Almost four years after the fact, it hits me one day in the bathroom.  “I live in Germany.  I really live here!  What the hell?!”

Sure, it may sound obvious to you, but the scurrility of living in another country, in another language, on another continent takes some time to really absorb.  And here I am, facing another renewal of my visa, registered at a German address, with a German bank account, German friends, German books, a German gmail account.  How did it all happen?

So what have I been doing since I arrived here three months ago? Well, for the first three weeks I really just allowed myself to get acclimatized to my new surroundings here in Bonn. I rode the strassenbahn around town, complained about the weather, went to a couple of Christmas markets, ate my first wurst and drank warm glühwein. Then I celebrated the holidays, Christmas here, and New Year’s in Paris.

Soon after the festivities ended it was time for me to start my internship which I was thankfully able to secure before arriving in Germany. I am now in the middle of a four month contract with the DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service). Interning here has really been a great experience, and opened up my eyes to how Germans do business. I have had the pleasure of working in two different departments doing completely different task and truly enjoy the work.

I have now been in Germany for about three months, and I quickly learned that settling in, and figuring how to make a life for myself here is harder than I ever imagined. I suppose part of the reason I assumed, unjustly that this move wouldn’t be so hard is that I have done this all before. Meaning right after I graduated university I packed up my life into two big suitcases and moved to China, where I was able to make a life for myself. Complete with a small apartment, paying job, great friends, and amazing vacation time.