Windy with a chance of mooseballs

Let me just welcome myself back to the blog scene. This post will have to be short and sweet, but no worries, it should become more regular. At least bi-weekly ;) I'm in Tununak now, living the life of a village teacher. No, that is not a member of the Village People you've never heard of before.

I teach every subject under the sun, but alas, not much sun here. When it IS sunny, its quite gorgeous (see pictures below...)

That would be the sun on the coast! We don't see it often, but everyone comes out to play when we do :) 

That building with the red roof and the funny broken-down yellow suburban--> that's where I live. It's the old BIA school. I'm not entirely sure what BIA stands for, but from what I undersand, BIA schools were really terrible places to get an education. Lots of abuse and things of that nature that kids should never be exposed to. We, the teachers, have turned it into a luxurious (albeit mouse infested) habitude where we play darts and have family dinners.

Speaking of which, it's taco wednesday. It was supposed to be taco tuesday yesterday, but I tried to make sour cream (yes, we have to make our own sour cream if we want fake mexican american food in Alaska) and it didn't set as quickly as I had hoped. So we try again today! When all else fails, I'll be pulling out the ranch dressing.

Live long, people! So you can catch a read of this blog every now and then;) Toodles!

I was only supposed to stay for a week....

Apparently, this is what everyone says when they first come to Alaska. 

I was supposed to come for vacation. Spend a week hiking in Denali- the National Park and Preserve named for the highest peak in North America and established for some sheep...

Did I stutter? Yes, for the sheep.

But something funny happened. I don't know if its something in the air, or something in the water. Or perhaps its a thing far more magical and mystifying that I'll ever fathom. But this just in: A month after I returned to the lower 48, I shipped 15 flat rate boxes to Tununak, Alaska and I didn't look back. 

Tununak: pronounced "ta-new-nik" or "too-noo-knock" depending on whether your first language was English or Yupik respectively. It's here.....

That dot is actually really large. I won't even have to look up funny pictures to post anymore. The real ones are funny enough. Population: 327. Climate: Best descriptions say cold and windy, but Webster's Dictionary is pending approval of far more vicious words that encompass the entire month of February at which time, the village of Tununak becomes completely inaccessible by plane. 

The view, however, when its not snowing or raining too hard to see, is breathtaking.

I wish I had time to sit here and spin you the tale of how I got here and what I've been doing. Unfortunately, school starts on Tuesday and today is Friday. So, the following list will have to suffice:

Why: To teach! In a village school with 120 students K-12. 

Hired: 2 weeks before I had to be moved to rural Alaska

What: Teaching-high school writing, middle school general science, earth science, beginner's instrumental music, ecology, and physical education

When: 1 year contract, school starts Aug 16th and will go until May 16thish with a 2.5 week for winter vacation

How: It beats the heck out of me, but it took some financial donations from some kind parties, me quitting my summer job, and some serious tetris skills when packing boxes

Funnies: 

-spilling everything I own out of my backpack while sprinting through the Seattle airport

-taking the following route to get to Anchorage--> dayton-houston-seattle-anchorage...what?

-having priority mailed boxes take two weeks to arrive (containing things like soap and dishes)

-boiling spaghetti in a frying pan

-opening a can without a can opener (yes, you can use a butter knife. and yes, I do have all my fingers.)

-being referred to as a "gussuk" or "white person" (yes, I am a minority)

-getting a new phone number only to have all verizon customers tell you that your number is listed as a landline

-carrying 15 flat rate boxes into the post office and claiming with a look of pure innocence on your face "no, there are no items in this box on the 'no ship' list. (batteries, pressurized cans, etc.) 

-crawling into a plane considered "large" by all Bush Alaska standards (4 passengers)

-sitting through an entire inservice on "how to use your email"

-walking through the single aisle of your village store

-having no windows in your bedroom

-moving in with a roommate you hardly know, just to get a bedroom with a window

-realizing that your efforts at having light in your bedroom will soon be futile because it will be dark almost all day and night starting in the late fall

-leaving work at 6:45 pm on a friday, just so you can go home, grab your tennies, and come back to play basketball with the classified staff

I'm sorry folks, but that will have to do for now. I have to run home, change my clothes, and use my flush toilet (currently, no toilets at school, only "honey buckets" because the sewage system is all messed up.) Then its back to school for some hoops. 

