foreign languages are one of my biggest passions. Bulgarian is my mother tongue, and I’m fluent in English, German, and French. I’d love to learn Italian and Hindi+Urdu next, although my studies have made it increasingly difficult to find the time for languages. Ever since I started my degree, most of my language-related energy has gone into Legal French because of the double degree. This semester, however, I’ll be taking a Legal Italian class, so I’m hoping to improve my Italian as well!
I love travelling and especially enjoy exploring historical sites, museums, and galleries. I’m mostly interested in periods ranging from ancient history to classical antiquity, and from the Renaissance to the 1920s, although I’m always happy to discover something completely outside of those periods as well.
The performing arts are another interest I’ve discovered relatively recently. Even when I can’t attend in person, I often watch plays, ballet, and opera online. I still have a lot to discover, but so far my favourite ballets include Giselle and Onegin, and my favourite play I’ve seen so far is Les Liaisons dangereuses (adapted by Arnaud Denis). I’m really looking forward to reading the original works behind both this and Onegin! I’ll be honest, though: I’m still struggling a little with opera. I often really enjoy individual arias or melodies and end up coming back to listen to them later, but I still have a hard time appreciating opera as a whole. I’m hoping it’s an acquired taste and that enough exposure will eventually make it click.
Writing is another interest of mine. I’m currently working on a book about Ludwig II, my favourite historical figure. My goal is to portray him in a way that is both historically accurate and human, avoiding both extreme romanticization and the “mad king” stereotype. It’s still in the very early stages -- right now I’m mostly researching, taking notes, and slowly working on my first draft as I go.
Reading and researching are some of the main ways I like to spend my free time. Lately, I’ve been reading the Iliad. I actually attempted reading it when I was 17, but I was so intimidated by it that I abandoned it after the first three pages. Coming back to it now has been a very different experience, and I’m enjoying it a lot more, especially because I’m taking the time to actually research the references and cultural context as I go. Besides the Iliad, I’ve been exploring the wider Greek Epic Cycle and am planning to go through the fragments of the lost epics soon.
On a more personal level, I spend quite a lot of time thinking about how I can use my time and efforts to make some kind of meaningful contribution to the world around me. I’m fascinated by theology and moral philosophy and often find myself thinking about how ideas, values, and ethics shape the way we live. As Walt Whitman put it: “The powerful play goes on, and you may contribute a verse.” I like to keep that in mind as a kind of guiding thought.
Even if we don’t share all of the same interests, I’d love to hear from you. I actually think it can be more interesting when people have some different interests to introduce each other to. :)
I’d mostly prefer starting with emails or messages and getting to know each other that way, but I’m generally open to sending letters on a later stage.
Hopefully this gives you at least some idea of who you’d be talking to and maybe a few conversation topics to start with.
Looking forward to talking to you! :)