Topic: The analysis of Critical Tacit Knowledge Transfer Management and a proposal of developing a Critical Tacit Knowledge Preserving and Transferring System for Saffron Travel, a Destination Management Company in Vietnam.
One of the essays I wrote during my Master program. Topic: The analysis of Japanese and South Korean knowledge and technology transfer in innovation process and lessons learned for Vietnam.
As a “tradition”, when I need my focus on my master thesis the most, I want to write a blog instead ๐
It’s been quite some time since my last travel in May (to Paris) and I miss traveling but the past three months, it was crazy with work and many things had changed…significantly.
Sometimes I just wanted to sit down and write about my lovely trip to Paris where I tried so many good things and how my dream to visit one of the most beautiful cities in the world came true. But soon I will write about it, I hope.
Early this month, I drafted a trip to the Southern (and Western) part of Europe for three weeks. It was inspired by my trip to the North, also the same amount of time. ๐ During the planning, I was amazed at how magnificent the places are and I could already see myself enjoying a cup of coffee in Rome or taking photos of Ponta Delgada as the airplane slowly makes its landing. Still, whether or not this trip will come true depends on so many factors.
I also find October a perfect time for traveling to this part of Europe, below is my draft of the trip and hopefully, I will “seriously” come back to this when I am done with my thesis. It is still a draft and looks a bit rush but… I’ll see ๐
Day
Date
Country
City
Day 1
October
Croatia
Frankfurt – Split (flight)
Day 2
October
Croatia
Split
Day 3
October
Croatia
Split – Dubrovnik
Day 4
October
Croatia
Dubrovnik
Day 5
October
Spain
Dubrovnik – Barcelona (Flight)
Day 6
October
Spain
Barcelona – Granada (high speed train)
Day 7
October
Spain
Granada
Day 8
October
Spain
Granada – Servilla (high speed train)
Day 9
October
Spain
Servilla
Day 10
October
Spain
Servilla – Lisbon (Flixbus)
Day 11
October
Spain
Lisbon
Day 12
October
Portugal
Lisbon – Porto (Train / bus)
Day 13
October
Portugal
Porto
Day 14
October
Portugal
Porto – Ponta Delgada (Flight)
Day 15
October
Portugal
Ponta Delgada
Day 16
October
Portugal
Ponta Delgada
Day 17
October
Portugal
Ponta Delgada – Lisbon – Berlin (flight)
In order to make this blog not-so-boring, I decided to insert two cute photos of Paris here hehehe
Every corner is….a coffee shop ๐Things I miss the most about Paris ๐
I have been so lucky to have the opportunity to visit several cities in Germany; still, there are a lot of places I want to explore, Germany is big. Below I recommend some routes that I have traveled to and loved. In most of my trips, I combined different cities or places together because:
It helps you save a lot of money. You can buy regional ticket and travel around using all kinds of public transportation. Of course, you have to read the terms and conditions carefully because it can be different from time to time. I remember, for example, express trains might not be included. To buy regional tickets, you can check DB app (regionale Angebote) and literally “the more, the cheaper.” I usally travel with just one or two of my friends but if you have a group of four or five, definitely it’s the best option for you.
It’s convenient. There were trips that we visited two or three cities in one day – yeah yeah, I know this could be rush but if you have traveled within Germany quite a lot, at one point everything will become a bit similar to you so visiting different places gives you the chances to see them briefly and if you like the place, just come back later. For some of your first trips, I would recommend seeing things slowly.
I will not write about all the places I list below because it would be too long so only places which have special places in my heart will be featured (hahahaha)
Trip #1 – Sachsen and Niedersachsen
From Leipzig, I have visited Dresden, Weimar, Torgau, Harz (Herzberg am Harz and Hattorf am Harz), and Halle. I love Weimar for its artistic vibes and Harz for its nature. Dresden is very beautiful, especially at night but be prepared that you might see a lot of constructions around, which is understandable because the city was heavily damaged during WWII. You can read more about it here (in German) or here (in English). When you are in Dresden, don’t forget to plan a trip to Saxon Switzerland (German: Sรคchsische Schweiz) – it’s beautiful in all seasons but could be a bit slippery to climb up during winter. I want to come back here and explore a more off-the-beaten route and maybe do overnight camping.
