I know, I know....lame joke. About as lame as I've been with this whole blog business. So...where do I begin to "ketchup"? Hahahahahahahahahaaaaaaa! Sorry. So last time you joined me it was late October, and the first quarter was wrapping. Now it's late February, and the 3rd quarter is winding down. Quite a bit has happened in those handful of months. Let's start with....Dorothy. As you know (if you remember from months ago) she had recently gotten a puppy (Ranger) at the end of October. Well...he's dead now. He got sick a few weeks ago and wasn't able to pull through it. On the bright side, she does have another dog (one she got a few weeks after Ranger - Lil), and that one's healthy and doing well. Squeaks is doing quite well, also. So, whatever ol' Ranger had, it wasn't overly contagious...whew! I almost had to put him out of his misery, but "fortunately" he died before that became necessary. Dorothy and I had a nice little burial for him. We went across the river, dug a hole in the snow, put him in and tossed a little bit of snow back over top.
What else...I bought a snowmobile (or snow machine/snow-go, as they're called around here). Some of you know that, but some of you don't. It's pretty nice, I suppose. 2005, Ski-Doo GTX 550. I don't know jack about snowmobiles, but it's fun, and it's got room for 2 people easy, and 3 if you're ok w/ getting a little cozy. So, I've got a couple of toys now (a boat and a snowmobile). Haven't used the boat yet (since it's been mine anyway), and didn't use the snowmobile too much before Christmas break, but I've averaged almost every weekend since I've been, I think.
What about good stories....hmmm.....a kind of good one is that about 30 min ago I met a guy who has a friend from Petoskey. Small world, eh? What else? (This here is the problem w/ waiting 4 months between posts).
I've been chaperoning quite a bit for sports. Was the NYO chaperone, and have been chaperoning for basketball. I'm in the village of Napaskiak right now for the Jr. High Basketball tournament. I was here last weekend, too, for the high school boys. Let's see...have now been to the villages of Atmautluak (obviously), Akula, Nunapitchuk, Eek, Napakiak, Napaskiak, and the town of Bethel. I think that's it. I've been past Oscarville, but haven't actually stopped there for any reason.
Which reminds me of a kind of fun story. My plane ticket home over Christmas break was not the cheapest thing I have ever purchased (it was horrifyingly close to $2000). On the day of my departure, the weather was horrible. No bush planes were flying. This resulted in a kind of sinking in the chest, increased heart rate & blood pressure, and just general steadily increasing panic all day long. During my (and Dorothy's and Ray's - the teacher in the classroom next to mine) search for any way into Bethel so that we could catch our Alaska Airlines flights, we discovered that a man in the village has an SUV, and that he gives people rides into Bethel. "Well, duh," you're probably thinking. What you may have forgotten, however, is the distinct absence of roads out here. So now you may be thinking, "How does one drive 20+ miles to another town with no roads?" Ah-ha! You have forgotten something else, as well! The ever-present frigidness. This results in a river that is remarkably frozen, upon snowmobiles, cars, and various other machines can be driven. True, it made me a little uneasy, and snowmachines/airplanes would have been much faster, but beggars cannot be choosers, so we hopped in the man's car, and down the river we went. It took about 1.5 hours. 20 air miles is more like 60 river miles. But out flight wasn't until almost 9, and we left around 4:30, so it was no big deal. And I liked it so much, that I took that trip again. But more about that little trip later. Right now I'm kinda sick of typing, and have a stack of papers to grade, and 8 middle school students I'm supposed to be chaperoning. As always, please forgive any and all typos. I've got enough papers to correct w/o my own. Take care, and God bless!
Friday, February 24, 2012
Sunday, October 23, 2011
End of the Quarter
So, I’m pretty sure winter just showed up. We’ve had snow on the ground for over 24 hours and it’s snowing as I type. Nice, big snow flakes. The good thing is that I was able to toss a few snowballs at some students. The bad thing is that, well, it’s winter. So, let’s see….what exciting things have gone on since last I wrote. I’m not actually online at the moment (just typing this up in Word), so I can’t really remember what I last wrote. So….what has happened this week? I bought (another) plane ticket. Actually I bought 2, because it made sense to buy 2 One Way tickets. One to Anchorage, and then one back to Bethel over Thanksgiving break. REALLY looking forward to that trip. Get into the big city again, go to the Bear’s Tooth, and just REALLY get away from the school for a few days.
I recently had the distinction of (indirectly) causing a student to be removed from the school in handcuffs. Let me explain: I have a fairly strict policy of no bathroom use during my class. My students still ask sometimes, so when I’m in a good mood I’ll let them if they’ve can show me that they’ve done some work. Well, one particular student decided that this wasn’t good enough & got up and went to the bathroom anyway. So, I informed this student that an after school detention was now in order. When the student came back I insisted that work be done. The student didn’t particularly care for this either. So, the student left once again. I called the principal, informed her that a student left my room and was potentially leaving school altogether. My principal was able to intercept the student. Again, this displeased the student who made threatening gestures toward the principal. Such behavior being completely unacceptable the authorities were informed. Though they took quite some time getting there, the misbehaving student failed to take the opportunity to simply leave. As luck would have it, right when the rest of the students were getting out for the end of the day, the police showed and handcuffed my entirely unhappy student in front of much of the school. It’s time like these that I don’t know whether to happy or sad. I guess I’ll know for sure when this student comes back.
