Yes, they did, but we'll get to that.
It all started innocently enough. Last Monday I found out I was going to Bethel for an inservice. Kind of iffy on that; I didn't really want to go but I didn't really not want to go. On the one hand it was a chance to shop, shower (regularly) and avoid the honey bucket. On the other hand, it's kind of a pain to find a sub, make sub plans, get everything packed up, etc. The plan was I would leave after school on Thursday. I called on Wednesday morning to make my reservations. When it was time to pay they said, "don't give me your credit card number yet, it's supposed to be bad tomorrow, you probably won't even go." More of a reason to not want to go, or even plan to go.
I call on Thursday morning with the card number. Planes are flying but late. At this point it is in the teens temperature-wise with wind about 20-30 mph. At about 4:30 I get a call that my plane is in Kipnuk, the next village over and will be by me in about 25 minutes. Temperature is up a little, now in the high 20's/low 30's, wind blowing in the 40's-50's mph range. 10 minutes later I get a call that the pilot is turning around and heading back to Bethel. The new plan is that I will leave Friday morning on the first plane (10:30).
At this point I need to get something to eat. I didn't eat much during the day because I was planning to go out to eat in Bethel for my usual $30 two taco meal. Usually, if I don't have anything at home I go to the store, get some food, go home to get a can of Diet Coke and then come back to school to eat. I walked to the store with the wind now regularly in the high 40's with gust in the high 50 mph's. Luckily it wasn't too cold, still in the 30's. As I leave the store and the wind blows me down the ramp I decide to just go right home and stay there for the evening.
On the walk home I had to stop and hand on to a fence because the wind would have knocked me over. It was kind of cool actually. I get home, eat, do some crossword puzzles and settle down to watch Big Bang Theory and then 30 Rock. At about 8:45, right in the middle of 30 Rock, everything goes off; TV, lights, refrigerator, heat. In Illinois when this happens I usually just go to bed, so that's what I did. Ten minutes later I get a call from Jeff, one of the other teachers. He tells me that the power is off in the whole village and not to expect it back at least until it gets light out, which at this time of year is not until 11:00 am. I think about going to sleep at the school but it's still fairly warm, I'm not going to freeze to death so I bundle up-long underwear, flannel pants, two pairs of socks, 3 shirts, two blankets and back to bed. It was cold. I woke up 3 or 4 times and each time I was colder and had to readjust. My alarm rings at 6:45 and because I don't want to get out of bed, I hit snooze for an hour and a half until 8:15. Since I'm supposed to be at school at 8:15, I figure I should probably get up. Since all of my clean clothes are in my suitcase at the school waiting to go to Bethel all I have to wear is a pair of sweat pants and a T-shirt.
When I get to school, I find out the two people who know how to fix the electricity are out of town. We're not sure when they'll be back. Someone says they might stay away longer because they don't want to come back when the power's out. Our custodian hooks up a generator at my house and I get to pick up to two items that I want to use. I opted for heat and TV. My theory was "you can live by the light of the TV, but you can't watch the lights." We only had one generator so one of the other teachers had a series of extension cords running from the school to his house. As it turns out the power did go back on sometime that afternoon and I now have the generator at my house in case this happens again (I'm told it will.) I ended up not going to Bethel.
After those events, it has now gotten colder, pretty much 15 or lower since Saturday. Today my doorknob froze and I couldn't get in for about a half hour. My neighbor came over and finally got it open for me.
Now, I'm going to go home and watch Charlie Brown. Good Grief!
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Happy Thanksgiving
Happy Thanksgiving. My two main topics today will be food and thanking.
Last week there was a feast honoring an elder who died last year. It was held at the school as most events here are. Pretty much everyone in the village came and most of them brought food. There was a line of tables all along one wall and around the corner of the gym. Some of the food was what you would consider the usuals; mashed potatoes, salad, chicken, jell-o, etc. However most of it was local. I personally only ate two new things both of them coming from the same animal. Two different types of walrus meat-one was cooked and even had a little fur still on it and the other was a little chunk of raw kidney. I tried kidney the other day but spit it out. This time I actually ate it-just a bite though. There was a plate of hard-boiled eggs, nothing out of the ordinary there, but wait, these were not your ordinary eggs. We had a choice between sea gull or goose. Having watched the Cubs all year, I'm kind of used to goose eggs so I opted for the sea gull. They were all gone when I got to the plate so I took a goose. First thing-they're big! Second thing-I cracked it open and out oozed a real live dead goose. When the locals go searching for food they take any egg they can find. I was told it was treat and I should still eat it. I didn't.
Some of the other foods I didn't eat-kelp, fish eggs, beluga whale. I wanted whale but that was also all gone when I got to it. There were plates full of various fish and fowl but I didn't know what anything was so I just skipped it. Overall it was pretty cool. Everyone sat on the floor which is common around here. Most of the serving dishes didn't have utensils; people just reached in and grabbed or ripped off what they wanted. Those of you who know me well, know that is very difficult for me; but you know what they say, "when in Chefornak, do what the Chefornakians do."
Today was our village Thanksgiving feast. Kind of the same thing in some ways, different in others. It was during the school day and the whole village was invited. This time we had turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, regular Thanksgiving staples. The only thing missing was the pumpkin pie. Anyone that can get one here for me and have it still be edible will be greatly rewarded.
On Thursday the teachers are all getting together for our Thanksgiving dinner. I'm looking forward to it but it's also a little tough not seeing my family.
