The Countdown is On!

Wild Horses in the Outer Banks, N.C.

Whoever coined the phrase “time flies when you’re having fun” really hit the nail on the head. It feels as if the end of the semester happened in hyper speed and I kept putting off blogs, waiting for a lull in the action. However, the school year rolled into an action packed summer which has left little time to blog (as if to prove my point, it’s almost one a.m as I type this, exhausted yet fueled by the need to put words on paper). I don’t know where the past few weeks have gone, but what I do know is that my “sleeps” in the Lower 48 are suddenly winding down. Seemingly without warning, this summer has flown by and the time to prepare for another year in the bush has arrived!

Seeing Matilda on Broadway in N.Y.C.

While I have butterflies at the thought of going back to Alaska, it is a much different sensation than the panic I felt at this time last summer. When I got ready for my first semester in the bush, I felt less prepared than I ever had before. My childhood and time in college had not been meant to prepare me for life in an Alaskan village; and yet I found myself packing up my life in a few totes and trusting in the leap of faith that I had taken. Fast forward twelve months and here I am gearing up for my second year. I remember being so nervous about sending my totes last year, terrified that something would not make it. Today however, mailing my only tote from home was just another thing to cross off my to do list. I suppose my priorities have changed and I realize that there are more important things to worry about than whether or not a tote of replaceable goods is going to make it to it’s destination.

Spending a day at Epcot in F.L.

Another difference I see in myself, as I try to plan for the upcoming school year, is that I have come to accept the lack of control I have in many aspects of my life in the bush. Teaching (and life in general) in rural Alaska is much different than anywhere else in the

Some history during my trip to M.A.

country. The truth of the matter is that I don’t know which students will be in my village when I return. Maybe all of the families will have stayed put over the summer, or maybe they decided to hop over to another village to live with relatives. Perhaps they went to Naknek for summer fishing and won’t return until halfway through the semester. Will I have more students on my special education caseload, or fewer? What problems, if any, will the village have faced over the two and a half months that I was on the east coast? These are questions that once would have overwhelmed me and caused sheer panic. Now, however, they are just passing thoughts I have but do not dwell on. My questions will be answered in a few weeks when I return to Nondalton, and from then on I will roll with the punches. One thing I know for sure is once I step foot in Alaska, the craziness will begin and I’ll just have to hit the ground running. Until then I plan to keep appreciating fresh produce, taking advantage of free shipping (to the bush nonetheless!), and soaking up as much family/friend time and sunshine that I can!