I Touched It's Teeth!

I feel bad. Tons of cool things are happening while Colleen is gone. She probably doesn't think they are as cool as I do, because this is her 6th year here, but still. Lots of cool things have happened since Thursday when she left.

Last night, Kate invited me over to have caribou roast with her, and she said her would get out her bucket of seal oil and seal meat for me to try. So I head over. John wasn't there, just Kate, Carter and Edward, and Wilsa's son Michael. She opens up the bucket and there are all kinds of things floating around in oil. Pink things, black things, white things - stuff that looked like I would never dream of eating. She shows me the different kinds of seal meat (which is black). She had dried, partially dried, and cooked meat. She decided to have me try the cooked kind. Her boys call the dried kind the "hard" kind and the cooked "soft". Carter was excited and wanted some soft too. So Kate puts some on a plate and chops it up with her ulu. She puts several tiny pieces on my plate. Kate told me that if I needed to spit it out she wouldn't be offended. So, I told the boys it was my first time eating it and they should watch. I put a piece in my mouth. Not so pleasant. I thought the consistency would bother me, but that wasn't it, actually. It was very, very fishy. I don't like fish, so it wasn't a good thing. I kept chewing, and I really wanted to swallow, but I just couldn't. I felt bad, but I got up and spit it out in a paper towel. Next Kate gave me a piece of something white-ish/pink-ish/gray-ish. I asked her what it was and she just smiled - never a good sign. She said that it is her favorite part of the seal, and that her boys like it too. So I tried it. It was harder, and more difficult to chew, and it was still really fishy. I spit it out again. Since I was done having it in my mouth, I asked Kate again what it was - seal intestine. Lovely. Kate thinks that it was the seal oil that I didn't like, not necessarily the meat. She said that the oil is the really fishy part. So, if I have opportunity to have seal meat that hasn't been soaking in seal oil, I am willing to try again.

As we were sitting there, I asked where John was. Kate thought that he was fishing or something - he just takes off sometimes. We were talking about all the different things that you can hunt and such. Carter loves to tell me that his dad has got a wolverine before, and we were talking about caribou and lots of other things.

Not five minutes later, in walks John. I asked him if he got anything, to which he responded "I got hot, I got cold, I got stuck." Then he walked back outside. We weren't paying much attention as John walked back in with a box, and set it on the floor. I turned around, and noticed that something furry was sticking out of the box. Sure enough, John had came home with a wolverine!!! He had it in a white garbage bag, and then the bag in a box. The head had broke the bag and was sticking out the bottom. It had really pointy teeth!!! I was squealing, Kate was calling everyone, and the boys were excited. So John took it out of the box and laid it on the floor. I wanted to touch it, but I was nervous!! Carter was nervous to, but finally did it, so I did too. They we played a game. I told Carter to touch a part of the wolverine, he touched it, then I touched it. So we touched its back, head, ears, teeth, claws and nose. It was really exciting. I took a bunch of pictures with Kate's camera. I'll eventually get them from her and put them on Facebook. I was wearing an OSU shirt, so it was a great time for me to get my picture taken with a dead wolverine. Take that, Michigan!!

PS) I didn't even know that is what a wolverine looked like.

Pretty soon I will be Eskimo. The 6th grade girls already refer to me as "the Eskimo who needs a tan".

(Photo added 1/23/10)

Sinnok Snack Shack

Dennis Sinnok is now the hero of Shishmaref.

He has opened a snack shack. Angie and I went last night and got dinner. They don't have a place to sit there, so we took it back to my house. We both had burgers, fries, and milkshakes. SO TASTY! It has been forever since I have had a burger. I wasn't that hungry, but once I saw the burger, my mouth was watering. The fries were super good too. And the milkshake. Little Clare Bear was with us too. She had nachos, fries, candy, and a strawberry sundae.

My meal was $15.50. I can't afford to eat there all the time, but it was nice for a treat. Good thing it's on the other side of the village so I won't be tempted to eat there everyday.

Angie and I were sad for Steve and Colleen. Steve is in Unalakleet for some math thing (I think), and Colleen is on her way to Europe, so they both missed the wedding and the first trip to the snack shack. At least we have a good excuse to go to the snack shack again when they get back. :)

Shishmaref Style Wedding

Today was the first wedding in the village since I have been here.

Earlier in the week, John Kokeok asked me if I was going, and I replied with "No, I didn't get invited." Evidently, that was a stupid thing to say. EVERYONE is invited. If it is small and just family, they tell everyone that. Otherwise, you're invited.

The bride and groom are the parents of my little Katie in my class. The wedding was in the church and it was really nice. Beautiful white gown, tuxes, bridesmaids, groomsmen, the whole deal. After the ceremony, we were all invited to go downstairs in the church and have cake. Angie and Daphne (a HS student) made the cake. They have been practicing their fondant roses for months now. It was really beautiful. People couldn't believe that it was a homemade cake. Chairs were lined up, everyone got a napkin and piece of cake, and enjoyed.

