For the past few weeks, I have been overcome with a desire to write a great blog post. I have a great post up my sleeve about an ill-fated guinea pig, but, alas, I'm still awaiting pictures. So, in the meantime, let me tell you how I have been spending my time.
Mostly, I've been in Bethel. For those of you who are unfamiliar with Bethel, it is my regional hub, school district headquarters, and closest town of any importance. There are about 6,000 people in Bethel- most of whom seem to work for LKSD (Lower Kuskokwim School District- like me) or YKHC (Yukon-Kuskokwim Health Corporation). I have spent the last two weekends there- and they have been fabulous!
Two weeks ago, I had the opportunity to score writing assessments in Bethel. Writing assessments are writing assignments given to all students in my district. The students must choose from two prompts and spend one class period writing about it. Then, the district brings in 25 or so people to score them. I've been told that to most people being called into Bethel to score these assessments for 3 days is tantamount to having your teeth pulled. I, on the other hand, think it is loads of fun and would love to do it more often!
That weekend I finished working on Saturday, but decided to stay an extra night in Bethel at the Old Mission House Bed and Breakfast owned by my friend Vicki. My favorite thing about staying there is that Vicki treats her guests as friends. I showed up there Wednesday night to find Vicki working in her kitchen. She told me that I would have the place to myself after that night. I assumed she meant by myself without any other guests. However, Vicki meant she was leaving for Seattle, and the house would be all mine. She agreed to let me stay an extra night for the bargain price of $0 if I helped with household chores while she was out. I agreed right away.
One might ask me, what do you do in Bethel on a Saturday night? The answer-ballroom dancing! A co-worker suggested to me that Segue and I join him for dance lessons. the three of us paid $10 and fox trotted and cha-chaed the night away! In true Alaska fashion, there were actually MORE MEN at ballroom dancing than women!
Another week of work passed, and I went back to Bethel this weekend. My roomie and friend, Traci Buckle (look her up on iTunes) was performing at the Steel Salmon and Raven Show. So, Segue, myself, and a few other friends bought $50 dinner tickets to eat crab, listen to Traci, and socialize. That might seem outlandish, but it was awesome!
What is a Steel Salmon and Raven show? Well, local artists are given salmon and ravens made of steel to decorate and create art with. The results were amazing. Then, the pieces were auctioned off along with other various objects. The pieces went for $95 at the low end and over $600 at the high end. I also watched a guy pay $75 for a cheesecake. Of course, as I was reminded, it was a fundraiser for the local art guild.
The auction ended and Segue reminded me that ballroom dancing was being offered again. So, we went with three more friends in tow. Once again, it was a great class followed by wine (yay!) and Catch Phrase with some more awesome people. So, for all of you who were curious, that's what I've been up to.
Amongst all this weekend fun, I do manage to teach also.
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Saturday, August 21, 2010
I Know I'm Back. . .
Today is a cool, misty day here in Eek. I've been here for 13 days, and already feel like I never left. In some ways, this is the easiest start of the school year I've ever had. I don't have to learn any new names, I know the staff, and my classes are already organized. However, there are some things that are truly indicative of where I live here in the tundra.
Today, I packed up two boxes. One goes to my mom with random items that I've ended with like my niece's socks, my brother's book, and a few other odds and ends. I also packed up a box with a loaner cell phone to mail back to the company now that I have my fancy used Blackberry.
I made my way to the post office and was told that someone had to get the boxes that had come in for the school. They were marked frozen and the post office didn't want them sitting there for the weekend. So, after trying to get a hold of my principal and another staff member, I ended up getting some students to help me get the boxes back to the school. There were too many to carry, so the student borrowed his parents' four wheeler with a trailer (remember- no cars here). I finally found another teacher to help me. For a tiny village, there were remarkably no people around to help me. . .
When we got to the post office, the worker brought out the boxes only to find that none were frozen, but most were textbooks. Oh well. As we made our way in the cool mist to the school with boxes of books, but no frozen food, I realized that I was back and couldn't be happier.
