"Where we love is home - home that our feet may leave, but not our hearts." Oliver Wendell Holmes

Hello again! I decided that my prep time would be a great time to post :) I do have a long to-do list, but my mind is already thinking about tomorrow and my first trip home!

The last couple of weeks at school have been busy, but good. My classes are winding down and students are taking semester finals.  I've done quite a bit of reflecting on how so many many things have gone differently than I expected first coming to Alaska. I've done so many incredible things and met so many incredible people. I could not have asked for a better first semester of teaching!

My mom said that many people have been asking when I am coming home and how Raisin is doing. So here are answers. :)
I am flying out of Kwethluk tomorrow and then heading to Anchorage tomorrow night. Jeff and Terry Wilson are letting me stay with them tomorrow night before I fly to Minneapolis Saturday morning. I hope to be home some time Saturday night as long as the weather it good.
Raisin is still doing well. I cannot believe how quickly he has grown up! Raisin will also be making the trip home to South Dakota with me! So you may be lucky enough to meet him! :)
Raisin was going to ride in the plane with me, but unfortunately he already outgrew the carry-on bag I bought for him, so I had to take a trip to Bethel yesterday to get a travel kennel for him.

I am so excited to see everyone again and can't wait to spend the holidays with family. Hope everything is well where ever you are! :)

I will try to post pictures later when I can upload them!

Christmastime is......near

Hello again!

I am trying to be more diligent in December to keep this updated. Hope you are all enjoying the beginning of the month...I am already beginning to count down the days until I get to travel home and see my family and friends. :)

This last weekend was nice and relaxing. I really did nothing and I enjoyed it. I actually did not even venture to school on Saturday and only went on Sunday to quickly lesson plan, enter grades, host the study hall for high school and junior high and help our neighbor's son's with some college homework.

I did leave the house on Saturday to FINALLY go check on my snowmachine! It is a Polaris RMK 550 that I am buying from the former math teacher. Here is a picture of it (especially for Sarah!) :)

 

With the help of Garrett, we (actually Garrett) got it started and checked the chain case oil. The oil needs to be changed, but everything else seems good. I'm obviously no expert, but Garrett made it seem like everything is fine. As you can see from the picture, we don't have much for snow. We did get a small dusting Saturday evening though. The forecast looks good for snow this weekend, so hopefully I'll actually get to use it before I head home on the 21st.

This week in school we are doing MAP testing, which is a benchmark test similar to the annual state testing.  MAP testing helps us see where students are in learning achievement currently.  Along with MAP testing comes modified schedules so students can be tested in grade levels.  My 3rd hour Health class on Monday consisted of one student, so instead of doing bookwork, we decorated my room for Christmas! I also had some string lights sent to me, so the kids decided to put those up also! The tree came from a teacher who went to Anchorage this weekend. The decorations she picked out are in our school colors!

Putting up the decorations has started me thinking more about my trip home for Christmas. Although I really do feel at home here in Kwethluk, I am missing my family more each day and can't wait to see them over the holidays!  Raisin will also (hopefully) be making his first trip to Redfield, provided he fits in the travel bag I got him. The way he has been growing makes me feel a little skeptical.  Before he can travel Raisin needs another check-up, so I am taking him in to Bethel tomorrow after school for an appointment. Tomorrow will also be my first trip in a river cab, I am nervous and excited!

A couple last bits of information you might find interesting:  I finally got my Carhartts in the mail today and boy do I love them already! I can actually enjoy the -11 degree walk home in the evenings.  Speaking of the walk home, you may like to know that we are currently experiencing 6 hours of sunlight a day. I am not having any issues adjusting to it, but find it weird the angle of the sun when it is up. It shines in my classroom window(south-facing) staring during 3rd hour(around 10:30) and sets by 4:30. We end the school day at 4:10, so that leaves about 20 minutes of daylight after school ends. Finally, I am writing this post sitting in my kitchen at home. YES, I finally have internet access at home. This is the second day I've been able to use it, and I can't believe how great it is to be able to lesson plans at home using the internet access!!

I don't know exactly how many people are still checking in on my blog, especially after my month hiatus! But if you are, I want to thank you for your interest in me and what's going on up here in rural Alaska.  I am still having the experience of a lifetime and love every minute! Have a great Wednesday and rest of your week!

