Gaining my "Bering"s

My first full week at NACTEC was a success!  My mug and bio is front and center on the website, and it’s a little surreal seeing my face each time I open my browser.  I am now officially certified as an American Red Cross First Aid/CPR/AED and Babysitting instructor.  I will share my training with all of the students that come to a session, and by the end of their two weeks they will leave with at least one certification in hand.  I also spent time working on the CAT heavy machinery simulators, which are just plain cool.  All of the seating, controls, and foot pedals are true to life, with a huge flatscreen tv in front serving as the “outside view".  Some of the bigger machines even have a rearview flatscreen.  I am now familiar with the controls used to operate a hydraulic excavator, hay bailer, and mining truck!

Just doing some work on the ol' mining truck!

If these trainings weren’t enough, in the coming months I will be trained as a lifeguard, become an adjunct professor at the University of Alaska (so that my students can get college credit for the courses they take with me), receive my bus driver and chauffeur license (so that I can cart the kids around town), and have the option of getting an additional master’s in school administration, all paid for by the district.  I knew that working in Alaska would look good on a resume, but I can’t believe the number of certifications and licenses I have access to!  A whole new world of professions is now open to me; I will even have the credentials to become a cab driver.

Our district spans 80,000 miles, so we often meet by teleconference

So besides work, there are many things I’m slowly getting used to.  The weather has been absolutely beautiful; 60-70s each day with plenty of sunshine.  We lose about 10 minutes of daylight each night, however it is still light out until around 11pm.  These two elements factored together have wreacked havoc on my sleep cycle.  Each day after work Rod and I will enjoy some sort of outdoor activity, and when it’s so warm and bright out it’s very easy to lose track of time.  It’s not uncommon for me to look at my watch and realize that I should’ve been in bed sleeping 3 hours ago.  It may be light out, but ready or not, work still comes at 7am.

There is a surprising amount of color to be found in the Alaskan wilderness!

I’m beginning to break myself of the habit of always locking vehicles, as it really is a hassle to those that have to constantly unlock my door only.  Especially if they are Alaskan; they can’t fathom why I would ever lock a car door.  Last year in NY I remember leaving my car unlocked for ten minutes to hop into the grocery store, and came back to a missing GPS, iPod, and phone charger.  Here, people leave their trucks completely open with hundreds of dollars worth of tools, bikes, and even a reindeer (!) in the back without blinking an eye.  Most of the time the keys are left in the ignition.

This reindeer is living the life; even has a velvet lined house of its own!

It’s a simple, small town life up here and I love it.  I love that I can walk across town in 15 minutes, and that on my way I’ll pass children bouncing up and down in a broke-down 4-wheeler, imagining that they’re on a grand adventure.  What happened to shooing kids out of the house and letting them play until they’re hungry for dinner?  I love that each person I pass gives me a smile, a wave, and a hearty hello.  I love that random objects like gold dredging equipment, boats, trains, and oil pipes are just lying out in the fields and speak to the history of this area.

Old dredging equipment, with current gold dredgers hard at work out on the Bering Strait

Similarly, I love that houses and vehicles are in various states of beautiful disrepair; things may be rusty or peeling but nothing is neglected.  The signs of wear and tear are from being lived in, used, fixed repeatedly, appreciated, and loved.  Nothing is discarded or changed for aesthetic reasons, as practicality and usefulness are of most value here.  On my way to work I pass 3 big houses with manicured lawns and attached garages (all of which are quite commonplace in NY) set apart from town, owned by doctors and dentists.  While clearly attractive, they just seem out of place, excessive, and unnecessary in Nome.  I’d take a shabby, cozy hunting shack in the mountains over those any day of the week.

A typical house; notice the antlers, snow machine, 4-wheeler, and 4x4 vehicles.  What you can't see is that this house is set up on blocks to help keep it leveled in times of thawing and freezing ground shifts.

Which brings me to my living situation.  My first roommate didn’t work out, but fortunately my coworker Rod, a native Alaskan (who teaches engine repairs, welding, aviation, and green technology) welcomed me into his spacious 2-bedroom apartment with open arms.  Now I never imagined living with a 43 year old man, but it has worked out incredibly well.  He’s very protective of me, making sure that no one is looking in the windows, that I have a full belly, and that I get to and from wherever I may need to go.  He even introduced me to the joy of shooting, teaching me how to fire a .22 caliber semi-automatic.  I got so good that I shot 2 CDs right off the bushes they were hung on!

Firing a gun for the very first time!

If only these were unsuspecting ptarmigan resting in the branches...

I have to yet to find a vehicle to buy in Nome, as there are no roads connecting us to the outside world and the only way cars get here is by barge (which adds $3,000 to any price tag).  Rod’s been great about letting me carpool, and I’ve learned very quickly that any road trip outside of town is equivalent to an off-roading expedition.  I automatically brace my feet every time I get in the Ford F-350, because it’s not uncommon to hit a pothole that will shoot you in the air so far that your butt leaves the seat and your head hits the roof.

I need a pogo stick to get in this truck!

The hours of operation for anything in town is hit or miss, and usually miss due to the fact that I work 7am-4pm.  For example, the DMV is only open 1-4pm, banks close at 4pm, and nothing is open on the weekend.  Most Nome residents don’t hold typical 9 to 5 jobs, working mostly in the fishing or gold mining industries, so business hours are tailored to the needs of these folks.  Because of this I dedicated one of my lunch hours to obtaining an Alaska Driver’s License.  The questions on the written test were a little tricky;  If you hit an animal, whom does it belong to?  Should you honk your horn before passing another vehicle?  Do you have a better chance of survival in a burning or submerged vehicle with or without a fastened seat belt?  (The answers are the state, yes, and with).

Anvil City Square near downtown Nome

I passed the test, but honestly taking Rod’s truck to the exam challenged my driving knowledge and abilities to a much greater degree.  I mentioned in the last entry that Rod is driving the NACTEC truck originally purchased by the school for $1.  What I quickly realized upon driving the beast is that the steering wheel only drives straight when it’s turned 45 degrees to the left, that you must hold down the directional for the signal to stay on, that both side mirrors are one screw away from falling off completely, and that you can’t shift into gear unless you jimmy the shifter for a couple minutes (which isn’t ideal when you’re switching from reverse to drive in the middle of the road).  Needless to say I passed the test, and lived to tell the tale.

My eating palate has also expanded since my arrival to Nome.  My boss and his beautiful wife invited me over for dinner one night, where I tried strawberry rhubarb pie for the first time.  The administrative assistant at NACTEC, Sherri, left after finding a job more aligned with her career goals this week, so we went out to Milano’s, an Italian/Japanese restaurant in town to celebrate.  It was there that I tried sushi for the very first time, and the spicy tuna roll was outstanding!  Sherri also introduced me to a native standby; oogruk, or seal meat.  I was expecting it to taste like venison jerky, and while it had the same texture it tasted surprisingly like fish (but in a good way).  I’m not sure that I would eat it in the traditional way, dipped in seal fat and salt, but it was quite a yummy munch.

Also known as black meat, this was my first taste of seal

I continue to learn new and fascinating things, and I really am enjoying settling in to a new culture and a different way of life.