I also wanted to send out a couple of "thank yous." First to anyone who is reading this, thanks for reading. People back home that have run errands for me and taken care of my house; mom, Jason, Glor, Becky, Zach, Mandy, Catie I couldn't be doing this without you. A huge thank you to the people who have sent unsolicited boxes/packages. You can't imagine how good it feels to hear Nicole, the postmaster say "Tom, you have a box at the post office" when I wasn't expecting anything. Thank you; Karen and Dan, Uncle Ed and Aunt Elaine, Eydie and Tim from Osco, Mom. I hope I didn't miss anybody.
Quyana
Last week there was a feast honoring an elder who died last year. It was held at the school as most events here are. Pretty much everyone in the village came and most of them brought food. There was a line of tables all along one wall and around the corner of the gym. Some of the food was what you would consider the usuals; mashed potatoes, salad, chicken, jell-o, etc. However most of it was local. I personally only ate two new things both of them coming from the same animal. Two different types of walrus meat-one was cooked and even had a little fur still on it and the other was a little chunk of raw kidney. I tried kidney the other day but spit it out. This time I actually ate it-just a bite though. There was a plate of hard-boiled eggs, nothing out of the ordinary there, but wait, these were not your ordinary eggs. We had a choice between sea gull or goose. Having watched the Cubs all year, I'm kind of used to goose eggs so I opted for the sea gull. They were all gone when I got to the plate so I took a goose. First thing-they're big! Second thing-I cracked it open and out oozed a real live dead goose. When the locals go searching for food they take any egg they can find. I was told it was treat and I should still eat it. I didn't.
Some of the other foods I didn't eat-kelp, fish eggs, beluga whale. I wanted whale but that was also all gone when I got to it. There were plates full of various fish and fowl but I didn't know what anything was so I just skipped it. Overall it was pretty cool. Everyone sat on the floor which is common around here. Most of the serving dishes didn't have utensils; people just reached in and grabbed or ripped off what they wanted. Those of you who know me well, know that is very difficult for me; but you know what they say, "when in Chefornak, do what the Chefornakians do."
Today was our village Thanksgiving feast. Kind of the same thing in some ways, different in others. It was during the school day and the whole village was invited. This time we had turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, regular Thanksgiving staples. The only thing missing was the pumpkin pie. Anyone that can get one here for me and have it still be edible will be greatly rewarded.
On Thursday the teachers are all getting together for our Thanksgiving dinner. I'm looking forward to it but it's also a little tough not seeing my family.
I also wanted to send out a couple of "thank yous." First to anyone who is reading this, thanks for reading. People back home that have run errands for me and taken care of my house; mom, Jason, Glor, Becky, Zach, Mandy, Catie I couldn't be doing this without you. A huge thank you to the people who have sent unsolicited boxes/packages. You can't imagine how good it feels to hear Nicole, the postmaster say "Tom, you have a box at the post office" when I wasn't expecting anything. Thank you; Karen and Dan, Uncle Ed and Aunt Elaine, Eydie and Tim from Osco, Mom. I hope I didn't miss anybody.
Quyana
Monday, November 8, 2010
Chefornak to Chicago in 5 Easy Steps
OK, here we are again. It's been a while since I've been on here. I hope you all have been doing all right without me. My last post was October 10th, almost a month ago. Right now I'm sitting at my desk eating leftover Halloween candy.
Since we last met...
I left on Wednesday, October 13th to go back to Illinois for Becky's wedding. What a trip! I'm surprised I didn't run into Steve Martin and John Candy.
First, I almost didn't get to leave Chefornak. It was foggy and flights were being cancelled. [Alaskans get their PFD (Permanent Fund Dividend) checks in late September/early October. Basically it's a check that all citizens get every year, roughly around $1000. Alaska Airlines has a huge sale when the checks come out.] The importance of the last few sentences is; if I missed one flight there were no empty seats on any plane until Monday the 18th, two days after the wedding. At about noon KC, my principal calls me into his office and tells me to call each of the airlines that serve our village and make reservations with any or all of them to make sure I get out of here. I find a plane and leave around 1:30 and get to Bethel at 2:30. My plane is not scheduled to leave Bethel until 8:30. Having a few hours and not wanting to spend the $7.00 for a cab I walk from the airport to "downtown" Bethel, about 3 miles. Do some shopping, eat at Subway and walk back. When I get there, I'm told that because of the returning fog, my next plane will be late and may not come at all. After sitting in the airport for 2 more hours, the plane comes in at around 9:30. At this point, I've been gone for 8 hours, walked 6-7 miles and have travelled less than 100 miles. The plane leaves for Anchorage at 10:30 and I sit next to two people (a man and a women) both chewing tobacco, and spitting into their empty Pepsi cans.
I get to Anchorage around 11:30 and wait for my next plane. I'm scheduled to leave at 12:45 to fly to Seattle. While waiting I buy an $8.00 Big Mac meal. This plane leaves on time and I get to Seattle around 5:00 their time. The Seattle airport has trains that take you from one terminal to the other. Being impatient, I just hop on the first one which results in having to take two more to get me back to where I'm supposed to be. I'm there for a couple of hours, enough time to eat at Starbuck's (just a donut) and on to the next plane, leaving at 7:00 for Denver. Get to Denver, get myself a personal pizza from Pizza Hut and head for the next plane. This plane (big and very nice) takes me to Chicago. As I was traveling I noticed the physical appearance of both the airports and the people improved as I moved from Bethel to Anchorage to Seattle to Denver, but then it stopped when I got to O'Hare (no offense intended).
After getting off the plane in Chicago I had to run to catch to CTA train. Took that to Jefferson Park. Got off the train there and waited for the Metra to take me to Crystal Lake. When I got to Crystal Lake, my car was waiting for me with a full gas tank (thanks Jason). It was now 6:00 pm (3:00 Alaska time). In the previous 26 hours I had been on a total of 5 planes and 5 trains in four different states and four different time zones with less than 4 hours of sleep.
