Halloween & Thanksgiving in Napakiak

Halloween in Napakiak was so fun! We got to carve two pumpkins and I roasted the seeds to share with my students. 

So cute! On Halloween I let my students "change" their names to something new! Most of them wanted to be the character they were dressed as, but it was hard to remember new names for the day! I dressed as a witch and I made all of my students call me Miss Witch. It was funny! We also played pumpkin, pumpkin, witch instead of duck, duck, goose.

Nik and I made homemade candy corn! It turned out tasting kinda like vanilla flavored taffy...but it was fun!

We got 18 new books from the book fair thanks to our principal! One morning we took time to pass them around and get a peek at some new pages! The kids really seemed to enjoy it. 

Two weeks ago I went with the wrestling team to Kwethluk, another village about 20 minutes away. Girls can wrestle on the same team as boys, so I was the female chaperone. It was really fun! Of course, we traveled to the tournament by plane. :) We also all get to the airport by sitting in the back of the truck.

This is the view from my kitchen window. Some kids tried to visit me last week and were on my back porch. 

Thanksgiving here was fun. Only 4 out of the 7 teachers were here, but we all had a nice meal together. Black Friday shopping....nothing. This year was actually the first year the Corp Store in Napakiak had a Black Friday Sale. At 8 a.m. everything was 40% off and as the hours passed the percentage off decreased. We decided not to make the trek to the store. However, Nik and I went to the post office every single day of our break. I was waiting for a frozen cooler from my dad that contained our Thanksgiving meal! Unfortunately, it got here 2 days after Thanksgiving and arrived 8 days after the estimated arrival date. It was so sad opening the box and finding some food spoiled and broken open. If you know my dad, you know that he called the Post Office and complained. He says he's going to get a refund. One thing that lasted in the box were homemade pierogies! So delicious and something I definitely miss from home.  

There it is!

The sunsets here are so beautiful. They look like this almost every day. The darkness is coming. Today's sunrise was 10:32 a.m and sunset was 4:41 p.m. It's so weird! The weather has been fairly warm, however. Right now it's only 36 degrees...but it feels warm! We went outside today for a little recess break and the kids were making snowmen because we got a bunch of snow yesterday!

A cute dog followed me home a few days ago. We also have a few foxes running around the village. I saw one the other night..a little scary!

Time is going so fast! I can't believe it's already December 1st! I will be home for Christmas on December 21st...I can't wait! I already have a list of places I want to go while I'm home. When I arrive in Philadelphia my Dad and I are going to get cheesesteaks and then visit my cousin who lives in Philly. Only 14 more school days!! I can't wait to sleep in my own bed and be around a real Christmas tree!

Christmas shopping in rural Alaska is just a little different from home. I can't go to the closest mall unless I travel 400 miles and take two planes. However, I'm almost done with my Christmas shopping thanks to Amazon. My prime membership really pays off because I get free shipping...even if I have to wait a little longer to get my orders. 

20 days until I'm in the state of Pennsylvania again!!

Another Gursky in Alaska

It's been so long since my last post..sorry! I'll do a longer post next week during my Thanksgiving break..but for now I'll post some pictures from my Dad's visit!

First stop when we arrived...the bar! It was 5 am his time but he still made it out for a few drinks.

We took a drive down the Seward highway during our afternoon in Anchorage. The views were magnificent.

The glaciers were amazing. 

Next stop...Bethel, Alaska!

Unfortunately, the weather wasn't great when we got to Bethel. We had to stay overnight and got to fly out to Napakiak the next morning. It was really snowing! That's just what life is like in the bush.

When we were stuck in Bethel we went to a restaurant and had sushi!

My dad sporting his new Alaska beanie and also posing by the $9.49 bag of Cheetos! A little different from Pennsylvania prices.

My dad's first time on a small plane like this! It can only take 6 passengers.

We made it to Napakiak...

...with all of our luggage! 

My dad came to school two days while he was here. He made us dinner each night which was a nice treat. :) 

My dad with some of my students!

Playing basketball!

He wanted a picture with everything...

Tundra sunset.

The river is starting to freeze!

I almost got him to take home a puppy! It was so cute!

My Dad's stay was so short. It was really nice to have him here and show him what life is life in Alaska. Hopefully he will return soon! :)

Snow!

Hello!

Sorry its been so long since my last post. Everyone here has been so busy...MOVING IN TO THEIR HOUSES! I finally got to move in on September 22nd! Yay! My roommate and I had a bunch of high school boys help us carry our boxes over to our house..they were heavy! Everything is finally set up nicely. :)

My bedroom..I'm patiently waiting for an electric blanket and memory foam mattress topper to arrive in the mail!

Bathroom

Our real kitchen! Feeling like home.

Living room

Lastly, our laundry room/back room for storage. We also have a large freezer to stock up on food during the winter. 

Views from our back door.

View from front door. We walk on a boardwalk to get to school, exactly 102 steps! The big red building is the school. 

As you can see, it snowed! It's still only in the 30 degree temperatures right now (considered warm weather!) I still have students coming to school without jackets! Here's a view from my classroom door. 

I had to travel to Bethel on September 19th for a Saturday training. I was able to watch the Penn State game with some other Penn Staters..pretty exciting! Here's a picture from the plane.

When I returned from Bethel there was a fiddle dance! A band comes to play country music and the village residents pay a small fee to enter the dance. It was so fun!! The high school boys were showing me how to dance. Here's a picture from the beginning of the dance. 

We had a little visitor to the school one morning..a mouse!! The kids chased it into my room..behind my desk!! Luckily it didn't come out during the day and we caught it in a trap the next morning. Here are all the kids trying to chase it around my room. 

A few weeks ago a native woman was walking around the school selling some of her handmade crafts. I bought a keychain and a fan. The fan is made out of grass and caribou hair..very soft!

Exciting news! In June I sent in a picture to Alaska Magazine to try and get it published in one of the upcoming issues. I was with my lovely Gray's Woods friends and we were hoping to see ourselves on the pages of the magazine soon. So much time had passed that I forgot about it...but we're in the October issue!! Thank you, Cathy for sending me a copy! Here's a picture.

More exciting news...I got to see the Northern Lights last week!! They were so amazing. It was around 11:30 pm, freezing cold, and windy...but we saw them! Unfortunately I couldn't get any good pictures, but maybe next time. Since it was windy the lights really were "dancing" in the sky. They were mostly green with just a small band of red on the bottom. I can't wait to see them again. :)

I have training again this upcoming Saturday in Bethel. Then, I'm meeting my dad in Anchorage!! I can't wait to see him and show him Alaska. I'll post another blog after his visit.

It's starting to get very busy here. Halloween is right around the corner and we have parent teacher conferences next week. Maybe I will go sledding soon if we get more snow!

Leaving you with a cute picture of a shirt I saw at the store last weekend.