New Zealand

Clean, green, oil spilled New Zealand

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One week ago the container vessel MV Rena ran aground off the east coast of New Zealand’s north island, she is stranded on the Astro Reef near Tauranga.  At that stage the weather was clear and calm;

From what I understand a lot of valuable potential clean up time was lost while the weather was calm.

I am a New Zealander based in Croatia, on the radio here I was able to pick out something about environmental ‘catasphoe’ in NZ, and I have been watching, reading and learning about this VAST and tragic disaster since I first heard this news.  Anxious to know what is not being reported in the ‘news’ I asked a Tauranga based friend what she knew, through this friend I was put in touch with a the ‘MV Rena Response Monitoring & Action’ Group that has been established on facebook.

The images that I am using here come via this group and I am following with interest, sadness and awe the ‘progress’ on cleaning up the mess that has been created by the grounding of this huge vessel.  The ship was carrying 1,368 containers, eight of which contained hazardous materials, as well as 1,700 tons of heavy fuel oil and 200 tons of marine diesel.

 

By Sunday, 9 October, a 5-kilometre (3.1 mi) oil slick threatened wild life and the area’s rich fishing waters.Oil from the Rena began washing ashore at Mt Maunganui beach on 10 October 2011. Bad weather that night caused the ship to shift on the reef, and the crew were evacuated. The shifting of the ship caused a further damage, resulting in a further 130 – 350 tonnes of oil leaking. (via Wikipedia)

My interest in this disaster is natural as a New Zealander/caring environmental person, my sadness is also a natural reaction to this disaster;

how can we not feel saddened?

And my awe stems from the strength of passion and the sharing and caring expressed by the members of MV Rena Group –  together we are strong.  The information, updates, video footage, photographs and thoughts that are being shared via this forum remind me how great it is to be a New Zealander, how together we achieve more, how in times of trouble we must pull together and how the combined voices of people who care need to shared and listened to.  Will our government listen? What action will be taken and will lessons be learnt from this environmental catastrophe?

As I am writing this it is about 3am in New Zealand and these words were just shared to the group by someone who had stopped her car at the beach on her way home from work,

‘ there was a airy feeling standin there alone it felt like i have just lost  a love one i know i have we all have it our beach our pride and joy. as i walked bck to my car tears rolled down my check as it was like i was saying goodbye. i dont know what i was feeling maybe it was sadness anger all in 1 i have no idea’

this was one of the first images that I saw, it also resonated very strongly with me.

Thanks to group members for allowing me to share your photos, and for all the work that you are doing, sharing and caring, you make me proud to be a New Zealander amid this mess.  Kia kaha!

http://www.stuff.co.nz/environment/5770592/Rena-disaster-Second-officer-charged-cracks-in-ship

A news article and footage of the MV Rena

http://www.petitiononline.co.nz/petition/demand-answers-from-the-national-led-nz-government-regarding-the-rena-oil-spill/1338#.TpVrVmCTiTM.facebook

This link will lead you to an on-line petition to be presented to the NZ government when it has 50,000 signatures.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Ultimate Challenge – Day 1

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I feel a little deceptive with the title, like maybe I should be off to summit Everest without oxygen or porters – not this week! I have instead signed up for a new blog challenge, I enjoyed participating in the last one (via Nikki Pilkington) so much that I thought I should try another… why not?

The Ultimate Challenge requires that I write something for our blog EVERY day this month, I haven’t seen our introductory email yet and as we are about to close the shop for the day I thought I would make a start anyway.

Interestingly I have noticed that my most popular posts to date have generally not been related to our filigree jewellery business. I hope that will change when I start to capture some of the family history of filigree making – approximately 500 years to capture, can’t wait to start on that.  My father in law will hopefully be back here in Korcula with us in December and I hope to make a start on the historical stuff then.

To date my most popular post has been ‘My Mum’s’ – maybe I sound like I am from some dysfunctional up bringing and jumped round a lot of homes/Mums… Hopefully no-one was too disappointed to find am just a regular girl with a fantastic Mum in New Zealand and now a newish mother-in-law here in Croatia.

Please let me know what YOU would like me to blog about, I would love to hear from you.  30 new topics? Re-visit some old favourites? There are so many options and I look forward to sharing my progress in this new Challenge with you.

On summit of Kalar Pattar (5,500m) November 2009

 

 

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?

 

Fabulous Friends & Filigree

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“A friend is one who walks in when others walk out”

-Walter Winchell

I have been contemplating what to write that might appeal to our readers; jewellery or something else?

To date my ‘something else’ posts have been the most popular so I am going to go with another one of those today and maybe try to alternate jewellery:non jewellery posts after this.  Let’s see what happens!