Shishmaref has a really interesting tradition. It's called a shiveree. At midnight after the wedding, the whole villages goes to the house of the bride and groom and beats on the walls. Then some of the men go inside and get the groom and they carry him around the house. Then the bride and groom stand on the porch and throw TONS of candy into the crowd. I was not expecting that much candy. Some girls were at my house right before and they asked me for bags for shiveree, and they needed the bags for all the candy! It was really cool.

So, the wedding was really fun!

Colleen is gone until the 16th. She left on Thursday. She and two HS girls are on their way to Copenhagen, Denmark for the UN Global Warming conference. What an amazing experience. I am so excited for her, Meghann, and Janelle. It's sure lonely at home, though!

Thursday we had to cancel both ECE classes. We ran out of stove oil and didn't know it. We got to school Thursday morning and it was freezing! We couldn't keep the kids in there like that. Kate has been out sick and will be for the next month or so, so I went and helped in the kindergarten classroom for most of the day. The store wasn't able to deliver to our building until after 2, but it was warm enough by Friday morning, thank goodness.

That's about it for now!

I leave to come home to Ohio in two weeks!!

My first Thanksgiving away from home

Monday was not welcomed this morning.

I had a great Thanksgiving weekend, but I fell into "Eskimo Time". I don't know if it is all the villages or just Shishmaref, but people stay up super late and then sleep super late. Whenever I want to go to bed before midnight, everyone always says that I need to adjust to native time. So, we had 4 days with no school. Colleen and I went to bed around 2 most night, and I still got 12 hours of sleep. So I was dragging this morning, for sure.

Thursday evening, most of the village met in the gym for a feast. There were huge pots of reindeer soup all over. Esther, one of my para-pros and the parent of one of my students, invited me to sit with her family. I had soup and homemade rolls. Then some ladies came around with bowls of berries. I usually don't like the berries that are picked locally, but I had some anyway, and they are growing on me. But they were just berries with sugar, not Eskimo Ice Cream.

After the feast, the gym was cleaned up and then there were basketball games. A women's game and a men's game. So that was fun.

On Friday, we had the "Orphan's Thanksgiving". Basically the teachers without families here in town got together and had a big turkey dinner. We also invited the Stenek clan (Ken, Lisa, and the 5 munchkins), Melinda and her kiddos, and Helen brought her twin granddaughters. So it was really nice. And we had the usual Thanksgiving food. So it was nice.

Either than that, I just laid around all weekend. Played cards, watched 3 movies, moved into Season 3 of House. And I found my checkbook! It had been missing for a few weeks. I knew it was somewhere. Ha Ha!

Three week until I go home for Christmas! Time has flown by!

Blogspot is making me angry

Now that I have my own nice new BSSD computer, with pictures uploaded to it, Blogspot is being funny and doesn't show the photo uploading option. Colleen is having the same problem. Everything on the posting page looks weird and it doesn't have the options, like changing the font and uploading a picture. This has been going on for like a month and a half. It has frustrated me and made me not want to post. Sorry.

So, last Thursday, well into November, the famous "October Storms" hit. Global Warming is the cause of the delay. My mom had been telling me for a couple of months that I needed to order my snow pants and snow boots, but I had been putting it off - not wanting to spend the extra money. Needless to say, the waist deep snow on my porch last Thursday forced me to suck it up and make an order.

A view of the storm from the elementary entrance. My house is the greenish one straight ahead.

 

My porch as the snow fell down.

 My footprints walking to the porch. All of these photos were taken at about 5PM. The storm has been going on a few hours. It continued through the night, so there was considerably more snow in the morning.

On Friday night, I was at Rec and Fred Charlie asked if on Saturday I wanted to go fishing with him and Matt. Of course I wanted to go! I want to see as much of the life of a villager as I can. So, he told me to see if I could find some warm clothes and they would call before they came by on Saturday. So I asked a couple of people, and everyone was using there winter gear. So, I wore Under Armor leggings, jeans, three pairs of socks, and my rubber boots. And my coat of course. I had a hat and a big hood on my coat, and some gloves. I thought I would be fine. Fred Charlie saw what I was wearing and wasn't convinced. I said I would be fine, and we headed out. Matt drove the snow machine and Fred Charlie and I rode in the sled being pulled behind. Fred Charlie's dog, Little Crust, ran beside us. We headed out to the frozen lagoon and stopped a little ways out. Matt and Fred Charlie used a big pointy stick tool to dig a hole in the ice. They handed me a fishing stick and made themselves holes. Matt caught a tiny fish, then Fred Charlie caught a tiny fish. I didn't catch anything for a long time, and man, I was getting cold!!! It was cold and windy, so it wasn't so pleasant. I was getting ready to say that I gave up, because I thought I would be warmer if I could just stand and cuddle with myself. Then I caught a nice size smelt!! Tom Brad showed up then, so I gave him my stick. Rachel Stasenko, Kate's mom, showed up too. She was appalled by my choice of clothes. Tom Brad wasn't dressed appropriately either, so he was only there for a few minutes, and I left with him. I was getting a little bit worried for my toes. After I left, Matt and Fred Charlie only caught a few fish each.

Fred Charlie digging the hole.

Matt working on the hole.

 

First hole made!! Pretty sure someone stole that spoon from the kitchen to get the slush out of the hole.

