Ken on: surfing, internships, surfing, household stuff, and SURFING

Internships have begun and my first impression is that I am in over my head. The people that work at the Cape Argus are quick and they have all been reporting and writing on a fixed deadline schedule much longer than I have, even and especially the other interns. I have only worked one day so far and though I am currently in the middle of two news stories I still feel that I will need to work the hardest and fastest I have ever, just to match the pace of the rest of the crew there. But I will take that as it comes.

We had our first entirely open weekend this weekend and it was nice to choose what we did and where we went. We decided to go to Camps Bay beach and it turns out the waves there were much better than they have been the past two times I’ve been surfing here. Right where we set up our towels wasn’t too good but I eventually drifted over to a spot called Glen Beach where the waves really picked up. It’s interesting to note the differences between surfing here. So far the actual waves haven’t been all that much different, albeit a bit more power and size than New York, but the ambiance and environment is completely different. The thought of sharks is real for a change, there has always been this slight paranoia about sharks wherever I have surfed but here its a very real worry so that just sets the tone to begin with. There is massive Bull Kelp here with stalks that are longer than I am tall and thick as a baseball bat with long broad leaves. At Glen Beach this day in particular there was a massive patch of it probably about 80 feet in diameter and if you fell on a wave or rode one in the wrong direction you would end up tangled up and bogged down by the heaviest seaweed in the ocean. It was a somewhat nerve-racking feeling similar to what I would assume quick-sand feels like, and getting pounded by wave after wave into quick-sand is something that needs getting used to. Every stroke or kick I made it felt like there were a hundred hands pulling me back under but if you could avoid the Kelp there were great waves to be had and I left that day with a ton of waves under my belt, 2 or 3 I’ll remember for a while.

Ken at beach for a day of surfing

The people who surf here are different as well which is no real shock yet I have found that people who actually surf here start at a much younger age and there were about 5 kids all younger than 13 surfing very well. They thought my wetsuit shirt was cool and they’d never seen something like it before. They also thought I was crazy for not wearing a full wetsuit and opting to just where the top and trunks, “Are you not freezing man? I’d be freezing without me new wetsuit! Have a look!” they were funny and they would applaud everyone after each waves, “Well done mate!”.

Other than that the rest of the weekend has consisted of shopping for food and household stuff and generally bumming around the house which is a nice change of pace after the non-stop two weeks of orientation. Tomorrow starts the first full week of interning and classes follow on Thursday so a good nights sleep is in order.  Until next time readers.