Naomi

  

 

One month later...I'm still alive up here :)

I am finally posting on the blog again....so sorry for the entire month MIA. I hope you all have had a wonderfully exciting last month and didn't waste too much time checking here for updates. My last month has been incredibly busy and filled with new adventures! 


When I last posted it was almost Halloween. I did celebrate by dressing up as a nerd! Many of the kids and teachers also dressed up for the occasion. I will try to put up a picture of that when I find one. The first weekend in November was my last New Teacher in service in Bethel. I flew out Friday afternoon at 4:30 and got to Bethel in time to watch our Kwethluk wrestlers that night! I was excited to watch one of my 7th graders win a match on Friday and they were excited that a teacher came to watch them. I spent my entire day on Saturday in training on our Instructional Method SIOP. I was supposed to fly out late afternoon to come back to Kwethluk and had some time after meetings to catch a couple of our wrestlers that afternoon before I left.  The flight back was nice, but flying on the weekends really wears you out. Above are some pictures of the changing landscape in early November. You can see that there is a lot of ice on the river.


After a busy weekend,I found out on Tuesday that our school would be hosting volleyball matches that weekend! For those of you who know my Type A (planning/controlling personality), having something like this come up a couple of days before the event got me a little nervous.  We were originally planning to host two teams, but on Friday afternoon, were informed that we would be hosting four volleyball teams! A few deep breaths and cups of coffee helped us survive the weekend. In all honesty, I couldn't have expected the tournament to go any better than it did. It is amazing what can happen when people work together! The Kings volleyball team played 3 matches and finally won our first match against the Akiuk Grizzlies!! Garrett(the other coach) and I were so excited to finally have a win. :)

 After a long weekend of volleyball here, three of the teams visiting ended up being weathered here. Two of them (Akula and Akiachak) left on Sunday afternoon and one team (Akiuk) didn't get home until Monday morning. I'm sure the weekend was much longer for those coaches than for Garrett and myself.  The next week was all about preparation for the regional tournament in Tuluksak.  Thirteen teams attended the tournament and lived in the school for 4 days! We left on Thursday at noon and came home on Sunday at noon. The picture above is from the regional tournament. We were seeded #11 and played the Aniak Halfbreeds (the first team we played this season). Unfortunately we came up short against the Halfbreeds.  It was a single elimination tournament, so that loss put us out of the running for a state tournament spot. We did get to play a consolation match against the Kwigillingok Eagles. We lost the first set, but came back to win two sets and ended the season with a win! Not only did our players end on a high note with a victory, but we also were given the Sportsmanship Award for the tournament. The award was voted on by the coaches! We also had one representative on the All-Tournament Team. That is voted on by the coaches as well and is the top ten players in the tournament out of the nearly 100 students! I couldn't have asked for a better first time coaching experience! :)

After all the craziness of the volleyball season, I was more than ready for a long Thanksgiving weekend. I have to say that although this was the first Thanksgiving I haven't been with family, I had a wonderful weekend. I watched the village basketball tournament, ate pie, and relaxed. Going into the last month before Christmas break I'm feeling refreshed and ready!

Some of you may also be curious about Raisin. He's doing just fine. Growing like crazy and still has a huge appetite! He has almost passed Cooper in size(definitely in weight!) and has lost his puppy fur. 

The temperature continues to drop and we still don't have snow, but I'm told that the river has almost 2 feet of ice on it. My roommate is actually on her way back from Bethel tonight in a river cab, so I should probably get home and feed the dogs. Hope you are all doing well. I hope to update this again with more information about my last month, but you have the highlights reel so far! Have a great week! :)


 

  

How Time Flies..

Hello again! I apologize for not posting last week. Our first quarter ended last week and I was finalizing my grades all day last Sunday which left only enough time to plan for the upcoming week.  It is amazing to think that I am one fourth complete with my year. And how the time has flown!!

The last two weeks have been filled with volleyball practices and lots of time in the classroom.   Unfortunately I haven't been spending as much time as I would like with Raisin, but luckily he has a best friend to play with at home!

With all of the time I've spent at the school, I decided to take a day completely away from the school last Saturday. I was very productive at home! I vacuumed, did laundry, and baked an apple crisp :) I can't say it was as good as my Grandma Ila Mae's, but I was pretty impressed with it. I got to share my apple crisp with two of my volleyball players on Saturday night when they stopped over to say hi.  We had some tortilla soup and apple crisp! It is so amazing to make the connections with students and see how incredible they are both in and out of school.

