30 August

P.S. My photos get put in backwards. Sorry.

I hope everyone is doing well. I have learned a bunch of new information about Alaska (Anchorage and points beyond) to share. First of all, you all will be glad to know weathermen are the same no matter where you live. I want to be a weatherman and get paid to be wrong!! The weather prediction all week was "big rains" and you know I got a drizzle on my way to school two mornings. I never saw drops or "big rain" all week. Then at the 10 pm news that talked about all the rain. Where was I? I still haven't met anyone who can answer my question about Anchorage weather. On Thursday evening I sat outside with my neighbors. The kids were "grilling" smores after dinner. So it was 8:30 - 9:30 at night, the sun was up, and the temperature was 55 - 58 degrees. We are all sitting around in shorts, I had a sleeveless top and flip flops on. We sat around for about an hour. I never got cold. I was in a sleeveless shirt!!!! If I was in TN and it was 55 - 58 degrees I would have on pants and a sweatshirt. All I can ponder is there is no humidity so it doesn't feel cold here. You know, like Arizona has dry heat! They are wrong about that - it is HOT in Arizona. I have been told this lovely weather will change! So I bought snow pants this week. Winter sales are in full gear - no pun intended.

So Alaska put in a health education program in the schools two years ago as part of the 7 year plan State education plan for AK. Have you ever had one of those days when you have drank as much water as you can possible drink and all you want is some form of a carbonated drink (pop or soda)? Well, I had one of those carbonated moments last week and searched the entire school for a soda machine. Charles, a teacher, said, "You are the health teacher, why do you want a soda?" I responded because I am a human before I am health teacher. I also reminded Charles that healthy is eating anything you want just so you do it in moderation. All I wanted was a soda so badly. Well, unbeknown st to me, when AK implemented health education, all snack machines and soda machines were removed from EVERY building. I mean every building. There are no snack/soda machines in the central office or high schools. No where!!! But in about 1/2 the schools there are "coffee shops" . The central office hires 2 full time people to run the "Coffee Bean" shop. They don't offer soda, just coffee, smoothies and water. Isn't coffee bad for a person too if they over do it. I watched several ladies walk away with large coffees with a pile of whipped cream on them. Let's talk healthy!!!!! Thank goodness every room in my school has a full kitchen. (stove,range,sink, dishwasher and small refridge). I will have to store a carbonated soda in my class.

I have two new students. I hope you are sitting down. Their names are Walmart and Target. I kid you not!!! My principal said, "Thank goodness their last name wasn't SEARS!" She is really funny and has a quick wit. One of the ladies I teach with is native. Here is her last name. Give it a try. Kairaiuak. It is pronounced Guy High a Walk. I told you learning the language will be tricky!!

The next thing I heard was "the school sitters" are gone. Have you ever heard of school sitters? I have heard of house sitters, dog/cat sitter, and babysitters but school sitters? You got it. These are families that are PAID to live in the schools when school is closed (summer time, winter break and spring break). Wow, now that would be fun - living in the school - UGH!!! Apparently it is a lottery system for families who live in tents all other times of the year. They appreciate the few months when they get a real shelter. Our school does not have a shower room but I guess that would not be a high priority to them. No air conditioning either. But since it stays in the upper 70's or low 80's, fans work wonders. They are thankful for being able to use electricity, running water and a kitchen. Now don't you appreciate what we take for granted a bit more. Amazing!! This program started in the bush because some schools were vandalized during the summer time so it turned into a win/win situation for families and the schools.

The Alaska State Fair started this weekend. Wow! that was interesting. One of the teachers that joined us lives next door to Sarah Palin. That is a big deal to some people. The Palin's live in Wasilla. If you blink you will miss the town. It has one strip mall in all of Wasilla. The houses are interesting as well. Most of the homes started as a two bedroom starter home. Then the owners add on over and over again. Why? Because a lot of the people who live in Wasilla and "out cities" only work during the fishing season. They don't work the rest of the year. They receive "PDF" (a payment from the oil companies) every June and that holds them over. Last year every person (infant - elders) received $4000. Back to housing, so if they family grows (of course it grows what else do you do when it is 24 hours dark and freezing cold!) the man adds on another room. So Palin's house is nice but there are a lot of add-ons. Apparently Levi is no longer living in part of this household! The names of her children are named after the small villages (towns) nearby Wasilla.

