Culture Education, A Wedding Reception, and Eskimo Dancing

This past weekend was jam packed with activities in Shaktoolik. New teachers and returning Shaktoolik School staff participated in a cultural weekend at the school. The events kicked off with a couple of speeches and an Eskimo dancing demonstration by the students.

Saturday was spent taking a Structured English Immersion class. It was a 1.5 day class where we learned techniques for teaching English Language Learners. I have definitely made a lot of mental notes on future activities!

On Saturday night some students hosted a Cake Walk to raise money for a trip to Hawaii.

There were also breakout sessions where we heard native Alaskans talk about their experiences growing up, how things have changed, and why certain behaviors in the Alaskan culture exist. It was eye-opening to hear their viewpoint and get a new perspective on the culture.

On Saturday night there was a wedding reception in the gym, which we were all invited to. The reception started out with a buffet style dinner consisting of native foods: Eskimo salad (bowhead whale and seal muktuk, fish eggs), dried salmon, 2 types of prepared salmon, caribou, rice, ham, and raw veggies. For dessert there was cake, cooked berries, and Eskimo ice cream (berries and seal oil).



Following dessert was an Eskimo dancing performance by the King Island Dancers. As the audience, we got to participate in the invitational dance, which consisted of flinging our arms around in an attempt to imitate the dancers. We were an eyesore but it was still fun!

Searching For The Aurora's

At 11:00 this evening Ming asked if I wanted to see if the Aurora's (Aurora Borealis) were active. We suited up and walked down to the beach. After spending a few minutes staring and cranking our necks at what we thought might be the spectacular lights, we realized it was nothing more than a reflection from the village lights. I gently and politely asked for the lights to make an appearance, but perhaps I should have danced as well...

However, my disappointment soon vanished when I looked at the beautiful scenery I was surrounded by. The stars looked bright against the black sky, the air was crisp and cool, and soft snowflakes were slowly falling down to the ground. When my gaze followed the flakes to their destination, I was mesmorized by the blanket of sparkling snow. It appeared as if the ground was a dancing bed of glitter.

Now I will check outside one more time before going to bed...

Diner Dinner

Jeni cooked a Diner Dinner Wednesday night. We had homemade onion rings and burgers on homemade bread --->




Sylvia and Sandy sliced cheese:








I cut the onions:








and Jeni tried to figure out what to do with the liquid eggs:
After dinner Jeni told the students at the door to "go away, come again another day"...










The last time I was in Koyuk Jeni and I made ice cream. As a joke, I said to Jeni, "So since this is a diner dinner shouldn't we be having root beer floats for dessert?" She gave me a shocked and surprised look, to which I immediately responded, "Just kidding!", in case I offended her. Then she looked at her guests, hands on hips, and said, "Who told her!" I seriously had no idea!

A Dose of Vitamin D

Thursday afternoon was gorgeous! Not nearly as warm as Tuesday, but very sunny. It is always a good sign when I can wear my sunglasses rather than my goggles.


Instead of skiing with the cross country team again, I decided to go snowshoeing with Jeni.


We headed out on the trail...

and then decided to hike to the top of Igurik (not sure of the exact spelling). It was incredible to watch the sun setting as we were on the top of the mountain.

Joining us were Berry, Juneau (Sarah's dog) and Spanky (Terry's dog). They had a great time rolling in the snow and chasing each other through the trees.
We were able to make a loop around the mountain which was great. Up one side and down the other!

Curry Soup With A Pinch of Korean

On Thursday night Mandy and Matt invited Mr. Lee and me over for curry soup. Since Mr. Lee is staying in Koyuk for the next 3 months to teach Tae Kwon Do, Mandy thought the soup might make him feel a little closer to home. For dessert Mr. Lee, with my assistance, made chocolate pudding and topped it with homemade whipped cream.



After dinner Mr. Lee did a good job at teaching us how to write and pronounce Korean vowels and consonants. The Korean language makes a little bit of sense now and does not seem quite as foreign!

A Winter Wonderland

On Friday morning I was all prepared for my 11:00 flight back to Unalakleet. While waiting for my flight I visited with students and at 11:00 I was informed that the plane was on weather hold in UNK. That didn't surprise me since the weather in Koyuk was turning very snowy and windy! At 1:00 I found out that the school in UNK closed due to the blizzard. At that point I was told I would most likely be staying in Koyuk because of the high winds in UNK. When it was confirmed that I would not be flying home until Saturday, I decided to make the best of my time and go out for one more snowshoe adventure. Mandy and Berry (Jeni's dog) were brave enough to venture out into the blizzard with me.

Surprise!

Tomorrow is Sandy's birthday. Since I am not going to be in Koyuk to celebrate with her, I decided to throw her a surprise party last night. After buying the ingredients for cheesecake and chocolate chip cookies I baked in Erika's apartment so that Sandy would not know what was going on.

It was an interesting task because not only did I have 2 desserts to bake, but also bread to go along with the onion soup Sandy made for dinner. I quickly made honey oatmeal bread, put it in the oven, went down the hall to Erika's apartment and made cheesecake, went back to Sandy's apartment and had dinner, went back to Erika's apartment to remove the cheesecake from the oven and put it in the refrigerator, went back to Sandy's, then back to Erika's to bake the cookie cake, then back to Sandy's, and back to Erika's to decorate the cookie cake, and finally back to Sandy's to practically beg her into going over to Erika's to play Wii.

Jeni had joined me and Sandy for dinner so she was hanging out until it was time for the party. Since Sandy had no idea what was going on, she really wanted to go to bed. She was a little confused as to why Jeni was not picking up hints such as dramatic yawns and bedtime preparations. Jeni and I convinced Sandy to just play 1 Wii game and then she could go to bed.

When we got to Erika's apartment Sandy looked a little confused upon seeing so many faces! At that point we broke into song and enjoyed the tasty treats. My plan worked- she was very surprised!

Tae Kwon Do

Six schools in the district have been given the opportunity to have a Korean Tae Kwon Do expert at their site for the next 5 years. I am hoping that the 9 remaining schools will also be getting this opportunity. During this time students and adults can receive Tae Kwon Do lessons. Students will receive a Tae Kwon Do uniform if they attend 6 consecutive lessons. The 6 teachers can attend classes with students so to improve their English speaking skills.

Tonight was the first Tae Kwon Do class for adults. It lasted one short hour and introduced the basics, such as proper stance and walk. Surprisingly, and thankfully, it was tiring! During the hour I managed to laugh, sweat, and challenge myself.

Fortunately Koyuk was one of the schools chosen, but unfortunately Shaktoolik was not. So, I can at least participate in this activity every 2 out of 3 weeks. I look forward to improving my posture, balance, and concentration while learning this fun and popular martial art.

A Bootskate Experience

Yesterday I had great plans of getting organized and possibly going to school to plan lessons. However, as soon as Ming asked if I wanted to go skating on the ocean I knew I could not pass up the opportunity to get out in the warm (0 degree) weather and get some exercise. So we geared up and headed for the beach.

When we got there we were joined by some elementary students and later by some middle school students. Although Ming was the only one with actual skates, the rest of us showed off what we could do with our boots/shoes. Believe it or not, it was quite a workout!

The 1.5 hours we spent on the ice involved slipping, sliding, climbing on enormous blocks of ice, jumping on the rubbery overflow, and watching a breathtaking sunset. It was times like that where I thought "I LOVE Alaska. I could live here forever!" I don't know what the future will bring but I am so thankful for the opportunity I have right now to enjoy nature's little wonders :-)