The 1st Official Sunday Update

So here's the new update. It may or may not last. But, what the hey- I'll give it a chance. Thanks Kale for the idea.

Blast from the Past
I was thinking back this week to what led me to coming up here. I've made timelines before of what led to me being at certain points in my life. The last significant event that has directly affected the last eight years of my life was when my brother Nick got me the job at Daggett Truck Line. In direct relation to that, the rest of my life unfolded as it has. Had I worked somewhere else, everything would be different. Some night when the memory bank is clicking on all cylinders I will try to lay them all out. But, in any case, here's what directly led me to being here... in Bethel.

1. Nathan Lacouisiere. He was either four or six years older than me and once he graduated he came up to one of the villages close to Bethel and taught for a few years. Although I never read one article until I actually came here, I admired him and knew that it was a pretty incredible thing that he was doing.

2. Mrs. Johnson's daughter. I did one of my teaching practicums under Mrs. Johnson at Horizon Middle School. Her daughter was working in Barrow up on the North Slope. I thought that was incredible and kept up with her blog each day I went in. She's down in Panama or something now... maybe I'll follow suit.

3. Dave Stoltenburg. Personally knowing someone up here really solidified me doing this. Dave's in Juneau right now and seems to be really enjoying the area. Funny thing is that on my first trip to Anchorage at the end of January I had the slight inclination to become homesick. Turns out he was in town for the same conference and I ended up spending most of my time with a familiar face.

4. Alexander Supertramp. Ok. I'll admit it. I didn't see Into the Wild until after I had the job, but after watching it I knew it was the right place for me. I just didn't know whether to burn my Social Security card and send my money to CRS before heading up here.

5. Topaz. True Alaskan Beauty.

Heartbeat Alaska
The latest in Alaska news and views. As many of you know Sarah Palin is the governor of this great state. She seems to be popular by Democrats and Republicans alike which is a good thing I guess. She's also pretty hot, too. A real cougar. The latest news with her is she's prego with her 5th child. This has been the lead story for the last couple of weeks. Every day something new, what will she name her child (probably something to do with Alaska), how will this affect her job (probably won't- last time she was back to work the day after giving birth), and whatever else the local news can think of. Quite touching, really.

Yupik Word of the Week
Waqaa. or Waqaa!!! (Wah Ka) I love this word. It's basically used as hello. Every morning when I get to school I hear it from about 15 different people. It has a great ring to it. The translation actually means, "What is your business here?" It's traditionally used when someone comes over and the person who answers the door asks what they are doing there. But now we it's just more of hello.

Weather
It's getting warmer and things are getting messy out there. It's about 35 degrees out there and the wind is howling.

Wanted:
Because I'm a needy person and never quite satisfied I will post some of my personal desires here. Two this week, well two pressing ones. My first one is a new sleeping bag. I do have a North Face bag, only problem is it's a woman's bag so I can never get my entire body inside it without cramping up my toes. It also isn't very warm and I am constantly forced to share it with my a female companion to prevent freezing. I feel like if I'm going to do the Colorado Trail this summer I might as well invest in a quality bag. The second thing I want which is going to be a little harder to get is my own place. Don't get me wrong, I am very lucky to have these two guys as my roommates, but there comes a time in a man's life when he needs to be by himself. I would love to be able to run around in my skivvy's, mop the floor while jamming to Toto, sleep in the living room with the tv on, and all sorts of other related hijinks. But I can do none of the above. I hate having to keep my music turned down and washing my dishes the same day that I use them. It's just not my style. I think this will be the last year I will ever live with someone else. Unless Miss Weio emails me back and we hit it off and have beautiful half eskimo/half gassaq children running around our tundra paradise. Ok, I lied. There's actually three things I want this week. At any rate, I'll keep living the dream.

And for my loyal readers, I will give you a chance to win a very special bumper sticker from my school. First correct answer wins. Only one entry per household.

The distance between Bethel and Juneau is comparable to:
a. the distance between Frazee and Steamboat Springs
b. the distance from Juneau to Frazee
c. the distance from Bethel to Anchorage
d. the distance from Frazee to Minneapolis
e. None of the above

Good luck. Adios.