The Alaskan Adventure - Volume 4 - New Faces

The Alaskan Adventure - Volume 4 - New Faces

Last week took a little detour as we were scheduled for our Lower Yukon School District inservice. The irony is that I had seen cloudy skies and rain for most of the week, and Friday and Saturday, finally got some nice clear skies and sunshine. I was packed and ready to go for my flight out of the village, and I wake up to cloudy skies and steady rain. Bummer! There goes a free day...in Anchorage...in a hotel...and restaurants galore. Damn. Oh well. Tomorrow is a new day. Tomorrow! Damn again. Cloudy skies and light rain. But there was a silver lining. In a town 30 minutes away, another plane was leaving and the weather to Anchorage was favorable enough for us to catch the flight. Our well-respected friend and district maintenance man Chris, also a village resident, drove us (Mike our IT guy and me) to the St. Mary’s airport and we laughed the whole way there. 

One thing you have to get used to is that flights of the smaller airplanes, are very hit-and-miss here. The weather can turn on a dime and they don’t take chances with the smaller planes. That is especially true when the weather becomes even more unpredictable in the late fall and winter. Like Forest Gump says, “Weather in the bush (rural Western Alaska) is like a box of chocolates...you really, really, really never know what you’re going to get.” (Something like that)

Overall, I thought Anchorage was a nice city with some beautiful mountain views and a lot to do. It reminded me a lot of Colorado where I was last summer and had a great time with some amazing people. Unfortunately, there wasn’t enough time to experience some of the great things Anchorage had to offer...like wildlife boat and plane tours, hiking trails, wildlife refuges, and a number of other popular outdoor activities.

One really cool thing I did get to see was the airport on Lake Hood, right outside of our hotel, the Lakefront in Anchorage. Lake Hood is the world’s busiest pontoon plane, airport. Operating continuously and open to the public, Lake Hood is the world's busiest seaplane base, handling an average of 190 flights per day. Really neat to watch as the planes (on pontoons) take off right in front of the hotel, throughout the day. Very loud...but cool.

The mornings and afternoons were spent learning and being introduced to new curriculum for the year. In our assigned conference room I sat on the far right, second to last row by the large bay windows overlooking the lake next to the hotel. Roughly every 15 minutes or so a pontoon playing would take off or land right outside the window, and over the hotel. While I would like to lie to you and say I was 100% intently listening to my presenter about the incredibly stimulating math materials, I wasn’t. I could see the other teachers steal a look when they were able to as well. It was so cool to see the planes fly down right over the hotel and hear the roar of the engine as it came to a graceful landing on the water.

It was interesting to see the wide variety and background of people who chose to make this life change in the Alaskan bush. I would have to say the mean age of most people was an older crowd, in their forties and fifties. Some were older and some younger, but they came from all walks of life and a variety of ethnic backgrounds. Many of them were already retired, but we’re looking for something more to overcome their 'retired boredom', or to give themselves a new adventure.

The inservice also brought me a new roommate. To be honest, I had expected my stay in Alaska to be a long, lonely year living in my three-bedroom teacher housing that I came accustom to in the first 11 days I was in the village. It didn't take more than ten minutes of conversation and a few good laughs and I knew Jeremy was going to be a good fit. He is from Minnesota and we actually have a lot in common. Although I'm a Green Bay Packer fan and he's a Minnesota Vikings fan, I didn't hold it against him and still agreed to let him live with me anyway. I’m also happy, because it will cut our expenses in half and since it’s a billion dollars for everything up here, it's helping both of us. The irony is, his hotel room was right next to mine during the entire in-service and I never knew it. Small world.

One thing that really made me sad about my limited time traveling around Anchorage was the amount of people who were homeless throughout the city. I noticed it when I first went to town and had a layover before even got to Mountain Village. There were a number of people near and around my hotel in the downtown area, enough that I could notice but not as significant at the time. Then when we came back to Anchorage for the teacher in-services, it was blatantly obvious. There were a number of people, sometimes with as many as seven or eight, sitting on the grass next to buildings and in a variety of places throughout the city. You could see pockets of people around the city mostly in twos or threes, but they were everywhere, on street corners with signs, walking around, or walking through the street. I felt really bad and I wondered how they could possibly make it in these long cold winter’s.