This last week was quite busy with Parent-Teacher Conferences on Wednesday and Thursday nights.  It was also spirit week! We ended the week with Kings Day on Friday. The social studies teacher and I dressed up in black and blue volleyball knee pads and wigs! Kwethluk also hosted a wrestling match on Friday and Saturday.  There were three teams that came:  Nunapitchuk, Napaskiak, and Bethel Gladys Jung.  Kwethluk placed 2nd and had 3(I believe) 1st place individuals. I got to help out by running the scoreboard and was so incredibly proud of our students who wrestled!

Four of our high school students traveled to Wasilla this past week to attend AASG convention for student government.  Our student council president and I were talking about what she would get to do on the trip and she was very excited to go to Starbucks. I jokingly said she should bring back a drink for me.  She laughed and said she wasn't sure she'd be able to get the drink through airport security.  I was pleasantly surprised when I answered a knock at my door this afternoon and saw the student standing with a Starbucks cup in hand for me! :) I guess it will be my turn to bring Starbucks back for her over Christmas!

I feel like this blog has been a little random, so I'll finish with the weather! It has been much cooler this past month.  The Kwethluk river (which runs in front of my house) is beginning to freeze up and I was surprised to see how much ice is on the river.  Many people have begun to talk about snomachines and getting excited for the snow! Considering it is almost November, I'm sure the flakes will soon be flying.

I would like to add in a quick thank you to Bev and Lyle and Patrice for the packages I've received in the mail the last couple weeks. The tortillas are much appreciated and Raisin loves his new toys and treats!

Today I glanced at the calendar and realized how quickly my first year is going. I feel like the first quarter is a blur and cannot imagine how soon it will be Thanksgiving (in 3.5 short weeks!) and Christmas! Before I know it, I'll be flying home for the break. I will say that my first 3 months in Alaska have been an unforgettable adventure that has opened my eyes to a completely new and exciting part of the world.  I have learned so much about my students and their culture as well as myself. I can't wait to see what the future holds for me here up north!

Bye for now :)

Volleyball opener

Hello again! It has been an eventful week for me in Alaska.  I am up at the school right now putting together my lessons and finishing up grades from last week, but figured I could spare a few minutes to share my newest adventures with you.

After a productive 3rd week of practice, the Kwethluk Kings Mixed 6 volleyball team traveled to their first games in Aniak, AK.  You can see where Aniak (green B marker) is in comparison to Kwethluk (green A marker) on the map below.

The 7 players and 4 adults flew out of Kwethluk at about 4:30pm on Friday.  The eleven of us fit into two 6-seaters for the 45 minute flight to Aniak.

I snapped a few photos on the way.

 

Loading up the first of our two planes.

Above you can see the girls were all smiles as we started out.  Unfortunately the 45 minute flight was a little bumpy and none of us felt well when we arrived.

Below, you can see some of the landscape we saw on the way.  On the left are mountains that you can see from Kwethluk, not sure what they are called.  The picture on the right is of a huge lake(Whitefish lake I think) we flew over shortly before we landed in Aniak.  You can see that ice is forming on the edges of the lake.  The great thing about bush planes is that they fly low enough for you to see the ripples on the water.
 








The scenery in Aniak is much different from Kwethluk.  It is surrounded by mountains and they have many many more large trees.  You can see the village in the picture below.

 Shortly after we arrived in Aniak, their volleyball coach picked us up from the airport.  Aniak is in a different school district than Kwethluk. They are in the Kuspuk district.  There were two other teams that played in the tournament, Tuluksak and Akiachak.  Those schools are both in the Yupiit school district.  We were the last team to arrive in Aniak, and as soon as we had eaten supper provided by the school we suited up for our first volleyball match!

The gym in Aniak (and school in general) is much newer and bigger than ours.  You can also see that the Aniak high school mascot is the Halfbreeds.  I didn't believe my volleyball players at first when they mentioned that to me last week, so I decided to google it.  Here is an article that I found: Aniak Halfbreeds

Our first match was against Aniak, which we lost in 2 games(we played best out of 3).  Garret(my co-coach) and I could tell that the kids were nervous for their first game, but saw some glimpses of success throughout the match.  We played Tuluksak right after that and the kids tried again to shake the nerves of their first games.  Unfortunately, we didn't play to our potential and lost to Tuluksak in two games.  The tournament was double elimination, so we were done the first night with games.  Although the kids seemed a little frustrated(as were the coaches) we felt that it was a good beginning to the season and gave us a list of things to improve upon. :)

After the last match of the night, the kids played some basketball and volleyball in the gym.  The night became much more exciting when the Akiachak coach came and told us that the Northern Lights were out that night! It was incredibly cold outside, but the view was worth standing in the frigid temperatures.  Seeing the green lights dance across the sky was an unforgettable moment and allowed me some time to reflect on all that I have been able to experience in these short two months since I've been in Alaska.  