Oh yeah, I also bought a boat…or at least committed to buying a boat. Cindy purchased one this fall, and after a while thought better of it. So now I’m gonna buy it from her. I hope it’s a good investment. At the very least it sounds like it’ll be pretty easy to sell. Better yet, it sounds like I’d be able to do it for a profit. So we’ll see how this whole thing goes. I won’t know until spring because, well, the river is freezing over. So, I’ll let you know after the big thaw whether it was a good purchase. I think it is, though…
What else…. Oh yes. We had a Halloween Carnival at the school today. The student council put up some carnival type games and kids (and community members as well) could come in and buy tickets that they then used to play the games for little prizes. It was a lot of fun, and the kids really seemed to enjoy it. Next week is a haunted house. I’m pretty excited for that one. There’s also some Rocky Horror Picture Show thing going on in Bethel that weekend, that I’m very tempted to check out. So, I’ve got some things to think about.
On another exciting note, We are officially ¼ of the way through the school year. The end of the quarter was Friday, and I have all my grades ready. Some of them are pretty abysmal, but hopefully it’ll make those kids realize that they actually have to do stuff in class in order to pass. Or maybe it’ll get their parents a little more involved. Anyway, I hope it does something for the better, because right now it’s just kind of depressing.
Hmmm…I’m also trying to figure out my summer plans. Looks like Lane is gonna come up this summer J Just in case anyone else is interested, you can currently get a RT ticket from Chicago to Anchorage for only $430. Pretty good price, especially when I think about how my RT flight home at Christmas cost me $1800 (and that doesn’t include getting to/from the village). So, something to think about for those of you who have always wanted to go to Alaska ;) So, I’m thinking that I want to go to Denali and Fairbanks over the summer when my visitor(s) arrive. Maybe try to squeeze in something else as well (Wrangell-St. Elias, maybe). But I was also thinking I could try to see Barrow, AK (the northernmost city in the USA). I looked it up, and I can use my Alaska Airlines Frequent Flyer miles to pay for a ticket from Bethel è Barrow è Anchorage. There are also a couple of Couch Surfing people in Barrow. So, if everything works out, I’ll get a few days up there for next to nothing. And that’s in Polar Bear and whale territory! So, just some things that I’m trying to figure out.
I also am thinking about thinking about heading into Anchorage to check out the start of the Iditarod. Apparently we’ve got a 4 day weekend then, so that’s a very tempting possibility. The only problem I see w/ all this is that I need to make sure I actually save some money this year. But I think I’ve been doing a pretty good job.
And finally….Dorothy got herself a puppy. She’s been wanting one since she got here, and today she snagged up a little stray puppy that has been terribly neglected and has been hanging around teacher housing for a few days. So that’s nice. Anyway…I’m sick of writing, and you’re probably sick of reading. Wish me luck and pray for me and I head into the 2nd quarter. I hope you’ve been enjoying my posts, and I wish you all the best. Take care, and God bless!
Monday, October 10, 2011
Winter Is On Its Way....
So....it's getting a bit chilly now. I think we've broken 40 once or twice over he past week, and aside from the mornings it's been raining I've walked to school through frost. And today, as I mentioned on my facebook status, there was frost still on the ground (albeit in the shade) at about 4:30 this afternoon. Oh yeah, and around noon the puddles were iced over. I think winter is near. I know that I'm not quite ready for it. I don't like there's been a summer up here. I'm not sure it's been over 70 since I've been here. And I'm pretty sure I could count the times it's been over 60 on my two hands. So, I kinda wish I had had some more nice days before winter started to kick in. On the positive side the days have been pretty nice, just a bit chilly.
The really noticeable thing however, is the daylight. When I flew into Anchorage on July 25 sunrise was 6:06am, and sunset was 11:47pm. Fast forward to today (less than 3 months later) and sunrise was 9:19am and sunset will be at 7:54pm. That's a lot of sunlight that is no longer with us.
What big events have happened since the cross country meet? I really should keep up with this thing a little better.
Anyways...tried to do a little hunting this weekend. Didn't work out so well. We boated around looking for birds, but didn't see many. The ones we did see we weren't able to get. And my shotgun decided not to fire any of the 3" shells I bought. So that was fun. We also shot at a beaver for a while, but we weren't able to get him either. Then we were going to go the next day, but Tim had his gas stolen, so that put a pretty quick halt to those plans.
Which reminds me...a fun little "adventure" I had somewhat recently was wiring up teaching housing for satellite TV. Tim asked me to help lay some cable for just this reason a couple weeks ago. Thinking it would just be a few hours, I agreed. Well, it turned into 5 or 6 hours one night, and then another 6 hours (ish) the following morning. The really funny thing is that I'm not even going to have TV...sometimes I wonder how I made it this far in life. I'm hoping, however, that my good deeds will pay off when there's a program I greatly desire to see (i.e. Wings' game).
Hmmm...I'm doing Fantasy Hockey again, which is nice. I got off to a great start, but my team kinda tanked today, which ticks me off. Also, in even more exciting news, I just got 80 lbs of cat litter in the mail today. So now Squeaks can poop in comfort for the rest of the year.
Getting really excited about Thanksgiving & Christmas. Sounds like I'm gonna be heading into Anchorage w/ a handful of the new teachers for Thanksgiving. That'll be nice to get into a real city, see some of my older (in years of friendship terms) friends, and hang out with some of the new ones. Christmas will just be nice in general. See the family, the friends. Do a little skiing, drive my car, go to Short's, eat at a restaurant, go to a movie. Except it'll go by like nothing. Oh well, it'll be a lot of fun. I think Lane said we're in the 60s for # of days left until I come home.
