I apologize for not writing more this week. We had inservice all week long, and by the time we got home, we were both exhausted.
We had a great week at inservice meeting and getting to know the rest of the staff in the school. Tuesday we went to a BBQ at a teacher from the charter schools house for the Nome Education Association. We got to meet some of the staff from the elementary school, and get to see the Berring Sea from his beautiful house.
Wednesday we went to a Rotary meeting. We were invited by our new superintendent, who informed us that oh by the way, you are also the speakers. It was nice, and very informal. Once people found out we were from Minnesota, they wanted to know if we were Vikings fans.
Friday afternoon, there was a Cross Country meet at the high school, with about four other teams there. The schools don't have alot of sports (2 per season) but they take the kids every where to compete. On Saturday the team was flying to Kotzubue to run in another race, and they fly somewhere else every other weekend in September.
We were given some wonderful food gifts this week. Caleb, another new teacher, has taken up salmon fishing and brought over 2 gigantic filets for us the other night. Krista Marvin, another teacher in the jr. high, brought over to my classroom on Friday a jar of pickled salmon, blueberry syrup (that she picked and made), and fire weed jelly (again which she picked and made). They are wonderful treats!
Monday school starts. We both went into school yesterday for a few hours and will probably go in again today after laundry.
Hope everyone is enjoying the last couple weeks of summer, and that Blake you have an excellent 6th birthday!
Erin
Current Temp. 50
Sunday, August 24, 2008
Monday, August 18, 2008
Polar Bear Swim
We had our first day of "real" inservice today. All the employees from the Elemetnary and High school were at the high school today for inservice. It was alot of listening and sitting, but we learned alot.
At 6, all (most) of the new employees and some administration went for a dive into the Berring Sea. It wasn't as cold as I thought it would be, but it certainly wasn't warm, and not something I'd like to do very often!
Some people have been asking questions that we keep forgetting to answer:
1. The reindeer are owned by people and are supposed to keep them penned up, but usually don't.
2. Nome is very similar to Northern Exposure, except a little bit bigger.
3. Blake and Brady- we haven't seen Santa yet, however, we have heard that you can usually see him once the snow comes.
I think that's it. I should be getting pictures from Dan Sullivan who took pictures earlier this week. More later. Erin
Current temp: 59
At 6, all (most) of the new employees and some administration went for a dive into the Berring Sea. It wasn't as cold as I thought it would be, but it certainly wasn't warm, and not something I'd like to do very often!
Some people have been asking questions that we keep forgetting to answer:
1. The reindeer are owned by people and are supposed to keep them penned up, but usually don't.
2. Nome is very similar to Northern Exposure, except a little bit bigger.
3. Blake and Brady- we haven't seen Santa yet, however, we have heard that you can usually see him once the snow comes.
I think that's it. I should be getting pictures from Dan Sullivan who took pictures earlier this week. More later. Erin
Current temp: 59
Sunday, August 17, 2008
Airport Pizza
Today was a fun and relatively relaxing day. We made our rounds to the three grocery stores in town to find the best deals we could. This week we took two other new teachers who don't yet have a car. We are excited to have made friends and made plans to go to dinner with them to a local restaurant called Airport Pizza. Airport Pizza is only a few years old and is a very clean and modern place. What's unique about Airport pizza is that they will deliver to you even if you live in a town that is not connected to Nome by a road; they will fly your pizza out for you! I, Andrew, had the Polynesian BBQ chicken pizza which was AMAZING. It had Hawaiian BBQ sauce, Banana Peppers, two different cheeses and bacon...mmmmm bacon. For the Gluten-free crowd, Erin had the onion burger. It was a burger with fried onions and side of steak fries. Erin said the the burger was very good and would recommend it to anyone, I tried the fries and was very impressed. Overall we would give Airport Pizza our seal of approval, whoever comes to visit us will have to stop there.
Tomorrow is our first day of "official" inservice. Afterwards the teachers all go down to the Bearing Sea and jump in! We have been told that it makes the front page of the Nome Nugget (the local news paper) every year so if you want to look at the Nome Nugget online you might see us. This next week may not be the most interesting but if nothing happens we'll just make something up for all you readers.
Andrew
Current Temp. 62 and sunny
Tomorrow is our first day of "official" inservice. Afterwards the teachers all go down to the Bearing Sea and jump in! We have been told that it makes the front page of the Nome Nugget (the local news paper) every year so if you want to look at the Nome Nugget online you might see us. This next week may not be the most interesting but if nothing happens we'll just make something up for all you readers.
Andrew
Current Temp. 62 and sunny
Pictures from Teller
Dried fish in Teller
Andrew and I where we went fishing.
Mayle and I near the brook where you can drink the water out of.
Saturday, August 16, 2008
Teller
We had an interesting day today going to tell. We went with Maylie Cay (the new Jr. High Counselor), Caleb (Sr. High English), Carl White (Elementary Principal), and Rick Luthi (new Superintendent), driving about 70 miles west of Nome. We were told there wasn't much there, but when we left we would be happy we were living in Nome, which eneded up being true! It was a beautiful drive out there, with very uneven road. The man who gave our tour yesterday was giving a tour to Teller today so we were able to follow them and listen in on the information that he had when they stopped. Along the way, we saw a herd of reindeer which was cool.