I tried to take pictures and video of the Northern Lights, but it didn't turn out so I found some pictures of them online.  Here is a link to some pictures of the lights from that night from other towns in Alaska.

We woke up Saturday to a clear sunny day and planned to watch volleyball rather than play because we had been eliminated from the tournament.  However, the one team we hadn't played yet wanted to play after they won the championship, so our kids suited up for one more match.  Our third match started off a little shaky, but by the end of the 2nd game(which we ended up losing) the kids had gotten over all their nerves. After our last match, we packed up to fly home.  Our plane left at 1pm and we enjoyed our less turbulent ride home to Kwethluk.  

The ride home was much nicer and some of the kids even slept!

Here are a couple of pictures of the scenery on the way home.

 
We arrived in Kwethluk around 1:45 and were shuttled from the airport to the school.  After an exciting weekend of firsts, I was exhausted and went home to take a nap and watched a couple movies last night.  

Today is another chilly, but beautiful day in Kwethluk and I hope to get my lessons and grading done so I can head home for the night and relax with Raisin. He has been up at the school with me patiently waiting (and napping) while I work.  

Hope you all have had a great weekend and are ready for Monday! :)

New friend!

Happy Saturday! Hope you are all enjoying a lovely fall weekend.  I had been scheduled to travel to Bethel for a New Teacher Inservice, but due to weather I was lucky enough to stay in Kwethluk for volleyball practice yesterday and attend the inservice via VTC.  This week has been another crazy one.  The biggest news though is my newest friend!

Yes, I now have a puppy! Raisin(not sure about the name yet) was outside the school all day on Tuesday and one of the other high school teachers brought him in at the end of the day.  She planned to find him a home.  I held him for 10 minutes and decided that I couldn't let him go. Rachel took him to the vet for me and we found out that he was born in the middle of August.  He has been wonderful so far and was very quick to find out where the food is! He chows down and licks the bowl and follows me around the house. 

Other than that big news, we completed our 2nd week of volleyball practice and I am already starting to see big improvements in our players! The kids are getting excited for our first matches next weekend in Aniak! :)

After an exciting and busy week I am ready for a weekend off. So I am going to head home for the night! Have a great weekend!

 

FIRST Snow!

Hello again to all my faithful followers! I have been crazy busy in the great north with volleyball starting last week as well as trying to get all the other day-to-day stuff done. I'm sure you're all busy as well.

I wanted to share with you the excitement that I woke up to on Saturday the 29th of September! SNOW!!!

 Although the snow is gone already it stayed around for a good part of the day on Saturday. I was told that the snow won't really stay until the end of October.  But it was pretty exciting thinking about being able to ride my snowmachine!

In other news, our school did a Community Mentor Day on Friday at school.  The high school and junior high students were asked to invite a community member that they admire to shadow them at school on Friday. The turn out was great and it was so nice to meet the adults that support our kids. We also celebrated that night with a party for the students and their mentors. We played basketball, video games and volleyball until 11pm at the school.  The kids had a great time and it was nice to see the students in a fun atmosphere without the pressures of homework and other classroom standards.

My first week of volleyball practice went well and I have a wonderful co-coach that knows the kids and volleyball even better than I do! I think the kids are enjoying practices and are really looking forward to our first games in Aniak the weekend of the 12th.

I will leave you with some more pictures of the snowy day and a quote from a Dove chocolate wrapper I found on Friday.

 

"Open your eyes to all the love around you."

I hope you are all enjoying the fall season and beautiful colors and take time to appreciate the sights and sounds around you where ever you are.

Bye for now! :)

Short days and volleyball..

I apologize that this has taken me quite awhile. I hope life has treated you well the last couple of weeks. The weather is changing here in Kwethluk! It is getting much cooler and the days are getting amazingly shorter. I didn't realize the difference until I was walking to school yesterday morning. Here is a picture  I took at about 7:15am on Monday.

