„I'm going to Alaska“ - I remember the moment I first heard that line a few years ago very clearly. I also remember the longing it inspired in me and that has since caught me every time anyone mentioned Alaska, whatever the connection. It's not that I'm brave (or stupid? - it's a fine line) enough to burn all my money and leave civilisation, nor do I have the guts or the money to go on some sort of literal walkabout for a whole year. I'm simply going to Alaska as an au pair, to take care of kids, become a member of my new Alaskan family and spend the money I earn on trips around Alaska or maybe even farther, skiing and visits to the IMAX theater. But even though I'm not really going full on 'into the wild', I think that it will be almost as adventurous - or perhaps even more so - than doing work and travel in Australia like everyone else. It might be a stupid prejudice, but I always connect Alaska with a certain sense of freedom that you can't find anywhere else in the world. It seems like one of the 'rawest' places in the world and I know that this is a hazy explanation but I always say this about things that I love the most in the world. Like my favorite film Dil Se.., which I think is one of the rawest films out there. It means as much as unpolished, uneven, rough - which I hope isn't just a romanticized view of nature. Although who knows, it might be, after all I often find myself romanticizing things like danger and melancholia.
However my year in Alaska will turn out to be - and only the future can tell - I am most definitely excited to go. I know that some people think being an au pair is boring and conservative, but I am determined to prove them wrong and have the most adventurous, enlightening, philosophically satisfying gap year of them all. Due to the big change that moving up north and actually working instead of lazying through high school classes, this blog will probably be on a light hiatus between August 2014 and 2015 (with exceptions like the Blind Spot series). I won't be completely gone and will write an official post on the future of Reviews and Confessions before I leave, but my internet activity is sure to drop for a year. That and my intense excitement to finally go to Alaska, is the reason why I'm hosting a blogathon for the following months, that is June and July.
During the ALASKAthon, I will watch seven new-to-me movies set in (and, for the most part, filmed in) Alaska, and then re-watch Into the Wild as a cherry on top. You will find posts about these eight films each Sunday and if I have time, I will pop in some other Alaska-related posts about music, art and what-not. Be free to send me any existing posts on Alaska-related movies or other themes or write something completely new. I will include posts in my reviews each Sunday, so if you review or write about a film I'm also writing about, I will include your post in my own post about that film. You can see the schedule I have set up below. Send me your links on twitter (@mettekowalski), via email ([email protected]) or in the comment section. Please link to this post in any new post you write for the blogathon and include one of the banners. If you could include a banner in your sidebar, that would be awesome as well!
Schedule08. June: Grizzly Man (2005)15. June: Wendy and Lucy (2008)22. June: Insomnia (2002)29. June: 30 Days of Night (2007)06. July: Mystery, Alaska (1999)13. July: Alone in the Wilderness (2004)20. July: The Gold Rush (1925)27. July: Into the Wild (2007)
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Have fun, Cheechakos!