Even with the hassles I'm glad I went back.
Here in Chefornak there's not a whole lot out of the ordinary going on. I worked at the Halloween carnival last weekend. I was in charge of the duck game. My biggest problem was telling the older kids that they couldn't play. Sunday was Halloween and the oddest thing was many of the adults go trick or treating without kids. Kind of interesting to hear a knock on the door, open it and see a 40 year man standing there with a bag for candy.
Ice skating is the big activity right now, although they just call it skating. There's only a short window that it's possible to skate. The few weeks after the ponds freeze until there is too much snow. I haven't skated but I've been out there. The kids like to hang to my coat while I pull them around. I've had as many as 12 hanging on all yelling "Run faster!" Hah!! that's what I say.
This weekend was the time change "Fall Back". They don't do it here until Sunday afternoon. That way they don't have to change their schedule for church. Clocks stay the same and then when you get home from church you move them back.
ALASKA LIFESTYLE NEWS
Last Tuesday I helped clean blood off of a seal skin. The seal was caught and skinned over the weekend. The skin was then brought to the Preschool of all places. There, the kids (and I for a short period), cleaned it and hung it to dry.
Of course the big news is..... I used my Honeybucket for the first time. It was a Saturday night, I woke up around 3:00 am and thought I have to go. I sat there and thought about getting dressed and running to the school, then I tried to convince myself it was gas, then I hoped it would just go away. None of the above. In the words of Forrest Gump, "that's all I have to say about that." Other than I used it again last week. Still don't like it but it does come in handy.
Since we last met...
I left on Wednesday, October 13th to go back to Illinois for Becky's wedding. What a trip! I'm surprised I didn't run into Steve Martin and John Candy.
First, I almost didn't get to leave Chefornak. It was foggy and flights were being cancelled. [Alaskans get their PFD (Permanent Fund Dividend) checks in late September/early October. Basically it's a check that all citizens get every year, roughly around $1000. Alaska Airlines has a huge sale when the checks come out.] The importance of the last few sentences is; if I missed one flight there were no empty seats on any plane until Monday the 18th, two days after the wedding. At about noon KC, my principal calls me into his office and tells me to call each of the airlines that serve our village and make reservations with any or all of them to make sure I get out of here. I find a plane and leave around 1:30 and get to Bethel at 2:30. My plane is not scheduled to leave Bethel until 8:30. Having a few hours and not wanting to spend the $7.00 for a cab I walk from the airport to "downtown" Bethel, about 3 miles. Do some shopping, eat at Subway and walk back. When I get there, I'm told that because of the returning fog, my next plane will be late and may not come at all. After sitting in the airport for 2 more hours, the plane comes in at around 9:30. At this point, I've been gone for 8 hours, walked 6-7 miles and have travelled less than 100 miles. The plane leaves for Anchorage at 10:30 and I sit next to two people (a man and a women) both chewing tobacco, and spitting into their empty Pepsi cans.
I get to Anchorage around 11:30 and wait for my next plane. I'm scheduled to leave at 12:45 to fly to Seattle. While waiting I buy an $8.00 Big Mac meal. This plane leaves on time and I get to Seattle around 5:00 their time. The Seattle airport has trains that take you from one terminal to the other. Being impatient, I just hop on the first one which results in having to take two more to get me back to where I'm supposed to be. I'm there for a couple of hours, enough time to eat at Starbuck's (just a donut) and on to the next plane, leaving at 7:00 for Denver. Get to Denver, get myself a personal pizza from Pizza Hut and head for the next plane. This plane (big and very nice) takes me to Chicago. As I was traveling I noticed the physical appearance of both the airports and the people improved as I moved from Bethel to Anchorage to Seattle to Denver, but then it stopped when I got to O'Hare (no offense intended).
After getting off the plane in Chicago I had to run to catch to CTA train. Took that to Jefferson Park. Got off the train there and waited for the Metra to take me to Crystal Lake. When I got to Crystal Lake, my car was waiting for me with a full gas tank (thanks Jason). It was now 6:00 pm (3:00 Alaska time). In the previous 26 hours I had been on a total of 5 planes and 5 trains in four different states and four different time zones with less than 4 hours of sleep.
Even with the hassles I'm glad I went back.
Here in Chefornak there's not a whole lot out of the ordinary going on. I worked at the Halloween carnival last weekend. I was in charge of the duck game. My biggest problem was telling the older kids that they couldn't play. Sunday was Halloween and the oddest thing was many of the adults go trick or treating without kids. Kind of interesting to hear a knock on the door, open it and see a 40 year man standing there with a bag for candy.
Ice skating is the big activity right now, although they just call it skating. There's only a short window that it's possible to skate. The few weeks after the ponds freeze until there is too much snow. I haven't skated but I've been out there. The kids like to hang to my coat while I pull them around. I've had as many as 12 hanging on all yelling "Run faster!" Hah!! that's what I say.
This weekend was the time change "Fall Back". They don't do it here until Sunday afternoon. That way they don't have to change their schedule for church. Clocks stay the same and then when you get home from church you move them back.
ALASKA LIFESTYLE NEWS
Last Tuesday I helped clean blood off of a seal skin. The seal was caught and skinned over the weekend. The skin was then brought to the Preschool of all places. There, the kids (and I for a short period), cleaned it and hung it to dry.
