My Alaskan Adventure

As many of you know, I am going to be moving to Alaska to teach 4th grade in a Yu'pik Eskimo village.  This position came about quite suddenly, but it was such a great opportunity that I couldn't pass it up.  I will be living and working in the village of St. Michael which is located in the Bering Strait.  There are about 400 residents in the village and only about 150 kids in the school from grade K-12.  40% of the students in the school are classified as English Language Learners and many of the elders speak Siberian Yu'pik.  All of my instruction will be in English, but there will likely be a heavy emphasis on vocabulary since their background knowledge is so limited.  The village of St. Michael is extremely remote.  There are only a few dirt roads but in the winter would be covered with permafrost.  There is one tiny store but it has a limited supply and the food that it does have is extremely expensive.  For reference, I was told that 3 ears of husked and packed corn was $14!

This region is classified as the tundra (hence the name of this blog) and the winters have temperatures as extreme as -40 or -50 degrees.  I am prepared for it though with a parka, snow pants, snow boots, and mittens.  I still need to get a face shield and some goggles.  I will need to be basically covered from head to toe with no skin exposed in order to protect myself form frost bite (yikes!).  The question that I have been asked most frequently is about sunlight.  When I arrive in January, I will have about 5 hours of "daylight."  It's important to remember though that because I am so far north that it won't be bright and sunny or provide enough direct light to really add much warmth.  However, by May I will have almost 18 hours of daylight!  So the great thing is that as the weeks go on, it will slowly be getting warmer and lighter.

Some of my gear

This will be a long-term sub position so I will be heading back home to Pittsburgh mid-May when the school year ends.  I will have internet access so I plan on finishing up my Masters degree while I am there as I only have 2 courses left.  I would love to Skype with you so add me as a contact (kristie.bresz) and I can keep in touch with everyone that way.  Of course I will be on facebook a lot too.  For my teacher friends, I was thinking it would be a lot of fun to skype with our classes.  I think it would be awesome for our students to see how different our schools are and make some new friends.  Since I will be teaching 4th grade, I will be responsible for teaching writing so if your students want pen pals let me know!

I will also be doing a lot of reading so if you have any book recommendations please let me know.  I am thinking about getting a new camera so that I can take better quality pictures than just my phone and also some videos.  I would love one that has a front facing lens for when I go exploring because I am not a big fan of pictures of just scenery.  I want to be in the picture, too!  If you know of an inexpensive (less than $100) camera like this I would love your input!

During my time, I am going to try to keep up this blog as much as possible.  I want to post pictures and videos so that I can keep in touch with everyone.  If you do want to Skype, please know that AK is 4 hours behind Eastern Time.  Please please please keep in touch with me!   I have a feeling that I might get a bit bored because the location is so remote.  I promise to keep you updated with lots of pictures!

Boxes of food and clothing ready to head to the post office to ship