I really love this place at night. I love it when I'm at the school late or watching a movie at Dorothy's and I have to walk home. It's so quiet, and still. And the lighting gives a really, really nice atmosphere. Almost spooky But I love it. I usually just stop and look around for a few minutes. Maybe having very little sunlight in winter won't be so bad, because it really fantastic here at night time. Anyways...should probably get to some lesson planning done. Hope you guys are enjoying my blog, and hopefully I'll get posts up more frequently. Take care, and God bless!
The really noticeable thing however, is the daylight. When I flew into Anchorage on July 25 sunrise was 6:06am, and sunset was 11:47pm. Fast forward to today (less than 3 months later) and sunrise was 9:19am and sunset will be at 7:54pm. That's a lot of sunlight that is no longer with us.
What big events have happened since the cross country meet? I really should keep up with this thing a little better.
Anyways...tried to do a little hunting this weekend. Didn't work out so well. We boated around looking for birds, but didn't see many. The ones we did see we weren't able to get. And my shotgun decided not to fire any of the 3" shells I bought. So that was fun. We also shot at a beaver for a while, but we weren't able to get him either. Then we were going to go the next day, but Tim had his gas stolen, so that put a pretty quick halt to those plans.
Which reminds me...a fun little "adventure" I had somewhat recently was wiring up teaching housing for satellite TV. Tim asked me to help lay some cable for just this reason a couple weeks ago. Thinking it would just be a few hours, I agreed. Well, it turned into 5 or 6 hours one night, and then another 6 hours (ish) the following morning. The really funny thing is that I'm not even going to have TV...sometimes I wonder how I made it this far in life. I'm hoping, however, that my good deeds will pay off when there's a program I greatly desire to see (i.e. Wings' game).
Hmmm...I'm doing Fantasy Hockey again, which is nice. I got off to a great start, but my team kinda tanked today, which ticks me off. Also, in even more exciting news, I just got 80 lbs of cat litter in the mail today. So now Squeaks can poop in comfort for the rest of the year.
Getting really excited about Thanksgiving & Christmas. Sounds like I'm gonna be heading into Anchorage w/ a handful of the new teachers for Thanksgiving. That'll be nice to get into a real city, see some of my older (in years of friendship terms) friends, and hang out with some of the new ones. Christmas will just be nice in general. See the family, the friends. Do a little skiing, drive my car, go to Short's, eat at a restaurant, go to a movie. Except it'll go by like nothing. Oh well, it'll be a lot of fun. I think Lane said we're in the 60s for # of days left until I come home.
I really love this place at night. I love it when I'm at the school late or watching a movie at Dorothy's and I have to walk home. It's so quiet, and still. And the lighting gives a really, really nice atmosphere. Almost spooky But I love it. I usually just stop and look around for a few minutes. Maybe having very little sunlight in winter won't be so bad, because it really fantastic here at night time. Anyways...should probably get to some lesson planning done. Hope you guys are enjoying my blog, and hopefully I'll get posts up more frequently. Take care, and God bless!
Saturday, September 17, 2011
Cross Country
So, traveled to Bethel last night for a Cross Country meet today. It was nice. Got to see Matt (new teacher at Nunap), and it was a nice chance to be w/ some students outside of the school, and the classroom. There were six students, 5 of which I have in at least one of my classes. It was a lot of fun. A couple of the kids did really well. The course is just a big sand pit. I think it was a 5K for the High Schoolers. It was actually pretty interesting to look at. One of the weirdest things is that there were a bunch of random cars (all rusted to heck and not worth the metal they're made of) strewn about the pit. I'm curious as to why they're there. One of the boys ran today for his first time as a Varsity runner (they run double the distance of the Junior High kids) and placed 12th, out of 40-60 runners. One of the junior high boys placed 15th in his first Cross Country meet ever. Last night we played some basketball, "Not It" (tag), and watched most of the new Tron Movie (it started to get too late, so we ended the movie a little early).
It's turning out to be beautiful day. Sitting here at the airport in Bethel I can see the Kilbuck Mountains pretty clearly. It's nice to be reminded that there are places in the world with topography. Another bit of good news is that it sounds like I'm going to get a kitten! One of my cross country boys has some kittens and he says that he's going to give me one. I really hope he follows through because I just bought food, litter, a pet carrier, a litter box, and a litter scoop in preparation for this kitty. It will be very nice to have a little cat around :) Mom already doesn't want me to get one, but oh well. I'm not 100% sure what I'm going to do with it over Christmas, but I'll figure something out. The other thing is that I'll probably have to get it into Bethel sometime to get it fixed, and maybe even declawed or get some shots or something. We'll see. I'm not even sure Bethel has a vet, but with as many dogs as there are out here, I have to believe there's a vet in Bethel.
Anyways...I can't think of anything else to share right now. Things are generally going the same. Still a lot of work that I have to do, but I'm getting better w/ the planning, and there's a still a lot of work to be done w/ the students, but things will get better. I got a shipment of food in yesterday, I had a fun couple of days in Bethel, there's no school on Monday, and I think I'm getting a pet :) Life doesn't sound so bad at all, now does it. I hope everything back home (and elsewhere) is doing great. Thanks for tuning in once again, and God Bless!