Today, I packed up two boxes. One goes to my mom with random items that I've ended with like my niece's socks, my brother's book, and a few other odds and ends. I also packed up a box with a loaner cell phone to mail back to the company now that I have my fancy used Blackberry.
I made my way to the post office and was told that someone had to get the boxes that had come in for the school. They were marked frozen and the post office didn't want them sitting there for the weekend. So, after trying to get a hold of my principal and another staff member, I ended up getting some students to help me get the boxes back to the school. There were too many to carry, so the student borrowed his parents' four wheeler with a trailer (remember- no cars here). I finally found another teacher to help me. For a tiny village, there were remarkably no people around to help me. . .
When we got to the post office, the worker brought out the boxes only to find that none were frozen, but most were textbooks. Oh well. As we made our way in the cool mist to the school with boxes of books, but no frozen food, I realized that I was back and couldn't be happier.
Sunday, June 13, 2010
Because there are Roads Here. . .
I thought I would take some time to fill everyone in on what an Alaskan teacher does when she's not teaching.
1. Visiting friends. I have eaten more meals out in the past 3 weeks than I have in the past 6 months! Evidently, as we get older and want to spend time with friends, we know how to do two things: eat and drink. I have done plenty of both of those things. I'm not complaining though, it's nice to have the option.
2. The camper. For those of you who don't know, I bought a 1984 Yellowstone camper. It works about halfway. The hot water heater needs fixed and the air conditioner doesn't work. Although, I've been told to suck it up because it's not real camping any way. I decided to insure the camper because I'm a practical person. My car insurance is over $300 a half, my camper is $19. That should give you an idea of how much it's worth!
3. Family. One of my main activities has been visiting family and friends. I have watched my niece dance and graduate preschool. Alex, my niece, was performing in a street fair. So, my family went out to support her. It had to be 90 degrees and my thickened Alaskan blood wasn't having it! It was so hot and so uncomfortable, but I told myself it was worth it for Alex. Her group went and started their dance. It was maybe 30 seconds. . . All that sweat for 30 seconds. But, she was happy.
4. Deals! I have spend so much money since I've been home. But, the best deal, by far, is Diet Coke. Many of you know that I love this stuff and often call it Diet Crack. But, I refuse to pay $14 for a 12 pack in the village. So, imagine my delight when I found it at Wal-Mart for $5!!!!!! It was amazing! I almost bought 3 cases, but then remembered that I can go to Wal-Mart any time- because there are roads here.
1. Visiting friends. I have eaten more meals out in the past 3 weeks than I have in the past 6 months! Evidently, as we get older and want to spend time with friends, we know how to do two things: eat and drink. I have done plenty of both of those things. I'm not complaining though, it's nice to have the option.
2. The camper. For those of you who don't know, I bought a 1984 Yellowstone camper. It works about halfway. The hot water heater needs fixed and the air conditioner doesn't work. Although, I've been told to suck it up because it's not real camping any way. I decided to insure the camper because I'm a practical person. My car insurance is over $300 a half, my camper is $19. That should give you an idea of how much it's worth!
3. Family. One of my main activities has been visiting family and friends. I have watched my niece dance and graduate preschool. Alex, my niece, was performing in a street fair. So, my family went out to support her. It had to be 90 degrees and my thickened Alaskan blood wasn't having it! It was so hot and so uncomfortable, but I told myself it was worth it for Alex. Her group went and started their dance. It was maybe 30 seconds. . . All that sweat for 30 seconds. But, she was happy.
4. Deals! I have spend so much money since I've been home. But, the best deal, by far, is Diet Coke. Many of you know that I love this stuff and often call it Diet Crack. But, I refuse to pay $14 for a 12 pack in the village. So, imagine my delight when I found it at Wal-Mart for $5!!!!!! It was amazing! I almost bought 3 cases, but then remembered that I can go to Wal-Mart any time- because there are roads here.
