korcula

Polako, polako – my struggle to learn the Croatian language Part 1

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Six months ago Doka and I arrived back here in Korcula having spent Christmas and New Year with my family in New Zealand.

We moved back to Korcula to open our own business here, we arrived with very lots of motivation and belief in our business but with very little start up money, no premises to work from and no working papers! When I reflect now I find it quite amazing what we have achieved in 6 months.

Here is the space that we are now working from – up until 15 April 2011 Seba Dizajn was home to a small bar or kanobar, we had on several occasions sat here and had a drink, but never thought it would become home to our business venture.

The last hurrah!
Ruth Seba in kanobar with previous owner.

It was during our first few weeks back in Croatia while we were running about trying to get paperwork organised etc that I kept hearing ‘polako, polako!’, literally translated as ‘slowly, slowly’.  An easy word to pick up and pronounce, and one that sums up Korcula life very well.

Generally it appears there is no hurry to get anything done. In some ways this is a very nice concept, however I am someone who is used to running about and getting things done when I need them done.  I excel at slowly, slowly when I am on holiday but as an approach to work or by workers here I found it very frustrating at times.

I remember asking Doka one day, ‘What is the Croatian word for fast?’

I still don’t know!! And he often tells this like some sort of joke here, and Croatian people find it very funny… but I just want to get things moving along at a kiwi girl pace.

(nb. Croatian for fast = postiti, not one we hear very often but I will try to remember it for future reference)

There is so much to learn, I seem to have picked up a lot of ‘shop talk’ which is helpful but I am often lost when words come at me very fast.  Thank goodness English is so widely spoken, when I was at school in New Zealand I never thought about learning another language (although one friend and I did attempt a correspondence Japanese course for a few weeks).

There has been so much else to do that my language ‘lessons’ have not been prioritized, now that our season is winding down I need to focus on the language, polako, polako!

Polako - good things take time! I love the laugh that my in-laws are sharing in this photo.

What’s your favourite foreign language word?

 

We saw the whole of the Moon

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Last night we decided to close our shop a little early – 10:30 instead of 11pm, our very short tourist season is winding down and Doka and I decided to go out for dinner, together just the two of us.  There are so many restaurants in Korcula and our friends at Korcula Explorer had recommended a few places we should try.  (www.korculaexplorer.com – for all your Korcula accommodation and holiday activity needs)

Unfortunately we were too late for most kitchens, as the tourist season is winding down here restaurants are closing earlier and earlier.

While we didn’t get a nice meal out (we are going to close earlier tonight!!), we saw the whole of the moon.  I am still filled with the awe of it.  It was a very clear night here in Korcula and our local astronomy group had their telescope set up beside the nightclub Gaudi.  There were several people using the opportunity to look at the moon super close.  The telescope offered such clear images of the moon.

Doka and I chatted with group members for a while and walked away talking about how nice it would be to one day own a fabulous telescope for night sky gazing.

We had some fries for dinner at Curiso, and fed Fergus a midnight snack on the way home, it was a very nice evening.

Have you ever had the chance to see the moon so close?  Would love to hear about your experience.

 

 

 

 

Filigree from the Sea 3 – the finished product

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How fabulous to have found such a creative & fantastic husband!

And now I am loving the chance to share his creations with you, we have started a new line of jewellery here at Seba Dizajn.  Simply called ‘Treasures’ this jewellery line was inspired by the sea and sea-side treasures that those of us who are so inclined tend to collect whilst wandering along the coast.

You can see in my previous posts the story of this piece – here is the story in photos; it started with this wee ceramic gem,

found on this Korcula beach (couldn’t resist including cute nephew and sister-in-law photo).

Mr Creative sketched a few ideas;

        

and added a few details….

The finished Treasure – a beautiful pendant and perfect holiday keepsake or memento of your special occasion or place.

Please contact us at sebacroatia@yahoo.com if you are interested in having us create something special for you.

You can also follow us on facebook, www.facebook.com/SebaDizajn

Thanks for stopping by and joining us on our jewellery journey.

Filigree from the Sea

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I grew up beside the Otago Harbour and have always enjoyed ceramic treasures from the sea.  I love that each piece has a story;  Was it part of a favourite dinner set? how did it break? where did it start it’s journey to be washed up on whichever beach I am wondering on?

Yesterday I found this piece, robin egg blue with white spots blurring together, at the bottom of the steps that led down to the sea here in Korcula.  It is now sitting here on our working table here at Seba Dizajn and I look forward to seeing what Doka will create with it.

An experimental piece of seaside recycling, something new for the Seba collection.

What is your favourite piece of recycled jewellery?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oh what the tweet have I done now?

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Without much idea of how, what or why I have launched myself into the unknown tweeting world… have found some jewellery designers to follow which should be interesting – maybe I can learn some Twitter tricks from them?  Have posted my first ‘tweet’ and I still don’t know what I’m doing. 

It’s a funny thing,  a very strange feeling that I can’t quite describe. I feel like such a fuddy duddy – especially using that expression! I feel like I am at the bottom of the class of Twitter 101 and I guess the only way is up from here.  Tomorrow’s mission is to dedicate some time to learning about how Twitter can help people find Seba Dizajn on-line and how I can share more of the fabulous filigree work that we are creating here in Korcula.   I can’t wait for the 30 Day Twitter Challenge, a la Nikki Pilkington, am thinking this is where I will learn the most. 

In the mean time if you are ‘in the know’ and want to follow my progress into the tweeting world I have signed up as Ruth Seba @ SebaDizajn.  Would love to share the journey, it’s a lonely road when we travel alone…. come follow me.  I have chosen this beautiful filigree bead with coral details as our profile picture. 

Remember if you would like to see the full Seba Dizajn collection you can find us on www.facebook.com/SebaDizajn where new content is being added daily. 

Cheers, Ruth