WeimarDresdenHarzSรคchsische Schweiz
Trip #2 – Nordrhein-Westfalen and Rheinland-Pfalz: Kรถln, Dรผsseldorf, Essen, Aachen, Trier, Cochem, Mosel and some small villages
I traveled here in April – already spring, but it was still cold and snowing. Some highlights:
Kรถln / Cologne – I quoted “Cologne is a beautiful town (of which unfortunately most part of the medieval city was destroyed by the bombing during WWII.” Make sure you visit the Dom, splendid and huge. I attended the Holy Mass also, a very interesting experience. So if you want to do it, make sure you check the schedule in advance. In my opinion, Kรถln is more beautiful at night. We went to the other side of the bridge and observe the city from different angles. The photos below are from the other side of the bridge.
It took a little effort to find the route to reach here but it was amazingly beautiful, wasn’t it?
How small I am compared to the Dom
The details…
Aachen is spring is super lovely and the city itself is cute too. People who love small places like me would love Aachen. I visited Aachen on the last day of my trip in this area so I did not expect much; I was thinking “Well, just another city.” But when I arrived, I was surprised by the vintage vibes, the scenery, cute alleyways, and extremely unique coffee shops – talking about this, you have to go here!!! Aachen is also known for being one of the most innovative cities in Germany. Good schools like RWTH Aachen are here.
Aachen in spring Cathedral of Aachen
Kettwig – I LOVE THIS PLACE. Well, people say the most beautiful things that come into your life are usually the most unexpected ones and yeah, Kettwig is one of the gifts that life has surprised me. I remember it was a snowy day and after visiting Essen (really really short time in Essen), we arrived here. When we stepped out of the train, it was like a scene in a fairy tale – perhaps the snow helped a lot in making the scene so romantic. Kettwig is a very small yet authentic town and it has THE BEST WAFFLE that I have ever tried in Germany. The owner of the waffle shop has a sister-in-law who is Vietnamese.
Isn’t it lovely?Kettwig with its best waffleWho does not love spring when it’s this beautiful?Hidden restaurants are here
Trier and Cochem along the Mosel. These are my top three recommended places in Germany and I LOVE THEM SO MUCH. If you love nature, biking, good wines, and want to do a romantic trip with your beloved one (or like me with my best friend in Germany ๐ ), you have to go here. Also, if you are tired of city life and want to have some slow time, these places are perfect for wellness. Besides biking, you can do hiking – Mosel hike, where you can explore vineyard trails and mountain trails. If these activities are too adventurous for you, a relaxing wine tasting experience is worth trying or simply sitting on a train and appreciating the landscape is already a worthwhile experience. I don’t want to combine everything here in one blog because these places need their own blog where I can share more tips and photos. ๐
Trier stole a piece of my heart (just like someone who used to live here did to me hahaha)Mosel – I did not have much time to explore the other bank. So have to come back!!! Sunset
In my last blog about sports, I shared lessons I have learned from basketball and tennis; some help me create new habits while some I am still struggling to find a solution – overcoming my uncomfortable moments on the court is one of them. Last week I played a tennis match and lost it…again. I was extremely angry at myself because I could not hit the ball and every hit was ugly. What I hated the most was in the middle of the game, I thought of giving up… I never wanted that but I could not let go of my negativity during the match. Just so you know, even sometimes I can write lesson-learned comprehensively, it does not mean I can already apply and successfully implement the lessons for my problems. It makes me think of social media nowadays where people can share tips about how to be happy, how to be successful, etc. buuuut what is behind all the tips is still a secret. It’s quite easy to compose a list of things but doing them is another matter.
