Bethel Adventures

Inner Beauty

2010-05-21T14:23:00.003-08:00

A friend once said college is like a roll of toilet paper; the closer you get to the end the faster it goes. Apparently, life didn’t get the memo that I’m not in college anymore and Bethel, Alaska is nowhere near Omaha, Nebraska. It’s hard to believe it’s been nine months since my arrival in Bethel. It seems like just yesterday I was staring out the airplane window at this delta I would call home for the next year. Nine months later I find myself a bit wiser (most days), a few pounds heavier, definitely a few shades whiter, and a great deal more empathetic than the kid who arrived in Bethel sporting his orange Spurbury boat shoes.

I have always understood empathy as the ability to relate to others circumstances and surrounding. Empathy is the type of ideal than can be taught, as I was fortunate enough to have had throughout my many years in Jesuit schools, but cannot be fully understood until one has fully immersed themselves in another’s way of life. While I don’t pretend to be an expert in empathy after immersing myself in another’s culture for one year, I will admit that my time and experiences in Bethel will be a foundational building block as I take the next steps in life. Once I was able to begin and understand empathy, it seems as though everything else became easier. I became better at my job, I started to see the beauty in Bethel, and best of all I stopped talking about myself and started to listen more. Bethel is a perfect example of inner beauty. We all know what it is, we all see it daily, but more often than not we pass it over and continue with our daily lives. So…what does inner beauty in Bethel look like…? Everything!!!

As I’m writing this blog it’s about 60 degrees outside, ducks and geese are flying everywhere, a Robin has made a nest right outside our office, there’s about 20 hours of daylight, and the river is flowing freely now. I know right…seems hard to believe that less than a month ago everything was still lifeless and frozen throughout the tundra. Never have I lived in a place that can seem so desolate and lifeless in the middle of winter, only to transform into the continents largest wildlife refuge several months later. It’s spectacular to say the least. In the past month, I have seen large flocks of ducks, geese, swans and cranes flying overhead. My once 40 minute walk to work has turned from a Man vs. Wild episode into a birding nature tour.

Upon arrival, I was amazed at all the junk lying around town. I thought to myself…how can Bethel citizens put up with all this junk. What I didn’t realize is that it’s like having a hardware store outside your font door. Anything and everything you might need to fix something can be found within a four house radius. Think of all the times when your car’s engine has exploded on the way to work and you thought to yourself…gosh darnit…I wish I would have saved my old cars engine. In all seriousness though…it’s not as big of a deal as we all make it. There is a definite amount of pride that comes with having a tidy house and yard, but does it really make your life that much worse if your neighbor has a little junk in there yard? What’s more important is that there’s a functional family living inside that house.

Speaking of people, I constantly come across the argument that there’s nothing to do in Bethel. I hear this statement at least daily while subbing at the high school. Ok…you got me there. Finding healthy outlets can be challenging at time, but they are available…I promise. One of my biggest highlights living in Bethel has been the ability to participate in various intramural sports. Who thought that after my college glory days I would still be tearing up broomball rink or ultimate Frisbee field? I love competition (for those of you who couldn’t tell) and being able to stay active and compete is absolutely awesome. Alaska sports are much like the job market; there’s always an opportunity to try something new. Being a kid is a challenge regardless of geographical location, but it seems even harder sometimes being a kid in Bethel. Kids are constantly reminded of the hardships life has in store, but I also think that being a kid in Bethel can be a gift in disguise. If there is one aspect of Bethel that has made me appreciate this place though, it’s that kids are allowed to be kids. Watching Bethel kids play around in mud puddles or rolling around on snow banks (sometimes at the same time) is a refreshing site.

So…what next? Every time I start getting settled into a routine it seems like life speeds up and it’s time to make the next big decision. This time it’s the CAREER decision. I was fortunate enough to be approached with an enticing opportunity here in Bethel working within the hospital. The organization is called YKHC (Yukon Kuskokwim Health Corporation) and they are the overseeing body for health care throughout the YK Delta. I have until July 1^st to give them my final decision which gives me some time to pursue other interesting opportunities back home. Mommy and the girlfriend were not quite as excited as I was when I told them the news about possibly remaining in Bethel for a bit longer, but I think the thought is growing on them a bit (very very slowly).

