Off to Vienna
01/05/19 02:54
I am packing again, so that I catch my flight to Vienna tonight. It is probably my last trip to Europe, while posted in Bangkok, so nearly feeling sentimental… I am starting doing lots of 'last things' before wrapping up my stay in Thailand.
I am going to Austria and Belgium for two reasons. In Brussels, I need to do my medical check-ups, arrange for some documents for Panama, and do some of my first debriefings from my present deployment in Asia. Then, when I am in Austria, I will be participating in the training of the civil protection teams from the EU Member States. The training is meant to help us all learn on how we could be working together when responding to humanitarian crises in third countries (outside of the EU). The training will be held and hosted by the Austrian Red Cross, and sponsored by the governments of Slovenia, Austria, UK and the European Commission and will take place in a small place near to Graz, in southern part of the country. I am certainly looking forward to interactions with civil protection services of the EU, and exchanges of protocols, knowledge and experiences. Hopefully, it will be useful and fun!