It's turning out to be beautiful day. Sitting here at the airport in Bethel I can see the Kilbuck Mountains pretty clearly. It's nice to be reminded that there are places in the world with topography. Another bit of good news is that it sounds like I'm going to get a kitten! One of my cross country boys has some kittens and he says that he's going to give me one. I really hope he follows through because I just bought food, litter, a pet carrier, a litter box, and a litter scoop in preparation for this kitty. It will be very nice to have a little cat around :) Mom already doesn't want me to get one, but oh well. I'm not 100% sure what I'm going to do with it over Christmas, but I'll figure something out. The other thing is that I'll probably have to get it into Bethel sometime to get it fixed, and maybe even declawed or get some shots or something. We'll see. I'm not even sure Bethel has a vet, but with as many dogs as there are out here, I have to believe there's a vet in Bethel.
Anyways...I can't think of anything else to share right now. Things are generally going the same. Still a lot of work that I have to do, but I'm getting better w/ the planning, and there's a still a lot of work to be done w/ the students, but things will get better. I got a shipment of food in yesterday, I had a fun couple of days in Bethel, there's no school on Monday, and I think I'm getting a pet :) Life doesn't sound so bad at all, now does it. I hope everything back home (and elsewhere) is doing great. Thanks for tuning in once again, and God Bless!
Friday, September 9, 2011
Just Some Thoughts and Happenings
So....thank God for Fridays...although not all Fridays are created equal. Take this one for instance....kind of a pain. We had a short week this. Students had Monday & Tuesday off because of Labor Day, and we teachers had Monday off, w/ an inservice on Tuesday. The long weekend was great for me (did some duck hunting - got 6, got a lot of work done, and we even able to relax! That, my friends, is a rare & precious commodity). It was not, however, good for my students. They were a little out of sorts (or more so than usual) this week, and I am very happy that I get a break. I love these half day Fridays. We get the whole afternoon off, I can actually run to post office and check my mail (usually none, but it's something to do). It's nice.
On an even more exciting note, I get to see some of the other new teachers tonight & tomorrow. There's a day of New Teacher Inservice tomorrow, so Dorothy, Cindy, and I are flying into Bethel this afternoon. Tonight, some of the New Teachers have organized a little get together, so that will be really nice to re-connect w/ them and see how things are going in the other villages. It will also be a chance to do a little shopping (I feel kinda lame for getting excited about this...like maybe I need to turn in my Man Card...). I'm also curious about what we're going to learn about at the inservice tomorrow.
So, between now and 5 (assuming the plane is on time...HA!), I've gotta get all packed up, finish my shopping list, and eat some food. I think I'm going to cook up some of those ducks I shot this weekend and put them over some pasta. Probably invite Cindy & Dorothy over as well. Which reminds me....
I decided to be a nice guy this past Monday, and cook up some of my whitefish for Cindy and Dorothy. It was a very nice meal - pan fried whitefish w/ mashed potatoes...yummmm! However, I had a little hiccup at the beginning of the meal prep. While chopping up some potatoes (so they'd soften up more quickly in the boil), my subconscious mind thought it would be a great idea to curl my thumb underneath the potato I was chopping with a rather sharp knife (courtesy of my father). Well... in case any of you are not yet aware, when I sharp knife blade forced downward comes in to contact w/ your soft fleshy thumb, your soft fleshy thumb has an uncanny ability to become a little bit smaller than it was previously. In simpler terms, I cut off the tip of my thumb while cutting potatoes this pas Monday. My left thumb now has a flat spot. So, I had to prepare most of the meal w/ one hand (not the easiest thing in the world), and try not to bleed all over the food (once I wrapped the thumb in some paper towels, that was pretty easy). Now it's the waiting game. Gotta wait for my stupid thumb to heal over a little bit so it doesn't sting all the time, and I can take the bandages off, and have a fully functioning left hand once more. I do have some pictures of the wound which I'll put on facebook and up here (I have quite a few pictures I have to get up here, don't i?). It really isn't that big of a deal. It was a relatively small piece that I lopped off, and I don't see my thumb becoming hideously deformed from this incident (maybe a little weird looking on close inspection), I'd be very surprised indeed if the injury has any lasting effects.
Anyhow, I supposed it's time I make some food and get ready for Bethel. Thanks for tuning in, and God Bless!
On an even more exciting note, I get to see some of the other new teachers tonight & tomorrow. There's a day of New Teacher Inservice tomorrow, so Dorothy, Cindy, and I are flying into Bethel this afternoon. Tonight, some of the New Teachers have organized a little get together, so that will be really nice to re-connect w/ them and see how things are going in the other villages. It will also be a chance to do a little shopping (I feel kinda lame for getting excited about this...like maybe I need to turn in my Man Card...). I'm also curious about what we're going to learn about at the inservice tomorrow.
So, between now and 5 (assuming the plane is on time...HA!), I've gotta get all packed up, finish my shopping list, and eat some food. I think I'm going to cook up some of those ducks I shot this weekend and put them over some pasta. Probably invite Cindy & Dorothy over as well. Which reminds me....