Along with the increasingly short days, my days have become much busier. This week also marks the beginning of our Mixed 6 volleyball season.  I am so thrilled to be coaching! We have 6 girls and 2 boys signed up to play so far. I had originally signed up to assist the returning coach, but she has decided to "retire" for the last time so I am working with a gentleman who is an RTI specialist to coach. We have practices at 7:30 as the other two sports (wrestling and Native Youth Olympics) need the gym earlier.  The season is young, but I can already see improvement. We are hoping to travel to Aniak, Akiachak and Tuluksak this season and the kids are thrilled to have a volleyball team after not having one last year.

Things are still great here in Kwethluk and I am becoming more involved in the community. It reminds me of Redfield when I walk down the street and so many students and community members say "Hello Miss Paulson!" I hope your lives are going just as well! 

Inservice and Big Purchases

Hello again!

I hope you have all had a great couple of weeks. It has been busy around here and I haven't had a chance to post, so this one might be a little on the long side.

My last post was completed right before I flew off to Bethel for a week of inservice. Below are a couple of pictures of the nearly 500 teachers and administrators in the Bethel High School gym.  It was pretty inspiring to see all of the teachers who are here to make a difference in the lives of our students.

I attended sessions on integrating technology, foldables, Kagan interactions, the grading system, and many more over the 4 full days in Bethel.  I also learned more about our health and math curriculum.  It was also interesting to be on the student side of learning again.  The whole week helped me to realize how important it is to make the learning worthwhile for our students.  Especially when they have to sit in class for the entire year as opposed to 4 days! :)

It was also nice to catch up with some other new teachers and see how their year was going.  Every one that I talked to is enjoying their school, colleagues, and students, which affirms for me that we are all in it for the best reason, to help our students.

I also thought it was interesting to see the Bethel High School which is a little bigger than Redfield.  Here are some more pictures of their gym.

 






Bethel does not compete against the other villages in the district in most sports.  The picture on the left shows banners for each of the schools that Bethel plays. 

Another interesting aspect of the district-wide inservice is that it was scheduled during moose season in this area.  I am not completely positive on the season length, but I understand that it lasts for approximately 10 days, depending on when the moose harvest reaches 75.  One of the teachers explained to me that this week normally has the lowest attendance during the year because so many students are out hunting with their families! It reminds me a little bit of deer season in South Dakota.  I was told that killing a moose can save a family $2000 on groceries! Thinking about the economic situation here, it is understandable that subsistence sometimes outweighs schooling in this area of the world.

My last inservice day was Saturday.  After we finished, Jeff(our English teacher) and I flew back to Kwethluk.  I must say I missed my home here a little bit.
Our plane for this flight was the smallest I've been in (only 4 seats)!  But for some reason, I felt much safer in this one than the first one in to Kwethluk.  Here are some pictures from the flight.  You can see how the tundra is starting to change colors, like the leaves on the trees.

 

 

 My last piece of news for this post is that I finally got my first paycheck! It is so exciting to see my bank account grow rather than shrink :)  I also feel that my hard work in the classroom the last month has paid off.  So, for my first big purchases, I have bought tickets home for Christmas and a snogo!

Yes, I am in the process of buying a snowmobile from the last math teacher.  I thought that the long winter might feel a little bit shorter if I could get out and enjoy the snow.

 It's the blue Polaris with the cover. I was too lazy to hop the chain fence to uncover it for the picture, so I will keep you checking the blog for a better picture. :)

I was told that winter is on it's way by a gentleman I spoke to at the store yesterday.  The temperatures here have begun to drop and the boardwalks are covered with frost in the morning.  Hopefully I won't have to wait to long to take the snogo for a ride!

I hope you are all having a wonderful weekend and a great week to come!

  

Quyana

Just wanted to post a quick "Quyana" (thank you) for those who have sent me cards and packages.  I came back from the post office today with 3 more cards and 4 packages!!

Special shout outs to the Smith family (Jay, Sherry, Sydney, Chelsea, Annie, and Kinley), Lois Stemper, Mikki Permann, my aunt Rita Lunney and my Grandma Ila Mae. Thank you all so much!

You have no idea how incredible my day is knowing that people are thinking about and praying for me! Thank you thank you thank you!! :)

For those of you who have had my grandma's homemade cookies (ginger snaps and chocolate chip), they taste even more delicious after you've been waiting for them for a couple of weeks!  I've had special requests for her recipes also.

