The Journey Home

December was a whirlwind of a month that culminated in the school's Christmas program. The sunlight continued to wane through December 21st, and motivation for school was at an extreme low point. All of us, teachers and students included, were ready for a break.

As promised, here is the recounting of how we got out of the village. The Thursday that we were to leave, there was a community feed at the school complete with ham, potatoes, and multiple neon colored jello salads. My TLC ladies would have appreciated that, I'm sure! We had the feed, cleaned up a bit, and got ready to wait for our supposed 2:00 charter. That evening, we were scheduled to be on the 7:10pm flight from Bethel to Anchorage. A few teachers were also on the red-eye out of Anchorage that night.

All of those plans fell through due to a teensy, tiny little problem with the plane. First of all, it was late. 6:00 pm rolled around and we finally went out to the airport to wait for our plane. Nine of us teachers and our luggage were crammed into the school's 15-passenger van as we awaited the caravan. We saw it land, and we cheered!

Wait a second. Why wasn't the plane taxiing toward us like it normally does? Cheering stopped. We radioed them.

"Flat tire," were the two words that barely crackled through on the radio. Bummer. The plane had been overloaded with cargo (or, more specifically, cases and cases of Pepsi), and as it landed, the left tire popped. But, there was still hope! They would send another plane for us, but we'd have to get the first one out of the way. "No problem," our principal, Terry, said. The guys got to work hooking up the caravan (a 9-ish passenger plane) to the van. We towed the plane toward the end of the runway and off to one side. I would never have believed it if I hadn't been there!

We got the plane out of the way and turned the van around with the hazard lights on. Why, you ask? To serve as the signal for the incoming plane. The second plane finally landed at about 9:45 pm. At this point, we accepted that we might not get out of Bethel that night, but thought that we could at least resume our trip from there in the morning. Nope. Apparently there is some FAA rule that these caravans can't carry passengers past 9:30 pm. Extremely disappointed, we watched as two empty planes took off for Bethel. We bounced along the road back to the village for the night. My own flights weren't affected, but several teachers had to fork over an extra $1000 to reschedule flights to the Lower 48. Kindergarten Teacher was in tears at the thought of not getting out that night.

After we got back from our adventure on the runway, Mary decided to liven up our attitudes with an early Christmas present. I call them the "moose snuggies." They have proven to be a gift that keeps on giving...it does not matter how our day has gone or how trying the kids have been - taking these guys out always makes the day better.

Why yes, they do have hooves and even a tail.

This is what we do to amuse ourselves. "Blowin' in the
 Wind" is my specialty these days. I'm working on some
other Bob Dylan songs and some Kris Kristofferson.

The next morning, we somehow finagled flights for all of us. I had to get a bit mean with the airlines; they asked me why I hadn't been on my scheduled flight to Anchorage the night before. I responded, "Because your airline sent two empty planes back to Bethel leaving 9 teachers on the runway who had waited nearly four hours! I'm not paying a single extra cent because your airline overloaded the plane and the tire popped!"

I should say here that I've always tried to be nice to customer service people because I have been in those types of positions as a checker. It's no fun to get yelled at for things that are beyond your control. In this case, however, my patience was shot and most of our psyches were on the brink of utter exhaustion.

It all worked out, and I somehow got to Anchorage by 2:30ish on Friday. As I checked in my bags for my journey to Omaha, the ticket desk attendant saw my district backpack and asked if I was a teacher.

"Would you like to upgrade to first class? There's free entertainment and spirits...?"

"Yes, I am a teacher. Free spirits, you say? Well, I did get a booger thrown at me this week and it landed on my lip, so I'm just going to have to accept that offer. I deserve a wee bit of pampering, don't I?"

"Bless you. I'm booking that as we speak, ma'am." The clerk gave me a look of sheer pity and told me that he actually has his teaching license and would like to get back into it eventually. We chatted for a few minutes about teaching and its challenges before he wished me a safe trip and promised not to lose my bags.

First class was a nice experience. The three glasses of Merlot I had sure made that leg of the trip fly by, no pun intended. I left Anchorage at 5 on Friday and landed at SEATAC at 9:30ish pm. From there I flew to Houston, TX, through the night and then on to Omaha the next morning. Mom and Dad picked me up from Omaha at 11:00 am Christmas Eve Day. Tired and hungry, we drove to a Chili's. I never thought I'd be so happy to eat at a restaurant on a holiday.

Christmas break was fun and relaxing. I had some great hang-out time with my niece, family, and friends. I returned to the village rested and ready to go. January is off to a nice start. Thanks to all for your continued support. The kids are appreciating the many books y'all have sent. I am running out of room in my cupboards, but that's a good problem to have. Cheers!

State VB

Several of you have asked about how the trip to state volleyball went in early December. Well, it had its ups and downs, but overall it was a good trip.

We were supposed to leave Tuesday evening with the whole team, but news of a blizzard to come Monday night prompted the athletic director to send us out early. I had planned to do all my printing for the week Monday evening, but by about 9:15 Monday morning, I was told to go home to pack, because were likely leaving at 2:00 on a special charter. I frantically printed up assignments and lesson plans and ran--well, trudged through three feet of snow--back to my apartment to get my things together.

Do you think we left at 2:00? Of course not. Somehow, we got out of the village at around 6:30 Monday evening and made it to Bethel just in time to catch our connecting flight to Anchorage. Complicating this whole situation is the fact that family members are not supposed to fly together for district travel. There are two pairs of brother-sister siblings who are cousins, and those kids are cousins with most of the rest of the team; eight of our twelve players share the same last name. The head coach is the mother of one of those pairs. We did separate brother/sister pairs, but the head coach chose to fly with her daughter, sending me ahead with the first half of the team.

