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!