le tigre & bianco

I miss my bebe really bad. It seems almost surreal that I was in Milan just a couple of hours ago. I have just returned from a weekend in Milan for an Aikido seminar. I hope she is either laying down reading a book at Anna’s, or out having a good time with the Milanese from the dojo. in any case, I hope she is enjoying herself. I have a nice feeling she is. I left her rather quickly at linate aeroporto. We had been relaxing on the futon at Anna’s and ended up getting a really late start for the airport with public trans. Trans. We took a tram to the east of center, and then a 73 bus in the direction of the airport. We were worried that I was going to be too late for my flight, so we got off the bus to try to catch a taxi. Seems it is really difficult to just catch a taxi in Milan, it is usually more effective to call one ahead there. Allora, we decided to get on the next bus to the airport. I was almost sure at that point that I would not make it, but was trying to remain positive and relaxed. I ran ahead to try to find the check in counter, one wrong one, and then the right one, all running in one and a half inch heels. I got checked in and my bag too, and then we said our ciao amore’s quickly as I headed for the security. I blew her a kiss as I went out of sight into the security line. I ran to the gate and ended up having to wait to get on the bus to go to the plane. It was a quick flight and I caught the public trans just right so I didn’t have to wait to get home.

I wrote Thomas an sms to ask him to tell the aquanun that I made my flight and am home safely. I apologized for forgetting to say tot ziens to him and bas. He replied that he would tell the kroc my message and that several of the women from the dojo send their love. What a bunch of tough women he is hanging out with. I like Thomas; he has really nice energy and is a lot of fun to be around. I met a lot of new people from the Tsuda school from France and Italy. The women outnumbered the guys by a few. I had met three of the women from Milan in February at the workshop in Amsterdam. One of them, Elena, I felt that I connected with because she helped me a lot in the first weekend in hamsterdam. The Krok told a few of them that I was coming and they were surprised to hear I had been practicing since I began six weeks ago, but were scared for me when they learned I have been practicing at an Aikikai federation dojo. Federation schools are focused on the martial art aspect of aikido and are relatively hardcore.

I wish I could live and practice in Milan or Japan, either would be a dream come true. I like how the Tsuda school has retained the spiritual part of aikido, whereas it has become sort of like a life philosophy to me. I would like to try to do the respiratory practice every morning before work; I think I would feel more prepared for the day. Respiratory practice oversimplified is a stretching routine fused with coordinated respiration. I won’t get into what it all means, one has to experience it personally to understand it in depth. Or at least to understand enough to become interested to want to learn more. I felt really warmly welcomed by the Milanese and the entire weekend was an incredible experience I wont ever forget. I felt like I was with family almost immediately. The experiences of the weekend together were very deep in the dojo. Katsugen Undo this morning was amazing. I feel I am on a real high from it. I can’t wait to practice with them again soon.

I’m glad that I decided to volunteer to cook a dish for lunch after the workshop, since I ducked out feeling distraught over nothing the first time. We made a 500g pot of Daal. It was just enough I think, the pan was finished and several people complemented me on it. I am glad that everyone liked it.

My body feels relatively fine after practicing aikido and katsugen undo four times over three days. I feel full of energy and yet very relaxed and serene. Bed is calling so this wannabe samurai is going to heed it. ciao! a dopo!

irrationalization

I think these people are going to try to kick me out of my seats. I am being a bit greedy by hogging a whole table and four seats. They did it. oki. I am going to just ignore them. The two guys sat across from me and left the woman that they are with in a row of two seats alone. Not very nice to me. I can’t even stretch my fucking legs. Bastards! There are a lot of obnoxious people on this train that are already irritating me and we are only ten minutes into the journey. Sucky. I hope they get out in Koeln. It would seem these people don’t make it out much. The people on the other side of the aisle left the table free and the guys looked over and thought about moving but decided to stay and bother me. I moved so that I could at least stretch my legs. I have given them enough press already. I walked by a group of obviously American guys that were being really obnoxious. I don’t understand why Americans in Europe always seem to speak a lot louder and therefore automatically stand out. I think it is done on purpose to somehow let everyone in earshot to

I wish I would have had time to get some dinner. I’m really hungry. Thankfully I have lots of biscotti with me to munch on. I just hope there is some left when I get to hamsterdam. I have also two loaves of saatenbrot with me that I bought to feed the Kr0c with. She wants to chew on me real bad, and I am looking forward to it.