But no worries. There is more to come for sure! 

And no, I haven't seen a bear.

Keeping the Faith

It feels like a lifetime ago that I started this blog. Yes, I realize it was less than 6 months ago, but my life is so drastically different than it was then- its as if you have moved from the Aaa-Aso book of the encyclopedia to the Asp-Bel book. However drastically different my life has become, I do intend to honor my commitment to sharing my Alaskan experience. If for no other reason that this....

Yes people. I TOOK that picture. Hanging out a bus window no less. I found out that its actually impossible to take a bad picture in Alaska. Every picture you take makes you look like a professional. Of the hundreds of pictures I took, I only deleted a handful, and only because I either 1: had duplicates, or 2:    the picture was blurry because I was running from a bear.

So there you have it, folks. I'm not admitting defeat in the cyber world yet. I simply beg for patience. 

No words

I have never, in all my years (all 22, I know, roll you eyes...no one asked for your opinion) seen anything like the view I had when we flew into Anchorage this evening. 9pm Alaska time, 1am my time - I am WIDE awake. But let me back up....

It all started this morning, as I tried to finish my packing. Surprisingly (or maybe not) I was unable to get much sleep last night. I was tippity tap typing job applications until 1:30 ish and then I tried to snooze a little, only to feel some tightness in my back from the silly futon mattress I insisted on sleeping on. 

So I got up, wayyyyy before my alarm. Turns out, this was a very good thing. Even with my butt completely in order, I struggled to be ready to go at 10:45. I was frantically stuffing tootsie pops and mints into my overstuffed backpack. It kinda looks like a happy face guy! (the zipper is like an open mouth...squint. you'll see it.) 

-Ok, so after 30 minutes of trying to get these pictures in here, I have failed. And i'm not sure what the deal is, but I'm so tired I should probably just quit. Here's what I really wanted to tell you.

As we flew in to Anchorage, the mountains were poking through the clouds. And then they were below the clouds. And they kept getting bigger, and bigger. And then we could see houses and tiny tiny cars. It looked like a model city. With lots of grass and trees, and bits of "civilization." But as the mountains got bigger and bigger, the other things on the ground seemed to stay the same size! No joke, until the wheels of the plane touched down on the runway, I didn't understand the full scope and size of those mountains in relation to everything else. I swear to you all, my mouth was agape for the entire descent and most of the unloading of the plane.

And I'm still snapping pictures.

Off to bed with me for now. PS: we had to shut the curtains- its still light outside, even though its 11pm Alaska time. Crazy!

A plug for Karmin

I sit here before you all now. Ready and waiting to face the polar north of Alaska! Tomorrow, I board a plane that will take me all the way to Chicago! Then we have to walk.

Just kidding :) Actually, we are flying to Chicago, which is a rather short flight. And then we get the pleasure of airport people watching (an actual sport I think) until a few hours later, when we fly from Chicago to Anchorage. I hope that one of our planes looks like this. It will be very reassuring to me.

"Now boarding! The tricky traveller. Learn to love it." I think I should be a flight attendant actually. "Buckle up, folks. Don't know how? Get off this plane. If we crash, I only want smart resourceful people on board!" 

If you can't read the bottom of this picture it says "Remove the window, then just stand there and think about what you've done." 

LOL!

Photo documentation will of course be provided. I'm not sure if I'll have internet access, but I'll definitely keep some notes and have things to upload when we return. My prediction is that we will see something like this when we get off the plane...

I just googled, actually, and learned that it's been in the high 60's during the day and low 40's at night at our future destinations. I suppose that means that my only issue will be the nights, when all I've packed for pj's is shorts and t-shirts. I'm one of those restless sleeper types, so loose fitting clothing is imperative, especially when I'm not in my native habitat. 

But, I have historically kept a cool house (like, windows open in the winter. my friends know to wear long sleeves and pants when they come to visit.) so maybe I'll be okay! If not, I'll have to go cuddle a bear. 

Hahahahahaha

Actually, I do have a bear, and he's ready to go to Alaska too! Shhhhh, don't tell him we didn't get him a ticket....

