St. Michael

Landing in St. Michael was interesting enough.  I was then greeted by my principal who was driving the school's rig.  It was... interesting.  Shedded seats, busted windows, and the seat belts are no longer held in with cloth but with high gauge wire.  Rough and ready right off the plane.  Here are some pictures of the locale that I will be inhabiting.

Every mile is a surprise.

St. Michael Bay

St. Micheal Bay

St. Michael Bay

She was a good ship.

Me standing on top of a boiler.

There are rusting boilers all over the beaches up here.  I figure once the gold rush was over they just left the ships to sink, this is all that remains.  St. Michael supposedly had 10,000 people living in it during the gold rush.  The garbage that we create here does not leave.  I close my eyes every time I toss a recyclable, there is no way to get it anyplace to recycle it.  There is a dump that is over the hill, I have not visited.  There is a large population of wild dogs that roam around the village, if they become too troublesome they are euthanized and put in the dump.  I probably will never visit the dump.

The seaward side of the island.

When the weather agrees this place is absolutely lovely.

If you have the volume up I suggest you turn it down.  It was very windy.  I am hoping there will be a few more days like that, so far it looks like I will have to invest in waterproof outer layers.  So far I have had a blast.

Fireweed: makes good jelly.

My Pad

Moving in was pretty brief because I only had my kitties and whatever clothes I did not ship up.  My apartment is a renovated classroom that used to be the original Anthony A. Andrews school.

Our front door and the door on the right leads directly into the apartment.  All on stilts.

The backside of the building.  The two lights blink when it is below zero, to warn the kids.

The first thing I learned was that the boards are on the windows so the kids don't smash them out during the summer. The building is not occupied by teachers in the summertime.  The kids smash out the windows because they are bored, not out of malice.  Clearly the outside of the building could use some TLC, I can't begin to imagine the shipping cost for everything necessary to do the job.  The building has four apartments that, as far as I know, hold two people each.  There are also two small rooms for transient workers who crash in them temporarily.  My place has three rooms and I hear the extra one is not used.  Rumpus room maybe?

Living Room

Kitchen & Fang

HUGE deep freeze

Compared to the outside of the buliding, my place was pretty nice.  It is also very large and has vaulted ceilings, my first one... big moment for me.  Before I came up here several people said I had to hunt a moose.  My biggest argument against bagging a moose was "what the heck am I going to do with 1000 pounds of moose?"  I think my massive freezer has put that argument to bed.  The kitties have had a blast exploring their new home, it is bigger than anyplace else they have lived before.

Angus surveying his new territory

Fang being a ham

Overall it is a really nice place and it will shelter me very well in the coming months.

I did have concerns about how zombie proof the place was going to be.  Those fears are no more.  The building is on stilts.  That is because they cannot lay a foundation into earth that will freeze, thus breaking the foundation. So stilts.  Additionally in kid proofing the building they make it zombie proof.  Very weird walking into the building and seeing an exit so charmingly blocked off.  It made think of zombies.

Leads to the backside of the building.  Really creepy.

Outer doors.  Just really creepy.

They had to make those additions to the decor to make sure that no one got in during the summer and messed with the place.  The other teachers warned me that I should not allow the kids into the building.  Once they are allowed in they see that as a lifetime pass and so they will always be at your door wanting to come in.  When I first moved in the kids would bang on the doors and windows trying to get me to come out and play with them.  I did not.  If you give a moose a muffin...

Flying In

Getting to the Ted Stevens International Airport involved picking up the cats.  They were not in the best mood for transport after being in the kennel for a few days.  I figured that they would not mind once we got to St. Micheal.  First we had to fly to Unalakleet.  It would take about an hour and half to get there.

Our plane for Anchorage to Unalakleet

 We had a hilarious air hostess names Diana Ross, she said she did not sing.  One of the jokes she had was about exiting the plane.  She told us to avoid walking into the propeller, they did not want the propeller to be damaged.  I liked it.  My view out of the plane was not the best.

View from row 5

 I did manage to get some pretty nice shots of the country around anchorage.  I miss most of the flight because I passed out, maybe one last beer too many.

A river

Shadow of a cloud

A river

Finally after a tasty inflight meal of cookies.

Oatmeal raisin & snicker-doodle

We landed in Unalakleet.

I was there all of 15 minutes.  I had enough time to use the bathroom and check in for my flight.  For my flight I had to tell them my weight.  There is no use lying because they assume everyone is and just like the camera, ten pounds are added to your weight.  I boarded the plane that would take me on the final leg of my journey.

Hopefully the kitties would not throw off the weight too much.

 

The video above shows the plane taxiing for takeoff.  The pilot mentions something about duct tape...I found that disconcerting.  The flight was short and very cramped.  There was a 6 footer sitting in front of me, my knees were up at my ears. Soon the overloaded plane and I were zooming over the Bering Sea.