I decided to be a nice guy this past Monday, and cook up some of my whitefish for Cindy and Dorothy. It was a very nice meal - pan fried whitefish w/ mashed potatoes...yummmm! However, I had a little hiccup at the beginning of the meal prep. While chopping up some potatoes (so they'd soften up more quickly in the boil), my subconscious mind thought it would be a great idea to curl my thumb underneath the potato I was chopping with a rather sharp knife (courtesy of my father). Well... in case any of you are not yet aware, when I sharp knife blade forced downward comes in to contact w/ your soft fleshy thumb, your soft fleshy thumb has an uncanny ability to become a little bit smaller than it was previously. In simpler terms, I cut off the tip of my thumb while cutting potatoes this pas Monday. My left thumb now has a flat spot. So, I had to prepare most of the meal w/ one hand (not the easiest thing in the world), and try not to bleed all over the food (once I wrapped the thumb in some paper towels, that was pretty easy). Now it's the waiting game. Gotta wait for my stupid thumb to heal over a little bit so it doesn't sting all the time, and I can take the bandages off, and have a fully functioning left hand once more. I do have some pictures of the wound which I'll put on facebook and up here (I have quite a few pictures I have to get up here, don't i?). It really isn't that big of a deal. It was a relatively small piece that I lopped off, and I don't see my thumb becoming hideously deformed from this incident (maybe a little weird looking on close inspection), I'd be very surprised indeed if the injury has any lasting effects.
Anyhow, I supposed it's time I make some food and get ready for Bethel. Thanks for tuning in, and God Bless!
Saturday, September 3, 2011
A Few Firsts, and Some Other Stuff...
So...It's been a while, eh? Sorry about that. I haven't really been super busy, just not very productive. I think my brain has been recovering from over-exertion from the first 2 weeks. I'm happy to say, however, that I do believe I am getting better. I'm figuring out what makes my students tick a little bit. Teaching is still a huge challenge, but it's getting better. I'm beginning to accept some things that "just are" and am figuring out how to work within the constraints that I have. But I'm getting more time for myself. I still often stay up late doing work (not as late), but it's been because I haven't been as productive. And am multi-tasking while doing work, so I haven't been as effective in my planning. But the planning has been a lot less stressful. Which is good. Dorothy and I are still having our daily "homework parties" but they're getting more enjoyable, and shorter. And I'm getting a handle on my curriculum materials. I don't think I'm going to be able to teach quite the way I'd like, but I think the students up here need a different style of teaching that how I would prefer to. At least for right now. There are a lot of behavioral/social learning that they need to do before the academic stuff can be very valuable.
Anyways....I met state mentor this past week. She was super friendly and nice and supportive. She's going to be at the school once a month, and we're supposed to talk every week. We'll see how that talking thing goes. I've already got a handful of people that I'm supposed to talk to regularly, and that's too much right now. So, we'll see. I had her come into my "bad" class to offer some support, and of course they have the best day so far. The one time I want them to be a pain so that I can get some advice on how to deal w/ it, and they decide to be quiet, calm, mellow, and generally well-behaved. Go figure...
On that note, it was a pretty good week this week. Monday was a little rough, but after that things went pretty smoothly. Far from ideal or perfect, but if every week goes like this one, things will be OK.
So, let's get on with some firsts...I had my first "F***k You" from a student in my second week. I held him after school for being "naughty" (as they say) and called his parents, and he got a little upset. It was only going to be for 10 minutes, but turned into 25 or so because of that little comment, mainly because he didn't want to apologize. Students get angry quite easily up here, and don't handle it the best. The odd thing was that it didn't ruin my day. It was actually a decent day and I was happy to have one at that point. I don't think it's happened since. I've had students express their displeasure with me (I think I've been called "stupid" and have had them say they don't like me), but I don't think they've sworn at me since (not in English, anyway. Who knows what they've said in Yup'ik...). So that was interesting. Like I said, there are a lot of behavioral/social issues to iron out...
Another first was trying some moose meat. At least the kind I tried. I think I had a moose burger in Canada this spring, courtesy of Johnny, but I had forgotten that when I tried the moose this time around. One of my students had been gone a few days during the week for moose hunting, and Dorothy and I ran into him when we were going to one of the little stores in the village. I asked if he got a moose, he said yes. I asked if we could see it and he said yes again. So we went over to his house (actually his grandmother's house). On a tarp in the middle of the kitchen there was a skinned moose head. The skin was in a pile next to it, and all the meat from the head was in a big bowl, also on the floor. It was pretty interesting. So, Dorothy and I snapped a few photos (on facebook - I'll try to get some pictures on here) of it, and his family invited us to try some it. They were boiling some of the bones and it would only be a few more minutes. So, we hung around. When they pulled the bones out of the pot (they boiled it w/ onions and rice, I do believe), I learned exactly what we were going to be eating: Marrow & Joint Cartilage (and a little of the meat that was left on the bones). I was a little nervous about how the marrow and cartilage would taste. However, it was all pretty good. It actually reminded me of dumplings (both the marrow and cartilage). The cartilage was a bit chewy, but it didn't have a terrible texture. The marrow was really smooth and creamy. It was actually quite pleasant feeling. As far as the actual meat went, it tasted a lot like pot roast. So that was a good little experience. We even got invited to party the next day, but we couldn't make it. And they said they'd send a chunk of the meat over our way, but that hasn't showed up yet. I'm hoping it does.
