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?