A “good friend” of mine asked me why I wanted to share things on my blog because it seemed like all of my stories were very personal, especially in the context of the Internet where impossible (bad) things could happen. I also do not know exactly the reasons why I love doing this. But I know I enjoy writing a lot, it’s a way of organizing my thoughts and perhaps I also enjoy documenting the process of improvement which I have been struggling with. But this is a bit out of the topic, so I should get back. Hahaha
So, this week I have played some games and I felt so much better even when I lost. I was so proud of myself for the courage I had to throw myself out there and try again and again and again AND the courage to say YES to any invitation for playing a game. Of course, this does not happen overnight. I watched an inspiring video of Kobe Bryant and it helped me a lot in improving my sport-mentality. I was so inspired that I wrote a looooong text of how I apply his five pillars into my personal life and I think everyone can use the methods. Buuuut I need to discuss this with one person to see if it’s okay to publish =)))))))
I can share I point that I loooovee the most, it’s RELENTLESSNESS – never give in, always go after, go after, go after. Kobe said when he was eleven, after moving from Italy to the US and in one of his very first leagues there, he could not score a point, not even a free throw. It was devastating for him but he vowed to be better. I talked to myself “Do not be afraid of competing!” because “Maybe I’m not good today, tomorrow I will be better, but I would take the chance to measure my skills today.” If I do not join any competition, I will never know my level.
I made a test for my first week applying this principle, I set more realistic goals – instead of winning a tennis match, this week I only need to accomplish one or two games, then later three, then four, then one set, step by step. With this plan, winning the whole match was no longer my target. In the end, I managed to accomplish four games in the second set, my partner was one game ahead of me – it’s now 5 – 4 (which also means in the first set I lost to 6-0 hahahaha). We will finish the game this week. I realized the change in my mind, I was soooo happy when I reached my tiny goal and the rest of the game no pressure, just immerse and be present in the moment and play.
I am going to apply this to my German, speaking skill – I will take every chance to speak German. If people do not understand me, I will do it again and again. I will initiate the conversation and if people end up speaking English to me, I will explain that I am learning German and I am trying all I could to use the language. The goal is to initiate the conversation in German and keep it last for at least one or two minutes; of course, it also depends on other people if they want to talk to me or not hahahaha. Also, instead of only answering the questions people ask me, I will ask them back. Another goal is to make phone calls, it could be anything from asking for information to complaining – I already have one case that I could do it hahaha. I can start simply by saying simple things CLEARLY and CORRECTLY, for example wishing a cashier at a supermarket a nice day or asking a librarian the information, or always ordering food in German. Let’s see how it goes.
And today 13.02.2022 is a very lovely day. I just went out to play basketball and did two games. Really!!!! my life in Germany has taught me a lot.
I also plan to continue writing about my travels. This time it will be about my trips around Germany and my favorite destination in Germany. I still have a lot of pending writings about my trips to Scandinavia.
Man sagt, dass einige der besten erleuchtenden Momente im Badezimmer passieren. Als ich heute duschte, dachte ich, in meinem Alter kann ich, wenn ich versuche, nach grauen Haaren zu suchen, immer ein oder zwei finden, aber wenn ich es nicht versuche, merke ich nichts. Es ist so รคhnlich, wie die Dinge heutzutage sind. Wenn wir nach Problemen suchen, gibt es immer welche. Aber wenn wir weitermachen, geht auch das Leben weiter.
