Year-end round up!

Well 2012 has been an interesting year. Now that the initial excitement has worn off and reality has been setting in, I'll admit it, with all the visitors and travelling and whatnot, I was feeling quite homesick this year. Maybe because it has now been OVER TWO YEARS since I went back. This clearly manifested itself with my various attempts at cooking (mostly Asian) things that I haven't been able to eat here, such as curry laksa, salt and pepper squid, ANZAC cookies, wontons, and poison pork rolls. My search for xiaolongbao was also briefly assuaged - but fear not! By the end of the year, my food habits were clearly starting to show the spirit of integration! 

2012 was a year of travelling and being visited by travellers. January took me off to London and Oxford for CNY and visiting friends. Gnoudesavanes returned to France via Munich Zoo in February, while March not only brought a visit from Amandine but also Hitoshi for a few months. With April and Easter, H came for a visit and we managed to just see Neuschwanstein through the snow and scaffolding, while Gordo arrived later in the month when the weather got warmer. May took me off to Lake Constance/Bodensee, followed by Uncle Vandepoon's second visit in a year and the discovery of truffle pasta! As the summer hit, June was a busy month as I went off to Bilbao/Sanseb and all the deliciousness that that created, and also the big one - a visit from Ma, Pa, and Pooey, followed by our epic 12 day trek across Europe. As a result, July and August were pretty quiet travel-wise, although there was a work trip to Bremen which included a daytrip to Hamburg. That changed in September when I caught up with Dr. Spu, Dr I, Dr. K, and met baby I-K for the first time in NYC. Oktober(fest) brought a visit from Nickyliou and a return to Bremen and the delicious Freimarkt. At the end of November came yet another visit to Paris and all its inherent beauty and deliciousness,  while Alix came to visit in December along with my own visits to Nuremberg and Davos. Wow, writing this paragraph just made me tired.

Movie-wise, I have found some soulmates in the (tall) forms of Markus and Felix with whom I watched those masterpieces Iron Sky and Abraham Lincoln - Vampire Hunter. But I'll accept those movies are not for everyone (Silvi did ask me incredulously if I really did enjoy them), so I'll say that the movies that most rocked my socks were The Avengers (EPIC!), and of course SKYFALL which was one helluva way to end the movie viewing year. 

And so to end, here's a graph from my expenses spreadsheet showing what I spent my money on this year. I've removed the amounts because I don't want you knowing how much was spent. As we can see, travelling took up the bulk of the moolah, with significant contributions from bills, shopping, and food.

I'll confess, I was a little bit shocked at how much money I spent at Bierfests. On the other hand, given that they started with Starkbierfest in March, to Fruhlingsfest in April, to the quaint Kocherlbal, and the late summer bierfest season which culminates in Wiesn (if you don't count Weihnachtszeit)...I'm not surprised of its prominence as an expense. 

So to finish, goodbye 2012, and since the world didn't end, hello 2013!