We also took a lot of rides with Lyft and Uber and our drivers were always very interesting. Coming from a wide variety of backgrounds, there were native Alaskans, people who had moved and made Alaska there new home, and a number of drivers who had come from the Philippines. Our discussions ranged from how to survive the Alaskan Bush, the best spices for moose meat, benefits of hybrid cars to non-hybrid cars, nutritionist-holistic ways of living, life in the Philippines, and some 'very' strong opinions of political beliefs as it relates to the Alaskan, oil royalty fund. Nevertheless, each ride was a lot of fun and was still a great way to get where we were going.

One last, big task I had in Anchorage was to get to a big-box store i.e. a Costco, Walmart or Fred Meyer, and get the food and household items that would take me through at least the next three to four months. I had sat down before even coming to Anchorage and meticulously wrote out a list of everything I needed. For those who are closest to me back home, they know I make a ton of lists. And those lists procreate and have baby lists that turn into more lists...well you get the idea. I finally created a master list, made my way out to a SuperWalmart (I know some of you don't think it's so super...), but loaded up two carts and checked out to the tune of $504. Holy sh*t! 

Part of that purchase included two very strong and sturdy totes to put everything into. You would not have believed the puzzle-like sophistication and precision that I had to implement to pack two carts worth of food and supplies into two totes and a suitcase. It may not sound like a big undertaking, but we also have to consider that each suitcase and each tote cannot exceed 50 pounds, due to regulations of weight on the smaller planes that fly to the villages. But...somehow, after sitting on and attaching zipties, I had my three pieces of cargo ready to go.

The flight back went off without a hitch and I even got a little treat on the last leg of the flight to Mountain Village. Our last connecting flight was a small, one-prop plane and I was placed in the co-pilot's seat. Actually it was really cool and pretty amazing to see the plane take off from the front seat. Although I have to admit, I was very nervous with my feet and hands so close to the instruments of the plane. I didn't want for one second to bump or nudge the wrong button or pedal and throw us into a nose dive to our death. Fortunately I didn't and I'm back here to write some more. I have to say, the views on the way back were even more breathtaking in the smaller plane and you just can't put into words how absolutely beautiful the view of the tundra, its rivers and landscape truly are.

It feels funny to say, but I actually was happy to be home and step foot in Mountain Village again. The reality is, home is now wherever I put my suitcase down. It's hard to comprehend sometimes. There are places and people whom I would truly love to be with again, but life sometimes takes us down some unknown roads and puts us on different buses that don't always allow us to see where we're going. 

Most of the time that I've been back has been dedicated to getting my classroom ready and preparing for the start of the school year. I posted in another social media site about my staff and the people I work with and I'll say again, that they are some of the most friendly, helpful and kind people I have ever met. I really like the fact that there are so many residents from the village who teach and work in the building as well, and I've already begun to feel a welcomed part of the village. There is a sense of family like I have never experienced in a school before. It could be attributed to the small nature of the village or maybe to the fact that many of the people brought together are from such diverse backgrounds. I also cannot say enough about the people from the village. There is a such a sense of community with them and they offer and give so unselfishly, to help us and anyone, in any way they can. We have grown close so quickly and it is a very comforting feeling. 

I am constantly chuckling as I talk and work with some of my new friends from the Lower-48 as it is referred to. There is a very good chance I am going to come back to visit with either an Arkansas accent or a Minnesota accent. There are seven people here (at least) from Arkansas and their accents are about as down-home as they come. I told them I was going to start a reference book to decipher their language. The other accent-influence coming from my roommate Jeremy might have me moving to Canada just to be able to keep up with his Minnesota dialect. No doubt Wis-CON-sin has some accent I can't recognize on my own and I'm sure they'll let me know about it too. That's the light side of that group. Again, they're great people and we've all grown very close in a short amount of time. We started having Friday dinners and one of us hosts a dinner for the group or anyone who wants to come by. 

The villagers recently told us about free fish that is given away by a fishing company called Kwikpak Industries. They buy and process fish from the Yukon River and Bering Sea, which is then sold to places such as Japan, Europe, and several other countries. Kwikpak does sporadic testing of the river and gives the test fish away to villagers. We have been making regular trips to the dock to get the Chum and Salmon that comes in from local fishermen and women. We take a stick from the beach near the river, string them through the gills, and make our way up the hills back to our apartment. The fish are huge and the amount of meat we get is amazing. It is some of the best fish I have 'ever' tasted in my life. The fun part is that we now have regular conversations with our villager friends, about different ways to prepare and eat the fish. It's so much fun. 