 

Matt and me. I'm obviously inappropriately dressed.

 

I look happy, but I'm freezing.

 

Matt focused on his fishing.

Later, Kate called me and told me that she had heard that I had been fishing in inappropriate clothes. She told me to to come to her house and get some snow pants and boots to borrow until mine arrived. So, Sunday morning, I went and got the gear from Kate and then went fishing with Matt and Fred Charlie again. I also wore my Mad Bomber hat, compliments of the Weeks family from swim team. I was much warmer! But the fish still weren't biting very much. Between the three of us, and two days, we only got like 15 smelt.

On Monday, I saw Matt with his kiddos at Rec, and he said that he had gone fishing and got 90 fish! They said maybe there were seals in the area or the fish just hadn't came down yet, which is why we struggled. But it was a fun experience!

Oh, my boots got here Tuesday, and my snow pants on Thursday, so I am set now. :)

On Thursday and Friday, my preschoolers made Buckeye necklaces! And Ohio State beat Michigan today, so my kiddos gave them some good luck! :)

(Photos added on 01/18/2010)

Catching up...

So, I went to St. Michael for district in-service. It was good, and it was nice to see some friends from other villages. And I made some new friends too.

My friend Shawn and me. He teaching in Unalakleet.

Typical Amy and Amanda face. She teaching in Golovin.

In the evenings, they had some activities planned so that they wouldn't have 200 disgruntled teachers and paraprofessionals. One night they brought over Native Dancers from Stebbins. That was really fun. It was the first time that I had seen Eskimo dancing. It is a little bit different than what I will see in Shishmaref because Shishmaref is Inupiaq and Stebbins and St. Michael are Yupik. But I still enjoyed it. A lot of people joined in too. I got some videos and pictures.

"Common Dance" - Native Dancers and teachers who have learned it joined in.

A dance about a boy making his first big kill. 

So then, back to school this week. We were preparing for Halloween, which was busy. Party in the class, parade in the school, and the Juniors were holding a dance at the Friendship Center. So I was getting ready for all of that stuff. It went well, but I am glad that it is over!!

On Thursday night, there were some great Northern Lights. I was still at the school at 11PM, doing laundry, and Colleen came to get me to show me a surprise. We went down to the beach where there aren't as many lights, and it was really cool. Later, Ken the science teacher, who is our neighbor, came to get us to look at them again. Ken got some cool pictures.

Northern Lights above the village.

The Aurora above the water.

Dancing Lights.

Ken with the Northern Lights.

I am trying to get the photos uploaded on this post, but it doesn't seem to be working. I will try to add them later.

(Photos Added on 01/17/2010)

AU's Early Childhood Department

This post must start with this statement:

The Early Childhood Department at Ashland University has some of the greatest people I have ever met.

Today is a work day at school. The end of the quarter was Friday and this week is in-service week. So before we fly out to district in-service tomorrow, we have a work day. Basically we have to be at school at least 7 hours, but we can be working on whatever we need to, we can go to lunch when we want, go to the post office, etc..

After lunch, I went to the post office. I had a bunch of boxes, so I went back to the school to borrow the truck. I ran into Matthew, one of my cross country runners. He came with me back to the post office to get the boxes. I had some boxes of food from my order to Span Alaska Sales that I made a few weeks ago. I also had a box from the Early Childhood Department at Ashland University.

Matthew and I loaded up the truck and brought all the boxes to my house. I went back to school, and I brought the box from AU with me. I couldn't wait until after school to open it!

I need the internet for the report cards and such that I have to fill out, so I have been camping out in Colleen's room today. I don't have the internet in my building.

So, I get back to Colleen's room, grab her scissors, and open up the box. It was full of great stuff!! Books for my class, stickers, pencils, glow sticks, coloring books, activity books, paper, candy, a hat, and books for me to read! I was on the edge of tears. I had a card signed by the whole department,a note from Mrs. Eibel, and a post-it attached to a book from Dr. Walton. It was just so amazing and thoughtful for them to think of me and my students. Books are not common in homes here in Shishmaref, and the books that they sent will be put to great use in my classroom. Autumn, one of my students, was in Colleen's room with me while I was opening the box, and she was definitely excited.

I laid all the goodies out on the table and ran down the halls telling all the other teachers to come and "look at what I got in the mail!!!!!!" Everyone was jealous, of course.

Some of the junior high girls were coming in, getting ready for cheerleading practice, and they were pretty impressed as well.

So, I used Photo Booth on this computer to try and take some pictures. They aren't great pictures, but this way I can post them right away. My camera isn't hooking up to the computer quite right yet, so photo booth will have to do.





Some of the goodies!




More goodies!




Autumn and her drawings to made today. on the left is a policeman, and on the right is a picture of herself. She does pretty good writing her name too! Her mom is a special ed aide. She was working today, and brought Autumn with her, which is why she was hanging out at school.



The box that the goodies came in.





Autumn with the smiley face paper. She can't wait to show the rest of the class all the neat stuff!



More awesome stuff!


This box just made my day! I can't wait to share it will my class! Thank you!!! :)

A quick trip to Anchorage

I am back from Anchorage!