Winter in Leipzig
Als ich jung war, verbrachte ich viel Zeit damit, mit meiner besten Freundin zu reden, hauptsรคchlich um mich รผber Schule, Arbeit, Menschen, und Beziehungen zu beschweren. Je รคlter ich werde, desto mehr lerne ich, mich selbst den Problemen zu stellen. Aber trotzdem sollte ich noch mehr lernen und dies noch weiter verbessern. Ich denke, wenn die Leute sagen โJe รคlter wir werden, desto einsamer sind wir,โ geht es nicht darum, weniger soziale Verbindungen zu haben, sondern ich denke, wir werden hauptsรคchlich deshalb einsamer, weil wir selektiver in der Auswahlwerden, mit wem wir Dinge teilen, oder weil wir es vermehrt vorziehen, Dinge fรผr uns selbst zu behalten. Das scheint heutzutage schwieriger zu sein als frรผher. Eine andere Vermutung von mir ist, dass dadurch, dass die Leute heutzutage auf viele unterhaltsame Dinge zugreifen kรถnnen, wie Netflix, TikTok, Instagram, โฆ und sie damit viel Zeit verbringen, sie nicht mehr genug Zeit haben, sich wirklich mit Problemen zu befassen und sich mรถglicherweise schon neuen Problemen stellen mรผssen, ohne die vorherigen gelรถst zu haben..
Ein Freund sagte mir, es sei am besten, jeden Konflikt oder jedes Problem, jedes Missverstรคndnis oder jeden Zweifel sofort oder zumindest sehr zeitnah anzusprechen, im Geschรคft, im Privatleben, รผberall. Mir wurde klar, dass westliche Menschen dieses Motto haben, das sich sehr vom asiatischen unterscheidet, oder zumindest von meinem. Dies bezรผglich lerne ich noch. Heute bin ich auch auf einige Texte gestoรen, die ich vor Jahren schrieb und ich merke, dass ich mich nicht viel verรคndert habe. Es sind immernoch die gleichen Dinge, die mir Spaร machen. Ich frage mich, was ich, wenn es eine Zeitmaschine gรคbe und ich Jahre zurรผck reisen kรถnnte, um mich selbst zu treffen, meinem โjรผngeren Ichโ sagen wรผrde…
Heute soll ich Sรคtze mit neuen Wรถrtern bilden, aber als ich die Datei รถffnete, konnte ich sie nur anstarren. Ich hatte keine Inspiration dafรผr, also habe ich beschlossen, es heute nicht zu tun. Ich habe irgendwo gelesen, dass die Aufgaben, die uns am wenigsten Spaร machen, diejenigen sind, die uns am meisten lehren wรผrden. Sie werden Teile unseres Gehirns aktivieren, die geschlafen haben, und sie zum Arbeiten bringen.
Heute traf ich mich mit einigen Freundinnen und sie sprachen รผber einige wichtige Ereignisse auf der Welt: Der Tsunami, der Vulkanausbruch, wie immer mehr Menschen es vorziehen, keine Kinder zu haben. Meine Gedanken flogen nur so herum und ich sah sie nickend an.
Am Eingang meines Gebรคudes begegnete ich einem Essenslieferanten. Als er sah, wie ich meinen Tรผrschluessel suchte, รถffnete er die Tรผr fรผr mich. Er zeigte mir die Adresse einer Wohnung im Haus und fragte, ob er hier richtig war. Er konnte sie nicht finden. Ich sagte, ich wรผrde es ihm zeigen, es war in der 6. Etage. Als ich meine 4. Etage erreichte, sagte ich ihm, dass er bis zur 6. weiterfahren sollte. Er dankte mir, als ich den Aufzug verlieร. Als ich zu meiner Wohnung ging, dachte ich darรผber nach, warum ich nicht mit ihm mitgegangen und ihm die Wohnung gezeigt hatte. Normalerweise wรผrde ich das tun. Aber in diesem Moment hatte ich nur an meinen schweren Rucksack und die Taschen gedacht, die ich trug. Ich brachte schnell alles hinein und ging in die 6. Etage, um nach ihm zu suchen. Er hatte die Wohnung bereits gefunden und das Essen schon geliefert.. Er sagte mir, dass es fรผr ihn sehr schwierig sei, den Ort zu finden und dass er fast nur Spanisch spreche, sein Englisch und Deutsch sehr schlecht seien und er mir noch einmal danken wรผrde.