Even more exciting is that moose season has opened and we have been invited to go on the moose hunts by several of the villagers. It's supposed to be a surreal experience and the amount of meat that comes from a moose is amazing. Mountain Village School has a mount (front quarter) hanging on the wall, when you walk into the school. It is an unbelievably huge animal. One had been spotted on the edge of the village just three weeks ago. Not an animal you want to run into on a walk or berry picking, but pretty amazing to see. Oh and did I mention that a grizzly bear had also been spotted several times to the east of our village as well? Lucky us.

The first week of school was a big success. My students came in bright eyed and bushy tailed, but shy of course. We had a lot of fun and I pulled out my best acting skills to use fun voices, build trust with get-to-know-you activities and set the tone to what I know will be a fun and successful school year. I have 23 amazing, little learners in my class and I am so excited to see them grow. The kids know me as Mr. Matt or Mr. M., and Mr. Matt's class has many exciting adventures on the way.

I'll finish with this. Being here is bittersweet. I miss where I came from in Wisconsin, I miss the people I love, I miss my friends and I still have moments of loneliness which take my mind to places that I don't like to go. That's the bitter part. But I do have a new home, people who care about me, new friends, a priceless job that is helping countless children to have a better life, and I'm getting experiences that some people can't imagine and will never have.

Stay tuned... 

The Alaskan Adventure - Volume 3 - Settling In

Settling In

The title for this blog seems to fit very well as it has been a week of settling in. Activities are still limited, but I have been trying to keep myself busy as best I can. For the outsiders reading this, you have to remember...there are no restaurants, no bars to have a drink, no movie theaters, no fast food restaurants and no festivals to listen to music and eat and drink until you explode. It's a simple and humble life and I have to say, more peaceful than any place I have been in a long, long time.

Outside of going into my classroom each day, I tried to get out and be a part of the village as best I could. I've been going for walks everyday and my reaching out started on Sunday. I was out for a walk in the morning and happened to be walking by the Catholic Church at 10:00 am. I decided to go in and take part in the service. I'm really glad I did, because it gave me a good opportunity to meet and introduce myself to a number of the people in the village. Pastor Aiden who was from a country in Africa (I forgot which one) was very nice to introduce me to everyone. I did the same on Wednesday night at the village's other church, an Evangelical Church, where I met Pastor Mark, his wife and several other very nice people from the village.

I've also been trying to acclimate with other aspects of the village and have been finding my way around to some of the mainstays in the village. Here are my ventures so far. I have been a regular at the Lower Yukon School District office, because of all the paperwork and questions I have. I'm actually really lucky that the district offices are in our village. I think I'd be pretty lost if I didn't have all the help they were giving me. The ladies are amazingly sweet and helpful. Lena, the administrative assistant at the front door who greets everyone, has become a happy and familiar face for me. I don't just sign in...we talk about her cute knickknacks, her kids, picking berries, and all the bear and moose sightings. I almost feel like I want to make up questions (which I don’t) just to say hi to everyone. I also met Isacc, the post office man, Barbara, the cashier at the food coop, Mike and Willie the IT guys and Chris, the main maintenance man for Mountain Village. Chris is a really funny guy and was playfully giving me a hard time from the beginning. He asked me if I wanted to go out on his boat this weekend and said that he would take me out to the middle of the Yukon River and push me out of the boat, with no life jacket! He said that is your initiation to the village. I then asked him if he could at least take me to the deepest part of the river, and we both had a good laugh.

This will be a little off the cuff, but I have to say that I really miss seeing squirrels. I love squirrels and loved seeing them back home. I just don't get to see them any more and it kinda bums me out. They're adorable little creatures, but just nowhere to be seen here. I guess I'll just have to find a new creature to love, maybe big, brown furry bears. No short supply of brown and black bears, or moose up here.

