How I Got Here

This is the first email I sent out when I decided to go to Alaska:

Hi!

Beginning in August until the middle of May 2009, I will be teaching and counseling in Hooper Bay, Alaska. Yes, you read right - Alaska! I leave to go to Hooper Bay in August and will return to Wisconsin next summer. Whether or not I return to Alaska in August of 2009 remains to be seen.

Let me explain...

You may or may not know that I no longer have the house here in Wisconsin - and that's okay, although it was a challenging situation. Anyway, recently I was talking to Debby and said to her, "You know, there are some good things that have come out of this whole situation. For one thing, here I am living in Wisconsin, and there hasn't been one part of me that has been unhappy with my decision to move here! The other thing that's really kind of cool is that I can go anywhere I want and do anything I want because I have nothing holding me anywhere!" And then I find out about the opportunity to go to Alaska.

I got an email from my friend, Chuck, who has taught on and off in Alaska for many years, and he was asking me if I knew of any teacher friends who might be looking for a teaching position as his district was hiring. My answer was - maybe I'd be interested! So he gave me the number to the district and I called. What I found out was that there was an opening for a teaching/counseling position in the middle school - could anything be better for me??? So I thought I'd just throw my hat in the ring and if I got the job, then I'd go to Alaska, and if I didn't get the job, then I wasn't meant to go. And after some phone interviews and phone calls for references, I got an offer. By the way, I'd like to take this opportunity to thank the people who took the time to provide me with a written and/or phone reference.

I will be in Hooper Bay, Alaska, for the coming school year. I will include some links in future messages to give you more information about Hooper Bay and the school. But I will be on the Bering Sea much closer to Russia than Anchorage. There are no roads into Hooper Bay, so we are flown in! The usual amenities are pretty much non-existent, and most of this doesn't really alarm me too much, although I must say that when Barb said that there probably would be no place to get a haircut, that was one thing that did make me balk! She's right, by the way - there isn't anywhere to go for a haircut - so that will be interesting... I'll let you know how I end up resolving that one...

The job pays very well. The housing for the teachers is new, and they are nice townhouses provided at a lower cost for the staff. Because there aren't the usual amenities, there isn't much to do with money except to sock it away - and THAT is a good thing! I will be mailing many things to Hooper in the near future so they are waiting for me there, and I will shop for many things that will be shipped there from Anchorage. Some things I will have to buy there at a high cost - produce, for example - but the teachers I've met thus far have told me that it's worth the money. Feel free to mail me anything you like while I'm there, but keep in mind that it will take about five weeks for something to reach me. Laura, I don't know if QVC will mail to Hooper or not!

The school is quite new and beautiful. Over time, I'll include many pictures of everything including the staff as I make friends. My understanding is that the staff becomes a pretty cohesive group - for obvious reason!

I leave for Anchorage on August 5th. We have new staff orientation on August 6th and 7th in Ancorage. On the 8th, I'll fly into Hooper Bay and have the weekend to settle in. By the way, my birthday is Sunday the 10th, so THAT should be an interesting experience! On the 11th, new staff will be flown to Mountain Village - where the district office is - for curriculum orientation. We'll return to our respective villages on the 14th, and staff inservice begins on the 15th for all staff. Kids start on the 25th, and school ends on May 15th. So, by this time next year, I will be back for the entire summer! Sometime before I leave to come home to Wisconsin for the summer, I'll decide whether or not I'm going back to Alaska for the next year.

So, that's my story - so far, anyway!

I am going to be coming to Chicago - arriving on Friday, July 18 and leaving Monday, July 21, and I would love to see people before I leave for Alaska. I'm also thinking of dinner somewhere on Saturday evening as a way of seeing people who would also like to go out for dinner. Let me know if you'd like to get together.

Pam

Okay - all that said, let me just say that Chuck and I didn't turn out to be such very good friends, but that's okay. I also didn't end up in Hooper Bay, but that's another journal entry...! Oh, one other thing that's different - the teacher housing in the village where I live is NOT new and NOT beautiful! But, I manage...