The B&B that I recently stayed is fully booked so I needed to move to another hotel which isn't very far from that place. This is a typical hotel with a TV so I watched it for the first time in a week. For the first time, I got to see what the Icelandic volcano explosion that caused all the air traffic chaos looked like. The news also showed people sleeping in the airports and being stranded around the world. It says that the volcanic ashes may cause troubles for the next four to five days!! The worst part is that no one knows for sure when these no-fly zones will end.
Over an online chat, a friend asked if the sky was cloudy in Europe. So I decided to attach this photo of a view from my hotel room to show you guys what it's like here.
Thank goodness that I decided to buy train tickets this morning. I did it online last night but heard nothing back so I went to the train station. How frustrating it must have been if we didn't have internet. I found this site that explained how to go from London to Helsinki via trains and ferries. The trip also passes through Brussels so I had the schedule and train info. At the Central Station, I stood for 1.5 hours while listening to Luangpor Tien, Luangpor Sumedho and Luangpor Jayasaro's dhamma talks. They were really comforting. I was glad I had them on my iPhone. I was booked as far as Copenhagen but they couldn't sell me the ticket from Copenhagen to Stockholm as it belongs to another company. I tried to buy it online but it didn't work. I thought it was because of my credit cards, but Petri (my friend at U of Vasaa) also had difficulties so he said that the web server was probably busy.
Though I wouldn't have that much time in Finland as I'd lose 6 days but I feel better there. More like at home because I know people there. Plus, my return flight begins in Helsinki. So I have to be in Finland.
The natural catastrophe that happened is humbling. No matter who you are and how much money you have, you are grounded. Even Whitney Houston had to take a ferry from London for a concert in Europe!
I suppose I don't feel so bad now because I have an upper bound on how much longer I need to wait ("upper bound"...it can't get any more nerdy than this...). Though it will be quite a torture to take that long a train ride, it is better than being stuck in Brussels and have no guarantee of when I can go. Plus, in the days of no high-speed train, people used carriages or walked to get somewhere. I just thought of Luangpee Tum and Phra Ajahn Note's trip in India. One day, they found that trains were not operating due to some sort of a national holiday, so Phra Ajahn Note suggested that they would walk toward their destination, like to make a pilgrimage.
One of the dhamma talks I listened to today was by Luangpor Sumedho who gave it during the commemoration of Luangpor Cha's death. He said that Luangpor Cha was an exceptional teacher who could touch the hearts of his disciples. For Westerners who can't understand Thai, LP Cha would give a simple and short teaching, e.g., we suffer because of the way we think: ทุกข์เพราะคิดผิด And it immediately hit me. Well, I couldn't stop the volcano from exploding... I couldn't order my flights to be back on schedule. I might as well figure out a way to solve my crisis. Somehow, I think of this glitch as a test of what I've been training myself for. If I go, oh..poor me...not only that my problem remained unsolved, it would depress me even further, for no good reason.
I suppose seeing how much more sufferings other people are facing also make me feel good. (^ ^) I don't have to sleep at the airports; my luggages are with me; I have a cell phone that works in Europe; I have a notebook computer and an internet connection so I could function like I normally would. I suppose having Facebook makes a lot of differences. I don't feel that I am traveling by myself as my friends responded to my blogs and my photo uploads.
And I wonder, how I would respond if I never knew how to observe myself?
To help me relaxed and well moisturized, I bought bath oil and facial mask from L'Occitane. Even if I'm stuck, I'd rather be in style...(^ ^)
Thank goodness that I decided to buy train tickets this morning. I did it online last night but heard nothing back so I went to the train station. How frustrating it must have been if we didn't have internet. I found this site that explained how to go from London to Helsinki via trains and ferries. The trip also passes through Brussels so I had the schedule and train info. At the Central Station, I stood for 1.5 hours while listening to Luangpor Tien, Luangpor Sumedho and Luangpor Jayasaro's dhamma talks. They were really comforting. I was glad I had them on my iPhone. I was booked as far as Copenhagen but they couldn't sell me the ticket from Copenhagen to Stockholm as it belongs to another company. I tried to buy it online but it didn't work. I thought it was because of my credit cards, but Petri (my friend at U of Vasaa) also had difficulties so he said that the web server was probably busy.
Though I wouldn't have that much time in Finland as I'd lose 6 days but I feel better there. More like at home because I know people there. Plus, my return flight begins in Helsinki. So I have to be in Finland.
The natural catastrophe that happened is humbling. No matter who you are and how much money you have, you are grounded. Even Whitney Houston had to take a ferry from London for a concert in Europe!
I suppose I don't feel so bad now because I have an upper bound on how much longer I need to wait ("upper bound"...it can't get any more nerdy than this...). Though it will be quite a torture to take that long a train ride, it is better than being stuck in Brussels and have no guarantee of when I can go. Plus, in the days of no high-speed train, people used carriages or walked to get somewhere. I just thought of Luangpee Tum and Phra Ajahn Note's trip in India. One day, they found that trains were not operating due to some sort of a national holiday, so Phra Ajahn Note suggested that they would walk toward their destination, like to make a pilgrimage.
One of the dhamma talks I listened to today was by Luangpor Sumedho who gave it during the commemoration of Luangpor Cha's death. He said that Luangpor Cha was an exceptional teacher who could touch the hearts of his disciples. For Westerners who can't understand Thai, LP Cha would give a simple and short teaching, e.g., we suffer because of the way we think: ทุกข์เพราะคิดผิด And it immediately hit me. Well, I couldn't stop the volcano from exploding... I couldn't order my flights to be back on schedule. I might as well figure out a way to solve my crisis. Somehow, I think of this glitch as a test of what I've been training myself for. If I go, oh..poor me...not only that my problem remained unsolved, it would depress me even further, for no good reason.
I suppose seeing how much more sufferings other people are facing also make me feel good. (^ ^) I don't have to sleep at the airports; my luggages are with me; I have a cell phone that works in Europe; I have a notebook computer and an internet connection so I could function like I normally would. I suppose having Facebook makes a lot of differences. I don't feel that I am traveling by myself as my friends responded to my blogs and my photo uploads.
And I wonder, how I would respond if I never knew how to observe myself?
To help me relaxed and well moisturized, I bought bath oil and facial mask from L'Occitane. Even if I'm stuck, I'd rather be in style...(^ ^)
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