Not Very Kool

When you move from the lower 48 to the bush, you have to get used to many different things. Being isolated, having to order things online, not being able to dunkin donuts coffee or chipotle whenever you want, and many others. Another thing you have to adjust to is the cell service..

Normal carriers from back home don’t reach the villages, which means you have to buy a “village phone”. So while we were in Anchorage, a few of us new hires went and got new phones at GCI (a phone carrier up here). The guys working there probably hated us after we left because we’d asked so many questions, but in the end we all had our “Very Kool” phones (seriously that’s what their called).

The problem is that they are not very kool at all.. I dislike this phone with a passion. Not only is service out here pretty bad (on an average phone call with my dad, I lose the connection and have to call him back about 5 times), but the phone itself is terrible. Trying to text on it takes a ridiculously long amount of time. If you don’t type slowly, it will pick random letters that aren’t even near the letter you were tapping. To send out a text takes focus and patience, which at the end of a long day of teaching is something that you begin to lack.

Another thing that annoys me about it is my “snapchat” application. It is constantly telling me that I have snapchats, but it refuses to load them! I’ve given up trying and just accepted the fact that when I get to King Salmon in October for inservice, I’ll have quite a few snapchats waiting for me (I’m actually looking forward to it).

I know it isn’t really a big deal, because I have access to the internet from my school and a phone to use there if I need it. However, it is incredibly frustrating to spend money on the phone and the monthly costs when the product isn’t worth the price. I’d planned on having poor reception, but the fact that I can’t even text on it is the worst (I’d like to be able to talk to my friend GCI!).