Monday 11 February 2013

Plum Village - Buddhist Meditation Centre France




18.01. - 01.02.2013

Lower Hamlet

Yes, I was on my way to Plum Village for 2 weeks. I’m really grateful to be able to spend two weeks there. It was a long journey; from Nuremberg via Amsterdam to Bordeaux by plane, then another bus to the train station and a one-hour train ride after that. I got up before 4am that morning and arrived 12 hours later at St. Foy de la Gare ;) The reward was, that 2 nuns waited for me to pick me up :)


I was a little bit proud that I was able to buy my bus and train tickets in French and people actually understood me ;) I’m sure the grammar was all over the place but I made myself understood! What a lovely feeling :)
 

I arrived at the Lower Hamlet where I had been previously for Plum picking during the summer retreat in 2011. We were not many lay people at all and only 5 people in our dorm room in the Cherry house. So nice, and the girls are very likeable - 2 Dutch girls and 2 Vietnamese girls, one from Brisbane and one from Munich. Nice combination indeed and they really made me feel welcome.

Our accomodation

The Cherry House

We got up at 5am every morning, started with some meditation & chanting for 1h, then Yoga, breakfast, mindful working meditation, lunch, walk into the village, silent walking meditation, Thay Dharma Talk on DVD, dinner and we finished with some meditation + chanting. Lovely day :)

Thay’s Dharma Talk was about “Deep Listening & Loving speech”.
We learned about listening mindfully, which means to just listen to the other person so that this person suffers less. Don’t start a debate; just let the other person talk. Feel compassion!

“If you understand your own suffering,
have compassion for yourself!”

Tomorrow we will have our mindfulness day where the Upper/Lower & New Hamlet will come together. I’ll meet Thay and Rick! So looking forward to it!!!



Sunday: Mindfulness Day – Lower Hamlet

Thich Nhat Hanh (Thay) during his Dharma talk

I opened the door this morning to make my way to the meditation hall and there it was – snow! Lovely new white snow had fallen ;)
The whole schedule was a bit early today as we had the mindfulness day in our hamlet and we expected lay people, monks & nuns from the other hamlets.

After breakfast I met Rick! Oh, it was so good to see him again :) I felt so happy! 




However there wasn’t much time to share personal words but even to know the other person was in the same meditation hall or dining hall helped. We had a lovely mindfulness walk together through the snow with the whole Sangha.

Official lunch - walk with the bowls to the meditation hall
If you wanna listen to our chanting after lunch, please click here:



After official lunch we actually had a few minutes by ourselves, where we ate chocolate together and shared some experiences from the last 12 months. It was good to be at the same place. Then all the lay friends, nuns & monks from the Upper + New hamlet left. 
We cleaned the dining hall and had a lovely tasty dinner with Vietnamese Pho & real brown fresh bread! Yummy :) In the evening we were off – no meditation, so we all met in the Dharma Nectar hall around the fireplace. All my roommates and we shared lots of experiences, thoughts and talked about cultural differences :) What a lovely evening we had!


Mo/Tue 21/22.01.

Monday was lazy day! 8am breakfast, after that some Yoga, hot shower and lunch. The plan was to go for a walk in the afternoon, but it started to rain & hail so I drove with Linda, Michelle & Annie to Bergerac to buy some boots for Michelle and some chocolate for us.
In the late afternoon we baked cookies without milk or eggs, a recipe from Australia called Anzac biscuits. It was lots of fun, I kneaded the dough and we all worked together. The cookies tasted delicious and all nuns liked them.
In the evening I met with Sr. Luu Nhiem to find out how I could help her to improve her English. I was amazed how spontaneous I came up with ideas adjusted to monastic life. We did brainstorming, lots of fluency and decided to do the Dharma Sharing in English, looking for English songs to chant and I would prepare questions for the Dharma Talks. It made me more than happy to see the nun so happy ;)
On Tuesday was lay day, which means all the monastic’s come to Thay’s hermitage and the lay friends meet together, this time at the Upper Hamlet. Most of us walked up as it was a beautiful walk for half an hour. What a gorgeous sunrise!



