Thursday, March 30, 2006

Greetings US visitors!

So, as it's fairly obvious, I had to communicate in English during my trip, especially to all the members of the group I was with. 18 people, all from different countries, which was great. I had the chance to meet them all, and to spend some time and learn from them. As a foreing affairs officer, I am always fascinated by what is different to me. And surprised when I find that most of the time there is a big common ground that allows us to interact and to go farther than the polite talk.

The group was a great array of characters, besides the geographical origin. In three weeks I think I forged friendships I hope will last for many years, although we might not have the chance to see each other so often. If they ever visit this blog, I wanted to say thank to all of them, for their good humour and time.

I have great memories of the trip, and most of them are due to the fact that I was in such great company. Of course the lectures and presentations were interesting and useful, and... but how can I forget the time Finland, Germany, Hungary, Serbia, Taiwan and I spent in the pool and spa at the El Paso hotel? Overall, boys and girls, after three and a half weeks, the lack of sleep was well worth it. After all "we could sleep on the plane", right?

As Taiwan said, the only thing we can regret is that the program is over, and that we will not spend more time together. Hitto soi con!!! (Finnish for "damn it!", I hope the spelling is not too wrong, M)

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