Regardless of what decisions and opportunities come about in the next few months I can without question look back upon my time in Bethel and know the experience was an excellent investment in myself. I hope I was able to make one tenth as much of a difference in the community as the community made in me.

Tomorrow will be an exciting day as I embark on my first real Alaskan adventure. Six of us are heading up river about 4-5 hours in several boats in hopes of conquering dead trees left behind by this past winters wrath. The technical term for what we are doing is “logging” but more than anything, it signifies the start of summer. The basic just of logging consist of gathering dead trees that were killed or uprooted by the past winters ice. Once 40-50 trees are gathered over several days, a raft will be build in order to float the trees back to Bethel. The total float time back will be somewhere in the ball bark of 20-24 hours upon which the trees will then be cut up and turned into firewood for next winter. Luckily for me I am going with several extremely skilled outdoor individuals who have done this many times before. I was trying to tell them that “logging” was not covered in my high school or college curriculum and have absolutely no idea what I’m doing, but there taking me anyway…so jokes on them. Tom Sawyers aint got nothing on me!

Top Ten

2010-04-23T15:17:00.002-08:00

Ten Lessons I’ve Learned from Bethel

1.) Grocery stores can be a fun place to hang out.

Few spots are quite as social as the Bethel Alaska AC Value Center. Some towns have Wal-Mart and shopping malls, Bethel has AC. Whether board, hungry, drunk or simply in the mood to do some springtime shopping for this year’s new shade of tan Carharts, AC is where the party is. Assuming Miley Cyrus was form Bethel, her song would surely be titled “Party at the AC Value Center.” Mall of America…eat your heart out.

2.) Fur is back in fashion

Never in my life did I think I would hear the phrase “hey…stop by Joe’s place tonight. We’re having a Polar Bear hanging party.” And here I was thinking our family was cool because we have deer antlers laying around in our garage.

3.) That thing on the back of your jacket…is useful

I may have a leg up on these Eskimo’s in regards to financial literacy, but when it comes to staying warm, I stand to learn a lot. Hoods are without question the greatest invention of our modern era and an absolute must in frigid temperatures.

4.) Broken down cars are great weed barriers

People in the lower 48 spend way to much time fretting about their lawn and garden. Bethel has found a simple solution to the weed (and grass and tree) problem. Just leave your old cars in your lawn. Problem solved! Might have to convince The Preserve in Greenwood Village to relax their covenant laws a bit. Wonder how Tom would react to that one???

5.) Breakfast is overrated

Throughout my days subbing at the high school, I have learned many great lessons from my kids. The most practical however is to skip breakfast entirely and instead chug two Monster Energy drinks. A surefire way to stay focused and make it to lunch.

6.) Being on time is all relative

My first month in Bethel was torture. Everywhere I went I found myself waiting around wondering if I was in the right place. Then I discovered the secret to being on time in Bethel. If someone says…be at the park at 1:00; it means you start thinking about going to the park at 1:00 duhh… Regardless, it’s a great system

7.) 32 Degrees is warm

This statement will most likely cause some controversy as 32 is technically the freezing point, but after a full Winter in Bethel I can now say that 32 is a pleasant temperature. I laugh when I think back to our middle school days and how recess was cancelled when temps were below freezing. Toughen up kids…schools not cancelled in Bethel till it’s -50 (actually true).

8.) Inappropriate jokes are…appropriate

As I’m writing this blog and about to talk about inappropriate jokes, one of our foundations board members walked in to share several inappropriate jokes. How fitting. Inappropriate jokes are a sure sign of cleverness and career potential. The dirtier they are in Alaska, the faster you will be promoted. As much as I would like to give an example, I will not for fear my mother will cut off all care packages.

9.) Cars Don’t Matter

My mother will be so proud of me on this one…but the type of automobile you drive makes very little difference on your “cool” factor in Bethel. Considering that 70% of Bethel does not have a car, having one is cool enough. But for you car enthusiast out there who must look cool while driving, here are some Bethel tips for cool cars. Drive a big truck, put a really big gas tank on the back of your truck, have a snowplow for your truck. Get the picture…trucks are cool

10.) The Tooth Brush was discovered in Bethel

How do you know that tooth brush was discovered in Bethel? Because if was discovered anywhere else it would have been called a teeth brush.

