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