We will be off to Bethel for in-service in the next hour.  Hopefully the rain and wind let up a little so it's an easy trip! 

Have a great rest of your Tuesday!! :)

What you do speaks so loud that I cannot hear what you say. - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Happy Labor Day!

I hope you are all enjoying a day off. I have been working on lesson plans up in my classroom and thought I could put together a quick post.

The title for my post today is in reference to one of the most important things I have learned while teaching here - facial expressions.  As I was talking to my parents on Saturday night (via Skype because I am not currently in possession of my cell phone), I was explaining to them the huge differences between my student teaching experience and my first-year of teaching experience.  One of the topics we discussed was the eye contact and facial expressions I have noticed.  Below is an excerpt of an article written by a teacher who taught in Tununak, AK a few years ago.

  

I would not have guessed reading that article before I began teaching here would be one of the smartest things I did! This describes exactly my experiences in the classroom with my students.  I also have noticed that I look more at my students' faces trying to recognize their eyebrow lifts.  

The students here are very good about verbally answering yes because they are used to new teachers, and especially new teachers who do not look for their eyebrow lifts.  But, I also think that this difference I am adjusting to is proving helpful in me getting to really see my students.  I am becoming more adept at recognizing confusion and understanding simply through facial expressions like furrowed brows and wide-eyed looks.  It is incredible how much I relied on verbal clues before this point.  This difference in my classroom is something I hope all new teachers would have the opportunity to experience because so much of the communication in the classroom is non-verbal.  Now that I think about it, this could be useful to non-teachers as well! Recognizing facial expressions is something that everyone could use a little practice in! :)  It is especially interesting that I am also finding myself raising my eyebrows more often when I say "yes" to someone.

Have a great rest of your weekend! :)

One month down!

When I was getting ready for school this morning, I happened to look up at my wall calendar and realized that this week was my 4th week in Alaska!

Who would have thought the time would fly so quickly...and tomorrow is already September.  

This last week has been a great week and I am finally starting to get comfortable and into a routine of planning and teaching.  I am also getting to know the students better and I am in awe of their brilliance!  There have been many moments this last week where they surprised me with their knowledge and wit.

We had a staff meeting today and I learned that our total enrollment(K-12) for this year is 248, which is up from last year.

After school today our school hosted a cross country meet. Seven schools flew into Kwethluk during the day and we had three races(elementary, junior high, and high school).  There were nearly 130 kids from Kwethluk, Newtok, Akiak, Tuntutuliak, Atmautluak, Akiachak, and another that I cannot remember).  I helped out by recording times.  It was great fun to see community members and teachers from other schools out supporting the students!

The sports scene is a little different than I am used to in the midwest.  Unfortunately, Kwethluk does not field a football team.  We do, however, have a volleyball team, which I have been asked to help coach this year! The head coach is our secretary and asked today if I would be interested in assisting.  I was also intrigued to find out that due to the low number of students, volleyball is co-ed here! She said the season begins in the middle of September so I will keep you informed on how that adventure begins!

Above is a picture of the district and some of the schools in the district.  Akiak and Akiachak are not in LKSD, but they are up river from Kwethluk.  This next week we do not have school because of the District-Wide In-service in Bethel.  The entire KAMS(Keta'cik and Aapalluk Memorial School) staff will fly to Bethel on Tuesday afternoon and stay until Friday.  The first year teachers will stay in Bethel until Saturday for one extra day of in-service! I have to say that I am quite excited about traveling to Bethel and getting out of Kwethluk for a little while.

I am sure I am forgetting to mention little things and go into details about where I am. Please feel free to ask any questions you have about where I am and what specific things are like here.

I think now I will head home and enjoy the rest of my Friday night!

Have a great weekend. :)

Way back when...

Good morning!

I hope you're all off to a great week.  Just wanted to share a picture that my dad sent after he read my post on Sunday night.

This was taking at least 10 years ago when Dad, Chuck and I went on an adventure to the bog near my Grandma's old house.  I showed this to some of my students yesterday and they though it looked a lot like the tundra! It is quite amazing how similar places that are this far apart can be.  Maybe we will have to take another trip out there this year.

Have a great day!

Picking (not throwing) the nature!

This is a picture of me after picking berries(which are in my coffee can) with the Kwethluk river in the background.