So, I have decided  to write something to thank all our friends who have been so supportive of our endeavours to date, be it a LIKE on our facebook page and feedback on photos there, a jewellery purchase or a voice on the phone/Skype.  Thanks! It means a lot to both Doka and I to know we have the support of our friends and families.

Having recently moved to Croatia to start a new business with my husband and still knowing very little Croatian, I am finding myself spending more time on-line than ever before. The majority of this time has been focused on this blog or our new facebook page, (SebaDizajn) and learning about how I can use social media to promote our business.  Most recently I have opened a Twitter account to help spread the Seba Dizajn word on a new level – you can click on the links at the side of the blog to join us on Twitter or Facebook if you are interested.

I have found a strong and supportive network of on-line friends, many of whom I have not yet met but their help and encouragement warms my heart.  How nice to find people so willing to help when they don’t even know us.

I grew up in New Zealand and although I left home 12 years ago I still have many good friends there, we may not get to see each other but when we do it’s the best thing.  The internet allows some of us to catch up more often than others, yet there are many who I have no regular contact with and that’s ok too.  We will and do meet again and pick up right where we left off, magic!

This is a group of friends from my University years who gathered together in March this year to help us celebrate our recent wedding in Croatia – this is at the NZ version of the celebrations.

I have lived away from NZ for 12 years, although I am not sure how this happened! I left in 1999 for a year or two, with a visa to work in Canada and an onwards ticket to the UK to and a visa to work there for two years.  Now I’m married and living in Croatia! The latter two pieces were not part of the puzzle when I left home – I am not even sure I would have been able to locate Croatia on the map when I left NZ in 1999.

My two years in the UK somehow turned in 10 part time years, managing a Fair Trade business based in the highlands of Scotland where my passion for Fair Trade grew and flourished with the opportunity to travel regularly to Nepal and meet artisans there.

I feel so blessed to have been able to meet so many wonderful people in my travels and know that I now have friends scattered around the globe who mean so much to me. You are constantly in my thoughts, this short piece is dedicated to all of
you.

Thanks for being a part of my life, can’t wait to meet with you again!

And now for something completly different…

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Granted, this is not the most original headline but hopefully it got you here…

Three days ago a small package arrived from my Mum in New Zealand, we have been talking a lot recently which we have both been enjoying.  We often talk about what we’ve been reading and Mum has been talking about a recent release that she had really enjoyed and been recommending to her friends, Goodbye Sarajevo – Atka Reid & Hana Schofield.

A book! In English!

I was really moved by the story of Atka and Hana that unfolded overnight as I read, tears were rolling down my cheeks as the sun peeked up around 6, and my new book was finished.  I know for sure I will re-read this story and look forward to sharing it with friends here if they are interested.

Very briefly, Atka and Hana and their family and friends were stranded amidst the ‘Siege of Sarajevo’ in 1992 when the Serbian military attempted full control of the city.  The seige lasted for 43 months, during which time thousands of lives were lost and many more were wounded, tortured and displaced.

Atka and Hana are sisters from a family of 10 children,  this book tells their parallel stories, a story of living under siege and living away from your family, friends and culture as a refugee.  The story opens with Atka tearfully saying goodbye to two of her sisters, Hana & Nadia,  as they take two remaining seats on a UN evacuation bus that is heading to an unknown destination on the Croatian coast.  Knowing that it will be safer for Hana & Nadia to be away from the snipers that are targeting Sarajevo’s streets and assuming that the ‘trouble’ will be over in a matter of weeks, sending the two sisters to safety seems like a sensible option, albeit a sad one.

The story that unfolded as I read is remarkable, it is  told in a straightforward manner that I found very compelling.  Vivid pictures were created in my mind as the books chapters switched between telling by first Atka and then Hana.  Atka dealing with life in a war zone and looking after her younger siblings with the help of her Grandmother, and Hana & Nadia feeling so far away in Croatia living as refugees, displaced and not knowing if and when they would be able to return home.  There is a lot sadness and confusion but there are also very strong messages about love, friendship and the kindness of strangers and random events that ultimately led to a massive change of fortune for the entire family.

Reading about the day to day hardships of Sarajevo citizens during the siege certainly put my slightly irritating summer cold into perspective and made me think again about all those in the world who are caught in similar situations now, victims of war and violence.

I’m sure there was an extra resonance for me  in reading Goodbye Sarajevo,  with being a New Zealander married to a Croatian, thankfully Doka and I met in a much easier climate than Atka and Andrew, love is a mysterious thing, who knows where it will bloom and led us in this world.

I found a short interview  with Atka and Hana here,  http://blog.booktopia.com.au/2011/04/27/hana-schofield-and-atka-reid-authors-of-goodbye-sarajevo-answer-ten-terrifying-questions/#comment-6834 if you are interested.