Tuesday afternoon, I left my classroom and headed for my house to get my stuff to get on the plane. I walked through the big school on my way - it's just faster. Tons of HS and Jr. High kids were giving me hugs and stuff. Mamie's advice to me was "don't get kidnapped". Some other kids were worried that I might not come back. It was kind of funny. Matthew asked if he could have my Wii if I didn't come back. He has an "I'm so tough" fifteen-year-old boy attitude, but he gave me a hug before I left. :)

I left Shishmaref around 1:15. The plane stopped in Wales first. There were five or so people going to Wales, and just me going to Nome. From Wales to Nome, I sat co-pilot. The plane was really fancy. It was the same kind of planes that they use as Medi-vacs (sp?). Basically if there is a bad illness or injury and you need to get out of the village NOW, they use the Medi-vac planes. They are designed to be an all-weather plane. They have a fancy system with a screen that shows you exactly where the runway is in real time. So if you can't see the runway through the window, you can look at the screen and see where to land.

I got to Nome around 2:30. My plane for Anchorage wasn't leaving until 8:55. So I had plenty of time to kill. My cell phone was turned on for a few days, so I called my family while I was eating at Subway, which was wonderful. Later I went to a resturant called Airport Pizza. While I was there, I ran into one of the BSSD teachers from Stebbins, Lauren. So we had dinner together and went to the store together after. It was nice.

I got to Anchorage around 10:30. I stayed at the Millenium. It was really nice. A huge king size bed, TV with cable, and a BATHTUB!!! Even though it was after 11 before I got around to it, I definitely took a bath both nights I was there. It was really nice. I never had a bathtub in college either, but I did get to shower in my own apartment, or when I was in dorms, in my own hallway. So it was a refreshing change.

I got to sleep in on Wednesday, which was nice. I got up around 10, got ready and wandered down to the gift shop. I just wanted to poke around and waste some time before I went to go take my test. My appointment was at 12:30, but I wanted to get there super early, in case there were any glitches, I could get them figured out. There were no glitches, and they weren't busy, so I started testing at 11:48. I got done fairly quickly considering it's like a 4.5 hour test with a 15 minute break. I think I was out of there in 3 hours. I am just a fast test taker. I'm a good test taker too. So it's cool.

After the test I went to Wendy's. That was very tasty. Then I went to Fred Meyer to do some shopping. I think that I spent three hours in Fred Meyer by myself. I bought lots of food. It was a lot cheaper than Shishmaref and a lot more variety. Pretty exciting. I brought an empty cooler to Anchorage and then brought all of my perishable food back in it. All the non-perishable stuff I bought I had sent to Shishmaref. The shipping costs from Fred Meyer are fairly reasonable, for non-perishable stuff at least. To ship perishable food, it costs $90, plus the cost of shipping weight. That covers up to 65 pounds of food. I spent $47 in overweight baggage to get it back to Shishmaref, and I didn't have to worry about if it would arrive before it spoiled or anything like that. I think I did it the smart way.

After Fred Meyer I met up with Angie. She was in Anchorage from Tuesday til Sunday with Student Council. There were student council members from all over the state in Anchorage for a confrence. So I met up with Angie and the three high school students and went to the movies. Freida, Angie and I saw "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs" in 3D. Zander and Miizuk saw some girly romantic comedy instead. When the movies were over we played a little air hockey in the movie theater arcade. It was fun. Then we went to Wal-Mart, which was super exciting, of course! There was a McDonald's inside Wal-Mart, so I got a burger too, which was nice. I went back to their hotel for a bit and then called a cab around 11.

I couldn't sleep on Wednesday night and I didn't fall asleep til after 1am. I had to be up by 4 to get ready to go to the airport for my 6am flight, so that wasn't too fun. Less than 3 hours of sleep. Oh well.

The plane from Anchorage stopped in Kotzebue and then headed to Nome. I had a few hours in Nome, so I had breakfast at Airport Pizza, went to a gift shop, and then bought some Chinese food and Subway to take home to Shishmaref for the next couple of days.

I made it back on Thursday afternoon and life basically went back to normal.

Even though it was a pain to have to go, I kind of wish that I would've had another day. I didn't get to go to the mall or anything while I was there. I wanted to look for snow pants and boots so that I wouldn't have to order from a catalog. Oh well, I guess. It still was a successful trip.

What a mess...

This past week has not been so great.

So, when I got hired, there was some miscommunication. I was told that I had a year to take the Praxis I for my Alaska teaching license. I found out Tuesday that I need to have the Praxis I now. So, I am technically out of compliance. I am placed on substitute pay until the Education Department has my Praxis I scores. I am losing $125 per day. Plus, now I have to go to Anchorage this week to take the Praxis I. I will have my math and reading scores right away, but I will have to wait for the writing results. I am on sub pay until those results are in. This trip to Anchorage is going to cost me about $1300 (plane tickets, taxis, hotels, food, etc.). I am leaving Tuesday afternoon and I will return Thursday afternoon. So I will miss out on two days of work, and since I am on sub pay, I miss out on two days of pay also.