Thursday, May 20, 2010
48 Hours and Counting
So, here it is May 20, and I can hardly believe it. But, first, I must apologize for being absent for 6 weeks. We had internet trouble, then I couldn't upload pictures, and frankly, I've been SUPER busy! But, here I am again.
Moving up here has been such a wonderful experience. I am looking forward to next year. In case you haven't heard, I did sign my contract for next year. I've done thing I never thought I would.
I like lists, so here is a list of things I've done that I probably never would have done in Ohio:
1. I relearned how to sew. I made a quilted table runner!
2. I cut a moose and a caribou. The caribou, if you'll remember, was on my kitchen floor.
3. I've learned to love aqutaq, or Eskimo ice cream. It's pretty much Crisco and berries, but it is delicious!
4. I rode on an ice road in a truck, and secretly prayed that the ice didn't break, even though I know won't!
5. I ate raw beluga whale. It was pretty bad.
6. I attended my first graduation as a teacher of the graduates. I cried a little.
7. I learned that prom decorations are a terrible idea, and that you need an engineering degree to assemble them!
8. I own snow gear, so I don't freeze to death when traveling for work.
9. I paid $10 for a bag of flour.
10. I've made lifelong friends who I never would have met any other way.
Just to illustrate how different things are here, during prom decorating, some high schoolers and I were putting together the Eiffel Tower and you needed to cut a hole in a piece of cardboard with a craft knife. Well, we couldn't find a craft knife to save our lives. So, I said, "Ok. Who brought a knife to school today?" Two boys took knives out of their pockets. I assigned one of them to cut the hole. That is something that NEVER would happen in the Lower 48. I'd have to suspend them both!
A few other things to note: I moved to a different apartment. A fellow teacher, Dirk, and I decided to switch houses. I now live with Traci in a nicer, newer apartment. We've been roommates for about a month, and so far so good. This will come to a surprise for those of you who know how much I hate roommates!
We are getting a new principal next year. He seems like a good guy, and I'm excited for him to be here. Frankly, he has to be pretty good; he's also an OWU grad!
I bought a 1984 camper to use for the summer. So, if you're near Atwood Lake Park, look me up. I think I'm lot 693. Tony, my brother, got the lot for me.
Those are all the big things I can think of. I'll be arriving home at 8:23 PM EST at the Akron/Canton Airport. It's a full 24 hour trip with plenty of stops in between. So, Portia, my cat, and I will be leaving Eek at 4:30 PM tomorrow and heading out. Keep looking back as I'll update this summer. I'll try to do it more often.
Moving up here has been such a wonderful experience. I am looking forward to next year. In case you haven't heard, I did sign my contract for next year. I've done thing I never thought I would.
I like lists, so here is a list of things I've done that I probably never would have done in Ohio:
1. I relearned how to sew. I made a quilted table runner!
2. I cut a moose and a caribou. The caribou, if you'll remember, was on my kitchen floor.
3. I've learned to love aqutaq, or Eskimo ice cream. It's pretty much Crisco and berries, but it is delicious!
4. I rode on an ice road in a truck, and secretly prayed that the ice didn't break, even though I know won't!
5. I ate raw beluga whale. It was pretty bad.
6. I attended my first graduation as a teacher of the graduates. I cried a little.
7. I learned that prom decorations are a terrible idea, and that you need an engineering degree to assemble them!
8. I own snow gear, so I don't freeze to death when traveling for work.
9. I paid $10 for a bag of flour.
10. I've made lifelong friends who I never would have met any other way.
Just to illustrate how different things are here, during prom decorating, some high schoolers and I were putting together the Eiffel Tower and you needed to cut a hole in a piece of cardboard with a craft knife. Well, we couldn't find a craft knife to save our lives. So, I said, "Ok. Who brought a knife to school today?" Two boys took knives out of their pockets. I assigned one of them to cut the hole. That is something that NEVER would happen in the Lower 48. I'd have to suspend them both!
A few other things to note: I moved to a different apartment. A fellow teacher, Dirk, and I decided to switch houses. I now live with Traci in a nicer, newer apartment. We've been roommates for about a month, and so far so good. This will come to a surprise for those of you who know how much I hate roommates!