Of course the big news is..... I used my Honeybucket for the first time. It was a Saturday night, I woke up around 3:00 am and thought I have to go. I sat there and thought about getting dressed and running to the school, then I tried to convince myself it was gas, then I hoped it would just go away. None of the above. In the words of Forrest Gump, "that's all I have to say about that." Other than I used it again last week. Still don't like it but it does come in handy.
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Happy Columbus Day
It's Sunday the 10th. Happy birthday mom. It is cold today. The past few days it was pretty nice out but it's in the low 30's right now and the forecast is 30's and rain for the rest of the week. I've been told that our September and October are like January in the Seattle area. Not knowing a lot about January in the Seattle area, I guess I'll agree.
We've had a lot of people out sick the past couple of weeks. There is a stomach thing going around and people are experiencing what they call "wet poop". It's been kind of tough for my teaching because my classes have only 1-3 kids in each of them. So, if I'm missing 1 or 2, plans have to be changed. The first half of my day is spent pulling elementary kids out of their classrooms and working with them on reading, writing, math, speech and language. After lunch I teach three classes, high school math (one student, who has been in school less than 10 days throughout the first quarter of school) and a combination junior high/high school reading and writing (two students, one of whom is the same high schooler with the amazing attendance record). I like the mornings much more than the afternoons.
More name factoids:
We have twin 6th grade boys who have the same names, first, middle and last.
Some of the girls have the suffix Jr. after their names.
There is a high school boy whose name is "Steven 2". Not jr. not the 2nd, but 2. His father is Steven 1 and he is Steven 2.
My Yupik name (Raven) is pronounced something like this: Tulukaluch.
Our NYO team won its first competition this weekend. Go Shamans! We will host a tournament in the middle of November and I'll take pictures then.
The school water was on and off all week. If it stays off too long they have to cancel school. It was never off that long but it was still a pain. I wasn't able to wash all my clothes on Tuesday. And if your clothes sit in the water for any period of time they turn an amazing shade of brown, just like the water. It kind of looks like tea when it comes out of the faucets.
Heading back to Illinois this Wednesday for the wedding. I'll be gone from Wednesday afternoon until Monday afternoon. Out of the 5 days I'll be in airports or on planes for almost 48 hours. That's ok though, I'm still pumped.
Some of the things I'm looking forward to when I'm home: (besides seeing people)
Eating in a restaurant,
Walking barefoot
Getting a haircut
Paying less than $14 for a 12 pack of Diet Coke
Not using a honey bucket. (Although, I still haven't officially used mine. Yesterday I woke up at 5:00 in the morning, got dressed and ran to school.)
Don't really have anything else to add. I'm going to get back to work.
We've had a lot of people out sick the past couple of weeks. There is a stomach thing going around and people are experiencing what they call "wet poop". It's been kind of tough for my teaching because my classes have only 1-3 kids in each of them. So, if I'm missing 1 or 2, plans have to be changed. The first half of my day is spent pulling elementary kids out of their classrooms and working with them on reading, writing, math, speech and language. After lunch I teach three classes, high school math (one student, who has been in school less than 10 days throughout the first quarter of school) and a combination junior high/high school reading and writing (two students, one of whom is the same high schooler with the amazing attendance record). I like the mornings much more than the afternoons.
More name factoids:
We have twin 6th grade boys who have the same names, first, middle and last.
Some of the girls have the suffix Jr. after their names.
There is a high school boy whose name is "Steven 2". Not jr. not the 2nd, but 2. His father is Steven 1 and he is Steven 2.
My Yupik name (Raven) is pronounced something like this: Tulukaluch.
Our NYO team won its first competition this weekend. Go Shamans! We will host a tournament in the middle of November and I'll take pictures then.
The school water was on and off all week. If it stays off too long they have to cancel school. It was never off that long but it was still a pain. I wasn't able to wash all my clothes on Tuesday. And if your clothes sit in the water for any period of time they turn an amazing shade of brown, just like the water. It kind of looks like tea when it comes out of the faucets.
Heading back to Illinois this Wednesday for the wedding. I'll be gone from Wednesday afternoon until Monday afternoon. Out of the 5 days I'll be in airports or on planes for almost 48 hours. That's ok though, I'm still pumped.
Some of the things I'm looking forward to when I'm home: (besides seeing people)
Eating in a restaurant,
Walking barefoot
Getting a haircut
Paying less than $14 for a 12 pack of Diet Coke
Not using a honey bucket. (Although, I still haven't officially used mine. Yesterday I woke up at 5:00 in the morning, got dressed and ran to school.)
Don't really have anything else to add. I'm going to get back to work.
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Snow is on the way
It snowed in Bethel last night. They call it the termination dust. Dust, because it is a light dusty snow. Termination because it is the termination of summer. We're supposed to get ours tonight. There were a few light flakes this afternoon.
Weather wise, it has been in the 30's pretty much this whole week. It has also been very windy. I'm told that our temperature doesn't get too low, too often, but because of our location we get a lot of high winds.
The sun has also been pretty funky. When I got here in August it was light from 6:00 in the morning until midnight. Now, the sun comes up around 8:00 a.m. and goes down around 9:00 at night. Because of the location and layout of my house I still get some sunshine in my windows until after 10 though.
I'm still trying to get used to the whole time thing, especially when it comes to TV. I watched the Bears on Monday Night Football and the game was over before 8:00. I still had time before How I Met Your Mother started. By the way, even with 17 penalties against the other team, "a win is a win."
The two biggest sports around here are basketball and NYO. Anyone who has ever seen me on a basketball court knows what to expect there. Remember Michael Jordan? My skills are similar to his (baseball and acting). Occasionally the kids will need an extra person to even up teams and they'll ask me to play. I'm one of the tallest people in the village and everyone wants me on their team until we start playing. Then I'm kind of like Rachel when the Friends gang played football on Thanksgiving.