I also got to skin my first beaver (no giggling in the back, there!). For whatever reason, one of the guys from the village brought Tim a beaver (he uses them as bait on his rather extensive trap line). He doesn't particularly like skinning them, and I wanted to learn, so I volunteered. He happily accepted to teach me. So, in my Arctic Entryway we laid down some cardboard, plopped the beaver on it, and he walked me through the process of skinning a beaver. It really wasn't too difficult (I would have totally botched it w/o his guidance, and still need A LOT of practice), but I didn't put any holes in the hide, and learned a little something new (it was also a lot better than my attempts at filleting fish - I'm terrible at it...). There were a couple girls that hung around and watched and offered some advice. And Cindy came to check it out and take some pictures (again, there are some pictures on facebook, and I'll try to get some up here). So, once it was all skinned, I cut off a couple chunks of meat (Tim doesn't like it much, but I want to give it a try) to eat. And Tim is letting me keep the pelt. He's got to get all of his equipment for stretching it and fleshing it out, but once he does he's going to show me how to do all that. Then I'll send it off to get tanned, and have myself a beaver pelt! It'll be nice when I'm able to get the pelt off an animal I actually killed, but hey, you gotta start somewhere, right? Right now the hide is just sitting in my freezer.
And Cindy bought a boat. There were a few issues w/ it, but those got fixed yesterday, and she, Dorothy, and I went out for a very brief little boat ride. Our first "adventure" w/o the guidance of someone who actually knows what they're doing! It was really nice. I got to do a little bit of driving (it has tiller-steering, which I haven't done since sailing school about 10 years) which took a little getting used to. But the boat is gonna be fun. Give us newbs a chance to get out a little on our own (it also give us plenty of opportunity to get lost, break down, and just generally run into back luck).
What else.........oh yes. I do believe that I'm going to do my first ever hunting this weekend (possibly even today!). Bird season just opened up this weekend, and Tim has been itching to go get some birds, and we decided that this weekend we're definitely going this weekend. So, hopefully by the end of the day (and certainly by the end of the weekend), I'll be a bona fide killer! And I'll have some more food in the freezer (to go w/ my fish). So that's pretty exciting, I think. This all assuming that I can actually hit anything...which might be assuming a lot.
I looked up some fish recipes last night. So I can experiment w/ some ways to cook up some tasty salmon and whitefish :)
I also bought an X-Box controller to so I can play games w/ Tim and his kids. That should be fun. Anyways...I think it's time to (try) shoot some birds. Wish me luck! Have a good day, thanks for tuning in, and God Bless!
P.S. Hunting was a lot of fun. I was able to shoot 5 ducks (3 wigeons, 1 mallard, and 1 pocket duck). Tim and son picked up another 5. I don't know about them so much, but I certainly shot at a lot more than 5, but I'm pretty happy with how everything went. I missed a couple of really easy shots, which I would like to use a mulligan on, but whatever. Spent a handful of hours walking on the tundra, trying not to get stuck in mud, wading across rivers/streams/sloughs/creeks, and looking for birds to shoot. I actually got pretty soaked. I shot the mallard and it fell right in the middle of the river and just kept floating there, not getting any closer to the bank (more specifically, MY bank). So I walked along the river bank for a while hoping it would start drifting toward me. It didn't. So I waded in. The river was a little deep and I took about 1 too many steps toward the middle and got my chest waders flooded. But, I was able to use a stick to pull my duck to me. So it was all good. Anyways, just thought I'd give that little update, although I don't think any of you have even read this yet, since I haven't made an announcement on facebook. But I'm doing it right now. Take care!
Anyways....I met state mentor this past week. She was super friendly and nice and supportive. She's going to be at the school once a month, and we're supposed to talk every week. We'll see how that talking thing goes. I've already got a handful of people that I'm supposed to talk to regularly, and that's too much right now. So, we'll see. I had her come into my "bad" class to offer some support, and of course they have the best day so far. The one time I want them to be a pain so that I can get some advice on how to deal w/ it, and they decide to be quiet, calm, mellow, and generally well-behaved. Go figure...
On that note, it was a pretty good week this week. Monday was a little rough, but after that things went pretty smoothly. Far from ideal or perfect, but if every week goes like this one, things will be OK.
So, let's get on with some firsts...I had my first "F***k You" from a student in my second week. I held him after school for being "naughty" (as they say) and called his parents, and he got a little upset. It was only going to be for 10 minutes, but turned into 25 or so because of that little comment, mainly because he didn't want to apologize. Students get angry quite easily up here, and don't handle it the best. The odd thing was that it didn't ruin my day. It was actually a decent day and I was happy to have one at that point. I don't think it's happened since. I've had students express their displeasure with me (I think I've been called "stupid" and have had them say they don't like me), but I don't think they've sworn at me since (not in English, anyway. Who knows what they've said in Yup'ik...). So that was interesting. Like I said, there are a lot of behavioral/social issues to iron out...
Another first was trying some moose meat. At least the kind I tried. I think I had a moose burger in Canada this spring, courtesy of Johnny, but I had forgotten that when I tried the moose this time around. One of my students had been gone a few days during the week for moose hunting, and Dorothy and I ran into him when we were going to one of the little stores in the village. I asked if he got a moose, he said yes. I asked if we could see it and he said yes again. So we went over to his house (actually his grandmother's house). On a tarp in the middle of the kitchen there was a skinned moose head. The skin was in a pile next to it, and all the meat from the head was in a big bowl, also on the floor. It was pretty interesting. So, Dorothy and I snapped a few photos (on facebook - I'll try to get some pictures on here) of it, and his family invited us to try some it. They were boiling some of the bones and it would only be a few more minutes. So, we hung around. When they pulled the bones out of the pot (they boiled it w/ onions and rice, I do believe), I learned exactly what we were going to be eating: Marrow & Joint Cartilage (and a little of the meat that was left on the bones). I was a little nervous about how the marrow and cartilage would taste. However, it was all pretty good. It actually reminded me of dumplings (both the marrow and cartilage). The cartilage was a bit chewy, but it didn't have a terrible texture. The marrow was really smooth and creamy. It was actually quite pleasant feeling. As far as the actual meat went, it tasted a lot like pot roast. So that was a good little experience. We even got invited to party the next day, but we couldn't make it. And they said they'd send a chunk of the meat over our way, but that hasn't showed up yet. I'm hoping it does.
