Keibi in Trets, France

Some weeks ago my Keibi coordinator Junya came to me asking if I could be Keibi at our European Center at Trets. So I told him that if my work allowed it i would go. Lucky me, my boss said it was ok because i didn't have any holiday jet. So i went together with Nick and Rob. For me it was my 3th time as Keibi in Trets. We left from Eindhoven Airport with Raynair to Marseille, France. This was on September 14th. We were due to return to the Netherlands on September 22nd 2007.Finally we arrived at the Center at 1.30 hrs. In the middle of the night. Our taxi chauffeur drove like he was possessed. Luckily we called to Trets when we would arrive so our Italian colleagues where waiting for us. Also some course members greeted us. As it turned out, they where Italians too. Coming from the Rimini area. It was so good for me to be back in Trets. I took from home a list of goals I wanted to work on while being in Trets. Also I made some new friends. The Rimini course had a very beautiful cultural festival with lots of singing and dance. They left on Sunday. In the same time some 450 French members of the area starting to arrive for the 1st level study exams which will take place the first weekend of November. There we stood, only 3 Dutch Keibis manageing 450 members. So we had to devide us between the ECC (European Cultural Center) and the CPE (Centre Par l'Etude). After this day we had a 3 day period of quietness and time for maintainance, talking to the guard of the center, Mr. and Mrs. Sugai and for lots of Daimoku. Also we had to cook for our selfs during these days and had a lot of time to talk to each other and covering for one and other when we felt tired. Of course I got some troubles with my knee. And of course I was forgotten to pack a sporting brace for my knee. So long as i could sit and chant it was ok, but as soon as I had to walk up and down over the terrain, my knee started hurting. On Thursday I Asked Mrs. Sugai for a elastic bandage for my knee. That day would arrive another Italian course from the Milan/Trieste area. So it was very important that I could move around.
During this week I was able to do 36 hrs of daimoku. that's some 5 hrs per day on average. While sitting at the reception desk this course members arrived. Among them was Roberto Baggio, the former team captain of the World cup winning Italian football team. He retired in 2004. At first I only recognized his face but couldn't place a name to it. One of the course members said that Roberto Baggio was attending the course as well.Also During the few days we had with this course before going home, I made some friends. By the time we left, we where thanked for taking excellent care of the course and making them feel save and welcome. To me it was a sad day when we left Trets. Leaving my new friends to an inexperienced German Keibi team hurted me. Still I chanted for them to grow quickly in there role as Trets Keibis. I also chanted for my friends to get home savely.