Christmas was lovely and chilled out this year. It was lovely! It was just my brother, his girlfriend and me. We slept in and then my brother and Alana made a nice fry up. Then we burned it all off playing the Wii when the dinner was cooking. :)

Alana is an amazing cook and she puts me to shame as a woman. She really takes care of the flat and my brother and it's so nice to see how besotted they are with each other. And not in the soppy, make you want to puke way. Just real life together. They've argued a couple of times, but it's cos they are so similar to each other. It's nice to see. :)

I also like that I feel so at home and welcome here. It's really nice to get on well with my brother and start to have a normal relationship with him and spend so much time with him - especially after all those years when it was so difficult. Nice to know that despite the fact my mum has moved, I still have a home in Glasgow and I don't have to go anywhere to 'escape'.

Ok, every time I write, I say, "Can't believe how long since I last wrote!"

But really, it has been a LOOOOOOOOOONG time. Mostly it's because I've hardly had any time to think and also because it's so hard to motivate myself to write anything when I do have time. There's been a lot to process and take in this year. Well, not more than any other year I suppose, but most of the time, I've not had a life and a busy timetable that takes me all over Munich.

So, how's it all going in Munich? I can say that for the most part, I love it. Munich is a beautiful city and though most people who are from Munich are snobby, the Bavarians are lovely, funny, friendly people - not unlike the Scots! I love Lederhosen and Dirndls and I even got a Dirndl for this year's Oktoberfest.

My job had a low point in August when I got some really bad feedback and nearly lost my job. It was a very scary experience, but my boss and manager had a lot of faith in me and actually found the feedback strange. And so they devised a training programme for me and fortunately, I have come through a much stronger teacher than before. I definitely find it rewarding and at the moment, I'm just enjoying some rest since I think I deserve it! In any case, I think teaching is definitely the job for me and in a few years, I hope to be teaching at a University, though I'm not sure if it'll be in Germany... We'll see where my future takes me. :)

I still think I'd like to go Japan some time, though I don't think I'll ever live and work there - at least not for a whole year. Maybe after I am qualified to teach at a University... Who knows what's in store?

Anyway, I expect I'll be writing again soon since this time of year always makes me philosophical. :)