I also got to skin my first beaver (no giggling in the back, there!). For whatever reason, one of the guys from the village brought Tim a beaver (he uses them as bait on his rather extensive trap line). He doesn't particularly like skinning them, and I wanted to learn, so I volunteered. He happily accepted to teach me. So, in my Arctic Entryway we laid down some cardboard, plopped the beaver on it, and he walked me through the process of skinning a beaver. It really wasn't too difficult (I would have totally botched it w/o his guidance, and still need A LOT of practice), but I didn't put any holes in the hide, and learned a little something new (it was also a lot better than my attempts at filleting fish - I'm terrible at it...). There were a couple girls that hung around and watched and offered some advice. And Cindy came to check it out and take some pictures (again, there are some pictures on facebook, and I'll try to get some up here). So, once it was all skinned, I cut off a couple chunks of meat (Tim doesn't like it much, but I want to give it a try) to eat. And Tim is letting me keep the pelt. He's got to get all of his equipment for stretching it and fleshing it out, but once he does he's going to show me how to do all that. Then I'll send it off to get tanned, and have myself a beaver pelt! It'll be nice when I'm able to get the pelt off an animal I actually killed, but hey, you gotta start somewhere, right? Right now the hide is just sitting in my freezer.
And Cindy bought a boat. There were a few issues w/ it, but those got fixed yesterday, and she, Dorothy, and I went out for a very brief little boat ride. Our first "adventure" w/o the guidance of someone who actually knows what they're doing! It was really nice. I got to do a little bit of driving (it has tiller-steering, which I haven't done since sailing school about 10 years) which took a little getting used to. But the boat is gonna be fun. Give us newbs a chance to get out a little on our own (it also give us plenty of opportunity to get lost, break down, and just generally run into back luck).
What else.........oh yes. I do believe that I'm going to do my first ever hunting this weekend (possibly even today!). Bird season just opened up this weekend, and Tim has been itching to go get some birds, and we decided that this weekend we're definitely going this weekend. So, hopefully by the end of the day (and certainly by the end of the weekend), I'll be a bona fide killer! And I'll have some more food in the freezer (to go w/ my fish). So that's pretty exciting, I think. This all assuming that I can actually hit anything...which might be assuming a lot.
I looked up some fish recipes last night. So I can experiment w/ some ways to cook up some tasty salmon and whitefish :)
I also bought an X-Box controller to so I can play games w/ Tim and his kids. That should be fun. Anyways...I think it's time to (try) shoot some birds. Wish me luck! Have a good day, thanks for tuning in, and God Bless!
P.S. Hunting was a lot of fun. I was able to shoot 5 ducks (3 wigeons, 1 mallard, and 1 pocket duck). Tim and son picked up another 5. I don't know about them so much, but I certainly shot at a lot more than 5, but I'm pretty happy with how everything went. I missed a couple of really easy shots, which I would like to use a mulligan on, but whatever. Spent a handful of hours walking on the tundra, trying not to get stuck in mud, wading across rivers/streams/sloughs/creeks, and looking for birds to shoot. I actually got pretty soaked. I shot the mallard and it fell right in the middle of the river and just kept floating there, not getting any closer to the bank (more specifically, MY bank). So I walked along the river bank for a while hoping it would start drifting toward me. It didn't. So I waded in. The river was a little deep and I took about 1 too many steps toward the middle and got my chest waders flooded. But, I was able to use a stick to pull my duck to me. So it was all good. Anyways, just thought I'd give that little update, although I don't think any of you have even read this yet, since I haven't made an announcement on facebook. But I'm doing it right now. Take care!
Saturday, August 20, 2011
Here Goes Nothin'...
So...just got through my first "week" (it was really only 2 1/2 days) of school. "Got through" is definitely the right word choice. It was pretty stressful, and pretty tough. I'm hopeful, however, that things will be better. I came down w/ a nasty cold the night before the first day, and didn't sleep well (partly the cold, partly nerves). The cold was in full swing the first day. I could barely speak by the end of the day, and was generally worn out and exhausted. To make things even better, I WAY under planned for the week, and used up all of my lesson content in that first day. So, I was up until 3am that morning planning for all 7 of my classes. It's a lot of work. I'm teaching 6th Grade Reading, 6th Grade Writing, 6th Grade U.S. History, 7th/8th Grade Reading, 7th/8th Grade Writing, 7th/8th Grade Ancient History, and a High School Creative Writing class. Each class requires its own lesson plan. So, I keep myself pretty busy on a daily basis getting ready for school. I just have to find my groove, get myself a little bit ahead, and then I can probably ease up on all the extra planning time. That will be nice. To add even more, I'm thinking about coaching Cross Country. There is a decent sized group of High School kids that want to do it, but there's no coach. So we'll see.