Speaking of which, there have been a lot more sightings of bear and moose right around and in the village. The bears are hungry and the moose seem to be on the move. I have been taking a lot of long walks on the beach, which sounds romantic, LOL, but first of all it’s a rocky beach and secondly I’m by myself. There have been a lot of bear sightings along the river, so the villagers have been cautioning me to be very careful. Yesterday there was a sighting of a bear right on the edge of town and a family of moose. I was kind of excited to spend more time time down by the river too, because this is the time of year when seals and whales are seen in the river by the village. I was under the impression that if I did see a bear I’m fast enough to outrun it, but from what I’m told, unless I have a good head start I may be their lunch. So now I tend to walk with my head on a swivel and with a little more caution just in case.

Since the first few moments of sunshine on Saturday when I landed, that quickly went away, and we now have our seventh day in a row of overcast skies, which is so exciting. I just wish tomorrow was the start of the four months of darkness! Are you picking up on my sarcasm, because I'm laying it on pretty thick. I'm not going to lie, it wears on your psyche pretty easily, but I try to keep my mind busy as best I can. I'm taking my Vitamin D and my 'mood lamp' is on it's way. Otherwise I just walk around with my eyes closed everyday, or try not to look up. :) 

Some other neat additions to the week are that I am now an advisor on the chess club which meets every Wednesday afternoon and evening when school starts. And while I am sad that I missed it this last Monday, I’m excited to be a part of bingo at the Mountain Village community hall every Monday night. To the best of my knowledge, there is no karaoke in the village, but you will be the second to know. Another exciting development is that I was invited to go on the village moose hunt this September. That will be really cool and I'm sure pretty exciting seeing them up close. I'll share more about that when the time comes. And while I was joking before with maintenance-man Chris, he really did invite me on his boat this weekend (with a life jacket), to travel the Yukon River. He  also said that it would be a good time see more whales and seals. Pretty cool!

The other teachers are starting to return to Mountain Village this week as well. There are five of us here for the first time, so I'm glad I'm not the only one. I'll get a little treat next week as we are being flown back to Anchorage for the week for teacher training and inservice. It will also give me a chance to go to some of the bigger chain stores to get food and supplies for the winter, that I wasn't able to bring with me. And...I might buy a new tv. My son Seth is sending me our family collection of dvd's and Netflix is sounding really good! It's going to be a lonnnnnnng, cold winter.

Stay tuned...

MHP - 60%

The Alaskan Adventure - Volume 2 - Arrival

Arrival

The day finally arrived. After two days of delays due to mechanical issues with the first plane in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and weather issues to the west of Anchorage, Alaska, I finally made it to my destination, Mountain Village, Alaska.

I spent last night in a town called Bethel, where heavy rains grounded flights, and left me with no choice but to find a place to stay. I would’ve slept in the airport, however they close after the final flight for the day comes in. There was only one place with rooms left in the entire town, and I found one in the oasis known as the Hawaiian Inn.  Surprisingly, it was nothing like Hawaii. I’m not sure why, but the roads my cab driver took to get there, left me with a horrible case of hemorrhoids. Just kidding, but I think you get the picture. Unfortunately, not one person I spoke to since I’ve been in Alaska, had anything positive to say about Bethel. Sorry Bethel, but I have to agree with everyone else.

When I arrived, the tiny little manager man was very friendly and at least made me feel good about being there. I asked him if there were any place to get something to eat and he told me there was an attached restaurant. He was very honest and said that I could get a hamburger for $25 and a soda for $5. After seeing that I was a little discouraged at the $25 hamburger and passed politely, he offered me a sweet deal on two bags of Doritos and two Pepsis, normally all $2 each. I was going to eat like a king. Once you took a left or a right out of the main lobby, the rooms were in a very close, dormitory arrangement. The rooms were humble, with linoleum floors and the basic necessities that you would need for sleeping and bathroom duties. I didn’t mind at all. After sitting for hours upon hours the last two days at airports, a hard floor, concrete block and burlap bag would’ve been just fine. Ironically, the bed was unbelievably comfortable and I slept like a rock. The only part that took getting used to, was looking out the window and seeing that it was still light at 11:30 at night. 