I met Rick there and we all went to the meditation hall to sit. Then there was a panel of three men - one Scottish guy, one Irish and one from New Zealand. They all shared their feelings & experiences in Plum Village and why they came in the first place. I loved it and listened curiously to their personal stories and paths they took. After that some singing & walking meditation in the big hall as it had started to rain heavily. We got some lovely lunch cooked by the male lay friends and I enjoyed Ricks company. We had lots to talk about until the afternoon session started. We also had more time after that, where we ate fresh baked bread and some tasty chocolate. Yummy! At 5pm I had to walk back to the Lower Hamlet and Rick walked half the way with me. So nice to have good company :) In the eve I set with Sr. Luu Nhiem for almost two hours to teach her English. We had a great time and her fluency already improved. Lovely to see ;)

Wednesday – Touching the Earth

We had a very emotional and touching “Touching the Earth” session this afternoon. I really liked it also it was intense.
We did 5 rounds in total of Touching the Earth with different purposes. One was to think about our homeland in gratitude.
I could not help myself but I had to think about 4 countries:
Germany, Ireland, Vietnam and Nepal.
The reason for that was, that each country gave me values, beliefs and insight into their culture. I understood different working mentalities, processes, regulations and I learned an awful lot, which nobody can ever take away from me. The most important thing so is, that I gained wonderful friends. It was also important for me not just travelling through these countries, but also working there. A very emotional session indeed!

In the eve I had my 1:1 English Teaching lesson and I got great insights into my students life in Plum Village and back in Hue. One thing struck as she told me that there was actually a better harmony amongst the sisters in Hue! That’s exactly the feeling I got as well as a lay friend. The harmony wasn’t the same as in the New Hamlet!


Thursday – Mindfulness day

Bell tower at the Upper Hamlet

Thursday was the 3rd and last time I saw Rick here in Plum Village for the time being. He was leaving after almost 3 months.
We had a very joyful day together with Thay’s Dharma Talk, walking meditation, informal lunch and Dharma sharing in the afternoon. 

Thich Nhat Hanh and Sister Chan Kho

Mindful stop during walking meditation

Thay ( Thich Nhat Hanh)

Rick walked me down the hill towards the Lower Hamlet and we shared stories + chocolate once again!
That day I understood that monastic life can be very difficult & challenging indeed as well. One of the long-term western residential women in our hamlet wrote a letter for admittance a few weeks back. However the abbess didn’t agree. So now she is waiting to get the ok to be ordained one day.

The last few days I met my English student every day and she was really a heart-warming sister! We giggled together, studied together and I wonder who learnt more from each other. I gained so much insight into monastic life and I loved to listen to her. She is one of the most mindful people I know. I’m grateful I’ve met her :) I shared with her that I would love to read the book “Anger” from Thich Nhat Hanh and the next evening she came along to our lesson with the book in her hands. How mindful is that! She is an angel.
It turned out, that I read the book in just 2 days. It was so interesting and I learned a lot from it.
I would like to share a few things, which I wrote down as I found them very meaningful and I wanna try them in the future. Not that it will be easy, but at least I will give it a try!

Smiling at Your Anger
Breathing in, I know that anger makes me not beautiful.
Breathing out, I smile.
I stay with my breathing so I won’t lose myself.

Dealing with Anger
Anger is a fire that can burn up the good actions you have accomplished, an axe that can destroy a friendship. When you see anger arising in yourself, refrain from doing or saying and return to your breathing:

Breathing in, I know I’m angry.
Breathing out, I know I must take care of my anger.

Knowing that anger makes me ugly, I smile.
Returning to myself and guarding my mind,
I give full attention to the meditation on compassion.

Withdraw your attention from the person who is causing your anger. If possible, practice walking meditation outdoors to calm your mind. After that, you can look deeply to see that the person making you angry is suffering and needs your help.
Reflect on the strength of the seed of anger in you, which is the real cause of your suffering and not the other person. Practice every day to transform the roots of your anger, so you can experience true peace & joy.


Sunday, 27.01. – Mindfulness day

All nuns & monks are chanting in the New Hamlet
Wanna hear how it sounds? 
Here you go:



Thay’s Dharma Talk was extremely interesting today. He talked about Meditative walking without thinking or talking. We should just experience freedom, be relaxed, solid and it will have a healing effect. Thay also told us that meditative walking is as serious as sitting meditation. I was relieved when I heard that :) It’s indeed easier for me to do walking meditation than sitting meditation.
He was talking about the truth, the impermanence of life like changing rivers, the sea and nature in general. It reminded me about my Vipassana meditation when Ghoenka also talked about impermanence in life. Thay also talked about Nirvana, reality and that nothing dies. Buddhists believe everything will transform like the cloud, the body or waves, which are coming and going – no birth, no death.

