All things considered, after a 24 hour travel day, I can say that my journey to Germany from the US was relatively smooth. No missed flights, only a couple missed local trains, and many many pounds of luggage later, I arrived safely in Jülich, North-Rhine Westphalia where I will stay for the majority of my time here in Germany.

 

Upon arrival, my key was waiting for me in a lockbox out front of the building. The lockbox worked flawlessly, but it was a bit trickier to figure out the actual key and I initially struggled to get into the building. I'll admit, I probably looked quite silly sitting out front with all me bags, but eventually someone else came by and was able to show me how to properly use the key.

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I thought this was the end of my key troubles, but on day 1 (the day after I arrived), the battery in my 'smart key' died during my first outing in Jülich and I was forced to call building security to let me back inside. After some poor. mumbled German, I was back in but was stuck inside until the receptionist returned on Monday and was able to fix my house key.

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Initial impressions include words like 'small' and 'quaint' but I was also pleasantly surprised by the amount of people out and about during the middle of the winter. This place is definitely more of a 'town' than anything else, but there are constantly people walking around and even biking to the supermarket during this time of year. It seems promising and I'm already happy to see people being so active!

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As I have been slowly adjusting, I've noticed myself missing any conveniences from the US. I'm accustomed to driving places and have to now be more considerate of timetables for trains and busses in addition to planning everything ahead. It's also both nice and not nice not being to understand what people are saying. It's convenient when trying to read on the train, but inconvenient in almost every other circumstance. I've already had trouble buying fruit at the grocery store and bread at the bakery, but thankfully everyone seems understanding and at least a bit patient.