An Excuse for Adventure

2010-04-01T14:07:00.010-08:00

How often do we live in a place and not take full advantage of all the great things around us? I know I do way too often. I realize that we have jobs and responsibilities to uphold and it never hurts to have a little down time, but looking back more often than not I realize I could have done a little more with that day, or a little more with that week. Well…I definitely don’t have that excuse this past weekend. What a great extended weekend!

This past Thursday as I might have mentioned in my previous blog, Jess arrived in beautiful sunny downtown Bethel. After three flights, eight hours of flying, an extended layover in the Anchorage International Airport, six bags of peanuts, two crying babies, and a partridge in a pair tree; Jess finally arrived in the last frontier. With her, she brought Mother Natures graceful sunshine (at least for a few days) and some warmer temperatures. Immediately upon her arrival, I whisked her around Bethel like a kindergartner showing their parents their school for the first time. Trying to look cool, calm and in control, I immediately drove her across the ice road in hopes of showing her what a “wild man” I have become throughout our several months of separation. What Jess doesn’t realize is that behind my charming smile and cool demeanor, I am just as nervous as she is about getting on and off the river during spring conditions. (One of the keys to life…don’t let em see you sweat). Our first day was filled with long walks, stories about the dogs, gossip about friends, griping about the cost of groceries, yoga class, and of course conversation about the weather. Of course lying, I say “You know how lucky you are it’s not like -100 Jess. I used to think that was cold, but now it’s like a refreshing ocean breeze.”

After a long walk and seeing me shiver in the nice temperatures, Jess picked up on my white lies and we got on with our trip. The last weekend in March is historically one of the busier weekends all year in Bethel between the Camai Dance Festival, the sled dog camp out race, and another sprint sled dog race. Camai is an annual three-day dance festival celebrating Alaskan Native tradition and heritage. Dance groups from all over the world and YK Delta fly, drive and snow machine in to participate in this historic festival. Dance groups range everywhere from the Midnight Cloggers (twelve middle aged white homemakers from Anchorage) to local villagers dancing away in praise to commemorate the good salmon catch this past summer.

On Saturday, Jess and I followed up the teams for the annual camp-out sled race. The camp-out race consists of about seven-eight teams that stroll up river casually Saturday, camp-out, have a little party and Sunday race back to Bethel. Thanks to Jerry’s generosity and an invention called studded snow tires; Jess and I followed the dogs (and people) up river Saturday for about two hours before turning back. The ice road was in good condition, but I found myself at least once throwing the truck in reverse after hearing some ice pop to go ask some native fisherman if the ice was thick enough to drive. The answer was always yes…but it always feels good to have some reassurance.

By far one of the highlights of Jess’s trip to Bethel was having the opportunity to participate in some manuking (aka ice fishing) and snow machining. If you were to look up the term manuking in the dictionary it would probably say something like…the art of standing still in very cold temperatures for long periods of time, with a line tied to a stick bobbing up and down in hopes of catching a semi frozen fish. Regardless, it was a great time had by all and my first time manuking in Alaska. In total, we caught about 10 fish between the five of us. Of course, Jess had three fish pulled out of the ice before I even had my first bite. I think she is still a bit bitter as I was forced to steal her pole “stick” and fishing hole while she was in the truck warming up in order to have some luck of my own. The secret to manuking is fish eyeballs. Once we had our first catch, we popped both eyes out of the Pike, put them on our hooks and the rest was easy. Here fishy fishy….

Keeping with our trend of frozen sports, Jess and I also had the chance to do some snow machining up river and through the sloughs on Tuesday. Everyone else in the world calls it snowmobiling, but here in AK they call it snow machining or snow-going. Thanks to the generosity of one of our foundations board members Frank, Jess and I were equipped with two beautiful machines. Frank was even nice enough to lend Jess and I his beaver skin hats and bunny boots to complete the full food chain ensemble! Snow machining can be an absolute blast if one is equipped for the weather as Jess and I were. These machines are getting pretty sophisticated these days as well. It might sound crazy flying across a frozen bumpy river at sixty miles an hour; but I assure you it is completely feasible and safe and can even be accomplished with heated thumb warmers on your machine.

