Wrapping Up- 10 Days To Go

Am I excited to finish the school year and get out of Arctic Village? Yes & No.

I'm really looking forward to finishing my first year teaching, and have that behind me. Not that I want to leave the students, or that I need a break from the students. It has been an awesome experience working with these kids. But I'm looking forward to the achievement of having completed that first year in the classroom. Does that make sense? Obviously your first year can not go on forever, nor do I want it to. I think I'm still so used to working on a 24/7/365 schedule that its hard to imagine I'm two weeks away from being unemployed for the summer. Maybe I would be a good candidate for teaching in year round schools. Not that I want to, but anything I set my mind to, I can do. Now the second part of the question. I'm in no rush to get out of Arctic Village. I've had nothing but positive experiences integrating with the community and settling in. The past several weeks have brought gorgeous weather and very happy friendly people outdoors. Last night I grabbed a burger from the youth center, and sat at a picnic table outside in the sunshine watching some of my students play cards. I know they also need a break from me and school, so in that sense I want to make plans for the future with Students & Elders, then head out for the Summer.

I am very excited about my summer plans, seeing new places and spending time with good friends. There has been a lot of turmoil and turnover recently, I hope to share more specifics in the future.

Summer Schedule:

1 week hiking Mt Prindle, White Mountains & then Kesugi Ridge, Denali State Park

2 weeks in Homer, writing consortium, sea kayaking, & drinking beer at the brewery

2 weeks Colorado, PEAK training, Grand Teton, Yellowstone, Montana, Boulder, the Russell's

7 weeks in India- Himalaya here I come!

1 week in McCarthy

Then back to Arctic Village- wow, time will fly by, but stay tuned for photos and TR's.

Finally, I have been working on a compilation video of my first year teaching in the bush. I don't want to publish it until I can snatch a couple more pictures to capture the essence of the whole year.