Introduction and purpose

This weekend I accepted a job as a teacher with the Bering Strait School District in St. Michael, Alaska.  As many teachers in the "bush" do, I will be blogging to let family and friends know about my experience.  Besides my family and friends, I hope that this blog will be helpful for anyone considering teaching in Alaska--especially in the bush.  For those in that situation, your first stop should be www.alaskateacher.org, the site on which almost all of Alaska's school districts, including some of its private schools, post their job openings.  That site also contains a lot of aggregated wisdom for those considering making the move.

I will learn a lot more about what I'm getting myself into in a week, when I leave for St. Michael.  At that time, much of what I now think I know about the school and the village may change.  Nevertheless, here's what I know about my upcoming adventure right now:  St. Michael is a village of about 400 people on the southern shore of Norton Sound.  For reference, Nome is on the northern shore of Norton Sound.  The school in St. Michael, Anthony A. Andrews School, has one class in each grade, K-12, with about 10-15 students in each class.  I will be the seventh grade teacher there, responsible for all subjects.  In St. Michael I will be sharing an apartment temporarily; once the house I'll be living in has been cleaned, I'll move there.  I'm told it's a small house, about 1/8 of a mile from the school--good, since I won't have a car there.  It will have electricity, a furnace, and running water/ flush toilets.  It's the latter that is the least likely to be available in the bush, but St. Michael, I'm told, is nearly completely plumbed, and teacher housing definitely is.  There is a Catholic church in the village, and the priest (whom I know--Fr. Mariusz) comes in about once a month.  There may be a deacon there, so weekly Communion is a welcome possibility.  Unfortunately, this is one of the villages where an abusive priest was assigned in the mid-20th century, so I'm a little worried about how strong the Catholic community will be.  Most of the residents of St. Michael are Yu'pik Eskimo, and I look forward to getting to know their culture--especially their language, as I am a graduate student in linguistics.  The cross-cultural element will be much more challenging for me than the winters, I think, since I know Alaska winters, but I've never lived outside my own culture for more than a few months (when I was studying Spanish in Bolivia).  Also challenging, of course, will be the isolation, since St. Michael is connected by road only to the village of Stebbins.  To get anywhere else, you have to fly.  There is a store in St. Michael, but since prices are much more expensive there, most people ship a lot of dry goods in before they move.  There are online purchasing options once you get there (amazon.com, believe it or not, does ship to the bush, and they sell more than just books!), but I'm told that most people like to arrive with a month's worth of food, if possible.

So next Tuesday (7 August 2012) I'll be flying to St. Michael via Unalakleet. My dog Perry will be flying with me, though I have to take him to the vet Thursday to get a health certificate, adequate crate, and tranquilizers--this is a dog that doesn't like riding five blocks, so I have no intention of subjecting him or anyone around him to the bundle of paranoia he'd be if he didn't have sufficient drugs in his system!  Before I leave, I have to clean my classroom and train the new teacher, pack my apartment and arrange to store or ship all my belongings, and ship a first load of dry goods to my new home.  The only reason I'm sure I can get it done in time is because I have to.

I may not blog again until I get there, though I'd like to post some pictures of Anchorage for comparison.  When I get there, I plan on putting a lot more pictures up, as well as prose descriptions of my new home.  Family, friends, and casual readers are all welcome to ask questions, which I'll do my best to answer.  Now, though, I have to get back to all the things that must be done before I leave.

Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam.

Tim