(Minghui.org) I began practicing Falun Dafa in 2006, and I moved to Poland in 2012. Until June 2022 I lived with my husband in Warsaw. For the last 16 years I have worked almost exclusively for a practitioner-run media outlet. In June 2022, I left Warsaw and started working for a 5-star hotel in Zermatt, Switzerland.
From the Frying Pan into the Fire
The only reason I took the job in Zermatt was because I wanted to work for the breakfast service. I thought this would be easy. I was not in very good physical shape, so I was worried about carrying heavy plates 8 hours a day—I worked in restaurants before. I also wanted a regular schedule. I thought that after an 8 or 9-hour day, I would have enough time to do something online for a Dafa project. This turned out to be a very short-lived illusion.
The service at breakfast was very demanding. Everything was new to me. I had to learn a lot and I was under a lot of stress. I was able to keep up and do well with the tasks I was given. In the beginning, I still had normal working hours—from about 6:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., with a meal break—but this quickly changed.
Suddenly I was not only assigned to the breakfast service at the busiest time, but I also had to serve the huge terrace in front of the hotel. My duty roster consisted only of working 6 days a week - from 8 a.m. until about 1 p.m. and then from about 4 p.m. until at least 10 p.m. - and beyond.
For the past 10 years I had been sitting in front of a computer. I practiced the exercises regularly, but I did not do anything physical. I felt battered from the heavy workload and pressure from the media. I was anything but physically fit, but suddenly I had to serve hundreds of guests for 10 hours plus each day, 6 days a week. I always felt like I was running. On top of that, I had duty hours where I sometimes didn’t get to bed until 1 a.m. and I had to be back at work at 8 a.m.
In addition, I was exposed to the whims of my superiors. I was overwhelmed with the new situation. I even argued with some of my coworkers. One supervisor sent me home for talking back. I was mentally and physically exhausted and I could not believe where I ended up.
From the hardship in Warsaw, I came to the merciless environment in the middle of the Swiss mountains. I went from the frying pan into the fire. I packed my bags and was ready to leave Zermatt. I even found myself another job. Still, it was not easy for me to leave. After all, I'd signed a contract. As I looked at my packed suitcase I suddenly heard a small voice, “You are a practitioner. It’s no coincidence that you ended up here. It’s all arranged. Giving up so quickly isn’t an option.” Okay, I thought, and I stayed.
I used every spare minute - I didn’t have many - to read the Fa and practice the exercises. I looked inward and understood that cultivation wasn’t going to get any easier and that I had to reduce my karma no matter what place I was in. I realized that this environment, alone among ordinary people and coping with the high pressure of work, was a huge test for me. I also thought of the predestined connection I must have with the people in the hotel. I felt the pressure of doing well.
I started to cooperate unconditionally, and I no longer talked back. I did my work conscientiously, was helpful, and always had a smile on my face. The situation changed.
I received increasingly positive feedback. For example, that I was patient. And it was noticed that I smiled as I cleaned the restaurant. They told me I was different from the other workers. They thought I was a young woman, even though I was 43 years old. They suddenly wanted me to help everywhere.
I was surprised by how much the complicated situation I recently found myself in suddenly changed so positively.
Master said,
“There is just one, major difference: when experiencing conflicts or tensions, or any situation, you are able to look inside yourself for the cause, [thinking,] “Is this because I did something wrong? Is there a problem on my part that caused this disharmony?” This is the only noticeable difference between you and an ordinary person. Of course, this difference will also manifest in your conduct. Ordinary people will feel that your disposition is different from others, or think that Dafa disciples are kind, and they will enjoy interacting with Dafa disciples. Since you are a cultivator, after all, the field around you is one of pure goodness—something ordinary people don’t have. So you are different in this regard, and people will sense it.” (“Fa teaching at the 2013 Greater New York Fa Conference,” Collected Fa Teachings, Vol. XII)
People felt the power of Dafa in me, which touched me deeply. Without the Fa and merciful Master, I wouldn’t have been able to last a month in that difficult environment.
Helping With Shen Yun in Austria and Poland
Besides the preparations for Shen Yun, which I could do online in Zermatt, I had to be on-site during the performances. Since I could only take a little time off in the middle of the peak season, I had to plan everything very tightly. My boss gave me the days off for Shen Yun, but cut all my other days off. Before I traveled to the performances, I worked every day for almost a month. I was only given the day off to travel to the venue, the days of the performances, and one day after the show to return home. The following day I had to go back to work.
Zermatt is very far, in the southwest of Switzerland. It's very close to Italy and France. Moreover, it is quite isolated in the mountains. A train journey from Zermatt to Zurich takes just under 4 hours. This means that the journey from Zermatt is long and somewhat arduous, and you often have to change trains.
My first assignment was helping with the performance in Austria. I traveled by train for 11 hours from Zermatt via Zurich, then to Salzburg, and immediately back to Zermatt after the last performance. I was back at work the next day.
Two weeks later, the performances in Poland were already underway. In Poland, Shen Yun performed in two cities—Bydgoszcz and Lublin. The two cities are about 4 hours drive apart. We traveled for a day between the shows.
Since the performances in Austria and Poland were so close together, I knew that I would not have a single day off before the shows in Poland. So I found myself in a situation where I just worked. Even before the performances in Austria, I didn’t have any time off for about 2 weeks. Two weeks later Shen Yun came to Poland.
