Jibba-jabba

So there's this student in my class. A bit of a handful, one of those kids that, regardless of where in the school they teach, all of the staff knows by name and reputation. He was the one I was worried about before I took over the long-term sub gig...but he's really grown on me, and I'm really seeing how 95% of his "bad" behavior is really only due to getting picked on by other kids and not being able to control himself or knowing how to react properly. It's not the guy's fault, he's really a good kid.

Well, on Monday he came in with a mohawk. I'm not talking got-a-haircut-and-it's-a-little-longer-on-top. His head is shaved on the sides and there's a 3-inch strip down the middle of his melon. At one point near the end of the day our Principal came in and made a comment that he looked like Mr. T, and of course, having been born in 1995, he just stared blankly.

So it fell to me to explain who Mr. T was.

Just close your eyes and imagine thirteen 4th grade Eskimo kids walking around the classroom saying "I pity the foo'!"

Randomosity

Pic from one of the high school boys games here last month vs. Akiuk. The league tournament was this weekend, and from what I hear, it's coming down to a coin flip to decide who gets to move on to districts in 2 weeks.

We took a couple rides over to Akula this weekend...this is Sara (near) and Carey (far) on Friday afternoon. We'll be headed back soon, I'm sure, to check out their hardware store (!!!)

Like a mythical creature, we had heard stories about the hovercraft that occasionally delivers people and goods from Bethel along the river. Yesterday we finally caught a glimpse.

Nothing too exciting...

...unless you've been stuck in the village for a while.

This is just a pic of the AC store in Bethel on Monday night. Mecca of assorted grocery items otherwise accessible only by a large shipping fee. Like produce.

(picture taken from Subway....mmmmm, Subway)

What's been up.

It's been a while, so I'm going to do this post list style. Cool?

1. It's a bit surprising how warm 14 degrees can feel when there's no wind. Seriously.

2. Been fighting of my first real illness since I've been up here, it seems. One of those colds that just vaguely makes its presence known, then lets you beat it back with vitamin C and other such weapons, then *wham* hits with a vengeance. Luckily, I made it to the weekend, so I was able to sleep for the next 48 hours if need be...in theory, anyway.

3. Did a lot of snowmobiling a couple weekends ago. Went out with some folks bird hunting out on the tundra on Saturday, and out to help with mushing again on Sunday. Lots of fun. Had a bit of excitement Sunday when Eric was knocked off his dogsled by a "mechanical failure" and after I doubled back for him we had to chase down the now-runaway dogs. After catching up to them (not always with both skis touching the ground, I might add), we had to figure out a way to get them stopped...yes, even at the time I was aware of the similarity to the cowboy movie cliche. But, after some proper russlin'...and untangling...and attempting to herd/tow the pack home...all ended up safe and sound, no worse for the wear. Except Eric, that is, who was a little sore from the initial fall. Excitement all around.

4. You know what else is similar to herding cattle? Teaching elementary school. Seriously. I'm not going to go too far into it or complain too much, I promise...but damn. And really, it's not been all bad, I'm just a wimp. And some of the kids are really great, but not great enough for me to not end up wanting to stab myself in the ear with a pencil 4 times a day :-)

5. This past weekend was pretty laid back, thankfully. Slept a lot (or at least as much as Loki would let us), and did some stuff around the house. Took a ride to Atmau just for fun on Sunday...there was a tentative plan to go to Bethel, but the weather was just too bad, so we just went out to see how the trails were, etc. Managed to get a little frostbite on my face...not too bad, but enough to remind me to bundle up whenever I get on the machine...heh.

6. Ended up making that trip to Bethel yesterday after school. It really is amazing how much faster the trip is when you're traveling with just a couple of people and not a whole group with 5 or 6 sleds. We managed to make it there in less than an hour...the first time we rode in, I remember it being close to a 3 hour trip. Of course, the trail was pretty bad then, too. Anyways, it was good to get in and go grocery shopping. Even hit up Subway (the only chain-type eating establishment within, oh, I don't know how many hundreds of miles)....very nice indeed.

7. A big ol' CONGRATS! to Eric and Sherry on their new baby! Looking forward to meeting the little guy :-)

And that's the Cliff Notes version of my last couple weeks...sorry, I've jest been so busy during the day with my class that once it's time to quit for the day I just want to head home and decompress for a while. I'll get back on the posting bandwagon here, I promise. Even have some pictures to post...some which may be to gory to actually put here...we'll see :-P

News Article

Just a quick note to post a link to a news article about the storm this past week.

Remind me to post this weekend about basketball (going on now) and officially starting with the teaching (last couple days)...