I’m listening to the beasties and it is giving me a bad attitude. I am wearing my black Katzenjammer Kabaret baby-T with a black city denim mini and striped over knee socks that the aQuanUn gave me with purple tights underneath, and to complete the look my black vogs boots. I feel nice and sexy and hope the kRoC likes it too. I’m fairly certain she will.

Oki, I just had to change trains completely. The first train out of Ffm was a total mess and then on the way to koeln the toilets stopped working completely. The Deutsche Bahn is really getting bad. At leas this time I didn’t have to stand in wind and rain in the middle of nowhere. I even had time to have a smoke in between. It was a hassle, but at least we left koeln on time even with the switch. The loud Americans as it turns out are more than likely soldiers. I have a feeling they will be looking at me every time one of them goes to get a bier or to the toilet. I’ve been through it before. maybe I should show some leg just to make it interesting for them.

I participated in my first aikido for beginner’s session last night with christiane. It was nice, and Anita sensei was very friendly and helpful. She asked me if I had done any aikido before, I confirmed, and she said that she could tell by how I was able to do the backwards rolling fall. I felt like I did in fact learn something at the workshop, and I felt more relaxed and therefore was able to really get the flow of the movements. I guess my Ki was flowing well. The partners that I practiced with were nice and concentrated as well. I took the chance and washed my new keikogi and let it air dry overnight. It shrunk quite a bit and ended up fitting relatively well. I just need to learn to tie my belt tighter so it doesn’t move and also fix my pants so that they don’t fall down. I ended sweating a bit which felt nice as well. Somehow I was able to sit in the kneeling position without a problem. I will go again on Monday night possibly also christiane will come too. I plan on going to practice at least three times a week, maybe more. I’ll see what is possible. It seems according to the schedule that I was given yesterday, that there are beginners sessions every weeknight. The schedule on the internet is more limited than the flyer she gave us last night. If it is true, that will be nice, since I may have other obligations, like psychotherapy for instance.

kasselerbraten

I am on my way to VW Kassel again. I was told yesterday late morning that I won another trip to the chaos of the machine installation site. I have had so much to do lately both at work and privately. I am in the final stages of the process of submitting my request for coverage of the costs for surgery. I have had the chance to read the psychological evaluation in all its gory detail, and make comments and request revisions. I am thankful to have that opportunity. I also will be beginning aikido training tonight at the dojo around the corner from me. I have also been trying to get my bike back in order. I bought a low resistance generator so that I will have lights that work again. I am baking biscotti twice a week with lots of almonds and chocolate chips and with rice syrup instead of refined sugar.

Today went fairly well, I have made all my trains and they were on time as well. At VW all went good as well. I unloaded all the many kilos of screws that I smuggled in my bag to the guys installing my machines. We were a bit late to go to lunch so all that was left in the cafeteria to eat was a shitty salami pizza with way too much bell pepper on it. I hate bell pepper. Everyone was nice to me and in a good mood too. I will have to go back there next week to discuss the next project. The next project is a copy of what they are installing now. I got a nice bonus today, I found some missing special screws that we need badly for the machine that we are trying to assemble. Somehow they were shipped to site and were just lying around the test cell. We were discussing something else when the box caught my eye. There are still two other sets of screws that are missing so we just ordered more. So far it was a goed day.

I received my keikogi, japanese for training suit, yesterday night and I decided to take a chance and wash it. It seemed at first a bit large, but after doing some research online for tips from women on how to deal with the keikogi bagginess, I found a trick to get rid of some of the bulk. I am excited because tonight is the first beginner training session in which I will participate. Christiane is going to come with me hopefully. I spoke with her last night about it and she will meet me a half hour before so we can go there together. I am so glad that the aquanun asked me to go to the workshop in hamsterdam. I did some reading online that Itsuo Tsuda wrote. I found it interesting that he stated that one should not push others to do the respiratory practice, but to rather wait until one is ready to return to more of a natural existence and to seek knowledge of oneself. Then the respiratory practice will have the intended effect on the mind and body. I feel like I am exactly at that point. Since I have met the nuN01 I have been living somewhat healthier, and I have also out of frustration with my doctors decided to take my own health into my hands and to treat myself naturally. I am glad I did. The results make me feel really nice. The practice of katsugen undo and aikido are a nice complement to my new state of being. I am really looking forward to starting aikido tonight. I think I will do it three times a week if possible. I have already noticed a difference.