Sister Chan Khong - our funny translator

Thay said if worries, fear, anger or expectations arise we should go over to the other shore. We should come to our own island in ourselves. There we can breath in and out. We are safe and it is peaceful.
Thay also told us a few stories about his own experiences with tour guides in China and Italy. It was very amusing indeed and it seemed like walking meditation amazed and surprised some tour guides, which had never heard of it. One Italian tour guide was so impressed that she decided to come to Plum Village and learn more about Thich Nhat Hanh’s teachings.


Walking meditation

My 2nd week

Bell tower at the Lower Hamlet 
Red Candle meditation hall
I had a really lovely 2nd week here in Lower Hamlet. A lovely lazy day with a 2 hour walk up to the castle, some Yoga and spending time with my lovely room mates. Tuesday was our Lay day and it was good to meet all men & women from Upper & New Hamlet again.
I had eaten too much cake that day, so I went for a run for the first time. The weather was beautiful and I had to move. I skipped dinner for the 1st time, but I had to!


Lower Hamlet - Plum trees
Bookshop at the Lower Hamlet

Dharma Nectar Hall - Lower Hamlet

On Wednesday we had a chance to go up to Upper Hamlet to participate in the 5 Mindfulness Ceremony for the new lay friends. 


Meditation Hall - Upper Hamlet

It was a beautiful ceremony, very festive and it reminded me of my own 1.5 years ago. It was nice to be there for our roommates to give them some support.

5 Mindfulness Ceremony

We were very lucky that we got invited for breakfast there. They had real fresh brown bread - OMG, was that yummy! Then we walked back down to our hamlet.
The day was filled with working meditation, 5 Mindfulness sharing’s and lunch.

Then in the early afternoon I gave my first Deep Relaxation class. I had 5 lay friends who came along and it filled me with great joy and happiness that I got the opportunity to try it. Beforehand I had combined some text from Thich Nhat Hanh & Sister Chan Khong to make it my own. I felt very nourished and relaxed while reading it out, even very content inside while doing it. All students went into a deep relaxation or even slept for a while. I loved the experience and can imagine doing it more often. Maybe combined with Yoga ;)

The weather felt like it was the beginning of spring and we had a gorgeous walking meditation around Plum Village. 




I loved how the temple, the bell & trees mirrored in the lake! Just beautiful :)




Afterwards we did another session of touching the earth, which was a bit emotional once again, this time around the bit with “the inner child”.

On Thursday – another mindfulness day - Thay was talking about Lunar New Year and all the events, which will take place in Plum Village through Tet.
He talked about the meaning of generosity. His understanding was you give now to the poor whatever you like and feel comfortable with and don’t expect anything in return. He also talked a lot about Vietnamese previous kings and kings in general and how they could live and govern mindfully.

If you wanna listen to another song from the nuns & monks , please click here:



In the afternoon we had some Dharma sharing and as the sun was shining we decided to do it outside :) We were a lovely bunch of people and the whole 1.5 hours just flew by and all was so harmonious.

We finished by singing together:

“Dear friends, Dear friends,
Let me tell you how I feel,
You have given me such treasure,
I love you so!

This was the best Dharma Sharing I had been to so far and it was lovely as it was my last one, as I had to depart tomorrow. The two weeks were already over.
It is hard to believe, but unfortunately true.

Michelle, Annie & myself

As quite a few people had to leave tomorrow we decided to have a kind of private dinner with all the lay friends in the Grashopper room. It was very nice indeed. After that I met my students to study and to say goodbye. 


My student Luu Nghiem


It was a pity as I would have loved to teach her for longer. But I also was grateful for the time we had together. I’m sure I will meet her again when I will visit Plum Village again.

If anybody got curious about Plum Village, have a look on their website:

There is also a centre in Germany:


Friday morning it was time to say goodbye. On one hand it was hard to say goodbye to all my lovely roommates, on the other hand I had known it was time to move on. I had taken a lot from these two weeks and felt very happy. 
One woman, who actually was an aspirant, said to me 
“Keep telling people about Plum Village while trekking in the Himalaya’s”. 

There was a story to it, as we actually figured out that there was a woman in Plum Village 2-3 months ago, which had told her that another women (myself) told her about Plum Village while trekking in Nepal. That had been the reason why she was in Plum Village. I was amazed and a lot of joy filled my heart hearing this. Travelling does not only enrich oneself, it also enriches other friends, travellers and family.