The "rich" part of the "out cities" is Palmer (next door to Wasilla). Palmer has a Chili's restaurant and that is something to celebrate. They also have a Sportsman's Warehouse! Woo Whoo!! Palmer has some really big and nice homes. They are all owned by "The Russians". The Russians are visibility dominate in this area. Not only are the Russians dominant so is MJ. Apparently you can grow marijuana legally but only for personal consumption. Yah Right!!! Palmer and Wasilla have these big barns all over the place. The only thing missing is cattle. So what are the barns for? To dry the marijuana. Alaska is different - not necessarily better but different. They call it "Recycling". That is a far reach from what I think of when I hear the word recycle.

So the fair was interesting. My first ever State Fair. I looked on the web site to find directions. It said, and I quote, "follow the highway and the signs to the Alaska State Fair in Palmer." Well I got lost. I never saw a sign. I did find a Shell Station and they directed me in the correct direction. The kids all wanted to go to the rides and the families all "oooed" and "awwwhed" at the vegetable and animal contestants. I put on several pictures for your enjoyment. The pumpkin is 303 pounds!!!! Now that is a pumpkin. Michelangelo could carve the "Last Supper" on this pumpkin. The cabbage was over 6 feet tall. My gosh they grow them big up here. The pig is 800 pounds and he just turned 1 year old on Saturday. Now that is the life. I got to pet and then brush the pygmy goat and got a lesson on the mohair sweater industry. Quite interesting. I have never seen a turkey up close let alone a white turkey. This is the handsome Tom through the cage. Isn't he colorful? The goat loved me and wanted me to take a lot of pictures! For those of you BBQ lovers, wouldn't this pink pig smoker look great at the Memphis BBQ feast? I think we should put together an all girls team and use the Pink grill. We could be called the Pink Ladies of the Evening!!! The flowers were spectacular. I am not the photographer that Ray Albinetti is but I couldn't help but pass along one of these amazing specimen. The "bungee seat" was a very popular ride. I got seasick just watching them. I ate my way through the Fair. Isn't that what you are suppose to do. I had "peanut potatoes". Potato wedges fried in peanut oil. I will avoid them in the future. They cooked with a lot of potato chips at the fair. I ate homemade bread, ,very thin, which was placed over the crunched up potato chips, then smothered in cheese, tomatoes and olives. Heated and quite tasty. Then the corn on a cob, quite good. Then the flavored popcorn. I wasn't wild about the chili/Parmesan cheese flavor. And finally, ice cream. I have been told in the bush (mostly North Slope) that it is made from whale or seal blubber with bits of chocolate (bitter) and doesn't taste good at all. But in Palmer, the ice cream was made from WHOLE milk and talk about rich. So they make a version of a waffle cone only in a bowl shape, pour HOT berries (I had raspberries) and then the ice cream and then another scoop of hot berries. It was delicious!!! I would go back for that. Did I mention it was berry season here. Blueberries and raspberries are in full bloom. Almost every booth selling things was Alaskan made (purses, sweaters, hats, soaps, etc.) The games were exactly what I expected (arcade-like) and the rides were plentiful. The State Fair was a great way to spend the day (10 hours) but it is nothing like 6 Flags or Disney World. All in all fun. I was invited to go halibut fishing (bed/breakfast and fishing) and I will probably participate. I told them I don't own anything fishing and I don't touch worms or fish. They laughed. I mentioned I have the thigh high waders and fish coat ! I will look good. I also said I must be able to talk if we are going to be on the boat all day. They said we can take a boom box if we want. All girls (4) fishing weekend. Something new to try!!

So my last photo is out my back door last night (Saturday) about 11:30 pm. Is that a beautiful sunset? I appreciate every minute I am here. I feel I have been transported to this inspiring area to grow inside and out. I have been working on my Yu'pik. Here is one of my favorite words - it means glorious. I can't spell it because there are too many vowels but it is pronounced

ah speee ah kaa. Use your voice inflection on the second AHHHHHH and hold it a few seconds. It means splendid, glorious or wonderful.

Enjoy. Have a wonderful week and Labor Day weekend. I am going to canoe the fjords and hike the glaciers. I will up-date my blog after my adventures. Thanks for letting me share a bit about Alaska.

