Warning! You are leaving the Berlin sector. You are no longer in your comfort zone. You may experience some unpleasant side effects.

It is fortunate that this is a written blog and not a podcast, because whilst my brain and fingers are functioning normally, my mouth and power of coherent speech have been rendered mostly useless.

Outside, Berlin is still dressed in a pretty blanket of mostly white snow, whilst pedestrians and vehicles alike go about their journeys in an eerie slow motion.

And so today they finally arrived. After two weeks of procrastination, intensive research and typical indecision, I was awoken at 9 am to accept delivery of those items which will shape my immediate future.