The nuns drove me to the train station, where I actually met a bunch of people from the Upper Hamlet who where on their way to Bordeaux as well :) What a nice coincidence!

I flew once again via Amsterdam, but this time with a 6hour lay over. I had arranged to meet Jose, a friend I had met at the Yoga Teacher Training in India last year. It was so good to catch up. 







We had a lovely afternoon in Amsterdam, drinking coffee, eating cake and strolling through Amsterdam. 


Lovely reunion!



End of next week I will be on my way to good old Dublin :) 
Can’t wait and the best thing is that Nina will join me for a girly weekend!!!




Dublin – we are on our way!!!

Tuesday 15 January 2013

New Zealand - A long dream came true! part 2


From the Franz Josef Glacier to Queenstown



We got up this morning and it rained again. We decided to still stop at the Franz-Josef glacier and do a short walk. It only drizzled so it wasn’t too bad at all.



Franz-Josef Glacier


On our way back we stopped at the Fox Glacier shop again, bought some souvenirs and then made our way towards Queenstown. We arrived at 4pm and checked into our hostel. Then we explored the town a little bit and enjoyed the sunshine. We heard, that the Milford Sound Road was closed due to bad weather condition and the danger of falling rocks. So we decided to stay another night in Queenstown to explore the city and we will do the Milford Sound cruise on Monday or Tuesday. Let’s see what the weather forecast says and if the road reopens. Glad we are flexible enough to swap things around ;)


Queenstown


Lake Wakatipu


First of all we changed hostel this morning – now in the Deco Backpacker!
So nice with a lovely garden and everything is clean ;)



We drove 10km outside of Queenstown to sit by the lake and to write postcards and X-mas cards. Then we came back to our hostel and had lunch in the garden with a view onto the lake.



We had heard that morning that the road up to Milford Sound was still closed and it was unsure if it would open the next days. After thinking about how we could swap things around we decided to go on an overnight cruise on Doubtful Sound instead.


Kiwi in Queenstown


Queenstown Wharf

After that some souvenir shopping and in the evening and on the way back we met the girl from Switzerland again and had a lovely pint in an Irish pub! Yes, I had Guinness after more than 18 months.

My first Guinness after 1.5 years!!!



Queenstown - Manapouri


It was still lovely sunshine this morning, so we took our time to leave Queenstown as the weather forecast for Manapouri was pouring rain.
It was only a 2.5-hour drive and we stopped in Te Anau, to check the status of the Milford Sound Road and Astrid booked her trek. The road was still closed, but it was expected to re-open at 7.30am the next morning. Our Doubtful Sound cruise was leaving at 12.30, so we decided if we get up early we could drive up to Milford Sound, take pictures on the way and we would make it for our cruise.
Well, that’s what we did!
We stayed in a holiday park in Manapouri, not cosy at all and very basic. Wouldn’t recommend it at all when it is raining, but well, one night we did survive ;)





Milford Sound


We left the holiday park at 6am and started driving towards Milford Sound. The weather was still wet and foggy, but fingers crossed the fog will lift soon. At around 7am we came to a blocked off road, this time a tree actually fell down and blocked the entire road. We were maybe 7 cars in total so far waiting to see when the road might be cleared.


Still a beautiful scenery

Huge tree blocking the road to Milford Sound
 It took a bit more than an hour until we were able to continue driving again. However, the NZ handyman who cut the tree with the chainsaw was really skilled I have to say and watching him cutting the tree was actually interesting. He had known what he was doing indeed.



So now we had already lost one hour, not much time really to spend at Milford Sound then, but well let’s see. 20min further down the road there was another roadblock. 



Well yes, the road that was supposed to open at 7.30am was still closed but this time we were at least 30-40 cars waiting at the barrier. Apparently somebody was about to check the road condition and would decide in the next 20min if we would be allowed to go or not.

What an excitement at Milford Sound!!!
Thank god they decided to reopen the road again and we were allowed to pass. We drove through a tunnel and even all the way up to Milford Sound was completely foggy. Oh well, I just tried to imagine how beautiful this road would be in sunny conditions ;)




There was not much to see at Milford Sound to be honest. We saw the boats waiting for the tourists and a huge car parking spot. As it was still foggy, we couldn’t really enjoy any stunning scenery. Oh well, it was worth a try.





On our way back the weather improved slightly and we saw some small blue spots in the sky :) 






The fog lifted a little bit and we were able to take some lovely pictures towards the end.