August 22

Week one of school is over and we all survived. I am no longer an unknown. I have inside door duty (I am sure I will be thankful for that when it is winter) and the kids all said, "Hi, Miss Sheryl" as they entered. Nothing like starting your day with smiling faces. I have attached a photo of my school (Susitna) and of one of my 3rd grade classes. You will notice they look normal. I will have other class pictures throughout the year. I do have two students I was unsure of their gender. When I asked several teachers they couldn't decide either. I had to finally resort to the nurse for proper identification. The problem is so many of the student look androgynous because they are elementary and not developed and they have long hair (well below the middle of their backs). Samoans as well as Native (called First Nation) have long hair so I could not tell. The teachers are called by their first names. So I am "Miss Sheryl". This is fine except all the class rosters and room names are by the teachers LAST name. Go figure! The Susitna school has a population of 385 and is considered a medium size elementary school. I thought it was large considering we have over 50 elementary schools. Susitna has regular classes (K-5) as well as Optional classes (k-5) Optional classes are on a lottery system and they are similar to enrichment classes but they also operate like Montessori classes (exploratory) but they are Anchorage School District supervised. Then there are Charter classes (not at my schools) and a HUGE Home School portion. Home Schools and Charter Schools get to have classrooms at the schools (where space is available). You can tell I have a lot to learn about the schools. Both of my schools are neighborhood schools. My second school, Airport Heights, is about 160 students (k-6) and there are no Optional/Charter/Home classes in that school. Every school in Anchorage has a Tribal Council Center where teachers work with Natives (first Nations) to help them integrate into the "real" world. I am learning several phrases. I hope to try them out on you next week. Too many syllables and letters that don't make sounds! I am working on memorizing student names. There are always the few that stand out. I have a 4th grader whose name is "Goddprayforus" (first name) Bryce (last name). And just as the name has it we will have to pray for him to behave this year. I have "Ohwhat". So I say "Oh Hat" and he says "No, it is Oh What". Silly me. We have a family of 5 and they are Miracle, Devine, Trinity, Essance, Eternity. I have Loosli, Kingik,Tasiaeafe, Talaleomalie, Paurishvill as first names. I don't even try to pronounce their last names. One family has three children all with the same name (Amauri). No middle name. I haven't figured that one out yet. Do you remember the TV show with all three brothers named Darryl? Again, a lot of culture in Alaska.

I have attached a picture of the gorgeous flowers here. The lady whose flowers I took a picture of said, "This is our dull season, wait until spring and you will see color!" We shall see. I just didn't expect these vibrant colors here. There isn't the extreme heat like TN but there is lots of sun shine so that must be the secret.

A teacher friend and I went south to Girdwood to watch the Bore Tide. A short science lesson. Turnagain Arm is a shallow tapering bay view with mudflats.(first picture) These are so "mucky" that if a person sinks below the mud, the air around the body is displaced and it is nearly impossible to overcome without help. (I am reciting from our tour guide). Because the the mud is so cold and low water temperature hypothermia sets in pretty quickly (in about 5 mins. you are unconscious). So I won't be participating on mudflat walking. Usually every other month the Coast Guards rescue a mudwalker. Turnagain Arm's Bore Tides rank third worldwide only to be topped by Bay of Fundy in Nova Scotia and one in China. So WHAT IS a BORE TIDE? A bore tide is when the mudflats is draining out of the bay (going north where I was watching) and the High tide is flooding in the bay (going south). You say no big deal. Well. It occurs twice a day and this tide travels about 15 mph. You still say so what. The low tide was (-2.9 feet) and the high tide will be 35 feet in less than 2 hours. That is OVER a 35 foot tide difference. The Coast Guard was not in time to rescue some kids rock climbing off the inlet and they did not know the tide schedule. As the tide comes in it appears like it is slowly moving in but in reality it is flooding in the bay. (see the tide coming in picture) With water that wide moving about 15 mph with a lead wave about 3 feet high (the photos don't show the depth) can certainly wash you away. End of science lesson.

Next is a picture of our mailboxes in Alaska. Whether you own a home, condo, apartment or business you receive all your mail in a "tower". I think it is done this way so EVERYONE will have to trek the weather (rain, snow or sunshine) to get their mail. I see these big beautiful homes on my walk and they too have "mail towers." Different. I took this picture at 6 am - just so you get an idea of the sunlight situation. Alaska has Starbucks not as frequent as you will find in the lower 48. Alaskan support Alaskans. So on ALMOST EVERY CORNER you will find these little huts, mini trailers or over sized trucks serving coffee. This is Jitters at the bottom of my hill. I drove to it a little after 10 pm. Again so you get an idea of our sunlight or dark light. I will share our dark time in December and January.