Stell dir vor, du arbeitest so spรคt abends im kalten Winter in einem fremden Land, dessen Sprache du nicht sprichst. Ich bin so dankbar, einen warmen Ort zum Wohnen zu haben und gutes Essen essen zu kรถnnen, und das sollte reichen.
Was denkt man normalerweise รผber Wettbewerb? Gewinnen und verlieren, Adrenalin und Trรคnen? Heute habe ich entdeckt, dass Wettbewerb mir nicht gefรคllt. Ich liebe es, neue Dinge zu lernen und Herausforderungen zu meistern, aber nur mit mir selbst. Ich hasse das Gefรผhl, dass ich etwas nicht erreichen kann. Ich erinnere mich an meine Kindheit, als ich, wenn ich beim Kartenspielen verloren hatte, immer weinte.. Ich dachte, dass ich mich mit dem Erwachsenwerden geรคndert hรคtte, aber ich habe mich getรคuscht – mir geht es immer noch genauso.
Manchmal fragt man im Sport oder generell im Leben โBist du wettbewerbsfรคhig?โ Schwer zu sagen, aber fรผr mich lautet die Antwort vielleicht โJa.โ Ich mรถchte immer in allem gewinnen ๐. Manchmal bin ich nicht sehr traurig wenn ich verliere, aber nur, wenn ich alle Mรถglichkeiten probiert habe, oder wenn ich weiร, dass mein Gegner eigentlich nicht gut genug ist, um mich zu besiegen, aber er oder sie mehr Glรผck hatte oder mehr Unterstรผtzung bekommen hat als ich. Es ist vielleicht seltsam, dass ich extrem enttรคuscht bin wenn ich gegen jemanden verliere, der besser ist als ich. Ich mag keinen Wettbewerb, weil ich Angst habe zu verlieren. Man sagt immer, dass man aus Erfahrungen lernt, und am besten aus solchen mit den Besten. Ja und Nein. Ich habe zu viele Erwartungen an mich, die mich stark unter Druck setzen. Deswegen ist es fรผr mich nicht das Gleiche, ob ich gegen den Beste oder den Schlechtesten verliere. Ich weiร, ich bin nicht gut darin, meine Emotionen im Wettbewerb zu kontrollieren und ich verliere zu leicht meine Motivation. In meinem letzten Tennisspiel wollte ich das ganze Spiel lang einfach aufgeben, nachdem ich anfangs ein paar Bรคlle verpasst hatte. Plรถtzlich ging es los und ich dachte, dass ich das Spiel nur ganz schnell beenden mรผsste, damit ich nicht mehr unter dem bitteren Gefรผhl leiden mรผsste, den Ball nicht zu treffen, und obendrein war ich diejenige, die sich entschieden hatte, zu verlieren. In einem Moment war ich im Grunde verzweifelt.
In letzter Zeit habe ich alle Spiele verloren. Manchmal habe ich mich gefragt, warum ich รผberhaupt im Spiel war. Ich habe fast vergessen, wie es sich anfรผhlt, zu gewinnen oder eine Herausforderung zu meistern. Wie kann ich das je wieder zurรผck bekommen, wenn ich doch Wettbewerb hasse und Angst habe? Gerade habe ich keine Ahnung. Ich fรผhle mich immer noch sehr schwach und Gedanken stรผrzen auf mich ein, immer mehr. Ich werde ein paar ruhige Tage verbringen, um nachzudenken und diese negative Gedanken zu besiegen. Hoffentlich kann ich meine Motivation und Inspiration wiederfinden und das durchstehen. Ich vermisse Vietnam und die Zeit, als ich sehr zielstrebig warโฆ
I am just a rookie who is still struggling to learn tennis and basketball…
Only when I am in Leipzig that I have more opportunities to really practice and play tennis. After seven months of playing it (with some breaks in between), I have learned a lot about competitions, mental strength, friendships, and… myself.