NYO is Native Youth Olympics and it is amazing. They do things like balance on one hand, kick a ball that is suspended over their head from the ceiling, and other wild activities. It's hard to even explain. I'll take pictures and post them when competitions start next week.
More on names. Our postmaster's last name is Mail. Is that funny or what? I thought people were just calling her that when I first heard it but that's it.
I have also received a Yupik name. It's cool because it's a sign that you are being accepted. I don't know how to pronounce or spell it but a lot of the kids have been calling me ??????. However you say it, it's the Yupik word for raven. There are quite a few ravens in the area and as far as I can tell it is a sign of respect.
Some of the other names I've been called: Tommy Boy and Tom and Jerry.
I've also been called Hairy. They are fascinated by the hair on my arms. Almost every day the elementary kids try to touch the hair on my arms. They either like it or some tell me I should shave it off. Occasionally I have my top shirt button unbuttoned. When they saw some of the hair on my chest I was asked "what is that?" Apparently, I'm not only one of the tallest people in the village, I'm also one of the hairiest.
They have a cable channel here called Boomerang. It shows old cartoons and it's funny when the kids talk about my type of cartoons. They watch: Josie and the Pussycats, the Wacky Races, Johnny Quest, the Banana Splits, Magilla Gorilla, Huckleberry Hound, Quick Draw McGraw among others. I guess I watch some of them too. More of the kids know Popeye and Olive Oyl than Hannah Montana.
Heading back to Bethel tomorrow for another new teacher training. Next week is my turn to cook for the group. Any suggestions?
Weather wise, it has been in the 30's pretty much this whole week. It has also been very windy. I'm told that our temperature doesn't get too low, too often, but because of our location we get a lot of high winds.
The sun has also been pretty funky. When I got here in August it was light from 6:00 in the morning until midnight. Now, the sun comes up around 8:00 a.m. and goes down around 9:00 at night. Because of the location and layout of my house I still get some sunshine in my windows until after 10 though.
I'm still trying to get used to the whole time thing, especially when it comes to TV. I watched the Bears on Monday Night Football and the game was over before 8:00. I still had time before How I Met Your Mother started. By the way, even with 17 penalties against the other team, "a win is a win."
The two biggest sports around here are basketball and NYO. Anyone who has ever seen me on a basketball court knows what to expect there. Remember Michael Jordan? My skills are similar to his (baseball and acting). Occasionally the kids will need an extra person to even up teams and they'll ask me to play. I'm one of the tallest people in the village and everyone wants me on their team until we start playing. Then I'm kind of like Rachel when the Friends gang played football on Thanksgiving.
NYO is Native Youth Olympics and it is amazing. They do things like balance on one hand, kick a ball that is suspended over their head from the ceiling, and other wild activities. It's hard to even explain. I'll take pictures and post them when competitions start next week.
More on names. Our postmaster's last name is Mail. Is that funny or what? I thought people were just calling her that when I first heard it but that's it.
I have also received a Yupik name. It's cool because it's a sign that you are being accepted. I don't know how to pronounce or spell it but a lot of the kids have been calling me ??????. However you say it, it's the Yupik word for raven. There are quite a few ravens in the area and as far as I can tell it is a sign of respect.
Some of the other names I've been called: Tommy Boy and Tom and Jerry.
I've also been called Hairy. They are fascinated by the hair on my arms. Almost every day the elementary kids try to touch the hair on my arms. They either like it or some tell me I should shave it off. Occasionally I have my top shirt button unbuttoned. When they saw some of the hair on my chest I was asked "what is that?" Apparently, I'm not only one of the tallest people in the village, I'm also one of the hairiest.
They have a cable channel here called Boomerang. It shows old cartoons and it's funny when the kids talk about my type of cartoons. They watch: Josie and the Pussycats, the Wacky Races, Johnny Quest, the Banana Splits, Magilla Gorilla, Huckleberry Hound, Quick Draw McGraw among others. I guess I watch some of them too. More of the kids know Popeye and Olive Oyl than Hannah Montana.
Heading back to Bethel tomorrow for another new teacher training. Next week is my turn to cook for the group. Any suggestions?
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Lions and tigers and Bears (and moose), oh my!
Sorry, no lions or tigers, however I do have some Bear and moose news. I was able to watch the Bears game today. It was just like being at home except of course the game started at 9:00 am. Speaking of Bears, I haven't seen the Cubs lose a game since sometime in July. I haven't really been following them too much either so I'm just assuming they've been winning a lot since I've been gone.
Last night I had fresh moose for dinner. It was kind of a stew/casserole type of thing. It was mixed with rice, peppers and Craisens (of all things, they use Craisens a lot up here). Just about every Saturday all the teachers get together at one of the houses for a pot luck. The house is usually the same because one couple generally likes to host. But, each week a different person is in charge of the main course. Last night it was Melissa and Marat's turn. Melissa is our third grade teacher and Marat is her husband. He is from Russia and has blended in well with the locals and often goes hunting with them. Last weekend they went out and shot themselves a moose. And last night we ate that moose. I even brought home leftovers. Tonight for dinner I will finish up my moose with some salsa. (On a side note, I have no idea what I'm going to do for my turn to cook. I told them I usually order out for pizza when I have people over but that's not going to work here).
(My parents and other family members are involved in the Moose Club. They always wanted me to join as well, now, ironically, the moose has joined me.)
