Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Top Ten Fun Facts

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Today I am thinking in lists, so that is exactly what ya'll are getting. (By the way, I fully intend to be teased about my accent/select colloquial terms such as fixen' to and ya'll)

Top Ten Fun Facts About My Life in Gambell

10. I will be teaching grades 5/6 and I will only have around 13 students. This is fantastic! Classroom management will be a breeze compared to most L48 classes, and hopefully we will get to do more hands-on experiments/in-depth studies as a result.

9. During my flights to Gambell, I will usually have a layover above the Arctic Circle! The plane from Anchorage to Nome often stops by Kotzebue on the way, which is on the northern side of the Seward Peninsula. This has been a goal of mine for years, and it's so awesome to think that it is part of my day-to-day life now! I plan on making a polar bear plunge, one of these days.

8. My district is the size of Minnesota and North Dakota combined, and all 15 schools are K-12. Most are only reachable by plane, so the district does not have a school bus to its name. In fact, there aren't too many cars in most of the villages. BSSD does, however, have a plane and a pilot of its very own! The BSSD plane flies teachers and administrators around district for meetings and inservices, and also flies the school athletic teams to games when it is free.

7. Many of you have commented (despairingly) about the lack of restaurants in Gambell. Well, never fear, I can get delivery! The pizza place in Nome will deliver pizzas on the daily mail plane. The chinese place in Nome will also deliver on the same plane for a price. I may be in the middle of the Bering Sea, but I can still get delivery (provided the weather is okay for flying . . .)!

6. Gambell is located on the very Northwestern tip of St. Lawrence Island, on a spit made entirely of beach gravel. There is no solid ground in the village which I hear makes walking very tiring. Outside of the village, the ground is exactly opposite. It is permanantly frozen (called permafrost), and therefore so hard that the cemetary is above ground.

5. The school mascot is the Qughsatkut, which mostly means king polar bear in Siberian Yupik (the villagers' native language). It just seems fitting, doesn't it? Quite seriously, I have to always be viligant when I am outside for polar bears. They look cute and cuddly on the front cover of National Geographic, but they are vicious creatures that I would like to only see from afar. School ski-meets have polar bear guards at other schools in case a stray bear decides to check out the smorgasbord sliding around on sticks.

4. I can see the mountains of Siberia (Russia) from the village. Seriously, I am only 35 miles from Asia. Awesome, right? I am only 19 miles from the International Dateline, which means that I can literally see tomorrow. It is at least 200 miles to Nome/mainland North America in the other direction.

3. Though it is not absolutely necessary, I plan on buying an extremely warm Canada Goose parka. Many teachers in district have them and can't say enough good things about them. As I will be walking to and from work everyday no matter the temperature (which dips below zero more often than not in the winter), I don't think I mind investing in a nice parka. It's the same kind that the scientists use in Antarctica, so now I can take that Antarctica trip like I've always dreamed without anything more than my everyday winter coat.

2. I get to make up my own street address! There are no actual streets in my village, so I will be assigned a Post Office Box. Only problem is that many places don't like to mail things to PO Boxes, so I have to have a real address. Since that does not exist in Gambell, I will eventually just make up my own street name. Right now I'm using the school's address to ship things to myself, but soon enough I will let everyone know what address they can use to send me letters (I expect many from you all).

and finally, the big finale . . .

1. I will be the High School Volleyball Coach. No, I don't mind if you laugh. ;-) BSSD seems to think that 7th grade C Team and OC Delta Tau Intramural B Team counts as a just qualification. I tried to tell them that actually it is the exact opposite, but even still I have been drafted. Upsides: I get to travel around the district for about 5 games, and I get a stipend for my coaching prowress. Since the planes are so small and I will be with my whole team when we fly to away games, I will get to sit in the co-pilot seat! Downsides: I'm not that great at Volleyball. Never in my wildest dreams did I ever imagine I would be a high school athletics coach, but there it is. Anything's possible.


Well, that's it for now. I booked my flights to Alaska, and I am scheduled to leave Oklahoma on July 29th. I'll spend a week in Anchorage with family and BSSD friends (mostly shopping and seeing the sights), and then I'll fly onto Nome/Kotzebue, and then finally end up in Gambell on August 5th. After that, I'll spend time setting up my classroom and apartment before attending the District Inservice in Unalakleet (the district will pick me up in the plane and fly me there). I'm hoping to get a little fishing time in with some family friends while in Unalakleet, but we'll see. At this point, anything may happen!

-Megan

4 comments:

  1. Those were awesome facts :) I'm so excited for you! Thats so cool that you get to make up your own address. I didn't know that Nome delivers pizza and stuff...I'm real close to Nome, so that makes me very happy! See you soon!

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  2. Loved the facts :) Sounds incredible...I can't wait to hear all about Alaska and your teaching experience, as well about Alaska and life in general. You'll have to get out and make friends with some of the Inuit and tell me all you can about their language and culture!!! I'm a nerd lol. If I ever make it up there I'll totally go bug people :) Have fun with your rubbermaid totes!!! Sounds intense!

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  3. Cool. :) Smart packer. You'll be glad you have the parka - the wind is really what makes it bitter, bitter cold. I would say that it definitely IS absolutely necessary to have one. I don't think your classroom management will necessarily be easier... there may be less of them, but they are not L48 students. It will be different. They call the BSSD plane the school bus, which I think is funny. And actually, UNK has a bus, but they never ever use it. Oh, and a side note, the people in this region aren't Inuits - those are more on the East side of AK - the Island is Yupik, and Inupiaq and Yupik are both Eskimo cultures. Megan, I hope you are still planning on hanging out on August 2nd. I'm tentatively planning on some fun things to do. :) I'll be here anyway!

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  4. Megan Collier? I hope the best for you. Sorry about the addresses In Gambell Alaska but I'm glad to hear you were or are a volley ball coach. I use to be from Gambell Alaska but I moved here to Anchorage Alaska. I never got to graduate from Gambell so Its not easy getting around Anchorage Alaska as a non graduate. I always wanted to be a high school basketball player but the kid's In school never really liked me. So I stopped going to school In 2004. I miss school and wished I got to graduate from high school In Gambell Alaska. I even wished I had you as my teacher. I would like your accent If I heard It and not tease you about It. You sound like a nice person. I loved to go out to gym nights In Gambell when I was In school but kid's picked on me too much. I still hope I am able to graduate here In Anchorage. Gym nights was one of the only time to be social for me. It was awesome to. :) Thank you for sharing your fun things about Gambell as a teacher. I really do hope for you the best. My name Is Justina last name Is Apatiki.

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