Thanksgiving with my Alaska Family

Some of the food

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! Sorry I'm a little bit late on posting this week, but it was a crazy week! Three days of school, a nice holiday with friends, my brother visiting, and another old friend in town. I had an excellent week!

My brother and I at Thanksgiving lunch

It all started on Monday when my little brother flew into town. He got into Anchorage on Sunday evening and called me to tell me he had landed and he had seen a moose already! I've lived here for three months now and haven't seen any moose, but he was here for an hour and saw his first one. I was a bit jealous at that point.

When my brother got into the village, his first order of business was to challenge one of my very talented students to a basketball game. He barely beat him and if I hadn't known any better, I would have thought he was going to die! The air is a bit thinner and different up here, which he wasn't used to, so when he was playing ball he wasn't getting as much oxygen as his body wanted. We did many fun things such as eat at the cafe, go down to the docks, have a movie night and game night, go to an Eskimo dance, and, of course, eat Thanksgiving lunch with the other teachers-my Bush family.

Sunset at the dock

Our Thanksgiving lunch was a lot of fun. Most of the teachers who had stayed in town came over to the school, where we all brought a potluck dish. We had turkey and stuffing and green bean casserole and cornbread pudding and pumpkin pie and many other dishes that all tasted delicious. After eating, we all enjoyed playing basketball with the babies or watching those who were playing. We hung out for a while before everyone began heading home for their Thanksgiving naps. It was a very successful day, I would say, for it being my first Thanksgiving away from home. I'm very thankful for my brother being up here with me so I had a little part of home.

Hanging out at the Eskimo Dance on Thanksgiving night

Another wonderful thing that happened was a friend from another village coming into town to spend time with us. We had a great time playing Settlers of Catan, watching football, and just hanging out eating so much food we couldn't stand up! She was another teacher, so we were able to discuss differences in the villages we lived in. I liked that because this place is still new to me and to hear about things in other villages is very interesting because even though we all live close together, we are all very different.

Rub a dub dub, three women in a tub-- with our friend from another village

My Alaska family is wonderful. We have many fascinating stories together, fun memories together, and I believe, no matter what, we will always be family. Years from now, when some of us have left and others have replaced them, they will always have a special place in our hearts. We are a family, and just like any other family, moving away doesn't mean you aren't one of us anymore, you just live in a new place now. If you need something, we will be there for each other. Always. I am thankful for my family back home. I am thankful for my class of wonderful students. I am thankful for my Alaska family. Forever and always, my first Thanksgiving out here will be one I remember.

Snow, Snow, Snow

Playing in the snow

We finally got some snow here! It came down all day and by the time it stopped, we had some snow drifts that were close to four feet tall! Of course, other places hardly had any snow on the ground, it's kind of funny like that. The wind blowing and the snow piling made it quite a funny picture out there. I guess I thought that when it finally snowed it would be an even mound all along everything, but I was very much wrong. 

Yukon Cafe sign buried in snow

There was enough snow that finally everyone could get their snow machines out again. It seems like all I ever here now is people riding by on their skidoos. I like the sound of them. Some of the other teachers got their machines out and decided that a trip to the cafe was just what we needed. As our food cook, we drove the skidoos out to the airport to see more of the snow drifts, but then on our way we began to notice how the road out there hadn't been covered by snow at all. We decided the best thing would be to get off the road so that the machine wouldn't get hurt. That was our mistake. We ended up getting the snow machine stuck in the snow because of how deep it was on the sides. The hills of the road were too steep as well to get it out. It took a lot of work, but the three teachers who had experience with this kind of thing dug the machine out. One of the other new teachers out here and I weren't exactly sure how to help, so we stood by and watched. Unfortunately, our journey was not over. After we had an amazing meal at the cafe, we went out to find that one of the two skidoos we had wouldn't start. We weren't exactly sure what was wrong with it, but since there were five of us, we needed to come up with a plan. Since one teacher had ridden in a sled on the back of the working skidoo to the restaurant without any problems, we decided to have three of us try and hop on the sled, while two people rode the actual snow machine. It was actually really fun. The sun had completely set, so all the stars were shining magnificently and even though it was cold we thoroughly enjoyed the beauty of the night sky.

skidoos!

One other fun event that happened this week was a birthday party for one of my students. She turned fourteen and had a big celebration at her house. It was a really good time. One of my coworkers and I sat for quite a while talking to the student's mother about a lot of things going on in the village. There house was so welcoming and beautiful and inviting. It felt like being at family's house. When we departed to go back home, we had to give our machine a little time to warm up, which gave us time to have a small snowball fight with a bunch of the children from the village. It was so much fun, it was all of them against us! We were outnumbered and inexperienced, but it was definitely a fun night!

Icy afternoon

Of all the experiences I've had, places I've been, things I've seen, I don't think anything compares to this place when the snow finally comes. People's eyes light up more. Unlike other places in the world, there are more things to do when the snow comes than when there is no snow. They all are so much more used to the snow that it's like they feel complete. I love this village and its snow.

Cold Changes

I tried to capture the sparkling sun on this, but didn't quite get it

I've said before that I love this village, but now there is snow on the ground. Snow on the ground! It's not going anywhere for at least 6 months, and it makes me so happy! You know what snow means: hot cocoa, warm layers, snowball fights and snow angels. What a wonderful time of the year in the Great White North. Everything is so pure and clean and white. Even the air smells and feels fresh and clean and cold. The snow being here changes so very much.

It changes the kids. Now they can do more and play more, which is kind of funny, because anywhere else I've been the colder it gets outside the less time you spend outdoors. However, here the colder it gets means there are more opportunities to do different things.

It changes travel through the villages. I had a few students who were supposed to go to a wrestling tournament in another village, but because of the snow falling they were unable to do so. This is the time of year you can literally begin to feel trapped like you can't escape, because the weather will trap you here.

It changes our mailing system. Two days without getting any mail, not because nothing was being sent, but because the planes couldn't bring in the plane due to the weather. Now is when you really have to worry about how long things are going to take to arrive at our site.

It changes my mood. I've always loved snow, despite the popular opinion amongst my family that  snow = awfulness. However I love cold, crisp air. It gets under my skin and makes me want to dance. I can't help it. When the weather is cold, I just smile. I love the cold weather. I always have.

Beauty that is ice

The last thing the weather changes is the functions within our houses. Now that the weather is cold, it is more likely that we will lose water or have power outages. Fortunately we have ways of keeping the school up and running, but I have heard of several instances throughout the villages of school being cancelled due to no water or electricity. hopefully, we won't have many problems like that.


I love the snow, the cold, and the people and feel of this village. I can't help but feel at home here, like I've been trying to make it here for years and have finally succeeded. I'm  thankful for this wonderful place I can call home, and although I don't think I will stay here forever, I know that this is the place I want to be right now.