We are getting a new principal next year. He seems like a good guy, and I'm excited for him to be here. Frankly, he has to be pretty good; he's also an OWU grad!
I bought a 1984 camper to use for the summer. So, if you're near Atwood Lake Park, look me up. I think I'm lot 693. Tony, my brother, got the lot for me.
Those are all the big things I can think of. I'll be arriving home at 8:23 PM EST at the Akron/Canton Airport. It's a full 24 hour trip with plenty of stops in between. So, Portia, my cat, and I will be leaving Eek at 4:30 PM tomorrow and heading out. Keep looking back as I'll update this summer. I'll try to do it more often.
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Native Arts
A week and a half ago I had the opportunity to go into Bethel for the last art retreat of the year. This one focused on Native arts. I was a little nervous going in. I'm not the most talented person, so I was worried about how my art would turn out.
I was pleasantly surprised that the activities were geared to use in the classroom teaching students. This was good news to me because I should be able handle an art project meant for a 10-year-old! They split us into four groups and explained that there would be four sessions: beading, weaving, sewing, and carving. Each one took a half day to complete.
This is a spoon I carved using a Haida (another Native Alaskan culture) knife. The most difficult part of this was holding the knife correctly. You had to hold the knife in your palm facing up with the point on the opposite side of your thumb and pull the blade toward you. Our instructor claimed it was safer. This is probably true, but it wasn't easier. This was probably the hardest craft because I had never carved anything ever before. The head was supposed to be round, but you can see mine looks more like a stop sign. Of course, I did better than some. One guy carved the bowl part so deeply that he went right through and put a hole in the middle of his spoon!
This is a Yup'ik yo-yo. Traditionally, it's made of leather, animal skin, and sewn together with caribou sinew. Mine is made with leather, fake calf skin (not native to the area), and imitation sinew. Basically the thread is a waxy string. I sewed the two little mittens with brown leather on one side and calf skin on the other. When the workshop was almost over, we were supposed to try out our yo-yos. So, I asked the carving instructor for help because you don't use them like Lower 48 yo-yos. He started to try it and the one end fell off! Evidently, my sewing was not very tight. Live and learn I guess!
This is the basket that I wove. Traditionally, this would be made of grass, but ours were yarn. I think this might be the best (or second best) product I made. It took me awhile to get the hang of it, especially when I started weaving backwards. The instructor had a hard time getting me to do it right, but I learned!
This is a Yup'ik dance necklace. The brown stone looking things were traditionally made of bone (ours were plastic). I think this is my favorite thing that I made. It would be worn during Yup'ik dances. I think the most interesting thing I learned during this retreat was that this was a common time for women to talk and socialize. In many ways, this was the most enjoyable art retreat I have been to. I learned about how tough it was to complete these in an untraditional way, let alone with caribou sinew and hide! Enjoy the pictures!
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Ice Road Erin!
A few weeks ago I had the chance to go into Bethel for two trainings. One training (an art retreat) was Friday and Saturday and the other (about classroom management) was Monday and Tuesday. This meant I had a day free between them. So, I decided to call Segue and see if I could visit her. Segue lives in a semi-suburb of Bethel called Oscarville. Although it is a short distance from Bethel (less than 10 miles I'd say) there are no roads. So, nobody can drive from Oscarville to Bethel. Unless of course, you don't mind driving on a frozen river. . .
So, that is exactly what I did! Well, I didn't drive, I rode along (or followed as they say here). It was a crazy experience! The "road" was well traveled. We saw at least a dozen other vehicles on the river as Segue, another friend, and I made our way to Oscarville. The road is really just two tire tracks leading from Bethel to other villages. This is fine until you see a truck coming the other way. When this happens one person, has to drive in the untouched snow and try to get back in the tracks once the opposing traffic passes.
This happened a few times in my short trip. The whole trip took about 15 minutes. But, some people drive from Bethel to much further off villages, like Kasigluk, which is about 2 hours! There is even a business called "river cabs" that take you from Bethel to other villages.
