Sadly you've arrived at a really bad time for Europe - even the vivid heat and light of Greece is miserable and subdued in miserable January - as for more Northern countries - well it'll help you understand where the urge to colonise came from or even flee to New England.

Some very good advice here, I do wish so much we knew which European country you're in, and what kind of environment.

Just as if someone was writing from the USA, the advice would be very different depending on whether the location was NYC or Lake Woebegone...

I lived for 3 years in the USA, a couple of years in Switzerland and nearly seven years in France, along with shorter periods in Holland and Germany.

The key thing I discovered is to find the club or group that shares your interests. In addition try and play at least one sport, even if you're no good at sports. For instance I turned myself from a novice skier into an OK skier in two intense seasons in Switzerland.

Are you interested in politics? Human rights? Art? Music? Flower arranging!?! Anything at all - do your research and find that club or organisation. People love to welcome new members and as a foreigner you'll have a slightly different perspective to offer, whether you're aware of it or not.

Then there's the time issue - one month isn't really enough for any major life change. As with a new city or a new job or even a new relationship, six months is much fairer test.

Finally a word of warning - as Hemingway shows us in The Sun Also Rises, lots of ex-pats take refuge in each other, and lots and lots of drinking. Nothing wrong with that every once in a while, but a big risk as a lifestyle. Just monitor yourself in that regard.

Best of luck to you and if you are in Briton, enjoy the TV - still the best in the world :-)

Of course you're right - if Bloomberg was to change his mind and ran for President he'd pay for the entire campaign himself, and have money left over to give away.

Now come see this fine bridge I happen to be selling, at a very special price, just for you...

It just can't be true that global trade produces winners and losers - everyone benefits from Global Trade.

That's what The Economist magazine says, and the Republican Party.

A 100% commitment to free trade (especially in oil) is what has made us all so rich during the Bush Years.

Good novels get read and survive the test of time and are still read.

Most fiction (experimental or otherwise) fails and is unread.

I've read about a novel a week for about 25 years now; I've never managed to finish a Joyce (except Dubliners), have struggled through most of Gravity's Rainbow and some of Faulkner.

Frankly outside a sort of high intelligence/highly trained academia these sort of books will never be read because they are too difficult for most readers to appreciate.

So I suppose the nearest thing I get to experimental now is Brett Eastern Ellis and Cormac McCarthy...

Is that a problem with the form, or with myself?

I guess I'm with the burnout/mild depression/ADD voters too, despite the fact it's little more than an educated guess.

What does surprise is that your letter makes no mention at all of your team - the people who rely upon you for direction, praise, and (sadly) an occasional reprimand.

You may be losing sight of the fact that as a senior manager, you have the power to delegate and reorganise. So here's an alternative plan:

1) Choose your two best people, and ask one of them to book a meeting room and set up a meeting with the three of you. If you don't know who the best people are, ask your team to vote - everyone knows who the best people are.

2) Explain to these best two people that you feel the department has been 'drifting' for a while and you intend to ensure this next project is more focussed.

3) Confess that you're not sure why this is happening and ask them for their input. Listen to the discussion or zone it out - it doesn't matter.

4) After somewhere between 20 minutes and an hour of them discussing things, get them to formulate a project plan, and to devise and set task lists.

5) Give them the power to form a 'task force' 'action group' or whatever the new buzz words are for a team that has a specific goal.

6) Ask them to formulate targets for the next meeting and objectives for the slightly longer term.

7) Arrange to meet again and review progress within 48 hours.

Congratulations Mr or Ms Manager - you've just done your job by doing something only a tiny fraction of managers can do - DELEGATE!