Alright everyone! The kindle is updated. The playlist is made (and FULL of Karmin. Don't know who they are? Learn. Now. iTunes. Go). Now I just have to figure out how to smuggle my pantene shampoo AND my facewash into my luggage. I think airlines are secretly supporting a society in which no one showers. Ever.

Wish me luck!

"I'm having hot flashes." No, I didn't hear this out of a 60 yr old menopausal woman. I heard it out of a 13 year old camper. I'm currently volunteering at a camp for middle school girls with a science and math focus. And let me just tell you, it is very true that kids say the darndest things. Are you kidding me. Hot flashes?

 

Really though, it was actually very hot today. So hot that in my travels, I noticed that the highway was a tire wasteland. Apparently if you've had your tires long enough and its 98 degrees, you might have a tire explosion issue. 

I for one, was a popsicle. Melting away. I started sweating when I got out of the shower and I'm still sweating. My favorite part of the whole sweating experience today was after I had applied sunscreen to my face. As sweat dripped down my forehead, it collected every chemical that is never supposed to be in your body and deposited them in my eyes. 

I was all like "ahhhhhhhhhh"

Then my supervisor offered me an extra pair of sunglasses. Uhhhh, scuse me. That is not really my issue right now. My poor eyes! In the past week, they've been poked, prodded, dusted, and now chemicaled. 

I already wear glasses for pete's sake. I'm gonna have to replace these eyes with glass ones soon enough. But not before Alaska! I want to see it with my own eyes. 

I'd write more, but I have some crazy intense training in the morning. Suffice it to say, I need to continue doing push-ups and sprints to prepare for the bears. And pack. Packing might end up being a bigger beast than anything else. How does one fit a whole week worth of clothes and other supplies in a fanny pack?

 

Student teaching: the ultimate education major rip off

For those of you that are unaware, I applied for a teaching job in a rural part of Alaska not too long ago. Truthfully, I was rather excited about the prospect of teaching in the wild, frigid tundra. Stories of school doors frozen shut, transportation by snow mobile and a flannel and jeans dress code had romanticized the idea for me (I know right, what the heck is wrong with me, right?!) It seemed like such a crazy adventure! One that would allow me to figure out what I was really made of. Then I realized something....

I'm made mostly of water. This is what happens to water in the extreme cold-

Yes, so at least for now, I am letting my week vacation in Alaska suffice to cure me of my sense of adventure. 

Okay, sidenote- I was doing some minor landscaping today and in my haste to cut down a part of a bush, I poked myself very squarely in the eye. Usually, I would be wearing glasses that would have maybe saved me from my current fate. But sadly, I now look something like this-

Jusssst kidding. But I might be partially blinded. Which MEANS that taking pictures in Alaska is going to be all the more important for me because I might miss some things with this bad eye. 

Really though, this blog is not about my eye or how cold I might potentially be starting next Sunday. It's about the art/act of student teaching. As an education major who wanted a teaching license, I knew that ultimately, my undergraduate career would climax with my student teaching. It's a 16 week experience that will really tell a person a lot about how they will be in a classroom of their own. By the end of 16 weeks you are supposed to have full control of the day to day classroom activities. Because I knew that I wanted to teach from day one, I was excited about student teaching and enjoyed every single day I was there. In 16 weeks, I missed only one day for a sad sad circumstance. I was at school from 6:45/7am until 4pm on most days, after which I would come home, grab a quick dinner, and then sit down to make lesson plans and grade papers. For me it was an incredible experience, but I do understand why some of my peers were less than pleased with their experience.

Some people had super controlling cooperating teachers. These are the people who offer up their classrooms and offer to supervise us in our first teaching experience. You would hope that they would want us to learn and they would support us 100%. I was lucky enough to have that experience. Some of my peers were barely allowed to breathe in their teachers' classrooms. Had that been my experience, I would have lasted 1 day. Then I would have walked down to the principal's office and demanded a new cooperating teacher. Because when it comes down to the facts, we all deserve that one shot in the classroom for the following reasons.

1) We are paying for it, via tuition (most majors have paid or perhaps unpaid summer internships- student teaching is the internship you pay for.) Wrapped up in that tuition is a small fee that the cooperating teacher gets paid. Granted, it's not much, but regardless, you offered me an experience in your classroom. Don't collect your check and continue to be a control freak.

