It’s been around two weeks since we moved to Chemnitz, and I have to say, It’s not as bad as it seems. Only the drunk, aggressive people lurking around Hauptbahnhof, but hey, that’s part of almost every city in Germany.

The 120 m2 apartment is big and sunny, and we are lucky to live in the Kaßberg area. The neighbors are not loud, and the Kaßberg area is tranquil despite the many cars parked on the streets here. Near our home, at a walking distance of 1 minute, there is a petrol station, of 2 minutes, a Norma supermarket, of 3 minutes, a big Rewe supermarket, of 5 minutes, a Lidl supermarket and a good Indian restaurant, and of 30 minutes, a big park. We also discovered a nice Indian grocery store, but not within walking distance; we needed to use the car here. The only minus is that we have not yet discovered any close walking areas. Dipty wishes to have a park within 2-3 minute’s walking distance, like we had in Frankfurt a few years ago, or a nice simple walking area to take a big round near our home, without so many cars, as we had in Oldenburg. There is a smaller park within 15 minutes‘ walking distance, but we haven’t walked there yet.

In the first week here in Chemnitz, we did the Anmeldung at the Rathaus, then in the second week, I did the Ummeldung for my Dacia Duster car as well, but keeping the Oldenburg numbers 😀 By the way, do you know that on 7th July it’s been one year since I had my car? And do you know how many kilometers I drove with it until now? around 1.500 km only! I barely used it. I think I used the car in 2 weeks since I have been in Chemnitz more than in almost a year in Oldenburg, haha. Because of this, I will not even go to make a check on my car this year, maybe next year only, because as far as I know, one should do this around 30.000 km, but I don’t even have 2.000 km in one year. Ah yes, let me show off: I drove alone from Oldenburg to Chemnitz in one go without pause, more than 500 km, for the first time, and I felt good that I put my car to good use. It was about time, as my first and last long trip before this was around 200 km only.

I guess I also crossed the red light last week for the first time since I had the car, but I am not sure, as it was raining. I remember there were no cars on the road. I situated myself in the mid of the road as if I were going straight and stopped at the red light, but then suddenly, I remembered I needed to go in fact to the right, so I checked that there was no car and I moved to the right, and then instead of stopping and waiting until the green is coming, I just drove, as there were no cars at all in any direction. I must say that I am not sure if I crossed on red or not, but I will find out in 1-2 weeks from the Blitzer if I will receive a letter regarding this per Post or not. Oh man, and I have one more year as a Fahranfänger status. Later edit: It seems like I didn’t cross on red because it’s been more than two months, and no letter regarding this come. 😀

These days, I have been looking for an electrician to install all the lamps in our newly rented apartment in Chemnitz. The first two companies I called said they have no capabilities due to a lack of personnel and because they are fully booked for months. The third company, Elektro Kirsch, said they have time but only 3 weeks from now, which I agreed to hire. Do you know how much an electrician costs in Chemnitz? I was informed that I have to pay around 20 € Vorschuß or what it was called, I don’t remember, then also the 30 minutes I would have to pay (maybe for the time it will take the electrician to arrive at my home, I don’t remember what was this for either), and also that the price per hour is 49,70€, and that I should expect to pay for around 3 hours of work. If I succeed in paying under 200 € in total, it will be ok, but let’s see. Later edit: They called me a few days before the appointment to inform me that the electrician was sick and asked if I wanted to postpone for a week at the same time, to which I agreed. On the day when the electrician supposed to come, he didn’t. After I called to ask if he will come or not, the lady on the phone said the electrician would call me in 10 minutes to update me. He called only after 2 hours, informing me that he was sick and could not come, and asked if I wanted to reschedule sometime after 26 August 2024. I said I would probably put the lights by myself and that I didn’t want to make another appointment with them. It seems like there are very few electricians available in Germany, especially this time of the year. I don’t know why they don’t just say NO instead of not respecting their appointment date and time.

In the next few days, I also need to find someone to come and professionally hang the curtains, or maybe I will just take care of this myself. Later Edit 2: I contacted my Hausverwaltung, and they recommended that I hire Axel Wuttke Gebäudeservice GmbH, which I did. The guy came in just five days after I called this company and did all the work I asked him for, such as installing all the lamps/lights, mirror, Gardinen, etc. in all the rooms, and the total invoice, including VAT, was 258,83 €. It was a pleasant experience.

Regarding the internet, we tried to have it from 1und1, but it is not available in this house and area from what I understood. Therefore, we have internet from Pyur, but we will cancel it in two days, as it offers a 1GB download speed and only a 50 MB upload speed for 50 € per month. We already ordered a new internet contract with Telekom, which offers up to 1GB download speed and 500 MB upload for 78 € per month. It’s a bit expensive compared to Romania, haha, but it’s important to have, as our jobs rely on good internet.

Regarding my job, a final update is that I will be working as a neuromorphic computing researcher only until July 31, 2024. With one research paper published in my first five months in this job and two more papers ready to be submitted by myself soon, I am happy that I chose to research in this fantastic field for six months. Printed memristors as part of neuromorphic 3D circuits are a very interesting idea. However, realizing/printing such 3D neuromorphic circuits printed on flexible substrates requires more research time and effort, such as realizing compact modeling of printed memristors, electrical characterization of printed silver ink traces through paper stacking, and improving the printing capabilities and techniques available. I will update you once the two papers are published, hopefully in the next few months.

Later Edit: Chemnitz has been the least vibrant city we’ve lived in in Germany so far. We should have moved to Dresden, at least, haha. We plan to move out of Chemnitz (probably towards the west/southwest of Germany) by 2026 at the latest.

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