We had our first frost Thursday night/Friday morning. It was already a little tough to walk to school. My house is down a little ramp and when it is wet/frosty it makes it very slippery to get up to the top. Funny thing about the weather though, after the frost on Friday, yesterday it was in the 60's and I didn't even wear a coat. We've also had sun every day this past week. I've seen the sun more times in the past 7 days than I did in the first 4 weeks I was here. Lately the sun has been coming up around 7:30 and going down around 9:30.
I haven't done too much adventuring. Generally it's go to work and go home. Although I have been doing a lot of observing. Last week we had an open house and most of the parents preferred to sit on the floor when they came in. We would bring out chairs for people waiting in the hall but pretty much anybody under the age of 50 would just plop on the floor or a table.
I'm curious, according to the "Stats" page of this Blog there are people from Australia reading along. Are you really out there?
I bought tickets for going back and forth to Chicago next month. I'm leaving here on Wednesday the 13th and coming back on Monday the 18th. Very excited. I'm coming home for Becky's (and Zach's) wedding but that weekend will also be surrounded by birthdays (Aubrie, Mom, Jason and Alyssa).
Through some wheeling and dealing I've been able to get myself an extra laundry day too!
Last night I had fresh moose for dinner. It was kind of a stew/casserole type of thing. It was mixed with rice, peppers and Craisens (of all things, they use Craisens a lot up here). Just about every Saturday all the teachers get together at one of the houses for a pot luck. The house is usually the same because one couple generally likes to host. But, each week a different person is in charge of the main course. Last night it was Melissa and Marat's turn. Melissa is our third grade teacher and Marat is her husband. He is from Russia and has blended in well with the locals and often goes hunting with them. Last weekend they went out and shot themselves a moose. And last night we ate that moose. I even brought home leftovers. Tonight for dinner I will finish up my moose with some salsa. (On a side note, I have no idea what I'm going to do for my turn to cook. I told them I usually order out for pizza when I have people over but that's not going to work here).
(My parents and other family members are involved in the Moose Club. They always wanted me to join as well, now, ironically, the moose has joined me.)
We had our first frost Thursday night/Friday morning. It was already a little tough to walk to school. My house is down a little ramp and when it is wet/frosty it makes it very slippery to get up to the top. Funny thing about the weather though, after the frost on Friday, yesterday it was in the 60's and I didn't even wear a coat. We've also had sun every day this past week. I've seen the sun more times in the past 7 days than I did in the first 4 weeks I was here. Lately the sun has been coming up around 7:30 and going down around 9:30.
I haven't done too much adventuring. Generally it's go to work and go home. Although I have been doing a lot of observing. Last week we had an open house and most of the parents preferred to sit on the floor when they came in. We would bring out chairs for people waiting in the hall but pretty much anybody under the age of 50 would just plop on the floor or a table.
I'm curious, according to the "Stats" page of this Blog there are people from Australia reading along. Are you really out there?
I bought tickets for going back and forth to Chicago next month. I'm leaving here on Wednesday the 13th and coming back on Monday the 18th. Very excited. I'm coming home for Becky's (and Zach's) wedding but that weekend will also be surrounded by birthdays (Aubrie, Mom, Jason and Alyssa).
Through some wheeling and dealing I've been able to get myself an extra laundry day too!
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Weekend in Bethel
I have to start by first clarifying my title. I did not spend a weekend in Bethel, although I was there Friday night and Saturday. But "Weekend in Bethel" is a better title than "Friday afternoon and most of Saturday in Bethel".
It's funny how schedules and time are not as important here. Our plane was supposed to leave Chefornak Friday afternoon between 1:30 and 2:00. I got a call at about 1:00 saying the plane would be there early and we should be ready to leave in 15 minutes. On the way back from Bethel Saturday evening we were supposed to leave at 6:00. We landed in Chefornak at 5:45. It's almost like traveling back in time.
On the way back we flew over the spot where we were stranded on the boat last weekend. As I was re-tellling the story to Jessica, the other teacher on the plane, I mentioned that I was a poor Irishman who was only able to be on the boat in the first place because I won a ticket while gambling. I was trying to move to a new land where I could find my fortune. She told me that she was a wealthy young lady who was engaged to someone she didn't truly love. I told her about my adventures on the boat; dancing, hanging off the bow, eating fancy dinners. I told her about wanting to become an artist and she even agreed to pose for me. Oh, we had dreams... Then, of course disaster hit, the boat crashed into a huge ice (I mean sand) berg (bar). After that it was kind of a blur although I do remember hearing Celine Dion at some point.
Speaking of ice (kind of), on Thursday I had my first Alaska snowball fight. There was a pile of ice chips outside of the store and some of the kids said they were going to throw it at me. Being the responsible, mature adult I am; I took it and threw it at them first. There was a woman from the village (Gladys) who helped me and we pretty much took care of those troublemakers.
Something that is odd/different here is the name situation. All of the teachers/adult are referred to by their first names. It took a couple of weeks for me to get used to it but actually it's kind of nice and I think it helps with teacher/student relationships. It's also funny how everybody knows everybody. I thought it was cool when I lived in McCullom Lake but this is even better. If I need to call a parent I just go to the office, tell them the student's name and the secretaries either tell me the number right away of just dial it while I'm standing there. Then when you call a parent it's not odd for them to walk to school and meet with you right then and there.
I get my first paycheck this Wednesday!
By the way Zach; I watched Bear Grylis today for the first time. You're right, I am just like him.
It's funny how schedules and time are not as important here. Our plane was supposed to leave Chefornak Friday afternoon between 1:30 and 2:00. I got a call at about 1:00 saying the plane would be there early and we should be ready to leave in 15 minutes. On the way back from Bethel Saturday evening we were supposed to leave at 6:00. We landed in Chefornak at 5:45. It's almost like traveling back in time.
