Hey! It’s a New Year: time to get out there and do stuff!

I hope you all had a lovely holiday and an excellent festive season?

Right, now it’s time for business!

If you recall, I started this blog just twelve weeks ago. In that time, I wrote to you about the fact that I live in that historical European country of yore, although people from the UK say that Germany is boring. I told you about the love of my new home-town city and how I wondered why more people didn’t come visit it, because what the heck is Berlin all about anyway?

I know things are tight for people and travellers and tourists tend to think only of the cheapest options, so I wrote that sometimes it’s alright to admit that hotels are better than hostels.

In 2013, my family and I travelled to London, Osnabrück, Potsdam, Cheshire, Chester, Edinburgh, Inverness, Brandenburg and of course, Berlin. Since this blog was born, I have only written about that fantastic country of Highlands and Lowlands as in the bloody streets of Scotland. I told you about how to utilise a short amount of time and what to do if you visit Scotland’s capital city, as in Haggis, Tatties and Nips: 10 things to do in Edinburgh.

I took you on a drinking tour of Inverness when I told you that a wee drab of whisky is just the thing to make you itch! You must have liked the old whisky casket ‘cos I took you on a walking tour too because as everyone knows, the Highlands are bonny!

Of course, you can’t leave the Highlands if you haven’t acquainted yourself with the legend and myth of the old sea-monster which I told you about, in to Nessie or not to Nessie: A temptation cruise on Loch Ness.

As a new blogger, everyone has been enormously supportive and reading their posts have been hilarious, knowledgeable or just generally thought – provoking. In that wise, I received my first award for new bloggers: The Liebster Award which I told you about when I said that the first time is the best time!

I have since received a second award: the Dragon’s Loyalty Award. Hurrah! This reward was given to me by Cristins Adventures and I’d like to give it the acknowledgement that it deserves in my next post so watch this space!

As the year came to an end in 2013, it was time to come back to the issues of “home” so I did.

I told you about my love for Germany in the winter and how I could never wait for December because apart from it being my month of birth, it’s also a time for festive merriment, so I wrote that a sticky bun isn’t a stollen: going to a German Christmas market. I also told you how fantastic it is to be living in another country and how a moustache, a turkey and a quivering hand were 10 reasons to be an expat in Berlin!

Now, it’s a New Year and it’s time to get out there and do stuff.

I know that it’s soooo easy to make New Year resolutions and temptingly quick to break them, so to get the ball rolling here are a few things that I think are a challenge, but also achievable. I’m going to:

1.   Go to at least one museum or gallery event per month: I love going to a museum and gallery as I like “old stuff” however, it’s so easy not to, so I’m going to make an extra effort.

2.   Go to at least one writing event per month: In my previous post about how a moustache, a turkey and a quivering hand were 10 reasons to be an expat in Berlin, I mentioned how much fun I had. It can however be a little nerve wrecking as people take their writing or criticism thereof very seriously, so I’m going to register in a few places and just go for it.

3.   Finish my Masters: I live in Germany but I’m doing a Masters in England! It’s costing me an arm and a leg, resources and lots of energy, as I commute to England every six weeks. I’m almost at the end but I can feel my enthusiasm waning…. My family however, have been enormously supportive and if I want to do a PhD, which I do, I guess I’d better get a move on!

4.   Do the Tango: My husband and I started learning how to tango dance together in the summer of 2012 and we had so much going on in 2013, that we sort of let it lapse and like horse-riding, if you don’t get right back on, you’ll be scared.

It’s fun to do things with your loved ones so we’re going to get back on that horse. That’s a promise!

5.   Do some sport. Any sport: OK everyone; please don’t tell me that I’m alone here ‘cos I’m sure you’re as bad as I am.

This is scandalous really, considering the fact that I used to play university football (soccer), hiking and skiing.…!

In the last two years I have flirted with hip-hop and ballet, horse-riding and tai chi, but life just got in the way with this or that, but you know what? It doesn’t matter. ‘Cos it’s a New Year, and it’s time to get out there and do stuff!

What are your New Year Resolutions for 2014? What are you going to do?

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