Once we got to Teller, we had lunch with the teachers of the school there. The village is only about 300 people, the school about 70 students. The school is beautiful and only 4 years old. The town was very run down and poverty sturcken. The principal of the Teller school said that the road to Nome is a blessing and a burden on the town. It is nice that they are a connected villiage, but it is too easy to get alcohol into the "damp" village. The principals children are all grown and he said he would not raise his family there.
Teller is in the Bering Strait School District which we both interviewed, and were offered jobs for. The school district has gotten rid of giving out grades to students and solely focuses on standards and making "Annual Yearly Progress". They only teach to the test of what the state of Alaska tests the students on once a year. Students don't move up a grade until they pass the test for that particular grade.
The drive home was wonderful as well. We saw an even bigger herd of reindeer and stopped to fish for salmon on a river. The two other teachers and administrators that we went with were wonderful. We hope to be able to alot with them in the upcoming year.
Tomorrow we will take Maylie and Caleb to the grocery store as they don't have cars yet, and then go to dinner with them and another teacher at Airport Pizza. Hope everyone had a wonderful Saturday, and those at the lake didn't get a sunburn!
Erin
Current temp 67
Once we got to Teller, we had lunch with the teachers of the school there. The village is only about 300 people, the school about 70 students. The school is beautiful and only 4 years old. The town was very run down and poverty sturcken. The principal of the Teller school said that the road to Nome is a blessing and a burden on the town. It is nice that they are a connected villiage, but it is too easy to get alcohol into the "damp" village. The principals children are all grown and he said he would not raise his family there.
Teller is in the Bering Strait School District which we both interviewed, and were offered jobs for. The school district has gotten rid of giving out grades to students and solely focuses on standards and making "Annual Yearly Progress". They only teach to the test of what the state of Alaska tests the students on once a year. Students don't move up a grade until they pass the test for that particular grade.
The drive home was wonderful as well. We saw an even bigger herd of reindeer and stopped to fish for salmon on a river. The two other teachers and administrators that we went with were wonderful. We hope to be able to alot with them in the upcoming year.
Tomorrow we will take Maylie and Caleb to the grocery store as they don't have cars yet, and then go to dinner with them and another teacher at Airport Pizza. Hope everyone had a wonderful Saturday, and those at the lake didn't get a sunburn!
Erin
Current temp 67
Hello Central
Today was a very busy day. We had our first inservice day and as one person put it, "We got a drive by shooting of information." We met all the other new teachers and Andrew found a camping and movie watching buddy. Both of us got our school labtops and are enjoying playing with our new toys. We also got a lot of free gifts. Andrew won a door prize of a water bottle and a banner, we both got a coffee mug and a really nice embroidered vest!
After the inservice we got another box FULL of broken glasses and dishes :( We are really not looking forward to arguing with the Post Office over the insurance we baught through them.
We took a real tour with this amazing tour guide, Richard. He was extremely knowledgeable and very entertaining. He was a short, skinny, Jewish actor in New York (Can you say Woody Allen?!?) He still acts in Nome and said that he puts on a few shows a year. He would always say, "Hello Central!" Does anybody know where that comes from? After the tour we went to a fellow teacher's house outside of town and had a BBQ with about 20 other teachers and spouses. They have had a record number of salmon in the Snake River this year, but now they have a record number of dead salmon which give off a kind of...fishy smell to say the least. It was a lot of fun and we really enjoyed the opportunity to meet more teachers. Tomorrow we were invited to take a road trip to Teller (70 Miles West) and are very much looking forward to seeing more of the mountains!
Andrew Current Temp. 56
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Velvet Eyes
We saw the reindeer again today. He was just standing in the truck bed, hanging out.
When we were in the school, I asked someone what the deal with the reindeer was. She said it belongs to the plumber in town, and he rescued it when it's mothers died. The reindeers name is Velvet Eyes and he likes to go to the bar with his owner and eat broccoli. Now we will have to go to the bar to find this reindeer and take pictures of him eating broccoli.
Yesterday, we took our drivers tests and both passed. The test was more difficult than I thought it would be. A new grocery store opened in town and it carries alot of gluten free items which will be very nice. It is also significantly cleaner than the other grocery stores in town.
We went to school today and worked in our classrooms some more. There were quite a few teachers there today, so we were able to meet some people which was good.
Current temp: 58
When we were in the school, I asked someone what the deal with the reindeer was. She said it belongs to the plumber in town, and he rescued it when it's mothers died. The reindeers name is Velvet Eyes and he likes to go to the bar with his owner and eat broccoli. Now we will have to go to the bar to find this reindeer and take pictures of him eating broccoli.
Yesterday, we took our drivers tests and both passed. The test was more difficult than I thought it would be. A new grocery store opened in town and it carries alot of gluten free items which will be very nice. It is also significantly cleaner than the other grocery stores in town.
We went to school today and worked in our classrooms some more. There were quite a few teachers there today, so we were able to meet some people which was good.
Current temp: 58
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