Smiiiileeee
On 25.07.2021 I played for the first time on a court in Leipzig and it was TERRIBLE; I could barely hit the ball and my serves were all wrong. I felt even worse when I made my partner run around the court just to collect the balls because they were out most of the time. Running under the sun on a summer day was definitely not a nice experience. I am very thankful for having her as my first tennis partner. We then realized we need a coach. Not everything was bad though, the highlight of the day was that we met a very kind person at the court, he told us that we could extend to play one more hour if we wanted to, no extra fee ๐
Practicing with a coach turned out to be a very nice experience. I was looking forward to every lesson. This is strange because I usually enjoy learning things by myself. After each lesson, I always wanted to play more. During the class, I had my momentum so keeping playing gave me a very satisfying feeling. Tennis also helps a lot in boosting my mood. I remembered one afternoon, I came to the court feeling very low. When I finished, a coach came and asked if we wanted to practice some more; this coach is not our regular one. We said yes, so we spent one more hour practicing backhands and forehands. I came home feeling so much better.
And basketball… hmmmm. I never thought that I would learn basketball. I am 162cm, too short for this sport and my hands are too small. One day, I came to court with a friend who is a PRO. He showed me how to shoot for the first time. It was actually much better than my first time on the tennis court. According to my friend, I have some “talent” at shooting hahaha. I became more curious about basketball and went to court more often. Now, I can do layups, fake some small moves, and control the ball a bit better. Sometimes I could shoot 10 or 15 in a row, of course not far from the basket hahaha.
My first day practicing with my own and new ๐
I always say I am not competitive or my own competitor is no one but myself. That is true until I compete in sports. I am not a dedicated sportsperson and I do not spend hours training. I also know whom I am competing with. Even though I constantly remind myself of these things, I can’t help feeling bad whenever I lose. I hate hearing “It’s been a good game, you improve a lot” or “You almost win.” For me, losing is losing. Because of my bad moments on the court, I realize how lucky I am to have people who are very patient with me. I have an amazing basketball “coach” (also my good friend and my tennis partner) who always encourages me to try new things and believes in me. He is super competitive, yet way better than me at dealing with emotions on court. Practicing and playing against him makes me both mentally and physically stronger.
My ball now, very dirty hahaha
Sports help me stay focused and mindful. I forget everything else when I am practicing or competing, that moment I only have one goal which is to win. Sports also teach me that I am not good at many things and it’s okay. At the same time, sports show me that I could do more than I thought. I also understand what it means when someone wants to break his / her racket on court because I also wanted to do it so many times but… tennis racket is expensive so… hahaha. The most important lesson I’ve learned is to deal with uncomfortable moments. In real life, I can avoid them by distracting myself with other things, be it Instagram, books, or YouTube videos. On the court, I cannot escape. I have to continue playing until the end and learn how to execute the game while feeling “angry” – yes, very bad temper hahaha. The options are resorted to giving up so that the opponent could win faster and could end my uncomfortable state or keeping playing with my best and perhaps losing but feeling “I’ve done all I could.” For a rookie like me, it’s never been easy.
I started learning tennis and basketball when I was 30 so if you like something, it’s never too late to start ๐ When you’re in it, you’re in it.
And perhaps my next blog about sport is when I win my first tennis match or my first basketball game.
Today witnessed one of the most historic moments in tennis history, Nadal won AO and made a record with his 21st grand slam title, it was soooo stressful to follow the match. It’s amazing to see the resilience of top players. I love watching interviews after the match and I looooove this one of Medvedev: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GeHh_NJEs-M
On the last night of our trip to the Nord, we decided to stay in a tent on the top of a remote mountain wishing that we could see the Northern Lights dancing. It turned out to be a stormy night. We both thought that the wind might carry the whole tent (with us inside of course) away some time. I was nervous but after a long trip from Tromsรธ to Narvik, 45 mins of climbing the hill with all of our things on the back, and a deep conversation with my best friend here (about how we felt after 18 days traveling together), we were dead to the world that night and the fear soundly fade away as we gradually fell asleep. Fortunately, the next morning, we found ourselves both safe inside the tent. Of course that night, no dancing Northern Lights but just some days after we left, the lights were dancing โpassionatelyโ there.