The confusion happened because I just graduated from college and did not already possess a teaching license. If I had an Ohio teaching license, I would've had a year to pass the Praxis I test. So, now I have sent all of my stuff to the Ohio Education Department. If I can get my Ohio license in the hands of the Alaska Education Department before my Praxis I scores are back, then I will get back on my regular pay. So I am working both angles to get this worked out as soon as possible.

In Ohio, I was exempt from Praxis I. At Ashland University, to get into the education program, you have to either have a 21 or higher on your ACT, or pass the Praxis I. I had a 28 on my ACT, so I didn't ever take the Praxis I. I have passed 4 Praxis II tests, however. These tests are harder and more focused on my teaching field. I need those test scores for my Professional Teaching License in Alaska, but not my Initial Teaching License. The Initial Teaching License requires passing scores on the Praxis I. Unfortunately, I cannot skip the Initial Teaching License and go straight for the Professional License. 

That is the news going on in my life. I am trying to not be upset about it anymore. I cried three days in a row about it. Now I am just doing what I gotta do and trying not to be upset about it. On the plus side, I will get to go to Anchorage, do some grocery shopping, buy some meat (I originally bought 5 pounds of hamburger meat, 6 chicken breasts, and one pot roast), eat at a restaurant, and get a Starbucks. I can't go shopping though, because I am on sub pay!

This is my one complaining post. I will try to be positive from now on. :)

A few pictures of the cute kiddos in Shishmaref, Alaska

I know people are wanting to see pictures. I haven't been able to hook my camera up to the computer yet, but I have a couple on the computer from Photobooth and from emails. So here!

 Timary and me tonight using Photobooth. Timary is my neighbor. She's 6 and in the 1st grade. Her dad Ken is the science teacher and

 has been here 11 years. Her mom Lisa is from Shishmaref and is a para-pro at school. I am sure I will write a lot about Timary and her brothers and sisters. Gabe just turned 9 and Sarah is 8 - they both are in 3rd grade. Timothy just turned 5 and is kindergarten. Baby Norman was born in April and we all have tons of fun with him!

This is a picture of two of 

my preschoolers and me. Frank is on the left, and Carter is on the right. This was taken in the gym during our gross moto

r play time, which we get three times a week. Notice Carter's LeBron jersey? His grandpa is from Cleveland! 

This isn't really a good picture of any of us. It was taken the same day as the one with Carter and Frank. My little guys (L to R) are Madison, Ida, Gary, and Victoria. I don't think any of them were quite ready.

I'll add more pictures as I can!!

Evidently I'm busy...

So, sorry for not posting for awhile!

I wondered if anyone would read this, and if anyone would want to read it. But when I talk to friends and family, they usually comment on what's been written on my blog - so I guess I'll keep going with it.

However, I obviously haven't posted in awhile. I am obviously teaching everyday. Then I was also Cross Country coach. So we had practice everyday after school, plus meets on Saturdays - so I would be gone all day long. With only one day on the weekend, and just a couple of spare hours in the evening, blogging has been pushed aside.

A couple of weeks ago, I took on another responsibility. I became the Class of 2011 co-advisor. Bob the math teacher is the other advisor. So we're busy fundraising and planning with the junior class. 

Cross Country is over now, so that's gives me a little more time.

I will try and be better with posting.

So, school is going well. I have been doing a lot of testing at school. The district requires some testing every fall and spring so that we can monitor progress, but the grant that pays for my job requires even more testing. So that has been kind of crazy. Last week Julie Egli from the district office was here. She helped so much with the testing. I just love her. She's so helpful and supportive and I was super glad to have her here.

Every night except for Sunday, there is rec at the school. It's basically open gym. The first hour is for 4th grade and younger, the next hour is 5th-8th, followed by the high school, and finally adults. Rec is a huge part of most of the village people's lives. The school-wide punishment is to be put on the "rec list". If you are on rec list, you can't go to rec that night or  go to their sports practices. A student is put on rec list automatically for being more than 15 minutes late to school or for being tardy to 2 or more of your classes that day. Also, some teacher put students on rec list for not doing their homework or for misbehaving. The Vice Principal  (Floyde) prints out the list every night and tacks it on his door. I don't put any of my kiddos on rec list because they are too little to understand that not sitting still on the carpet is why they couldn't go to rec. 

I am at the school a lot anyway, so I usually stop by little kiddo rec to play around. I see who of my kids are there. All the other kids know me too. It's fun to play around a little bit with them. Wilsa and Mickey, who work with me in the 4-year-old class go to rec almost every night. Sometimes I stop in to say hi when I'm in the school during that time. They always say I should play. 

Basketball is what it is all about in Shishmaref. If you aren't into basketball, you are an outcast. As you all know - basketball is definitely not my thing. In fact, sports with a ball in general are not my thing. Basketball especially though. I am trying to enjoy watching games on Friday nights, but even that is pushing it. I like the social aspect of the games though.

So Saturday, I finally went to rec. Jerome, who is 20, helped me out with my shot a bit. Basically, the women shoot around during the men's game (opposite side of the court from where the action is at the moment), and then the men shoot around during the women's game. So, I played in my first basketball game ever. I sucked, but they were nice to me anyway. One time, everyone backed away from the net and let me shoot and get my own rebounds until I scored. Then both teams cheered for me. Haha. I might go again tonight.