Good company makes all the difference in the world. It brightens your day, gives you someone else to talk to besides two dogs and creates a perfect excuse to get out of your routine and shake things up a bit. Overall, it was a great extended weekend with Jess and a nice way to finish off the remaining weeks of winter. Bethel is a hard place to describe to someone over the phone or blog. People always ask what I love most about Bethel and in many regards it’s the same things I don’t like about Bethel. It’s remote and quiet, very simple, embodies a small town feel and makes you appreciate the small things in life. But at the end of the day if you have a love for the outdoors, it’s pretty tough not to enjoy the worlds biggest frozen playground right out your backdoor.

Extra Cirricular’s: Bethel Style

2010-03-15T14:01:00.008-08:00

Spring is in the air and everywhere I look I see flowers blooming, grass turning green, trees beginning to show their buds and those winter “bunny” boots traded in for this years newest J Crew flip flops. With a sigh of satisfaction, I say to myself…ahh…what a life! I begin to hear dogs barking ever so softly, but the barking keep getting louder and louder. Suddenly I realize I have a dog in my bed and those pleasant thoughts were just a dream. Before I start my morning ritual of coffee, shower, breakfast and feeding the roommates, I do my usual stroll out into the family room with my I-Phone where I get my neighbors wireless internet and check the weather. After pacing around the room for a minute or two in order to get adequate reception it finally loads up and reads -22, feels like -35! I glance again…what how can that be? It’s March 15th; spring is just around the corner. Then I realize I have been saying that very same thing for about the last 14 days. Well I think, at least it’s sunny today! Spring in Bethel doesn’t exactly follow the rest of the world. In fact, if I recall “Spring” has been colder than December, January or February. Although the cold temperatures persist, the increase in daylight is absolutely amazing as our days increase around 6 minutes every day. That’s around 40 minutes a week…way more time than I actually spend working a week. (Just kidding)

Although cold…the last month in Bethel has been absolutely beautiful. There are few things I have experienced as breathtaking and calming as looking across the icy tundra at high noon. While Bethel may not have the mountains or city sky rise to look at, it does have one of the most crystal clear blue skies of any place I have lived. The increase in days is also a definite plus as it is now light well into the evening. A few months ago I was having a hard time believing that when I arrived in August it was light until around 11 p.m., but once again mother nature is making me a believer.

So, what do Bethelonians do after work and on the weekends? Glad you asked! Every Saturday around 15-20 of us meet at “Pinky’s Pond” and get suited up for our weekly broomball match. Pinky’s Pond is the local Bethel Park equipped with playground, softball field, skate park and of course ice rink. The term “ice rink” refers loosely to a frozen pond that the city plows and maintains throughout the winter months (a.k.a. most of the year). Although makeshift, it is probably the coolest ice rink thingamajig out there. Broomball has fast become one of my favorite past times in Bethel. While running around for hours on end in sub zero temperatures might sound like torture to many, I assure you that it is top quality entertainment. I find myself constantly laughing at how bad I was the first time I played broomball in early November. I literally looked like I had never seen ice before. Needless to say though…this city slicker has found his ice legs in the past few months and is enjoying every minute of it.
For those of you not accustomed to broomball, the basic concept is hockey without skates and a puck. Broomball is played on a similar sized ice rink as hockey and instead of skates, we wear “bunny boots,” and instead of a puck we use a miniature soccer ball that theoretically is suppose to be somewhat bouncy, but when the temperatures approach -20 the ball is more like a block of ice. Since we don’t wear pads, there is theoretically no checking or hitting, but a little physical contact is a.o.k. The great part about broomball in Bethel is the variety of ice conditions. You might think that ice is ice…but you couldn’t be farther from the truth. Some weeks after lots of wind and a little snow, the ice is the slickest thing you could ever imagine. These weeks our broomball games look more like slow motion ESPN curling footage as we struggle to chase down the ball. Other weeks, the ice takes on a more sure-footed feel and our broomball games turn into more of a track meet where speed is of the essence. While temperatures can be absolute frigid at times, I have yet to walk home from our Saturday battles without being absolutely drenched in sweat.

