"A STORY THAT NEVER ENDS" Chicago, the Argonne Guest House lounge It’s been two years since the end of IPhO 2004. I’m working for the summer at Argonne National Laboratory with a nuclear physics group. Of course that’s not the way I explained it to the Customs and Border Protection officer at the airport. In these dangerous times we have to be careful what we say when traveling to the United States, and “nuclear physics” is on the list of airport-inappropriate phrases. Other more obvious entries on the same list include “bomb,” “terrorist” and “al Qaeda.” To make a long story short I told him I was doing particle physics research since the two fields are often lumped together anyway. The World Cup is in the elimination stages and work at the lab has ground to a halt. Despite the general apathy of the American public towards the beautiful game, there is no shortage of fans among the staff members at the lab. Everywhere from the cafeteria to the accelerator control room, small crowds huddle around television screens to watch dramatic events unfold halfway around the world. During the afternoon of Saturday, 24 June, I’m in the Guest House lounge watching the Argentina vs. Mexico game on ESPN. I'm hoping for a Mexico victory but then Maxi Rodriguez scores an unbelievable goal to win it for Argentina. Germany, one of the other teams I have chosen to support in the tournament, won earlier in the day against Sweden so I'm only slightly disappointed by this result. The summer students from Mexico, on the other hand, are understandably devastated! Later in the evening I receive an email. The author writes that he had a strange feeling he saw me at the Argonne Guest House watching TV, and when he proceeded to Google me he realized I was actually working there! The email came from Guillaume, my Olympiad deputy leader and Stanford graduate student. Of course we arrange to meet again to watch Portugal vs. Netherlands the next day. It turns out he flies to Argonne a few times a year to do experiments at the Advanced Photon Source. What's more, in another two weeks he will be taking a team to IPhO 2006! When it's time to part ways again I wish him and the team success in Singapore and ask that he say hello to Andrzej in Vancouver. The date is Sunday, 25 June, 2006 - my 20th birthday! I realize it sounds too amazing to be true but a story this good just can't be made up! It's a wonder I didn't go out right away and buy a lottery ticket. So when you bid farewell to an unforgettable Olympiad experience, don't despair because you'll never know when a familiar face will turn up again down the road. The IPhO story is truly one that never ends!