Happy Halloween!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Halloween is always a treat. It fun. It's not my favorite holiday- but not because there is anything to dislike about it, but simply because there is Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter that are all better, and all come with a feast- but Halloween is certainly fun. One reason that I think there is something to enjoy about it is that I am given the chance to see tons of adults act just like kids. I spend all day with kids, and I get to act like a kid whenever I want to, but not all adults get to do that. I didn't dress up this Halloween (outside of school) but I did get to go out and see a plethora of costumes in Kotzebue, and on every face a smile, and cameras, and people just enjoying being in character for the evening. That is a treat.

Halloween in Kotzebue is is celebrated as follows:
1)School-wide assembly and parade in costume (I was dressed as a pirate)
2)Classroom party complete with "Magic School Bus-Haunted House!"
3) CARNIVAL- the school puts on a big carnival the Friday before Halloween each year. This is basically a giant fundraiser for the school. The teachers of the school all make their own 'carnival booth' and attempt to make money off the games or things they have designed. Its really fun. It is also insane. Everyone is there, and everyone spends TONS of money. But its neat. And the kids get another chance to wear the costumes they will have to cover with layers of warm clothes while trick or treating.
4)parites all weekend.
5)Trick-or-Treating

So, Halloween here really is no different than most Halloweens I have experienced. Same school events. Same kids costumes. Same girls dressed in almost nothing (although in much smaller doses because they often have to drive the Honda's in those teensy-weensy dresses- but there are a few determined girls), same drunken parties. The only difference is- everything to make it all happen was flown in one of 3 flights: the 151, 152, or 153 for Alaska Airlines.

Halloween is really just a marker for me. It is how I mark the beginning of the end of the first semester of each year. After Halloween its a quick push to Thanksgiving, and then I am in Christmas Bliss until Christmas Break. It has been snowing here on and off all week in order to get me REALLY psyched on christmas. :)

The weather is really beginning to change here. The ocean is frozen enough to walk on now. Snow covers everything, and there are drift piles from the wind. The temperature should be -10 at some point this week to come. It is exciting and fun. The air is cool and dry- which feels good.

I have been teaching for about 11 weeks now. I am thankful that my students and I have found a rhythm. Sometimes I think back to the beginning of the year and wonder how I earth I made with through each day, and I bet in December Ill look back at October and wonder how I made it through each day. Every day is progress, everyday we learn more and work better together. Also, everyday I have a list of things to do that just does not seem to get shorter. Everyday I have to re-think this and that. It seems just when I think I have figured it out and can stop making changes for bit and just roll with it, I think of a way I could do it better. Just when I think I can stay home for a weekend, I realize that I would really like it better a new way. I put it near 12 hour days at least 5 days a week (sometimes more like 15 hours), and often I come in on Saturday or Sunday, or both. I sometimes feel like I am putting too much of me into the classroom....

But then I remember why I came up here. I came up here to teach. I was given a great opportunity to put my whole self into the students and into becoming a successful teacher. I am able to live with few distractions and outside forces drawing me from my work. Though it seems like a lot of work- I am so very thankful for it.

 In other news-
-Seward/Anchorage with Kelsey was so much fun. It was wonderful to see a face from home in real life- not on a computer screen. It was fun to be with someone I know so well- inside and out. It was sweet to see my first moose ever, and to hang out with some trees.
-It is getting pretty dark here, the sun is rising around 10am and going to down pretty early now too. but the sun rise and sun sets are just beautiful, and last forever.
-My latest mission : photograph the Northern Lights. :)

snow:)

It is beginning to look a lot like winter here.

 no more pretty colored tundra. no more sun before 10am. no more temperatures above freezing. the water around us has frozen. (not the ocean just yet...but its starting to!) and now...there is snow, too!

I am perfectly accustomed to snow in October. In fact, Halloween without snow just would not feel like Halloween. I love the snow. It is so sparkly, and sounds cool under your snow boots, and smells and feels so crisp and fresh. I love it. I couldn't hardly wait for it to snow (especially because below freezing without snow feels silly). So, now that it snowed. There is a pretty good chance it won't go away. There are few days that are above 32 now-a-days. So, it could potentially melt, but maybe not. The snow that fell all day yesterday whil my first graders oo-ed and ahh-ed at the winter is more than likely going to be there until Spring. When I asked someone in Anchorage on my move up what they though of Kotzebue when they visited they simply stated, "It's White."Now I know why. :)

Time to get the cross country skiis, sno-go's (snow mobiles), and snow shoes out! Its winter here!

p.s. Wildlife update! Last weekend as I visited the post office, and went to curch (both on the coast) I saw TONS of seals in the water. Literally, like 20 popping their heads up. Then we also saw them on the ice!!! The ice is kinda far off the coast, on the sand bar. But, there were like 6 seals laying on the ice soaking up the sun! That was cool.