Finally, on my walk last night (about 9:30 pm) with my headphones on and listening to music up the mountain. It was still plenty light and so peaceful. When I walk up the mountain I spend a lot of time looking at the walking path so I don't trip and fall. So I was about 2 blocks from my apartment and I looked up and I was within 5 feet of TWO moose. They were about 7 feet tall and I think I startled them as much as they startled me. I quickly crossed the road and observed them for a few minutes. They continued to eat the grass but looked at me as well. They were BIG!!! My first moose up close and personal. Wow! I guess I was lucky. I didn't come down the same path.

I hope you all are having a great time enjoying your final weeks of August heat. I am glad school has begun and now the work starts. I have found out that most of Alaska's tourist season shuts down by the end of September. So I have scheduled some tours (kayaking the fjords by the glaciers and one glacier hike) in September. I will take pictures and pass them along. Next weekend is Alaska's State Fair. I haven't been to a state fair so this should be interesting. I am suppose to taste Eskimo ice cream. (I heard it was whale or seal blubber with some kind of chocolate slices in it). I will let you know how it tastes.
Enjoy your week.
Sheryl the Nanook of the North

August 16, 2009

Welcome You All! I have had such a cultural experience this week. If you don't mind I would like to give you a short history lesson on Alaska. Alaska is comprised of five Native tribes (Athabascan, Yup'ik, Inupiaq, Unangax, Tlingit). Alaska is the largest state of the USA. It is a little over two times bigger than the state of Texas. Over 40% of Alaskans live in Anchorage. NY City is the only other city where the a houses over 40% of its residents. I teach in Anchorage School District (ASD). ASD hires over 3500 teachers every year. Shelby county (which is twice as large in area) hires less teachers and has less students than ASD. A major earthquake hit Anchorage (9.2 on the scale) in the 60's. Since then, all the schools were built or rebuilt so that they can house 2000 people sufficiently with 5 weeks of supplies!!! Each school has an emergency septic system, food supplies, kitchens and oxygen tanks for any emergency. The director said, "we did this because if we are ever in need of emergency help, who will come find us in time? So we built it ourselves!" Pretty neat. I teach two weeks a month at Susitna Elementary school, which is about 4 years old. They are on cloud nine right now because 4 of their former students are on the World Series Softball Team and they are winning! The other two weeks of the month, I teach at Airport Heights Elementary school. This school is famous because when Arnold Schwarzenegger was Mr. Atlas, his one and only stop in Alaska was at Airport Heights School! I drive by Elmendorf exit every day. If this doesn't sound like a Harry Potter dorm I don't know what does. The Air Force Base, Elmendorf, is proud of their name, I just giggle at it. The picture of the mountains is the view from my classrooms. It sure makes any day better when you have such a spectacular site to look at every day. The picture of the house is in my neighborhood. I giggle at the garages!!! You can tell immediately that Alaska is the home of outdoor activities. Look at their garages. The one on the left is a tandem four car garage (two in first and two in behind them). The middle garage is for the RV to travel around the state and lower 48. The far right garage is for the boat. It is a big boat (I saw the door up). What you can't see are the snowmobiles and 4-wheelers parked on the right-side of the garage. There is also a mother-in-law apartment. This 5 bedroom, 2 family room,big backyard and all these garages is going for a mere $499K. That is a steal! Any takers?

The last picture is from the Native American Cultural Center (about 2 miles away). It was so awesome. It is a hands-on museum with Native tribe houses to enter. I spent three hours there and didn't cover but a 1/3 of it. I watched them do native tribal dances, the native Olympic sports (I can't pronoun the names) but they have Native Olympics yearly. The one that amazed me was at ball (made out of seal or whale) hangs 9 feet in the air. The boys and girls sit on the floor, hold one foot and push off with the other foot into a handstand and kick the ball. One young man has won this competition at over 9 feet for five years running. That is amazing! I know what I want for Christmas. Seal skin moccasins. The seal fur is the softest fur known and it is wonderful. These wonderfully warm items go for about $200 a pair. I better start saving my money. Alaska is not like China. Things are authentic and expensive. There is a special seal on items that are authentically made by the natives so you don't throw your money away.