Russia is over there

St. Michael from an odd angle

The large building with the blue roof at the center of the photo is my new home and the school is the building with the red roof located in the center right of the photo.  We landed at a gravel airstrip about a miles away from the village. The pilot got out of the plane and then whole thing teeter tottered onto its rear landing skid.  Unbeknownst to me the plane was overweight, one of the other passengers blamed my cats.  Probably true.

Flying Out

Anchorage was an experience.  It was big and rough around the edges.  I had an enjoyable time, I got meet many of my fellow first year teachers.  There are folks from Michigan, Minnesota, and Pennsylvania.  I figure those folks make good hires because they are already from freezing cold places.  I also enjoyed a few last things that will not be available to me in the bush. 

Here is a short list of last things.
-Smelling lilies
-Doughnuts
-Pizza
-Ice cream
-Going to the DMV
-Trying on clothes before buying them
-Restaurants
-Paved Roads
-Beers

Anchorage has spectacular scenery.  Here are some photos.

Chugach Mountains from the University of Alaska

Chugach Mountains from the University of Alaska

 It was a blast getting to share my experience with fellow teachers.  I was very much looking forward to getting the cats and heading to my final destination.  So much so I got the airport three hours early for the flight. 

Anchorage

For the next few days I am in Anchorage.  Patti, Jim, and I were on the road at 2:30 a.m. and winging towards Seattle from Pasco at 6.  Upon landing at SEA-TAC the tooth rattling roar of a 747 taking off shook loose any sleepy cobwebs.

747 (LOUD)

Our felines must have been feeling considerable stress coming from a noisy dark plane to a very noisy tarmac.  In carriers from left to right we have Danger Cat, Pinky, Angus, and Fang being transferred to the next plane.

Cats Unloaded

I managed to sleep for most of the flight from Seattle to Anchorage and once we landed I was pleased to find that Anchorage has the same feel as Coos Bay in the winter.  Wet and chilly. 

Angus and Fang

We got our fearless pets from the airline.  Luckily they were hand delivered, I can't imagine how terrible it would be for them to be spat out of the baggage claim.  We were picked up at the Airport by the Welcome Wagon, a group Bering Strait School District (BSSD) teachers who help newbies get stuff they need before heading into the bush.  There was a neat wildlife display at the airport exit.

First wolf sighting

We left the airport and boarded the cats, I could tell that they were thankful for some food and space.  The new and old teachers had an delicious pizza lunch at the Moose's Tooth.  Finally I was deposited with my gear at the University of Alaska dorms.  

Greetings!

 Tomorrow will be a big day.  I am going to be looking into getting an Alaska drivers license, more cold weather gear, and food.  Things that I have learned today from the veteran teachers are that seals can have bird flu, basketball is hugely popular, and its good to have five or more gallons of water as an emergency supply for when the pipes freeze.  They are prone to do that at -60 degrees Fahrenheit.  Knowledge is power.

Plane Tickets

I have bought the one-way plane tickets to St. Michael, so there will be no turning back from the frontier adventure.  Tri-cities to Seattle to Anchorage.  Three day layover.  Fly to Unalakleet then to St. Michael. 

What is tough at the moment is that in Spokane the temperature is in the 90s and it makes it kind of hard to try on winter gear.  In St. Micheal the temperature at this time of year only gets into the low 60s.  Chilling thought.

Check out my new home:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Michael,_Alaska 
http://wiki.bssd.org/index.php/St._Michael_Overview

I have successfully presented my masters project and I am now a master.  I got handshakes and two free transcripts for my trouble.  I have been packing up my necessities, the real trick of teaching in the north is getting everything shipped up there.  Since I have a roommate I will not have to worry about appliances or cookware.  Of course that positive karma is negated by the cats.  Two adorable logistical deadweights.  At least I don't have to get any cold weather apparel for them. 

I have also successfully purchased my first food shipment.  Tuna and crackers.  Wal-Mart provides free shipping on orders over $45. Very necessary because shipping would triple any food costs.  I will be attending what is called the 'Welcome Wagon' in Anchorage.  There will be local guides who will help my purchase things I will need like food and cold weather gear.  They will put me up at the University of Alaska while I go on a shopping spree.  Finally, I have signed up for a fresh vegetable delivery service, which will be interesting because I will not be able to choose what veggies they deliver.  I will learn to like tomato. 

Hi Everyone,

I am finishing up classes at Eastern Washington University and I have a new job.  I am the 2nd grade teacher in St. Micheal, Alaska.  I will be using this blog to keep friends and family informed about the extreme and the mundane of living in the bush. 

Talk to you later.

Jim