By some miracle, we did all get into Anchorage on our scheduled flights. Since I volunteered my time as a coach, my technical title for this trip was Chaperone/Driver. No joke! I have more experience driving in the city than the coach, so I got the rare opportunity to drive a fire engine red 15-passenger van filled with 12 hormonal teenagers all around Anchorage for an entire week. [Insert forced, bewildered smile here.]

First stop: McDonald's. Duh. The kids ordered cheeseburgers and shakes and downed them like it was their job. Given that many of these kids are allergic to milk, I worried, but I was reminded of their resiliency as they went back for more. I only vaguely remember those days of eating whatever I wanted...

[I should clarify that allergy comment. Many of our kids do not react well to milk, and why should they? Cattle don't exactly populate the Alaskan tundra, so why would this group of people be adapted to digest milk? Short and obvious answer: They are not, yet the school district must feed them from the ridiculous food pyramid that says the kids must get their dairy each day. I understand FDA guidelines and whatnot, but I hazard to say that a little common sense should be thrown in here and there. I cannot tell you how many times the kids come to my afternoon classes complaining of stomach pains, asking to "air out in the hall" or showing me their hives and asking to go get medicine; all this is due to the food that they are served for lunch. I don't mean to rag on the meals, as they actually are fairly healthy on the whole. It simply irks me that when kids ask for fish (of which we have plenty right out in the river, accompanied by a talented native kitchen staff to prepare the food), they sometimes must settle for mac 'n' cheese. All classes have said that they desire native foods over the school food. It is unfortunate that more kids cannot afford to bring their own lunch. Sadly, I believe that even if they could afford it, it wouldn't be a high priority for some families. Okay, I am off my soapbox now.]

Back to state volleyball. Not only was I the driver for the week, but I was also the ATM. I doled out each kid's per diem and also handled the fundraised monies from a couple wildly successful weekend basketball tournaments held in the village. We used that money to go out to eat, to movies, and even for a trip to a water park called H2Oasis. The kids had a blast, and it was so great to see some of them in such a different environment.

On that note, I should add that one student had never been to Anchorage, and another had not been for nine years. We had to do some pep talks about "safety in the city," going over basics that you and I rarely think about. The following is a short list of the various reminders I gave throughout the week:

       -Look both ways when crossing the street; an orange hand means "stay" and the little white figure means "walk."
       -Look around you in parking lots; don't take off and run! (This one was repeated. Daily.)
       -Please refrain from burping loudly in public. (I was asked very earnestly why this is frowned upon. My response? "It stops being funny and/or cute after the age of four." Their response? "But why would you want to keep that in?!" I had no answer for that. Teenagers. Gotta love their honesty!)
       -Don't leave yet -you must wait for the ticket to pay for your meal. Remember to say "thank you!"
       -If you're not sure how to use a buffet (we were at Golden Corral), follow me! The kids were wide-eyed at all the choices and the idea of multiple plates.

Other situations came up. For example, I was asked what a curb was and why they are there. Seriously, try to put that into words to someone who doesn't see them on a daily basis! Also, one of our kids (I'll call him "John" - thinks he's a tough guy but in reality would never hurt a fly) was approached in the mall and threatened by some other kid from the city. City Boy wanted to throw punches; thank goodness John was with his team members and they gathered around him to get the other guy to back off. It really shook up John, and he asked me at least three times that week whether I'd ever been threatened in a mall (no I haven't) or if it happens often in cities, and what he should do differently next time. I explained to him that I think it may have been a case of him wearing the wrong color sweatshirt in that part of town, but I couldn't be sure. John had not been to Anchorage since we was about four, so the environment was a bit overwhelming to him.

As for volleyball, we lost our first two matches and were out of the tournament. It took me a little bit to accept that we went to Anchorage to shop and go out to eat, not to play volleyball. We were definitely outmatched, but the kids were not disappointed like I would have been in high school. On the whole, however, it was fun to experience the city through their eyes. By the end of the week, most kids wanted to return to the village; most were sick of pizza and burgers and wanted fish and moose meat, me included.

We left for the airport Sunday, but as fate would have it, they overbooked the flight and I was left in Anchorage to fend for myself for a night. [Insert relieved, happy, tired smile here!] This ended up being a good thing because half the team got stuck in Bethel, which is no fun. I called up a family friend who graciously took me in for the night. The power went out due to hurricane gale force winds (or so they felt), and we ended up playing Farkle with headlamps on while I drank my last bit of wine until Christmas. Quite the experience! The next day, I barely made my flight out due to the amount of snow on the ground.

So, all in all, I missed Monday to Monday for state volleyball, and so did half the team. When I returned, the school's focus was on the upcoming Christmas program, for which my group sang "The Twelve Yup'ik Days of Christmas." The kids had a blast making posters and re-writing the lyrics to that song, and I did too. Here's what they came up with...

On the 12th day of Christmas, my true love gave to me
12 Elders teaching,
11 feet of snow,
10 dogs a-mushing,
 9 Yup'ik dancers,
 8 wolves a-howling,
 7 swans a-swimming,
 6 moose a-calling,
 5 Christmas wreaths...
 4 ptarmigan,
 3 King salmon,
 2 polar bears,
 and a grouse in a Christmas tree!

It was a hit, especially the 12 Elders teaching part.


The next post will chronicle the ridiculous adventure of how we teachers got out of the village and back home for Christmas. To give you a preview, it involves towing a plane, four hours on a runway, and eventually 30 hours of travel for this girl. I also may have upgraded to first class after a booger was thrown at me during the last week of school; it landed on my lip. (Don't worry; it wasn't intentional, and the kid felt bad.) I figured I was deserving of a little pampering after that incident.

Sorry there are so few pictures! More next time. Adios!