I'm still trying to figure out the students. I don't know what motivates them, what their interests are, and haven't gained their trust yet. They don't really trust teachers that much, and I suppose I don't blame them. Every year or so there's pretty much a wholesale change of staff. It makes it hard on the kids - having no continuity, consistency, and probably thinking that nobody really cares. It makes things tough - both for them, and me. Thank God the staff here is so supportive. Every one is so nice, and willing help. It makes everything a lot easier. It also sounds like all the teachers are having the same struggles that I am, so it's nice to know that it's not just me, or my my teaching. It's only been 3 days, so I gotta believe it'll get better over time, it's just a little overwhelming sometimes.
One of the teachers, Cindy, has become, as Dorothy and I put it, our "Atmau Mom" (don't feel threatened, Mother Mary!). She provides a lot of support for us, and kind of takes care of us (gave us little goodie bags after our first day & gave me a bunch of Vitamin C when I got sick). Her actual family is coming up in November, and Dorothy and I joke that we're going to feel abandoned when she spends more of her time w/ her real kids.
We've had a string of nice weather recently (once school starts, of course...) so I've been trying to get out and walk around a little bit. I've been able to do some berry picking, and have picked a couple cups worth of blueberries (yum!). I also got my SMART Board installed this weekend! It's too far away from an outlet right now, so I need an extension cord of some kind to plug it in, but I'm super happy it finally came (it was supposed to get here this past Monday).
I also started receiving a bunch of my mail yesterday. I ordered a bunch of food and general supplies, and Dad & Lane both sent me some stuff and I got almost all of it. Being up here makes you appreciate mail SO MUCH. I was literally about the happiest I can remember when I went to the post office and saw all those boxes w/ my name on them. It's like Christmas - maybe even better...
So yeah, things have been challenging these past few days, but after talking w/ some of the other teachers and my principal I feel a lot better. I've got some ideas for how I'm going to assess my students' abilities, and some ideas on how to teach some of the material and how to structure my lessons. So we'll see how it goes. I've got my teaching coach coming out to the village on Monday, my State Mentor coming out by the end of the month, and we also have some training this coming week. I also have Parent-Teacher Conferences this Thursday. Hopefully, I'll be able to gain some insight on my students and address some issues as well. But it's keeping me busybusybusy.
I'm so glad, I'm not the only new teacher. Dorothy and I have spent a lot of time together talking about, lamenting, laughing about, etc. our experiences and it's been really good to have someone going through very similar things right now.
So...bottom line: this is definitely a challenge. But it's only the first week which means there's lots of time to figure things out, and I've got an awesome group of people around me for support. Better yet, I'm optimistic and I've got some things to try. So...we'll see what happens. Thanks for tuning in, hope you're enjoying this, and God Bless!
I'm still trying to figure out the students. I don't know what motivates them, what their interests are, and haven't gained their trust yet. They don't really trust teachers that much, and I suppose I don't blame them. Every year or so there's pretty much a wholesale change of staff. It makes it hard on the kids - having no continuity, consistency, and probably thinking that nobody really cares. It makes things tough - both for them, and me. Thank God the staff here is so supportive. Every one is so nice, and willing help. It makes everything a lot easier. It also sounds like all the teachers are having the same struggles that I am, so it's nice to know that it's not just me, or my my teaching. It's only been 3 days, so I gotta believe it'll get better over time, it's just a little overwhelming sometimes.
One of the teachers, Cindy, has become, as Dorothy and I put it, our "Atmau Mom" (don't feel threatened, Mother Mary!). She provides a lot of support for us, and kind of takes care of us (gave us little goodie bags after our first day & gave me a bunch of Vitamin C when I got sick). Her actual family is coming up in November, and Dorothy and I joke that we're going to feel abandoned when she spends more of her time w/ her real kids.
We've had a string of nice weather recently (once school starts, of course...) so I've been trying to get out and walk around a little bit. I've been able to do some berry picking, and have picked a couple cups worth of blueberries (yum!). I also got my SMART Board installed this weekend! It's too far away from an outlet right now, so I need an extension cord of some kind to plug it in, but I'm super happy it finally came (it was supposed to get here this past Monday).
I also started receiving a bunch of my mail yesterday. I ordered a bunch of food and general supplies, and Dad & Lane both sent me some stuff and I got almost all of it. Being up here makes you appreciate mail SO MUCH. I was literally about the happiest I can remember when I went to the post office and saw all those boxes w/ my name on them. It's like Christmas - maybe even better...
So yeah, things have been challenging these past few days, but after talking w/ some of the other teachers and my principal I feel a lot better. I've got some ideas for how I'm going to assess my students' abilities, and some ideas on how to teach some of the material and how to structure my lessons. So we'll see how it goes. I've got my teaching coach coming out to the village on Monday, my State Mentor coming out by the end of the month, and we also have some training this coming week. I also have Parent-Teacher Conferences this Thursday. Hopefully, I'll be able to gain some insight on my students and address some issues as well. But it's keeping me busybusybusy.
I'm so glad, I'm not the only new teacher. Dorothy and I have spent a lot of time together talking about, lamenting, laughing about, etc. our experiences and it's been really good to have someone going through very similar things right now.
So...bottom line: this is definitely a challenge. But it's only the first week which means there's lots of time to figure things out, and I've got an awesome group of people around me for support. Better yet, I'm optimistic and I've got some things to try. So...we'll see what happens. Thanks for tuning in, hope you're enjoying this, and God Bless!
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