It has been 41 days since I first arrived in Saarbrücken. That means I have spent almost 1000 hours building a life here!
100 hours were spent finding a new place to live. 200 hours were spent figuring out where to find the nearest food store, bakery, delicatessen, bank, post office, bus stop and pharmacy. Another 200 hours were spent navigating the public transportation system, talking to professors on campus and filling out a million forms. All of those hours and the 9500 other hours were spent integrating into my new home in Saarbrücken.
My first priority here was to integrate myself physically into my new city, which for me meant exploring on foot. So lots and lots of walking. I like to know the names of buildings, bridges and streets where I live, and in Saarbrucken, I have come up with five different ways to arrive at one location: for example, my food store.
I do not know anyone else who lives in the same area as I do, so the first time I needed to buy food, I went on my computer and looked up food stores near me. Then, once I found a store that looked open, I mapquested it on my phone, packed two reusable bags to carry my groceries and set out in search of the store! It was sunny and warm that day, so I was not in a rush.