Let me preface this post with a little story about the title I am using.  Some of you may know that I have been thoroughly involved through camping, counseling, deaning and working at Placerville Church Camp in the Black Hills of South Dakota.  This name comes from one of the many favorite experiences of mine as a counselor in Faith Explorers.  I believe that this happened in the summer of 2007(I may be off..the memories merge).  

A large group of campers and counselors were hiking to the top of Perrin(probably the most challenging of camp hikes) and I recall being exhausted.  After quite a few warnings to campers about not picking up rocks, sticks and other various items on the hike, I was at my wits end! I may add that I believe this was near the end of the week of camp, and I was exhausted and patience was running low.  I loudly exclaimed to the nature offenders that they were to "STOP THROWING THE NATURE!!" 

Looking back at this moment if life, I have learned many things.  One, I should have more patience. :) And two.  Let the kids be kids, as long as their safety and the safety of others is not in danger.  I can now laugh at this moment of frustration I experienced along with the counselors, and hopefully any campers that I hollered at can laugh also.  I hope if any of you are reading this, you also get to experience the joy of counseling and learning to control your emotions with junior high adolescents.  :)

After that long story, I will get to my newest nature experience!

Yesterday, our neighbor Cindy invited us to go berry picking! Specifically blueberry picking, but I saw many other berries.  My students had spoken of berry picking, which is a common activity in the summer in this area. And I have been looking for an opportunity to go. After a half hour boat ride we climbed up the bank of the river and saw this incredible view!

I have to say these remind me a little of South Dakota.  The ground in South Dakota is much drier than the tundra here.  It reminded me of the bog my dad took my brother and I to which was near his childhood home.  The ground seemed to shake if you jumped!

We arrived around 4:30 and picked blueberries until 6:30! I was definitely not as good at picking the blueberries as our neighbors or the other two teachers that went with.  But it became much easier for me to spot the low-growing berries as I picked.  We were there to mainly pick blueberries, but there were also cranberries and blackberries(different than the ones I knew of).

The first two pictures below are of blueberries.  The one in the middle is of a bunch of cranberries.  The lowest left picture is of blueberries with cranberries, and the lowest right picture is of the blackberries.

Below is an unripened salmonberry which is my favorite of the tundra berries I've had.  They are very sweet!  You can see it kind of looks like a bunch of fish eggs.

Me picking berries!

I am wearing my rain boots because the ground was VERY wet and soggy!  The weather was really nice while we were out and there was a breeze that kept most of the mosquitos away.  I also saw a plane flying over while we were picking.

After picking for a few hours, my coffee can was half full! We got into the boat and went over to Cindy's mother's fish camp.  Fish camps are set up in the summer, where families clean and cut the fish they catch.  Here are some pictures of the one we visited.

Most of the pictures are of the fish hanging to dry.  The last picture is of the maciq(I may have spelled that wrong) which is a steam house.  Most people in the village steam as their means of showering because there isn't running water.

The fish hanging to the left is from the beginning of this summer, and the fish hanging to the right are salmon strips from fish caught this week.  These were in a shack smoking.  Cindy told us that there was a brown bear that broke into this shack a couple weeks ago.

The last thing we did before leaving the fish camp was pick a few more berries.  I can't remember the name of the berry on the left side, but I tried just one bite and it was the most sour and bitter tasting thing I've ever tried.  We also found some wild raspberries.  They are a little different than the ones we have back in South Dakota, but taste just as delicious! :)

Lastly, I took a picture of the fireweed which has beautiful pink flowers and a vivid red tassle at the top.  Pauline explained to me that fireweed is the named as such because it is the first plant that grows back after a fire. 

After a great day outside in the sunshine (which we haven't seen much of lately) I was exhausted.  

I will end with a picture of my first blueberry harvest! And a photo of the blueberry muffins I made this morning. I used the package my friend Sarah sent last week, but I spiced it up with some fresh blueberries!

Thanks Sarah!

I'd also like to end with a shout out thank you to Vonnie who funded my last packages from my mom! It is so wonderful to receive mail. Feels like Christmas :)

I am now 2 for 3 on the packages I (my mom) sent to myself before I left.  Hopefully that last one comes this week! 

I'm sure I'm forgetting something else I had meant to tell you all about, but I guess that will just be more for next time. :) Please email me or comment if you have any questions.  I will try to update this once a week or so. But I'd better get to my planning for this week!  Have a good one :)