Kostas just came back from his trip to Norway but soon enough finds out that life can get a bit exciting in the Schuman Metro Station. Ah, the famous station under the Commission that has been under construction before ‘The Young and the Restless’ started and will be like this even after the TV series will have ended.

Kostas, like the rest of the stagiaires always takes a nice long lunch break. The problem however arises after having taken lunch, as you see, the blood rushes from the head into the stomach and the intestines to start soaking up all the good nutrients. The problem is that almost no blood is left in the brain And Kostas has a job that requires mental activity.

Kostas was told during the introduction day that his ‘badge’ confers him almost anything he wants within the EU institutions…  Unfortunately he could not use his badge to get into the institutions he doesn’t work in, but he was promised that he has a 35% discount with his badge in the canteen. Now besides being a half  Swedish from the island of Aland with a Greek Cypriot mother, Kostas is also a vegetarian.

So our beloved EU stagiair, Kostas Andersson ( Finnish citizen of Swedish ethnicity from the island of Aland who is also half Greek Cypriot) has come to learn a valuable lesson in Brussels. It doesn’t matter if you have an umbrella or not, or if it is sunny, cloudy or rainy. One way or another you will end up wet in Brussels.

First Day – Without Umbrella

Second Day – With Umbrella

Third Day – What the hell! It doesn’t matter anyway

Ah, the lunchtime conference…One of Kostas’ and other stagiaires’ favorite past times. But soon Kostas will find out that not all of them are successful… Some of them just miss that ‘magic ingredient’. Let’s see who can spot the difference between the two sets

LUNCHTIME CONFERENCE No.1                                 LUNCHTIME CONFERENCE No.2

During his introduction day Kostas was given a stagiaire ‘badge’. Oh yes, the magic card that will open the doors of all EU institutions, and security guards will greet him with a smile each morning upon checking his badge. But as he will soon find out, not every EU institution is too happy when seeing his stagiaire badge.

At DG XYZ ( EU Commission)

At the Berlaymont building (EU Commission)

At the European Parliament

At the European Council

Kostas is starting to realize that EU officials speak a strange language, littered with acronyms he doesn’t understand. He does not yet know that an ‘LFN’ (elephan) is a ‘Letter of Formal Notice’, or that an ‘MNE’ is a ‘National Measure’ or the abbreviation ‘RO’ is not Romania, but a ‘Reasoned Opinion’.

So… Our friend Kostas (Andersson, as he is half Swedish from Aland after all) just got his special ‘reduction card’ for stagiares for the hefty price of 20 euros. He was told that he can use this card to buy cheap beer at Doggy O’Sheans, everyone’s favourite Irish pub.

Monday 19:07 p.m.

Monday 00:10 a.m.

Tuesday 21:05 p.m.

After a week of introduction, introduction and more introduction, Kostas is finally ready to accept the challenges of his new job.

As he will soon find out, the Commission hardware and software is not what we would call ‘up to date’ and ‘modern’.