2) YOU OFFERED. The cooperating teachers usually offer to be cooperating teachers. Don't pretend like they shoved me in your classroom while you were under duress. 

3) If given a chance to excel, many well prepared student teachers will relieve the cooperating teacher of many of their classroom duties, giving them a lot of free time. I mean, seriously. It's like having a sub for 16 weeks. 

4) All cooperating teachers were once student teachers. Don't you want to have a hand in training your future colleagues? 

Pish posh. I don't regret a single day I spent in the classroom. We made a zoo, and investigated skinned lamb's head, and held snakes, and made up songs about parasites and watched hilarious mollusk videos. And I'm telling you all of this now because I went back to the classroom that I taught in for their last day of school. And let me just tell you, I was beyond welcomed. Not to toot my own horn or anything, but some of those kids shrieked when they saw me. One girl came running in the room, not because she saw me, but because she heard my voice. I mean, really? 7th graders rock:) 

Thusly, here is what I think about the challenge of getting a job-

Attention all schools in the world: I am not giving up. You can send me rejection emails, and leave me rejection voicemails, or never respond at all. You can tell me I'm not qualified or suggest that I don't have the experience you are looking for. But I plan to leave an impression wherever I go. A good one. And I will do that in a classroom, where the youth can benefit. 

"Life is whatever I receive it to be." -Beckah Shae

I receive it to be a challenge worth challenging. Take that bears. Take that.

In the spirit of safety

My life lately has involved some calculated risk taking. Being a young female living in a bigger city, I don't take unnecessarily large risks simply because I'd have to clean up my own mess. But life would be so boring without them, right?

Here is my checklist for risk calculation. 

1) Will it cost me any money? 

2) Will any of my bones be broken?

3) Will my car be in danger?

4) If I yell loudly, will someone hear me?

5) Will it be dark? (I don't really care for the dark. Like, not really at all.)

If the answer to most or all of these questions (except number 4)  is no, then I will probably participate in whatever risk it is that I am contemplating. For example. Today, I took a nap in a community park. No, not in the big city community. In a smaller one. Here was the checklist.

1) Will it cost me any money: No, naps are for free. Thank the lord baby jesus.

2) Will any of my bones be broken: Only if I sleep really violently.

3) Will my car be in danger: No, I was sleeping right next to it.

4) If I yell loudly, will someone hear me: Yes actually. There were workers in the park doing landscaping. I'm sure they would have come to my aid. 

5) Will it be dark: No, that was the whole point of the nap. It was sunny and warm and I had a blanket to lay on. 

I also propped open a book in front of my face so it actually looked like I was reading until you got close enough to see that my eyes were shut. I've been told I always look like my eyes are shut, so they would have had to get really close to tell the difference. 

Let me just tell you. Those 30 minutes were the most glorious minutes I've had all week. Nothing like a warm sunny nap to recharge your battery. 

Now, to address my Alaska trip (which is happening in a week and a day.) I've been doing a little research on Denali (where we will be spending much of our time) and this is what I've learned. 

Wildlife will include caribou, grizzlies and wolves. 

The number of hikers permitted on any trail is limited. Does this mean that even though there are 6 million acres of park (quite literally) I might not be able to hike? It better mean that they don't want everyone hiking in the same spot. If I have to sit in the lodge and think of all the fabulously dangerous scenarios I'm not allowed to get myself into, Ima be mad! 

Park rangers use sled dogs to navigate the park. I wonder what sort of sled dog team I could get if I traded my car in? 

Generally, there are no trails in the park......I think I need a compass. I tend to be directionally challenged. Like the time I tried to get to a city that was 45 minutes away and passed it up, almost ending up 2 hours from my original destination. My friends all know that before I got my gps I relied heavily on my cell phone and their use of google maps to find my sorry butt.

BRFC is a common term in Denali. It stands for "Bear Resistant Food Container." They look something like this, and are free at the park..

I'm pretty sure this is what bears think about them...

Campfires are not permitted, but don't worry. They say you should bring anything smoked or heavily scented. I wonder why... I'm also going to need to invest in some heavy duty bug spray, as well as the recommended emergency gear - a lighter, first aid kit, a knife, and a "signaling device" like a whistle. It seems that while a whistle in the city could mean a football game is underway, in Denali, it means trouble. Of a furry type...

I hope you all feel as reassured as I am now!