Meeting Aunt Em and Uncle Henry

DOROTHY: Aunt Em! 

AUNT EM: Fifty-seven, fifty-eight -- 

DOROTHY: Just listen to what Miss Gulch did to Toto!   She -- 

AUNT EM: Dorothy, please!  We're trying to count!   Fifty-eight-- 

Hello Ozzies!

First stop in my little trip towards Oz: Brussels. All Vulcanus members went there for a one-day-long talk about some points of the program.

After a loooong working day (I really love when those bitching microprocessors don't do what they are supposed to, and instead decide to go on strike. Hmm...must be this lovely country...), I stepped on the magic train and off I went. Normally, it should have been a hurricane or a tornado, something spectacular. Unfortunately, they went on strike (pay rise, I think). anyway, Thalys is just as good (doesn't sound as cool though).

Must take a small break here: a dog has stopped in the middle of the metro rails, and we are waiting for it to leave. One of Toto's most feared enemies, I presume. Parisian subway system is just sooooo good, I don't have enough words to describe its infinite virtues! Apparently, we're dealing with Super Dog in here, because the electric current also went off. Must be really pissed off this dog. I wonder what Toto did to it... (or maybe this is why it is such a horrible enemy!).

OK, end of the break: the current has come back, everything is fine. 15 minutes to deal with a dog! (as if we where in India, and a cow had just crossed over the railway...)

Bad news! Super Dog is back, we stopped again. I hope this time it's come for blood...Muahaha! It would be much more fun to have a little bit more of action around here.

Back on track! RATP: 1 - Super Dog: 0. Maybe next time...

Where were we? Ah, yes! Vulcanus meeting in Brussels!

First thing I see when I arrive to the hotel: a couple guys from Letonia (Dainora and Michail) and another one from Hungary (Balazs). All of them looking for a bar called "Delirium Tremens" (like the beer). Seems like our journey is gonna start well...

After losing ourselves a couple of times, we managed to arrive. Very cool place, by the way. It has the largest beer menu in the world (Guiness's World of Records proved), plus nice people, plus good music. Once in there, we met the Spanish "avanzadilla": Manuel, Pepe, Jorge and David (I put the names because from now on, Vulcanus member's names will appear quite frequently,so you better get used to it!). We are something like 11 Spanish participants, so obviously, not everyone was there...One of the French guys was also with them, Clément. We were not supposed to stay there for long (tomorrow is the big day, and it starts at 8 a.m.), but guess what, we finally arrived to the hotel at around 3 a.m.

Next day, the D-day! Where everything begins. The European organiser of the program and the rest of the team present themselves and start talking about the program. Geez, they really know how to talk to people! First thing they say is that we (Vulcanus participants) have been very lucky to have been chosen. They even go as far as saying we are not the best applicants, but the ones who matched better with the companies that work with the program. Aren't they just lovely!

But it doesn't matter, because after that they start talking about some key points of the program: insurance, visa procedure, the residence, transportation,...Everything becomes so real, we are all daydreaming wiht the trip. Then, a former participant talks, and we all explose with happiness. I just couldn't have enough of what he was saying. Everything sounded perfect: where he's been, what he's seen, who we'll meet...I'm having goose bumps as I write this, just thinking about all that stuff!

Finally, the Japanese exam. Well, let's say that Ishi Sensei won't feel very proud about it if she ever knows...

To round it up, we all go out to have dinner and beers. Veeeeery funny, it seems we're all going to rock the hell out of Tokyo. We ended up in the Delirium Tremens bar (again), drinking, dancing and laughing. The Wizard of Oz told me not to be gossiping around, so...I'll only say that true colors started to come out, and they looked really cool!

Now, I'm back to work, and it feels as if everything was a pleasant dream. But we'll come back, just wait and see...

Don't miss the next episode!