I worked my 10-12 hour routine in the hotel, and after work I made the final preparations for Shen Yun. Time was short, the journeys to and in Poland were long. What added to it was the fact that my passport was almost expired and I still had to renew it during my stay in Poland. The pressure was on.
One day before leaving for Warsaw, I worked until 1 a.m, my train left at 6 a.m. I stopped thinking: Am I tired or not, am I in pain or not, can I even stand all this, or not? It didn’t matter, I just focused on what was important and that was Shen Yun.
I took the train to Milan and flew to Warsaw. When I arrived in Warsaw, I went to my flat, sat down on the sofa, and knew that I didn’t have much time before my journey. I was tired and thought: “OK, you have 2 hours, then your train leaves for Bydgoszcz, what do you do? Sleep, practice, eat, or shower?” I decided on the latter, packed a few things, and took the train for another 4 1/2 hours to Bydgoszcz, as the set-up work started the following morning. During the whole trip, I kept getting phone calls, as someone always needed something from me, which was quite normal so close to the shows.
I arrived in Bydgoszcz in the night and again had very little time to rest. I was completely exhausted. But when I came to the theater the next morning and greeted the practitioners, I was overjoyed and infinitely grateful. I was close to tears and thanked Master. The performances in Bydgoszcz were a complete success and the cooperation among practitioners was very good. I felt that we were fulfilling our mission. It was great.
After the performances in Bydgoszcz, Shen Yun continued the next morning to Lublin. I booked the first train to Warsaw to quickly renew my passport at the Austrian embassy. Time was once again very short. The journey to Warsaw was 4 1/2 hours. I had little time to make it to the embassy in time. Suddenly the train stopped. We were struck by a technical problem somewhere in the middle of nowhere. I was forced to cancel my appointment by e-mail because I couldn’t make it to the embassy within the open hours.
The lady from the embassy wrote back and said she would wait for me. I thanked her from the bottom of my heart. For me, this was the only way to renew my passport before I had to go back to Switzerland. After more than an hour’s delay, I finally arrived at the embassy in Warsaw, where we discovered that the fingerprint machine was not working. The staff finally got the machine working again after about 30 minutes, I was told that the passport would not be ready for another two weeks. But I needed the new passport in 2 days to be able to enter Switzerland. We decided to issue an emergency passport, which would cost me another 100 euros in cash. But I had no more cash and card payments were not possible. The embassy was in a region where there was only one ATM that didn’t work.
I was tired and annoyed and had to go on to Lublin. I tried to remain calm and thought: “Ok, I’ll travel without a passport.” Although I knew that I would probably need a passport when I checked in on my way back to Switzerland, I decided to continue my journey to Lublin and abandon the idea of an emergency passport. I let go of all human thoughts regarding my entry into Switzerland without a passport and continued on to Lublin to help with Shen Yun.
As in Bydgoszcz, the shows in Lublin were a complete success and the cooperation with practitioners was very good. When the shows in Poland were over, I immediately traveled back to Zermatt the next day. I was able to enter Switzerland without a valid passport. Everything went smoothly.
Helping Backstage in Israel
Back in Zermatt I had the desire to do more for Shen Yun. I checked the Shen Yun website and saw the show would soon be performing in Israel for a week. From then on, all I could think about was how I could make it to Shen Yun in Israel.
I contacted the main Shen Yun coordinator in Israel and asked if any manpower was needed. Meanwhile, I learned that other Polish practitioners would be flying to Israel to help with the performances as stagehands.
I also wanted to go to Israel, but I knew that the performances would take place at Easter, just when we would have many guests at the hotel. I also knew that we were always short of manpower and that my absence would put great pressure on my coworkers. I hadn’t discussed with my boss about helping with Shen Yun in Israel for a week and right over Easter. I saw little chance of getting to Israel. Moreover, I didn’t even know if my help would be needed there. My valid passport was in Warsaw and the shows in Tel Aviv were already three weeks away.
My desire to help in Israel with Shen Yun was strong. But I had no passport, no commitment from the main coordinator, and little chance of getting time off during Easter. Although the situation seemed hopeless, I began preparing. I asked my husband in Warsaw to send my passport by express to Zermatt. Then I asked my boss if I could get a week off for Shen Yun at Easter. He immediately refused.
I didn’t give up and asked again in the following days. The answer was always, “No.” Time was running out. My passport still had not arrived and there was no answer from the main coordinator in Israel as to whether I was needed at all. I thought it was my stubbornness that wanted me to go to Israel so badly. I decided to follow the natural course of events, and I stopped asking my boss if I could get time off. I focused on the work at the hotel.
A few days later, my boss suddenly approached me and said, “Well, maybe it will work out with Israel after all.” In addition, the Israeli main coordinator contacted me and told me to come. I was needed as a stagehand. I took it as a hint from Master and immediately booked my trip to Israel. At that time, however, I had neither my passport nor a definite promise of leave from my boss.
Everything was booked. I could now do nothing but let go of all human thoughts and worries about whether I would get leave or whether my passport would even arrive. I sent righteous thoughts and followed the natural course.
Finally, my boss approved my week’s leave for Shen Yun and my passport arrived in Zermatt exactly one day before I was scheduled to leave. I flew to Israel and supported Shen Yun as a stagehand for a week at the Tel Aviv Opera. The stresses and strains of the last few months were gone, I felt blessed.
Thank you, Revered Master! Thank you, fellow practitioners！
(Sharing paper submitted to the 2023 European Fa Conference)
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