For those of you reading this who think I'm crazy for trying this because the ice could crack, let me educate you a little further. The river here freezes from top down, but it also freezes from the bottom up because it's so cold here. At a certain depth, the ground never thaws. So, even if the top layer did crack, the water might not be too deep, like a few inches. Don't worry, Mom!
Although, there are dangers. For instance, on the way back to Bethel, I saw a snow mobile that had caught on fire and burnt to the frame. But, as the driver said, "Well, there are no bones, so the person must have gotten off in time". That's optimism. Enjoy the pictures below of the ice road and Oscarville!
This is the view going from Bethel to the ice road. 
You can see there is a truck coming at us from the other direction.
Ice Road to Oscarville.
A view of Oscarville from the river.
Totally a different topic-- This is the sunset in Eek!
So, that is exactly what I did! Well, I didn't drive, I rode along (or followed as they say here). It was a crazy experience! The "road" was well traveled. We saw at least a dozen other vehicles on the river as Segue, another friend, and I made our way to Oscarville. The road is really just two tire tracks leading from Bethel to other villages. This is fine until you see a truck coming the other way. When this happens one person, has to drive in the untouched snow and try to get back in the tracks once the opposing traffic passes.
This happened a few times in my short trip. The whole trip took about 15 minutes. But, some people drive from Bethel to much further off villages, like Kasigluk, which is about 2 hours! There is even a business called "river cabs" that take you from Bethel to other villages.
For those of you reading this who think I'm crazy for trying this because the ice could crack, let me educate you a little further. The river here freezes from top down, but it also freezes from the bottom up because it's so cold here. At a certain depth, the ground never thaws. So, even if the top layer did crack, the water might not be too deep, like a few inches. Don't worry, Mom!
Although, there are dangers. For instance, on the way back to Bethel, I saw a snow mobile that had caught on fire and burnt to the frame. But, as the driver said, "Well, there are no bones, so the person must have gotten off in time". That's optimism. Enjoy the pictures below of the ice road and Oscarville!
This is the view going from Bethel to the ice road. 
You can see there is a truck coming at us from the other direction.
Ice Road to Oscarville.
A view of Oscarville from the river.
Totally a different topic-- This is the sunset in Eek!
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Modes of Transportation
Every small town has a sport that they love. Here in Eek, and most of the tundra, it is basketball. This weekend it was my job to accompany our junior high basketball team to Kwigillingok, another village in our district. The junior high team is coed, and therefore they needed a female chaperone. It started out with a fun plane ride. The students asked me if they could ask the pilot for a "roller coaster". I said sure. I like thrill rides, so I figured this would be ok. A roller coaster is when the pilot nosedives the plane toward the frozen tundra, and then pulls up and goes higher than the usual flight track. It was so much fun! Trash, paper, clipboards--everything-- flies into the air due to the lack of gravity. Of course, we had to have one on the ride home too.
This is a kayak that Bill is working on. 
This is another traditional kayak. Notice the vein running down and forking out at the bottom. That's where Bill and his sons patched together two pieces of seal skin. It's held together with moss and seal fat as the "glue". This is one of the most interesting experiences I've had since I've been here. I'm really glad I got the chance to see this work.
The highlight of the weekend was meeting Bill, a teacher at Kwig, who builds kayaks in the Native American traditional way. 
This is a kayak that Bill is working on.
These are the frames for kayaks that are a work in progress.
This is the inside of a kayak. Notice how the "ribs" are bent? They bend those with their teeth!
This is a kayak made in the most traditional Native American Way. The skin of the kayak is seal skin, and the colors are made with crushed rock and water.
This is another traditional kayak. Notice the vein running down and forking out at the bottom. That's where Bill and his sons patched together two pieces of seal skin. It's held together with moss and seal fat as the "glue". This is one of the most interesting experiences I've had since I've been here. I'm really glad I got the chance to see this work.
This last picture is just a pretty sunset on the tundra.
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