One highlight was to see the Kea bird in the wild - it is beautiful :)



These falling rocks were the reason why the road was closed for several days. It was just too dangerous.














Doubtful Sound Overnight Cruise




We reached Manapouri 45 min before we had to board our cruise and even had time to have some lunch at the pier. It turned out that there were 70 spaces on the cruise, but we were only around 40 tourists. That’s nice, so we have lots of space and it won’t be too crowded.




Everything started with a 45 min boat ride to the power station. After a 10min stop we hopped onto a bus for 40min to reach our cruise ship.


The power station




What a wonderful vessel, a lovely crew, stunning weather and amazing scenery!!!!


We got a very warm welcome on the boat with fresh baked muffins :) Wow, what a start! They showed us our cabin and it turned out we were together with 2 other girls, one French and another German girl. It was a very nice wooden cabin with a round window facing out onto the sea :)

It turned out that we had free coffee & tea on the cruise! Wow, lovely!

Then we all went Kayaking for an hour. What a “strange” water, I have never seen something like that. There was a 1.5 meter fresh water layer on top of it and that’s why it looked so stunning black! Yes, black water!!! Some of us decided to have a quick dip into the sea and went swimming in 16 degrees in our swimsuit! OMG was that cold ;) But I loved it!!!





The vessel continued driving on the Doubtful Sound where we saw fur seals, penguins and even dolphins later on! We were allowed to visit the captain anytime as there was an open door policy at the captains cabin and we were able to chat to the captain quite a bit. Lovely people I have to say and so knowledgeable. 







Fin of a dolphin



In the evening it turned out that we got a 5*Dinner! After backpacking for so long that was just amazing!!!!


There was soup, a buffet dinner with beef and lamb, lots of veggies, gravy & salads! Yummy! 


They showed us a quick slide show in the eve about Doubtful Sound and it’s history. Captain Cook drew the first map of the area, but he named it Doubtful Sound as he wasn’t sure if it is advisable to sail into these fjords!
Magnificent wildlife area’s featuring rugged peaks, dense forest waterfalls.



Interesting rock formation


I got up at 7am and we were all so lucky to see more dolphins. It was misty and a bit of rain was falling, but it cleared later on and we had a stunning morning.

Rainbow in the morning

We got some English/Irish breakfast! OMG, how long time it was that I ate hash browns, beans, bacon, tomatoes and toast!!! Felt so good!

We drove to a specific place and we all had 5 min of silence, which could have been an hour for me! 


It was so peaceful out there – I loved it. You could hear so many interesting sounds – just loved it!






Then we had to make our way back to Manapouri. Wow, what an amazing 24 hours we just had spend - An impressive experience never to be missed.


I can only recommend anybody who is in New Zealand, to join this cruise! I would do it again without thinking about it twice.



Back in Queenstown


Sunset in Queenstown

In the afternoon we drove back to Queenstown with Kate, which we had met on the ferry. She decided to stay with us in our hostel and we walked up to the gondola in Queenstown and had an amazing view onto the lake!!! 


Our hostel to the right and your small red rental car

There was a huge Kart Track there called luge and Kate and myself took 2 rides! It was brilliant!



Kate & myself on the track




In the evening Kate and myself decided to walk down into town for a drink and we were rewarded with a stunning sunset!



Queenstown by night!


On my way to Auckland


I had a relaxed brekkie and lovely weather on my last morning in Queenstown. I took out 30min just looking from our amazing garden onto Queenstown Lake! 
So beautiful and I’m so blessed to be able to see it! And I promised to come back :) Sooner or later!



Then I drove to the airport, dropped the car off and checked-in. All went very well and soon I was on an amazing flight! The view from the airplane was stunning :)


 I saw the Mt. Tongariro volcano from above! How cool is that :)
   
Mount Tongariro volcano
Amazing view


Auckland



I had just 1.5 days in Auckland, but I think that was enough to get a good impression of the size of the city. My hostel was in a suburb called Mt. Eden, which was nice and only a 10min bus ride from the CBD. 
I decided to walk up to the Mt. Eden viewpoint to get a view over the city the next morning. 


Afterwards I visited Mt. Eden village. They have some small little shops and lots of coffee places there.

Then I did a walking tour by myself through the city centre and visited the University Tower, St. Albert Park, Victoria Park and bought some souvenirs.


Christmas decoration


What a cool black board in the middle of Auckland, where people wrote there wishes with chalk on it:

Before I die I want to ...


I loved to read it!

