Shaolin Chi Kung with Sifu Joan

The morning of departure finally arrived, a cold wet wintry January morning in 2000, a new beginning for a new millennium.

I felt blessed that the weather, always a topical subject in Ireland, was not snowy or icy as the journey to the nearest airport was almost 2 hours away. Johnny, one of our dearest friends and neighbor and my sister Tessie came with me and we had a lovely drive with a lot of joking and funny stories.

Yet, I was also feeling quite nervous, this was a great adventure but it was also a journey into the unknown. Susan Jeffer’s book ‘Feal the Fear and Do it Anyway’ was my mantra!

Everything went smoothly almost like I was transported on a cloud, it was all so effortless, even the airport transfers were easy with everything well signposted. I was lucky to have a seat without a middle person, so I had some space to move about. Those who suffer from back pain will know how sitting in one position for some time makes everything worse, the tension, the pain and the irritability. Having that extra space was magic, even more so as I remember when I booked my ticket, the girl in the travel agents had said that it was the second last one!

Being served Haagen Dazs Ice cream was one of my most cherished memories of the whole flight! I thought it was fantastic, little did I know how eating ice cream was going to be such a wonderful event in the years to come, and still is to this day!