On the way back we flew over the spot where we were stranded on the boat last weekend. As I was re-tellling the story to Jessica, the other teacher on the plane, I mentioned that I was a poor Irishman who was only able to be on the boat in the first place because I won a ticket while gambling. I was trying to move to a new land where I could find my fortune. She told me that she was a wealthy young lady who was engaged to someone she didn't truly love. I told her about my adventures on the boat; dancing, hanging off the bow, eating fancy dinners. I told her about wanting to become an artist and she even agreed to pose for me. Oh, we had dreams... Then, of course disaster hit, the boat crashed into a huge ice (I mean sand) berg (bar). After that it was kind of a blur although I do remember hearing Celine Dion at some point.
Speaking of ice (kind of), on Thursday I had my first Alaska snowball fight. There was a pile of ice chips outside of the store and some of the kids said they were going to throw it at me. Being the responsible, mature adult I am; I took it and threw it at them first. There was a woman from the village (Gladys) who helped me and we pretty much took care of those troublemakers.
Something that is odd/different here is the name situation. All of the teachers/adult are referred to by their first names. It took a couple of weeks for me to get used to it but actually it's kind of nice and I think it helps with teacher/student relationships. It's also funny how everybody knows everybody. I thought it was cool when I lived in McCullom Lake but this is even better. If I need to call a parent I just go to the office, tell them the student's name and the secretaries either tell me the number right away of just dial it while I'm standing there. Then when you call a parent it's not odd for them to walk to school and meet with you right then and there.
I get my first paycheck this Wednesday!
By the way Zach; I watched Bear Grylis today for the first time. You're right, I am just like him.
Monday, September 6, 2010
Labor Day weekend
Today is Monday-Labor Day. The first time I haven't watched any of the Jerry Lewis Telethon in a looong time. One of the highlights of the past week though, is I got my cable hooked up. Yes, I am now the proud owner (user) of 18, that's right 18 channels. I have mostly been watching Game Show Channel, ESPN and TBS.
Yesterday we went out on the river in my Principal's (KC) boat. It's an inflatable with a wooden bottom. With the motor the whole thing weighs about 400 pounds. It's pretty sturdy. Three of us went, KC, Matt (another teacher) and I. It was enjoyable for the most part. We were cruising along and were about 5 miles away from the village when we slowed down and stopped. Matt and I both brought our cameras and I thought "that's nice, he's stopping so we could take some pictures." It turns out we were stuck on a sandbar. (At this point, if you are my mom, you might want to stop reading and skip down to the end.)
We tried to push the boat off with our paddles and if that would have worked I wouldn't have much of a story to tell. Unfortunately, for us but fortunately for the story it didn't work. So, KC, wearing waterproof boots and clothes gets off the boat and pulls while I paddle/push and Matt steers. Turns out the flow of the river and the wind are working against us so KC says "Tom, you're going to have to get out and help pull the boat." "Really?" I say. So, I, wearing cheap, supposedly waterproof boats and regular old jeans, get out of the boat to help push/pull. The bottom of the river is gooey mud. The kind that if you stay in one place for more than 3 or 4 seconds you sink and get stuck. And when two guys are trying to pull a 400 pound boat upriver, against the wind in a foot of water, you stay in one place a lot. When you're not in one place, you are usually falling into the water. At least there was a variety, either stuck in the mud or falling into the water.
We do our sloshing and pushing and pulling and move about 10 feet. KC (our principal and our leader and a former college boating participant) says "guys, I'm really worried." Being one of the guys, I'm worried too now. (Once again, mom, don't read this). He explains to us that the tide is going out and if we can't find the right way to get the boat out, we'll pretty much be stuck there. At this point, he in his waterproof clothes and me in my waterfilled clothes are still in the river and its more windy. We get to a point where the water may be deep enough that we can put the motor back in. He tells Matt to do that. Matt, about 5 feet tall and around 100 pounds, struggles with the 150 pound motor so KC goes to the back of the boat and help him with that. I am now doing the pushing, pulling and steering while they work with the motor. Eventually, we get out of the sand/mud, get back in the boat and move along. You would think we would be heading back now.
We're guys, we don't head back. We cruise along again and get stuck again. This would be the point that I could say "if you want to know what happened then, reread the last two paragraphs." Only this time, after we get unstuck, KC says "I'm really worried about Tom." Being Tom, I'm worried too. I'm pretty much soaked from the waist down but only damp from the waist up so that's good. I'm cold, shivering a little and he says "do you guys want to go back to the village?". Of course that's the sensible thing to do, so we go out again. We go down a slough (pronounced slew) which was pretty cool (in a Fonzie sort of way, not in a I'm about to get hypothermia way.) Very calm water, little wind and some nice scenery. We stopped and walked on the tundra a little bit which is a very odd feeling. At this point I am freezing and they're taking their coats off so we decide I should probably get home.
We're heading home and I notice the water in my boots is higher than my ankles. When we finally get back to shore, it takes about an hour to get the boat out of the water and back to the storage shed. I'm wet, cold, muddy and bleeding, get my stuff from home, and go to school to take a shower. When I get there I realize I forgot to bring a washcloth so I have to wash with paper towels. Later on I was told I can punch a few holes in my "I live in Alaska" ticket.
OK mom, you can come back.
At night we went to one of the teacher's houses and played board games. Actually one game but it took about 5 hours to play. It was a lot of fun. Today my arms are a little sore but other than that, not doing too bad.