I stopped into rec during little kid time tonight. I was running around and I bent down to sneak up on my little Frank. Just as I was leaning to him, he moved his head back and my chin slammed into his head. He was fine, he kept on playing - but I am in pain. My whole jaw hurts and my ear on that side is ringing. I am icing it right 

now. In fact, here is a picture of what I look like as I type this.

So now I am trying to decide if I want to go to rec tonight. I probably should get some exercise.

Rec is also a great place to get to know people. I am starting to recognize most people in the village. Saturday I got to actually talk to people I hadn't before, and now I actually remember their names! So that is good. Angie said that a lot of people go to rec that don't go to other things, so it's a good way to see different people.

Well, like I said, I will try to be better on posting! 

Shoot me an email or call! :)

Amy - the ECE Teacher

Hello!

School is going well! The kiddos are so cute! I just love them. Wilsa and Mickey are great to work with too. Overall, things are going great.

The names of my kiddos are so cute. In this culture, if a person close to your family dies, you name your child after them. So there are lots a little children with big people names. In my class I have a Ida, Vivian, Gary, Delbert, and a Frank, just to name a few. I do have some common children's names, like Autumn and Carter, but it's very interesting the names that kiddos have.

The kids are really funny. I think one of the funniest things that is different than in Ohio is that they all plug their ears when they flush the toilets. At school, we have plumbing. At home they do not. So they have spent the past four years of their life with a non-flushing honeybucket. They are so funny!

I am getting used to the eyebrow-raise for "yes" and nose-scrunch for "no". I even do it sometimes during school. I notice the little ones use that a lot more than the other people in the village. Some families use it more than others too. It seems really odd, but it makes sense. We shake our heads. When you are wearing a GIANT coat, you can't shake your head. All of your expressions have to be in the part of your face that the coat and hood don't cover - your nose and eyebrows. It is actually pretty cute.

All the kids in the village say "funny" for mean. Like Gary will tell me at school "Jimmy is being funny to me!" And it doesn't mean that they have good jokes.

We live right next to the school, so that is like playing headquarters. Little kids play there, big kids play there - it's busy all the time. On Thursday, I was napping in my Lazy-Boy in the evening, and a little kindergartener walked into my house and said "AMY! The little Amy is being funny to me!!" My response was "Tell her to be nice." I have decided that when I am sleeping in my own house, children's behavior is not in my jurisdiction.

So, I am going to go home and make some dinner. I didn't sleep to well last night, so I want to try and get to bed before midnight tonight. Colleen didn't sleep well last night either. Maybe something was weird in the air. Anyway, I'm off.

Peace.

It's your first birthday party... Have some Berries...

There is so much to write about!

Last night, I went to my first birthday party on the island. They are a big deal. You bring a few dollars for the kiddos and then eat dessert. There were three kinds of cake, 4 different pies, jello, Dreamwhip, and a berry salad thing. The birthday boys are 13-year-old twins. Their mom is one of the 3 year old teachers in the ECE building. Colleen was like "AMY! It's your first birthday party! Have some berries!" So I did. They tasted alright. The consistency was interesting. I had one bite left, and Colleen asked a teenage girl there to tell me what was in the berries. I told her to wait until I was done before I heard. So I finished. The local ingredients were seal oil and caribou fat. Nice. But I survived! I noticed that Colleen didn't help herself to any berries though! Ha Ha!!

Well, it's Timothy's 5th birthday today, so another party tonight!!

Today was my first day with kiddos! I will write about it later, but I have to go to Cross Country practice now!!!

There's No Place Like Nome...

So...

Tuesday, after school Colleen and I swam in the ocean. Ken, the Science teacher, estimated the water temperature at 40 degrees F. It was cold. We went in, went under, and got out. But we had to climb back up a rock hill to get to our towels. Cold, cold, cold!!!! Photos to come... when I have a computer of my own, and my external hard drive from home.

I went to Nome Tuesday night, and got back on Friday night. I had a good time. The conference was not so exciting, but I was good to get to work with the other teachers I will be working with.

Nome was small, about 4,000 people, but with the feeling of a larger city. It is a hub for bush Alaska, so everyone goes there. They have 2 hotels, at least 5 restaurants, at least 10 bars, at least 7 liquor stores, at least 2 grocery stores, and at least 2 taxi services. We ate at Subway and Airport Pizza a lot. We had a good time. I would like to go back soon!

Today was a work day at school. I got some stuff done, which was good. And then tonight Colleen and I are going to Steve and Angie's for dinner. We're having fajitas. I'm looking forward to it!

Well, I need to shower and get ready for dinner!

I like mail :)

I got my mailbox yesterday. My mailing address is now:

Amy Cellar
P.O. Box 176
Shishmaref, AK 99772

If it is a package, it's not a bad idea to send it to the school still, especially if it is big. If it is sent to the school, Warren, one of the maitenance men, will bring it to the house for me. Also, the post office is only open during school hours, so if it is bigger than fits in my little mailbox, I will just get a slip that says I have a package, and I won't be able to actually get it.