I woke refreshed in the morning and was excited to see that my flight was on time, and still projected to depart, despite the fact that it was still pouring outside. I made my way to the front counter to ask my friendly, little manager  if I could have another bag of Doritos and soda to satisfy my palate before leaving for the airport. I was pleasantly surprised, when he said, “No, no, no. I have a special breakfast down the hall. You go get some food in your stomach.” So he sent me down the hall for a complimentary breakfast that he had set up for other guests who payed extra. I was extremely grateful and thanked him emphatically for everything. I just knew there had to be some good things coming today.

I arrived at the airport with plenty of time to spare, and again was welcomed by the news that the flight was on time and going to depart Bethel. I had a couple more hours of thinking time, which added to the plethora of other thinking time that I had in the past couple of days while sitting in the airports.  You know, just pondering my life and thinking about what I’m going to do for the next 50 years. Just like we all do, right?! I came out of the deep thought to hear music to my ears, “Flight 3445, to Mountain Village, now boarding.” So myself and the other five passengers who could fit on the small plane boarded and took off to Mountain Village.

I have to be honest, I get very, very nervous when flying, but that was exacerbated today when I was aboard the smaller airplane. The loud propeller and more noticeable rocking back-and-forth in the wings, made me put every ounce of confidence I had into my pilots that they have done this countless times and that I didn’t have to worry. The first half hour of the flight was in complete cloud cover so I read a book to take my mind off any worry. However that all stopped, when the scenery on the way to the village came clear. It was absolutely breathtaking. I cannot even begin to describe the color of the green that made up the landscape down below. Beautiful trees, bushes intermixed with the flowing tributaries of the Yukon River made it absolutely beautiful. The mountains you could see were smaller, but still added a incredible beauty to what you could see out the window. Every bit of nervousness that I had flying in the small plane, peeled away when I looked outside. It was really amazing. I was so excited when the landing strip came into view and we are making our way down toward the village. We landed safely!

Upon arrival I was very happy to see that my new colleague, friend and Principal Tim Sisk, was patiently waiting to drive me the last mile to the village. We had talked on the phone a number of times and got to know each other pretty well.  It was great to finally meet him in person. He was every bit of a nice man that I talked to on the phone. As he helped me with my luggage, I was even more pleasantly surprised to see and find out that he had purchased a large amount of groceries and basic items for me, and my new apartment. I was speechless. 

Tim decided he was going to take me on a tour of the village first that I could get acclimated with our surroundings. It was very eye-opening and humbling. What I want to say, is that so many people 

complain about their life, or how rough they have it, or how minuscule things in their life aren’t  working out...and they need to stop! Just don’t!  Most people just don’t realize how good they have things in their life. I realize that I made the choice to come here, with the hope of doing something great and making a difference in the lives of these kids and their families, but I also realize how important it is to value and appreciate what we have/had when it’s gone.

 As we continue to visit and go slowly through the village in one of the few trucks that were in town, I got to see some pretty neat things. Tim took me down to the Yukon River, where we filled up a large container of spring water that flowed out of the side of the bluff going down to the river. It was some of the clearest, cleanest and best tasting natural water I have ever had. I joked with Tim how it reminded me of the days growing up where we drank out of the backyard hose of my house. We also stopped in the local grocery store, and got used to some of the sticker shock of food compared to back home. Obviously, the fact that everything has to be flown in here causes prices to be a little bit higher. The neat thing about the store visit was, that I got to meet a great number of parents and villagers who had students in the school where I would be teaching. It was a really nice way to get introduced to several families in the village. Everyone was very, very nice and welcoming. My tour with Tim completed at the school, in the central part of the village. The school is made up of kindergarten through 12th grade. It is a very nice school and I was able to have a chance to step into my classroom. I kind of got butterflies and goosebumps, standing back in the classroom for the first time in a long time, imagining my little third-graders coming in for the first day. It felt really good. My day ended with Tim showing me my apartment, which stands 50 yards from the school. No excuses to be late or miss school. Especially since they ‘never’ close school regardless of the weather or any anomalies that may take place.

I’m not going to lie, and I have to be honest, there is a tremendous sense of loneliness that overcame me today. Knowing that I’m here to stay, left my family behind, left my friends and my life behind in Wisconsin, and realizing I’m starting a new life in an unfamiliar place. I’ll be a man, and admit that I’m a little scared, yet equally excited about all the amazing people I am going to meet and experiences that I’m going to have. I making this up one day at a time, staying positive and hopeful. If anything changes, you will be the second to know.

Stay tuned...