My blogging has (as expected) slown down a bit as I adjust to (a) splitting my life between Bremen and Hamburg, and (b) getting started on my PhD.  It’s been truly exhausting, but also really good.

I’ve settled into Bremen nicely, despite the fact that I’ve yet to spend a full weekend here.  I will be putting the finishing touches together on the apartment in the next couple of weeks: new curtains, a rug (to keep my feet warm), and hanging up a tapestry I have from Malaysia (more complicated than I anticipated!).  My office at the university is pretty big and I’m sharing it with one other doctoral fellow — just for comparison’s sake, I shared the same amount of office space with three other co-workers in New York, so I’m feeling extra spoiled right now.

The other members of my cohort  are super friendly and smart (a bit more than half are German and the rest of us are foreigners).  I’m excited for what the next three years have to offer, and (for the moment) I am avoiding thinking about how much work it’s going to be.

In the meantime, let me share with you a few photos from a recent night tour of Bremen before I collapse into bed for the evening.