The kids start schools on Wednesday. I can't wait to see my little ones. There are 49 different languages spoken among these children. School is taught in English but there are resource teachers for non-English students. I don't know how to speak Athasbascan but I am going to try to learn some words. I met one of my 4th graders and his name was Rain. I have one girl named Sonnet, and one boy named Half-moon. They were registering when I was getting my classroom ready. Well, that's about it. I will post again after school has started. I am sure I will have plenty of funny stories to tell. I think of you often. I am so appreciative of my wonderful husband. He is the best!! Hugs and smiles to all of you. From Sheryl the nanook of the North!

August 9th

Good morning you all! I am loving this 24 hours of light. I get so much accomplished. I have learned how to sleep through the light as well.

I went for a bike hike yesterday. I rode my bike from Eagle River to Anchorage (about 13 miles one way). It was a great ride on a paved bike route. The only unfortunate thing was the first mile plus was straight up the mountain. How I could forget such an uphill climb but I did. Next time I will drive my bike to the top of the mountain and then start my ride.

Today was free entrance to the Anchorage Zoo. Well, it was free for everyone else but me. It cost me $100. See, I walked out of my apartment and got down the first flight and realized I did not have my car keys or my house keys. Ooops. So I had to call the locksmith on a Sunday. The going price for his services is $100. I hope not to make this mistake again. I had him make me several extra keys to prevent this from happening in the future.

The zoo is quite impressive. As you can see, I had some up-close and personal time with polar bears, brown bears, and black bears. The tiger was fun to watch as he played with his ball in the "cement pond". Jedd Clampett would be proud of him.

Here is a photo of my mountain view each morning. I get to see these wonderful sights on my way to school and at home.

Have a wonderful day.

Sheryl the nanook

I am here!!!

David and I had a wonderful two weeks getting to Eagle River, Alaska. I will tell you that the scenery through South Dakota and Montana is boring!!! Mount Rushmore was spectacular. We learned a lot about excavating and stone carving. The cowboys must have liked it because it was so flat and boring. We took an extra side trip to Sturgis, SD. This is the motor cycle captial of the USA. I liked this Harley the best! You will notice the tee shirt. It was in the 90's the entire time we went from South Dakota to Anchorage!! We only packed warm weather clothes. Then we stayed a night in Banff, Canada. It is so quaint and friendly. Then we traveled the Alaska-Canada highway. It took us three 12-hour driving days to get to through Canada to Anchorage. David thought the Alcon highway was his personal autobaun. he proudly states, "Not one car passed me while on the Alaska-Canadian highway". Need I mention what speed he traveled? This is a very desolate highway (two lane and mostly gravel paved). We paid close attention to the gas gauge since there were very few stops for gas or motels. As we drove this desolate highway we were surrounded by beautiful mountain ranges and exceptional glaciers. We still can't figure out why the snow stays on some mountains but not on others. We met up with a friendly moose along the way. He was at least 7 feet tall and huge. We also so buffalo, bear, deer, reindeers, mountain sheep and more moose. Then more moose. How many pictures of a moose do I need?

We unpacked my stuff in 8 hours and continued to sight see some more. We went to Girdwood to view and explore the glaciers, climb Mount Alayska. It was spectacular way up there. Then we paid $12 to go through the 3 mile one lane mountain tunnel in Whittier. They run that tunnel on a very tight schedule. The one lane is shared by trains, trucks pulling boats, winnebagos, and cars. It is very tight fit. Whittier is where most of the cruise ships stop. Whittier isknown for the "calving " of the glaciers. This means watching parts of the glaciers fall off into the ocean. We have been into Anchorage to eat delicious fresh halibut or salamon. Anchorage is about 14 miles from my house and it has everything you need; shopping, culture, museums, oceans, great food, biking and hiking paths. Lion King, the play, will be here for a month! It was only in Memphis for a long weekend!!

David and I had to adjust to the 24 hours of light. We got so busy doing things in the light that we forgot to look at our watches. We found ourselves traipsing up and down the stairs without a care in the world. Then we looked at the clock and noticed it was 11:30 at night. It was so light I couldn't believe it was almost midnight. Don't forget I am 3 hours behind you all in Memphis, 4 hours behind Knoxville and Florida.

I went to my school yesterday. I like my principal, Kim. She is from Southern Florida. This school, Susitna, is only about 4 years old. I met some of my students, Hopik, Tang, Eleanor, and Philip. I plan on going to my second school tomorrow. I will keep you posted.

I am going to lcose. I would love for all of you to keep in touch. My second bedroom is ready for guests. Come on up for a visit.

Until later....

LUV

Sheryl