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Ekyo's Blog Sharing form the heart
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Conversations in the airplane... |
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August 31, 2008 Few days ago I returned from Poland, the country where I was born. It is amazing how in a few hours of flight one can be transported from realities of life here to completely different one in Poland. Three weeks after Anniversary Sesshin were very busy and I was working till midnight or even one AM to do all necessary projects to be able to leave and be in Poland on time for my niece’s wedding. My body was in one pain from exhaustion… In the afternoon before departure I found out that Lufthansa being on strike already entire week did cancel my flight next day. It took several hours calling them to reroute my trip. There was no time for packing late evening so I just threw stuff into suitcase without selecting which clothes I would really need. I took much too much, as it turned out. As I was not able to sleep much last night here so when I sat in the airplane next day noon I was asking myself, why I am doing it, and why even go to such a debt to pay for this expensive trip…? Flight over Atlantic was quick and comfortable. The newest Continental aircraft Boeing 777 did appear to fly faster and higher and in less than six hours I found myself in Frankfurt airport. It was still much messy there since strike finished an hour before my landing. I had courage to surpass few hundred people line to the counter to get boarding pass to be able to catch a flight to Katowice, Poland. After landing still three hours drive to destination in very hot car… And finally gift from the heaven! After 30 hours from leaving my apartment here I am able to sleep in my brother’s home. Nirwana! Polish reality at last…
I survived the wedding, the first true wedding in my family I was able to attend. There were some a few years ago, weddings of my nephews, but at that time it was impossible for me to travel to Poland. My family is becoming international to my joy, but some others have a hard time to swallow it. My niece married a French man who has a Vietnamese origin, WOW! Couple years before another one married Spanish one… Three weeks passed very quickly. I cannot say that this was a true vacation time. It was very intense. Lot of listening to problems coming form all directions, my brother ended up in hospital and I was dealing with very unhelpful at times polish administration. But it was so good to get together with old friends and do some work in mother’s old apartment. My brother’s house is located in beautiful valley. We spent hours on his porch sipping tea and chatting. The view of surrounding mountains, sunrises and sunsets and birds singing made me feel as being in paradise…Suddenly I am on my way back to airport to be transported to USA! Airports are very interesting places, so many people, so many races and everyone going somewhere. I did watch my huge plane being maintained and loaded. To make the flight safe and successful requires a cooperation and total responsibility of many beings. One mistake causes disaster. Long ago I remember thinking that sesshin endeavor is like flying the airplane… Airbus plane was a surprise to me. Someone must have thought that toilets in airplanes are problem for passengers. In this one there was a special room below the floor with several much bigger bathrooms! And waiting area had mirrors and shelves. Congratulation to whoever implemented such innovation… Next to me sat a man from Germany who travels to USA for business several times a year. He was such a good spirit and immediately at start he made me feel very secure. We had a very interesting and insightful conversation. Living here such a solitary life I rarely have a chance to hear someone’s reflections, on politics, cultural differences etc. And I was struck how correct this man was in his observations. Among many topics he was trying to tell my how he perceives American spirit and how much he likes to come here from time to time… This may not be an exact quoting, but he said something to this effect: “In Germany we are very good at analyzing what went wrong during last twenty years in our country, and we talk a lot about it. Here, people are more focused on now and what can we do now. In Germany people are not willing to take risks, they are very cautious therefore there is not much progress in technology and science. Here people take risks and to new ideas say: Let’s do it!” While watching Democratic convention when one could feel so much hunger for change I remembered the words of my traveling friend. He also made me think about Nyogen Senzaki who said: “America has Zen all the time. Why, my teacher, should I meddle?" Ha! Ha!
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© 2009 Ekyo's Blog |