Yesterday we went out on the river in my Principal's (KC) boat. It's an inflatable with a wooden bottom. With the motor the whole thing weighs about 400 pounds. It's pretty sturdy. Three of us went, KC, Matt (another teacher) and I. It was enjoyable for the most part. We were cruising along and were about 5 miles away from the village when we slowed down and stopped. Matt and I both brought our cameras and I thought "that's nice, he's stopping so we could take some pictures." It turns out we were stuck on a sandbar. (At this point, if you are my mom, you might want to stop reading and skip down to the end.)
We tried to push the boat off with our paddles and if that would have worked I wouldn't have much of a story to tell. Unfortunately, for us but fortunately for the story it didn't work. So, KC, wearing waterproof boots and clothes gets off the boat and pulls while I paddle/push and Matt steers. Turns out the flow of the river and the wind are working against us so KC says "Tom, you're going to have to get out and help pull the boat." "Really?" I say. So, I, wearing cheap, supposedly waterproof boats and regular old jeans, get out of the boat to help push/pull. The bottom of the river is gooey mud. The kind that if you stay in one place for more than 3 or 4 seconds you sink and get stuck. And when two guys are trying to pull a 400 pound boat upriver, against the wind in a foot of water, you stay in one place a lot. When you're not in one place, you are usually falling into the water. At least there was a variety, either stuck in the mud or falling into the water.
We do our sloshing and pushing and pulling and move about 10 feet. KC (our principal and our leader and a former college boating participant) says "guys, I'm really worried." Being one of the guys, I'm worried too now. (Once again, mom, don't read this). He explains to us that the tide is going out and if we can't find the right way to get the boat out, we'll pretty much be stuck there. At this point, he in his waterproof clothes and me in my waterfilled clothes are still in the river and its more windy. We get to a point where the water may be deep enough that we can put the motor back in. He tells Matt to do that. Matt, about 5 feet tall and around 100 pounds, struggles with the 150 pound motor so KC goes to the back of the boat and help him with that. I am now doing the pushing, pulling and steering while they work with the motor. Eventually, we get out of the sand/mud, get back in the boat and move along. You would think we would be heading back now.
We're guys, we don't head back. We cruise along again and get stuck again. This would be the point that I could say "if you want to know what happened then, reread the last two paragraphs." Only this time, after we get unstuck, KC says "I'm really worried about Tom." Being Tom, I'm worried too. I'm pretty much soaked from the waist down but only damp from the waist up so that's good. I'm cold, shivering a little and he says "do you guys want to go back to the village?". Of course that's the sensible thing to do, so we go out again. We go down a slough (pronounced slew) which was pretty cool (in a Fonzie sort of way, not in a I'm about to get hypothermia way.) Very calm water, little wind and some nice scenery. We stopped and walked on the tundra a little bit which is a very odd feeling. At this point I am freezing and they're taking their coats off so we decide I should probably get home.
We're heading home and I notice the water in my boots is higher than my ankles. When we finally get back to shore, it takes about an hour to get the boat out of the water and back to the storage shed. I'm wet, cold, muddy and bleeding, get my stuff from home, and go to school to take a shower. When I get there I realize I forgot to bring a washcloth so I have to wash with paper towels. Later on I was told I can punch a few holes in my "I live in Alaska" ticket.
OK mom, you can come back.
At night we went to one of the teacher's houses and played board games. Actually one game but it took about 5 hours to play. It was a lot of fun. Today my arms are a little sore but other than that, not doing too bad.
Friday, September 3, 2010
The first entry.
Today is Friday September, 3. The beginning of a three day weekend. Not as exciting as it sounds as there's really nothing to do here. There is the 12th annual Toksook Bay Blackberry Festival in another village but it's too far by boat and too expensive by plane.
Anyway I'm here. For those of you who are new to my adventure, here's the basics. I left Illinois on Sunday August 1st, flying from Chicago to Anchorage, Alaska. My first time in Alaska. I stayed overnight in Anchorage and left for Bethel the next day. Bethel is the "big" town to my village (think Mount Pilot to Mayberry, although not nearly as big or advanced). I was in Bethel for 4 days for new teacher training. On Thursday of that week I flew to Chefornak, my village.
Chefornak is a village of about 400 people. There are no roads or cars, only two very small stores, a church and a community center. And a big school. Most of the people here have no running water (including me). That's why I spend a lot of time at school. I'm teaching at the school which is officially named Chaputnguak School but is usually called Chefornak School or just the school. The school has about 200 kids from K-12. I teach Special Education. I have about 15 students-the youngest is 3 and the oldest are 20.
I have taken some cool pictures but right now I'm not able to get them on the computer.
I'll also add some more information as we go along.
I hope you're still interested. It should be an interesting ride......
Anyway I'm here. For those of you who are new to my adventure, here's the basics. I left Illinois on Sunday August 1st, flying from Chicago to Anchorage, Alaska. My first time in Alaska. I stayed overnight in Anchorage and left for Bethel the next day. Bethel is the "big" town to my village (think Mount Pilot to Mayberry, although not nearly as big or advanced). I was in Bethel for 4 days for new teacher training. On Thursday of that week I flew to Chefornak, my village.
Chefornak is a village of about 400 people. There are no roads or cars, only two very small stores, a church and a community center. And a big school. Most of the people here have no running water (including me). That's why I spend a lot of time at school. I'm teaching at the school which is officially named Chaputnguak School but is usually called Chefornak School or just the school. The school has about 200 kids from K-12. I teach Special Education. I have about 15 students-the youngest is 3 and the oldest are 20.
I have taken some cool pictures but right now I'm not able to get them on the computer.
I'll also add some more information as we go along.
I hope you're still interested. It should be an interesting ride......
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