Linkoping!

Our travel away from Stockholm started with Lenas’ birthday!!! During this amazingly busy day besides all the meetings we had, we still managed to eat couple of cakes and sing some birtday songs:)

Also meeting old friends like Magdalena!!! (yesss) from AfL3 at her mothers' place with a nice coffee and cake (the amazing one!).

It is always so wonderful to re-unite and to see how our network is spreading around the Europe and becoming not only the network of teams or people, but also the network of great friendships!

In Linkoping we have been visiting a folkhighschool - this is a common way in Nordic countries of continuing education for older people! Really nice way of giving an opportunity for everyone to study and to enjoy it. We met with school teachers and shared our experiences and visions and decided that we should meet again - next time already with their students and do something together!

Our host during 2 days stay in Linkoping and surroundings was Elisabeth Hamrin, who has been our Swedish mother!

And when we had an amazing meeting in her appartment with quite a number of interesting people from within and outside of IofC she surprised us with an Action for Europe cake, which was so beautiful that we almost didn't agree to cut:) Really tasty!!!

Thank you, very much, Elisabeth!

The same evening we had an opportunity to visit local church, being part of a mass and afterwards to have a discussion with a church group there during which we somehow managed to challenge each other with the question of importance of sharing in our lives. That was really interesting evening and our discussions extended till it was getting dark. And as you might know in this time of the year here it gets dark really late:)

During the mass there was a song, which touched me very deeply and made me even cry... "Take oh, take me as I am..." - those who have been in AfL3 - do you remember how Chris L., Diana and others were singing this song sometimes in Mammi room? Oh.. it brought me back so many memories and feelings from our times in Asia... It is unbelievable I heard this song somewhere in church in Sweden.. Suddenly I understood how much AfL and everything I saw in Asia has meant to me. Each one of you, who I met on my way and with whom I lived together with..

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During our time in Linkoping Elisabeth took us to an amazing place - Vadstena monastery, where Saint Brigita lived. It is a pilgrimige centre with a special philosophy and atmosphere.. We spent the biggest part of the day there talking with priest and different other bright people we met... This is beautiful place for silence and peace...

A place to come back to...

Ulla