This past month also served to be the start of my acting career. That’s right…I am now an all out thespian. Well, maybe not all out, but I definitely have had my first full out experience in the drama life. A few weeks back I got a call saying that someone had dropped out of the high school musical “Back to the 80’s…the Totally Awesome Musical” and they were wondering if I would be able to fill in. Full of curiosity I said yes and unknowingly signed away my next two weeks of life. In short, it was an excellent life experience and great way to become actively involved within the Bethel community. My role in the musical way to play Corey Senior. Corey Senior played the modern version of himself as he looked back on his high school days at William Ocean High School. My part entailed me being the play narrator as well as sing short version of Bon Jovi’s “You Give Love a Bad Name.” When I heard that I would be singing a short song I told myself “no problem John…you used to be part of the Regis Jesuit boys select choir.” What I didn’t realize was that my singing days were a long time ago. I’m pretty sure when we first started practice the rest of the crew was like…”oh boy…this could be a long night,” but after a few weeks of practice I got my confidence back and ended up doing great in the performance. This past weekend we had three shows (Friday-Sunday) and in total had about 600 people show up to witness the third annual WARPT (Western Alaska Rural Performance Theater) musical.
I have to admit, it was a pretty darn good performance for Bethel Alaska standards. The musical came alive with radical 80’s clothing, smash hits from the Proclaimers, Michael Jackson and even a six-person rock band. Top the performance off with some high quality choreography and the end result is some pretty awesome entertainment full of lots and lots of laughter. Not a bad way to spend a couple weeks! This acting gig has also given me some real Bethel street cred. One of the more priceless moments of the whole experience though was seeing many of the high school students faces when I first came on stage. I think it went something like, Oh shit…that’s Mr. Leer our substitute teacher.

Take Two

2010-02-01T15:22:00.008-09:00

Well…I am back from the latest writers strike and have managed to work out a better contract with management, so Bethel Adventures will continue as regularly scheduled…sporadic.

As January 9th approached I waited in anticipation of how Bethel would look nearly two months after my previous departure. I realized it was not going to look like my Colorado break of skiing, hiking and enjoying home cooked meals, but also realized that I had a strong desire to finish what I started. Upon arrival in Bethel, I was greeted with a subtle (50 mph) breeze blowing ever so gently across my face and a warning from the captain of 40 below wind chills as a reminder that I was no longer basking in the Colorado sun. Ahh Bethel…it’s good to be back. Not much has changed in the Alaskan bush in two months besides shorter days and colder temperatures. My boss Jerry hit it on the head when I arrived and stated that style is irrelevant in Bethel; it’s all about what keeps you warm. All in all though it’s nice to be back and experience what a real Alaskan winter is all about.

This past month has been a busy month in Bethel between the Kuskokwim 300 (K300) dog sled race, resettling in with work, moving into my new house and learning the ropes as a substitute teacher at the local high school. The k300 is considered one of the top three events throughout the year in Bethel and consist of a 300-mile dog sled race along the river and through various villages. I was hoping for a treat and that’s exactly what I got, as this years race was one for the record books with record cold temperatures, hurricane force winds and a lack of snow that hasn’t been this extreme in years.

After watching the start and finish I can safely say that I never want to be a professional dog musher, or a dog for that matter. In the two hours between my arrival and departure at the starting line, I have never experienced such cold weather. Being the tourist that I am, I decided to take my gloves off for a few seconds and capture the glory of the moment with my fake Sony Chinese camera. In a matter of a minute, my hands were as cold as ice and took the remainder of the two hours to regain feeling. The race proved to be a good one though as local Bethel villager passed legendary racer Lance Mackey in the final leg of the race to claim the 2010 K300 title.

In other news, I am all moved in and settled into my new living quarters and the three of us are getting along just fine. My two roommates are a bit needy but they don’t take up to much space. The only real issue we have had so far is bad breath and excessive hair loss, but we’re looking into various treatment programs and should hopefully have a solution soon. Jake’s kind of the leader between the two (the other being Raven) and calls most of the shots around the house. We got off on kind of a sour foot, but Jake and I have been bonding nicely this past week. Having two roommates has been good for my biological clock though, as both Jake and Raven enjoy company on their early morning walks. Overall it’s a good situation and I will probably learn a thing or two from Jake especially, as he’s kind of the ladies guy around town and knows all the right things to say.

My trip home was excellent and a great chance to catch up on some of my favorite past times. Over Thanksgiving break I was fortunate enough to make it down to Omaha and watch my first ever Missouri Valley Conference Volleyball Tournament in Creighton’s brand spanking new woman’s athletic facility. The Jays fell a bit short in the end, but Jess managed to make the all-tournament team and made a memorable departure from Creighton Athletics. She will be greatly missed on the volleyball court by teammates and fans alike, but is looking forward to her next challenge of Physical Therapy School this coming fall. Jess was accepted to Creighton this past week!