Sending mail and packages is a good thing though!!!

:)

Sand, sand and more sand!

So, I was able to get into my classroom yesterday! All of the head start employees that I will be working with are in Nome for training. Kate called Wilsa's cell phone for me, found out where she left her keys, and went and got them for me.

When I got into the building, there was sand EVERYWHERE. Gross. Like mud, all over the floor. I didn't want to unroll any carpets for move tables like that, so I went back into the main school to see if they knew when the maitenance workers would be back. Because it is a partnership with Head Start, the school workers don't clean out there. After a few phone calls, I was told that they wouldn't be back until school started, and I should just do it myself now. So I began that yesterday.

Sand was just the beginning. There was a 1/2 eaten donut on one of the tables. There was a full trash can. Eww.

The building is three major rooms. One is three year olds, one is four year olds, and one is the kitchen and prep room. There are also a couple of storage rooms. So, I called Wilsa to figure out which room is the 4 year old room, so I don't spend lots of time cleaning the wrong room.

I got the floor swept, pulled out the carpet, vacuumed it, and wiped down all of the chairs, cubbies, and tables. I still have cleaning to do, and obviously setting everything up, but I got a good start. I am spending time today reading about the Curiosity Corner program so that I know how to set things up.

Tonight, I am headed to Nome where I will be meeting up with the rest of the ECE teachers from the district for training. I guess we are staying at the Nugget Inn, which is not so nice. I leave at 6:05 tonight.

Last night Colleen and I went to Steve and Angie's to play games. We played Fluxx, which was a really fun card game. It is it's own deck - not like a regular deck of cards. Then we played Guitar Hero for awhile. They have 2 guitars, the drums, and the microphone. So that was really fun. We rocked out.

Well, I better get back to reading about the Curiosity Corner program!

"Because I don't like getting sand in my shoes"

So, things are going well. Today we had a three hour teacher meeting. And this afternoon we have a work day in our classrooms. I, however, do not have keys yet. I am in a different building right next to the school, and this is the first year that BSSD has been involved with the preschool, so know one seems to have keys, expect for my Head Start employees... who are in Nome.

There is sand everywhere. No dirt. I have been wearing my pink rubber boots because I don't like getting sand in my shoes, and it is too cold for flip flops. I only have 5 pairs of shoes now for the time being (rubber boots, tennis shoes, black dress flats, and 2 pairs of flip flops), and I think these are the best choice. All the kids I meet are like "why are you wearing rubber boots??!!!" and I say "Because I don't like sand in my shoes and it's too cold for flip flops." They are all wearing flip flops and Crocs. Typically, rubber boots are in the spring when the snow is melting and there are puddles all over.

I met Steve and Angie yesterday. Steve is 3rd grade and Angie is Social Studies. They are wonderful. Them, Colleen, and I played a really fun game last night. It's like Clue, but for grown ups. Game night will be frequent, and I am excited! :)

Well, I am gonna go help Kate the kindergarten teacher, since I have no keys.

I made it!

I am now offically in Alaska!

After a travel disaster that result in spending the night in a hotel in NC and arriving to Anchorage 19 hours late, I made it.

The Welcome Wagon was really nice. I got to meet some great people and it was awesome to have someone waiting for me at the airport.

Monday, I went to Unalakleet, where the district office is. I had two days to just hang out and meet people. They have a great little coffee shop in Unalakleet!!! :)

One night I went to a bridge on a river to fish. I couldn't fish, and actually only one of the six of us who went had a pole, but we had fun. We talked, hung out, and Shon jumped off the bridge into the freezing river, as some of the local kiddos were doing. I saw lots of dead and dying salmon. After then spawn, they die within 2 or 3 days. They were floating back down the river, dead or nearly there. We even saw some take their last little flip of life. The dead fish either float to the bottom or wash up on shore. So the shore was real gross.

Another night in Unalakleet we had a bonfire on the beach. That was pretty fun. We had s'mores and Jon played the guitar for us. After hanging out with great people from all over the district, I was really sad that we're not all at the same school.

Training went well. Julie Egli had all of the ECE teachers to her house for pizza on Wednesday night. It was really nice to be able to talk about what we would be doing and to meet everyone. Our kiddos don't start until the 31st (the rest of the kids start the 24th). Next week, all the ECE teachers in the district will be going to Nome for more training in SFA (Success for All - the reading program used in the district). The following week, we will be back in Unalakleet for more training.

I made it to Shishmaref last night. Colleen is really great. I think we will get along great. We went to the school last night and to the store. I have already met some people in the village, and they are really welcoming.

There is no dirt in Shishmaref. We are on a tiny island, and we only have sand. So we definitely take our shoes off at the door. I am glad to have my pink rubber boots here so that the sand doesn't even get in my shoes.

Very few of my boxes have made it here yet. My flat rate boxes of food made it though. A can of peaches exploded, which was disgusting. The box was black and damp and was rancid smelling. As I opened it, everything was wet, black, and molded. I threw away the exploded can, and one other can. Everything else I washed and peeled the yucky labels off. I think it will be okay.

