School’s up

Got all these nerves in a bundle. Don’t know if I’m scared, awkwardly shy, or just bashful about telling folks how I really feel. My knees are shaking, and inside my head – though I have never been there – I swear it’s JUST like Disneyland. Everything’s blinking, beeping, twisting, and turning. Bet some of it’s jumping too.

View from the place we’re staying in Brisbane – Kangaroo Point. I can get used to this!!! Mad. Pic downloaded here.

First thing I gained today was the knowledge that if you go East it takes one hour drive from Brisbane to locate the first surf spots. Up North, approximately one and half hour drive before you get great shores and waves. Whoop! I also learned the fact that I’ll have to befriend a surf-loving driver who’s in the possession of a real driver’s license. Or, I knew that already, BUT, we’ve been talking about this well known phenomenon – long distances. Very long distances. On the Australian continent there’s a lot of them. I guess I’ll forget about my favorite  activity as a non-driving hippie; walking. That was a joke, I prefer skating and bicycling. But neither will do. Gotta learn how to trust planes and cars. If there’s anyone in the Queensland area who’s up for surf in the middle of September let me know!

First day in my new class, and we’ve just started with the introduction course of the Austral-Asian program. Been chatting with some teachers from Brisbane, and we have started discussing different topics of our main major assignment. Children’s theater, shadow plays, masks, clay, costumes, traditions, plays, puppet theater, school system, vietnamese theater, aboriginal theater, culture for children – how is the situation compared to Scandinavia? And then there’s music! Oh, I’m such a nerd.

Australian phrase of the day: “No worries mate!”

The whole class had to say it out loud. At the same time. Awkward, and we all acted like small giggling girls. In front of the old school black board compassionate eyes of an urban globetrotter woman told me we still have a long way ahead of us. Not sure if our stuttering Norwenglish blew her away anywhere. Gotta work on my dialect! Then they started all this talk about spiders… and I went to get lunch. Now it’s back to class. Information about the seven day trip into the outback, more specific Bourke – is about to be given. I’ll welcome it with open arms! Stoked! Love K.

TUNEZ TODAY: Natural Mystic – Bob Marley & The Wailers, Flake – Jack Johnson, The Letter – Xavier Rudd,
Collie Man – Slightly Stoopid.

Don’t watch, do something!

Skeleton Sea, in association with Quicksilver Foundation Europe, presented in 2011 the film Albatross Exhibitionist. All pictures in this post are downloaded from the project galleries on the The Quicksilver Initiative website.

“Inspired by the tragic story and images of Albatross chicks on Midway Island dying slow and agonizing deaths due to ingested plastics consumed in error by the seabirds…..”

Last year I was lucky to get the opportunity (for the first time ever) to do the voice-over on a short film titled “Albatross EXHIBITIONIST”. It was a great experience, and I thought I’d share some of it with you readers. I have to admit it felt extremely mad to hear my own voice on top of high quality surf shots of the legends Kelly Slater, Jeremy Flores, and Craig Anderson, -but pardon my poor and lousy English. The film was part of a an art project performed by a group of friends and surfers named Skeleton Sea, led and produced by Xandi Kreuzeder and Joao Parrinha. I got the job through Nico (my boyfriend) who was animating some Albatross-scenes for Xandi. The short documentary points out and underlines some of the terrible consequences of plastic pollutants in our oceans. Beautiful beaches and interesting wildlife – it is our responsibility to protect it.

“Midway Islands stands as a reminder to all of us, about the choices we make and our ability to see ourselves as a part of an interconnected whole. The Albatross is a mirror for us to look into and really see ourselves.” -Clever words of Ian Hinkle, cameraman and producer of Midway journey.

North in the middle of the Pacific Ocean you find Midway Island, or Midway Atoll as it’s also called, a breeding paradise for Albatrosses. For generations the majestic birds have been living there, circling the skies above the oceans. The last couple of years pollution has become a greater problem than ever before. A soup of small plastic particles, bottle tops, pens, tooth brushes,  lighters, and so on has already covered way too much of the surface of our beautiful planet. The trash is getting washed up on the beaches, and the birds mistake it for food. It breaks my heart to know that the small feathery creatures are starving and dying just because we humans are stupid, ignorant and lazy, and can’t manage to pic up and recycle our own garbage. Embarrassing. Do we not have the knowledge and technology? Mainly the surfers of Skeleton Sea have been cleaning the beaches and made creative artworks out of the materials they’ve recovered – before heading out catching waves. One day I want to do the same..! It might be childish and naive, but I still cling on to the hope of a cleaner and greener world for all of us. You wait and see!

Quicksilver Foundation is working to provide environmental, educational, health and youth-related projects to board-riding communities around the world. Thanks to the organization the Albatross Exhibitionist installation and film was on public display at a number of surf contests, exhibitions and events last year, starting at the world-famous Roxy Pro in Biarritz, France mid July 2011. You can read the whole article “Quicksilver Foundation & Skeleton Sea join forces” here, and find more information about the Foundation on “The Quicksilver & Roxy Initiative” website here. Peace, love & light, K.

Sea turtle ♥

Here he is, the coatless demon. 

Facts from Wikipedia: “Midway Atoll, in common with all the Hawaiian Islands, receives substantial amounts of marine debris from the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. Consisting of ninety percent plastic, this debris accumulates on the beaches of Midway. This garbage represents a hazard to the bird population of the island. Of the 1.5 million Laysan Albatrosses that inhabit Midway, nearly all are found to have plastic in their digestive system.^[21] Approximately one-third of the chicks die.^[22]“

TUNEZ TODAY: Santogold – You’ll Find A Way, L.E.S Artistes, Sbtrkt – Wildfire (feat. Little Dragon).