are strange times. We are both foreign but familiar which creates a unique state to be in. Being in Gerany and speaking the lanaguge are not new to us. There are things that I am becoming aware of now that I live here that I had only heard about before. The first one which springs to mind is tax. German babies are asigned a tax number at birth, I find this level of organisation both funny but also slightly overly organised. Being Scottish things work there too but not getting even close to this level of efficiency. In Scotland things move slowly and an amount of ineffiecency comes as part of the deal. The second is Stempel culture which is huge in Germany. Things are stamped to show that they are official. Great except that everything has to go through this process. The only time that I didn't have to get stempelled was ironically the only time you get stempeled in Scotland, the library. We are observing all of this from the outside looking in. I am sure we will get more used to the multiple different ways to get things done as time charges on. I will always feel Scottish first and European second.