The landscape from Tromsรธ to Narvik is peacefully beautiful. You can see the snow-capped mountains (even it was still autumn – I guess autumn in Norway is very short), lakes, fjords, forests, “beaches”, and little houses along the way. Even though it was difficult to capture the beauty of the landscape on a bus, I tried to take some photos; they could never do justice to the real scenery tho. Also, they are all no-filtered photos. ๐
In this blog, I am going to share some of my thoughts about friendship and some random realizations in the process of “adulting.”
We stayed at Narvik Adventures AS tent. It was very easy to find and close to a bus stop. I was very happy when I booked it because I could find a place that has a unique location with easy access. But the day we arrived, it was Sunday and buses did not run regularly or… not at all.
There are not many lines of buses in Narvik. We checked the schedule here and realized that we could not take a bus to our tent as planned.
I could not recall exactly if the last bus to our tent did not run on Sundays or it stopped the time we arrived, around 1pm, but I remember the only two ways to get to the tent were either by taxi or by foot. After talking with Silvia, we decided that we would walk because it was not that far (according to what we checked on the map – only 30 mins walk and this is normal for us, we had done even more than that during our trip). Silvia had a fever one night before and she was not 100% well but she was a true fighter for accepting doing this with me. Especially, we were with our backpacks and food and bags. I remembered we set the targets for ourselves during the walk “okay, now let’s walk up to that big tree and we will take a short break” “now, that yellow sign” etc. etc. At the end, it took us almost an hour to reach the tent.
We can see the sky just by sitting here or laying on our bed. At night, we can see lights from the city across the Fjords. We also sat here and talked a lot about life while having a cup of warm tea in our hands. Such a lovely memory.
The tent is cozy and warm. The host prepared everything for us, including tripod to take photos of the Northern Lights in case we saw them. We have a small kitchen and bathroom outside, well equipped so that we could cook and take warm showers. We had to buy food and brought them here because the place was completely isolated, no supermarkets or stores around. That night we had lamb with fries, and some meatballs. I don’t think I took any photos of our dinner but I remembered how delicious it was.
After dinner, we talked a lot about what happened during the trip and how we dealt with the incidents. I realized travels teach me a lot, especially when I travel with someone else, everyday we have to make a lot of decisions from whether it is about where to eat, where to see, or simply if we should take a coffee or not, to important decisions like should we change our itinerary, should we book the tour, or should we book this flight instead of this train. I also realized the values of friendship, the differences in our backgrounds, personalities, and how these things influence the way we think and make decisions. What it means to love someone and let someone enter into your life and let them stay as an important piece in your whole mosaic. There’s no perfect friend in the world but there are friends who make you understand what love and care really are. This is way more important. If you meet someone like that in your life, treasure them, don’t let them go. I think I am lucky to have friends who love me so much in my life and I am forever grateful for that.
When I was young I got angry easily when things did not go the way I wanted. Now I am learning to be happy with surprises, both good and bad. It does not sound easy and it is not easy to do, but I believe good energy will attract amazing things and it is true in my case. Sometimes when I travel and meet people who are so kind or experience something really nice, I feel I do not deserve these good things and my mind is occupied with thoughts: people are suffering the pandemic – and I am enjoying life; my family has never been to these places – and I am here; really, I spent this much for a dinner?; people are struggling to find a job – and I am just…traveling… so on and so on. I would say I am happy with all of the experiences I have had but constantly, I do not feel complete. Then I learned that things happen for a reason even it sounds like a clichรฉ; the older I get, the more relatable it is to me. As our Master Thay Thich Nhat Hanh once said “I promise myself that I will enjoy every minute of the day that is given me to live” and I made a promise to myself. I hope you will too.
Maybe the ice cream would taste better if you simply…just enjoy it.