i can only speak for south germany here. i'm an exchange student from a us college. i've been here 6 months now and it's been great.

and i'm glad you're into bicycles, because it's very popular here. unlike in the US, you can bike around the city easily. painted bike lanes and the drivers' awareness of bikes on the roads makes it very safe too. new ones are expensive, even shitty looking bikes can set you back 300 euros. but thankfully, there are lots of second hand bikes for sale. you can either go to bike shops, ask around, or look for posters at the university. second hand road bikes would probably be about 50 for the very used kind. but repairing is expensive and could end up costing you more than the bike, so i'd rather get a more expensive one in very good shape.

my city is one of the warmest places in germany and right now the weather here is crap. it's been raining quite a lot, but the signs of spring are definitely here.

is yours a Wohnheim or a WG? probably a studentenwohnheim. mine is pretty loud during the weekends. and we have a lot of international students and the city is very tolerant. but not knowing the language is a setback if you are looking to make friends with the germans. they're friendlier when you make an effort. most of them don't seem to like speaking english unless they have to. strangers on the street don't smile as much and might come off as uptight, but once you get to know them, you'll see that they are friendly, nice and love to have fun!