Update on current happenings: Going to Nome tomorrow to coach volleyball. :) and going in Anchorage tomorrow night to visit Kelsey! We are going to Seward..so I can't wait!!!! :)

apparently, I am a grown up.

Remember when you were little and you used to peer up at adults and listen to them gripe to each other saying things like "time goes way too fast!", "I am so busy!", and the very best "The good old days."

I have become that adult. Turns out, adults weren't talking about "the good ole' days" in reference to some magical time before cars were built and there was no television and they had to walk 30 miles to school in the snow. They were talking about college, when they got to enjoy every aspect of life including the walk to school! The adults of my past were not kidding, those were the good old days. And they probably were too busy, if being an adult when I was a kid is anything like being an adult now. When an adult used to say "time goes by fast," I used to imagine life in fast forward and wondered how on earth adults lived in fast forward while kids seemed to live in slow motion. Turns out, they don't. But for some reason, and at some age, life just starts to feel quick paced. And with each year, it gets quicker and quicker. Or maybe we just move more slowly so its just taking us longer to do each given task? Not certain. But time does go by way too fast. 

Now, not that I am at any old age here. I have only made it to the ripe age of 22. But, I have begun to reach that age where people can call me "an adult." So, it only seems fitting that I contribute to the talk of good old days, busy lives, and time...Up next, as an adult, I shall discuss the weather...

Weather here in Kotzebue is a nearly tropical high of 20's lately! Today was almost scorching...low 30's. Turns out the Arctic Circle is pretty cold. My daily recess attire: jacket #1, Puffy vest, Jacket #2, hat, mittens, snow boots. Am I warm at recess? Absolutely not. But in my defense, I am saving my down jacket for below 0, that way it actually feels warm to me. BUT, I am adjusting, and much better than I do in Colorado. Back home, generally if it is below freezing, I am freezing. But, 20's is suiting me well thus far. I don't really complain much, but the kids at recess see it written all over my face, and they always hold my hand to keep me warm. I wonder if they will make a dog pile with me right at the center for below 0 days at recess? (Side not: we have outside recess until -19 or something ridiculous). Which brings me to my next adult conversation.....kids these days.

Kids are tough here. While I am looking similar to a marshmallow at recess some kids here dress in a light jacket, no hat, no mittens and run like crazy. Usually, they want gloves at some point, after touching the metal recess equipment. But that does not stop them from complaining and arguing when I tell them to put a warmer jacket on. Kids in Colorado, time to buck up. You're proving our state wimpy!

In Other News:
1).Seeing the Northern Lights is totally normally here. You should all be jealous.
2). When the northern lights come out you can pick the rookies from the vets in a second here for two reasons...first, newbies can't stop talking about the northern lights and are bursting with excitement. secondly, if you aren't bursting with excitement, all the vets assume you must not have noticed them and ask you like 59 times if you have gone outside to check out the lights.
3). The sun rises at about 9:45 currently..or at least that was when I began to notice any light this morning.
4). I got a Nook! It's super sweet.
5). Kelsey is coming in a week! I am going to visit Kelsey in Anchorage in a week!
6). My Volleyball team was killed by the village Kivalina last weekend...in our defense, the girls were at least 200lbs. and REALLY strong, and co-ed. We are barely 100lbs a person, not really strong, and only girls. So take that, Kivalina. :)
7). My knee is starting to heal a little bit! I mostly walk normal. If you know why I might have fluid in my shin below my knee. Please tell me...a doctor of this sort is hard to come by here. Gracias:)

my first time!

last night at midnight while i was sleeping away, my roommate, Erica, barges into my room. Herself being tired mumbles..."Mom called. The Northern Lights are big and green and dancing."

After a moment of trying to gather my mind around the idea of the northern lights at such a sleepy hour I finally leaped out of bed and rushed to my window as Erica directed me to look to the far left. And alas! The northern lights were bright green and covering a large part of the sky. But I was not satisfied with seeing just a glimpse from the window. So i hobbled down the stairs on my gimp knee, put on my boots, and rushed to the lagoon shore. there i could see so much more! they are beautiful. They were making spirals and lines and ripples that i could not tell were moving at first glance. But then if I looked at them, then looked down, when i looked back up i would be looking at a different picture. It was fabulous.  So Erica and I got in the mini van and drove up out of town a bit..just up the nearby hill. and there we sat and just watched them take new shape and form over and over again. We only stayed for about 5 minutes...but it was 5 minutes of my night well spent! As we drove it was like looking at something new each minute. When we were on the bridge over the lagoon they reflected off the water in a very cool way..and the stream of lights seemed long and to cover the whole sky. Then when we were on the hill, it looked more like a giant blob covering mostly the tundra and trailing off into the ground. I could have sat out there and watched them forever...but it was the middle of the night. and i was in my jammies. and its not that warm at night in the arctic. 

and thus..it was my first time seeing the northern lights. :)