I also got the boxes that were shipped from stores or online. So I had my bedding and towels, which was great. Also my slippers and boots were waiting for me.

I have no other boxes yet though. So no extra clothes. I only have what I had packed for Unalakleet, which was minimal anyway. And it is colder here, and I don't have enough outside clothes. I am currently at the school, with a load of laundry in the drier so that I have more than just the sweater and yoga pants that I am currently wearing (the only things left over from Unalakleet that were remotely clean). I hope that the rest of my boxes come soon!!

The house is fine. I didn't really know what to expect. The honey bucket is gross. I don't know if I can use it. Thank goodness there are flush toilets at the school. Also, I showered at the school today.

Things are going well, and I will be making some major adjustments in the next few months!

I will try and post more often, now that I am actually here, but I will be super busy, so no promises.

Peace out!

A quick update...

So, things have been super busy.

I had a going away party, which was really great! Between my party, and other meetings, I got to spend time with a lot of great friends. It was really nice.

Now I am in Myrtle Beach with my family. My cousin/best friend Courtney joined us, which was awesome.

I am leaving tomorrow for Alaska! The time since I decided to go has went by super fast! I can't believe it's already here! I hope I'm ready!

Well, I just stopped at the library to request a transcript and make a few copies! I will try and update shortly after I arrive in AK!

Ta-ta!

More Farewells

So, my life has been super busy! I am trying to find time to see people, work, and pack. It's getting a little out of control!

Tuesday, I had lunch with Mrs. Rinehart and Mrs. Eibel, two of my AU professors. I had a really great time with them! They gave me a really nice teacher's journal as well. It is filled with inspiration quotes for teachers, passages, and journal prompting. They said that when I am up there and homesick, it will be nice to have something physical to know that people are thinking about me. :) They are fantastic ladies and great role models.

Last night was the swim team going away party that Melody planned. It was really nice. A lot of people came. It was nice to make sure that I got to see people again. So many people brought cards and gifts, which was totally unexpected. The Ashland Aqua Aces swim team families are just an incredible group of people. I will truly miss being a part of the swim team family.

Saying Goodbye...

Saying goodbye sucks.

Three meltdowns in two days.

I am totally excited to go to Alaska, but it is really weird that certain things will not be a part of my life anymore. Yesterday before GMAC (championship swim meet) started, Allison Weeks was talking to me about how she hadn't been able to tell Lily that I was leaving yet. We just were talking, and everything was great. When she walked away, I couldn't help but to cry. I don't know - it just hit me. Swim team kids have began to say goodbye. I have said bye to a couple that I know I won't see again, like Olivia and Katie, and both times I have cried. It's been weird.

Melody is awesome. She is a great person and friend. She has organized a little farewell party for me at the Y for this Wednesday. I am so looking forward to it and dreading it at the same time. I am the kind of person that likes closure. I am really glad to finish up swim team with a little get together, instead of just all of a sudden being done and not seeing anyone. Also, I am really glad that so many people are planning on coming. It will be great to see everyone one more time. But I am dreading it as well. If I break down when I say goodbye to one swimmer, what will I do when they are all saying goodbye? Either I will bawl the whole time, or I will be numb and won't at all. We'll see.

I had lunch with Blair and Trish on Friday also, and it was weird that our goodbye hug wasn't just until a couple of weeks when I would see him next. It's for a long time.

I will be home at Christmas, but I know I will be super busy, and all of my friends will be super busy. I just know I can't count on seeing everyone then. And then next summer when I am home, more of my friends will be graduating and will be going off to do their own thing. The uncertainity of when I will see people again is hard.

That's it for now. I am going shopping in Columbus tomorrow and Monday for Alaska items. I love shopping!

Care Packages? :)

Getting ready has been crazy! I have been sending stuff to the school, as suggested by the district. Mostly, all we've sent has been food so far. I should probably get to packing other things.

I got an email from Colleen, my future roommate, today. I had asked her 50kajillion questions about things. One thing that I had asked was what my mailing address will be once I get there. She said that I will get a P.O. Box when I arrive. So, I can't really tell anyone my mailing address yet. If you want to send me something, the best bet would be to send it to the school, like I have been doing. I'll keep everyone posted on my P.O. Box when I get it.

The school address is:
Amy Cellar
c/o Shishmaref School
1 Sea View Lane
Shishmaref, AK 99772

Welcome!

Hello!

As you probably know, I am moving to Alaska! It should be quite the adventure. I will be teaching preschool in Shishmaref, Alaska. I will be able to see Russia from my house.... on a clear day. It's pretty crazy.

I really don't know what posessed me to go to Alaska. I wanted to get out of Ohio and do something crazy! I guess I will be accomplishing that goal. I guess when I got the offer, I was afraid that if I didn't take the job, I would regret it for the rest of my life. It will be a once-in-a-lifetime adventure!

Basically, my last day in Ohio is July 30th. I will be leaving for my family vacation in Myrtle Beach on the 31st, and then I will leave for Alaska from there! So, I have 16 days left in Ohio. That is crazy! I am trying to get together with family and friends between now and then, as well as shop, pack, and work. So, I guess I will be catching up on sleep on the plane.

That's it for now. Ta-ta.