I took a stroll through the harbour quarter in the lovely sunshine :)


Irish Pub

In the afternoon I took a ferry to Devonport, visited Victoria Hill and Chetenham Beach. On my way back I stopped in the city centre again to get some last souvenirs before my flight tomorrow.












Auckland – Singapore


Flight was on time, tasty food and ice-cream and I saw a rainbow from the plane and the sunset before we landed in Singapore!



Nicole picked me up from the airport and we went out for a drink together with Dennis. The next day we went shopping and chatted about all the adventures we had. 


Singapore

Reunion with Nicole in Singapore

In the evening it was time to say good-bye as I had to catch my flight back to Europe as

I'm coming home for X-mas :)


Back home in Germany

All went well with my flight to Munich, except we had too much headwinds, so my flight was 1.5 hours late. I ran to the S-Bahn, but unfortunately it was too late to catch the already booked train from Munich's main train station. Oh well, I had a quick look onto the departure schedule and there was another ICE leaving in 4min! I sprinted with my backpack to the platform and hopped onto the train. The conductor wanted to charge me more because of the different train, but after a longer chat I persuaded her it was X-mas and I need to be home on time to see my family after 1.5 years :)

Finally around 10am I arrived at my parents house! My mum was speechless and first didn't even recognise me with my Santa Claus hat ;) She expected me any minute on Skype, as I had arranged to talk to her from New Zealand. It was a lovely surprise :)

We had a great day and visited Grandma, my brother and his kids and had a nice chilled out Christmas Eve in my parents house.





On Boxing Day we all went over to my brothers house for a lovely & tasty Christmas lunch.

Lunch on Boxing Day




The afternoon was filled with unwrapping presents, playing board games like "I want to be a Millionaire" and "Angry Birds". We had lots of fun as you can see :)

Skier from Santa Claus
Max & Maja
My Dad & Maja
My Mum
Who wants to be a millionaire...
Angry Birds
My grandma
my niece Maja

AND
myself

DEFINITELY ONE FAMILY ;)

My brother singing on Boxing Day

After Christmas I met some old friends and started to uncluttered some boxes of mine. I looked through my clothes which I still had left and could use during wintertime. Remember,  I lived for almost 3 years in a warm climate. I don’t have to mention that I was freezing all the time, nevertheless that all the people I met said it was really mild!!! Brrhh, for me it was f.... cold ;)

High-school Reunion with Duese & Petra

Another thing I enjoyed a lot was grocery shopping. I could get some favourite food I hadn’t eaten since over 1.5 years! Yummy :)

Then the next highlight came up. I had arranged to meet up in Hamburg for New Year’s Eve in Nina's & Fabian's place. 



Some friends of mine where joining as well: John from the US, Jan from Denmark and Annette from London! 

John, Annette, Jan & myself



Annette & myself

Nina & her son Anton

John & myself
What a lovely reunion we had in Nina & Fabian's house :) Thanks for making that possible!!!


The New Year began with a visit to Denmark with Jan & John. We were invited for a New Years brunch in Jan's parents place. There was so much tasty food that I didn't know what to try first. It was all so delicious :) We had a lovely time in Bronderslev at Jan's house with trips to the beach and walks through the nearby park and some billard in the evening. What a lovely reunion we had once again ;) So glad we all met through the IBM CSC program in 2009 in Vietnam.


Jan & myself in Denmark on the beach 
beautiful beach 
Jan & John
John & myself
Stunning house on the beach

A few days later I returned to Hamburg and stayed a few days in Nina's & Fabian's house. I met some old friends of mine again, Anne & Andrea. It was so nice to catch up and talk about millions of things. It felt good to be home for a while and being able to meet friends in person instead of skype or emails. I really appreciated spending time together.
Then I took the train to Detmold to meet Tanja & Patrick. I worked with Tanja in IBM Ireland in 2003/04 and we last saw each other 4 years ago. It was so nice to be with them in their lovely timber house and their 2 kids. We had a lot of fun, went into a Spa Paradise one evening, went out for walks and some shopping. The last evening we had a lovely dinner, a nice drink in a local bar and a great drive back home with our favourite music!!! What a fun evening :)

Patrick, Tanja & myself

The plan for the next few weeks is to go back to Plum Village for a 2 week Meditation retreat in France, a visit to Dublin mid of February and hopefully by then I know more when I can get ready to go back to Sydney ;) 

Fingers crossed, if it is meant to be it will all work out - I'm positive!