In between my time of Thanksgiving and Christmas, I managed to score a job as a Christmas Tree Salesman. It is a highly sought after position and extremely competitive, but would be happy to share some pointers to anyone looking for a new profession. Never in my life have I had such an interesting experience. I won’t really call it good or bad…just interesting. My first week was spent in Vail with co-worker Bob. Bob, the owners brother, greeted my with an eye patch on his left eye and an explanation of how I am an Indian and he is a Chief, and how I shouldn’t try and be the chief. Note to self…don’t be chief. For those of you who have never had the opportunity to sell Christmas trees I will enlighten you. It’s kind of like selling used cars; you start high and work your way down.

The job was a good experience though and was an interesting take on what it’s like being the guy selling over priced “fresh” trees and trying to rip people off to the best of your ability. I will be forever indebted to Bob though as he showed me the tricks of the trade and taught me to be a selling pro. Bob’s life lessons:
• Always charge tax even if there is none
• Play to the women and call the husband a tight wad
• Lie about when the trees were cut
• Break into apartment complexes because they have free washing machines
• It’s never to early for tequila on the job
• Wear an eye patch even though you don’t need one; people feel bad for you

A Different Look

2009-11-13T14:31:00.011-09:00

A lot has changed in Bethel and in my personal life since my last blog post. Winter has fast arrived and the roar of boat engines has quickly given way to the shriek of snow machine motors flying across the icy tundra. This past week marked our first rise in temperature above 32 degrees in literally the past month. However much those “warmer” temperatures might sound inviting, it has produced absolute havoc on Bethel transportation with the ice build up we have witnessed following the past two rain showers. Bethel roads currently look more like the typical scene you witness out of a hockey movie when two hockey coaches shuffle across the ice to exchange handshakes after the match. I wish I could say that the ice would make my commute to and from work quicker, but in all reality, it’s much slower. I do however provide local Alaskans a few good chuckles as they watch me slip and fall repeatedly on my tactical route across the banked street.

Bethel is without question a winter city. Everything seems to fall into place and simply function better with a few inches of ice and snow covering the landscape. Within a matter of days after our first deep freeze, the river begins to freeze, the tundra becomes navigable and people trade in their cash for clunker cars for this year’s newest Polaris snow machine financed with their families Permanent Fund Dividend (PFD) checks. It takes some time until the river is iced up enough and completely navigable, but there are always a few brave soles determined to be the first conquistadors to make their way up river. Some make it happy of heir success while others stare down into the river with a cold, wet, disgruntled look on their face into an icy hole about the size of a snow machine. You live and you learn… sometimes. I however will not be leaving my fate to early season conditions and have vowed to wait until I see cars on the river before making the slip fate.

In regards to my personal life, I will no longer be a part of JVC, but will continue my work at Bethel Community Services Foundation in hopes of completing our savings and financial education program. The transition from JVC life to regular old Bethel life is an ongoing transition and I am still in the process of figuring out all the details, but remain committed and optimistic about the upcoming year. The departure from JVC has been a tough transition both emotionally and logistically, but glad I embarked on the adventure none the less and will continue to be in close contact with all my housemates. The experience, although tough at times, is one that I think everyone can benefit from. It was without question the first time in my life I have entered into a living situation with six strangers and shared some of the more intimate details of my life. While we had our share of conflicts, we also had our share of laughs and fun adventures. Living in community is one of the more difficult things I have done, but also one of the greatest tools I have found for finding my own strengths and weaknesses and will carry this self-discovery with me regardless of what roof is over my head.

While being a nomad for the past week has been a challenge at times, I do have to admit that it makes for great blog material. As of Monday, my new “posh” residence is the upstairs cubbyhole in the Yute Airlines pilot housing complex. When I say “complex”, I am referring to a sketchy looking blue apartment duplex shared between the pilots and mechanics at Yute air. Tony (one of my boss Jerry’s friends) who is the owner of the duplex and station manager for Yute Air, has been kind enough to let me live here awhile free under the conditions I will help out a bit with miscellaneous items around the duplex. My first task was to fix the plumbing in the house so the water, and more importantly the toilet, would be operational again. Given that I have no past experience with plumbing or handy man work for that matter, I said of course. Needless to say, my business skill set proved absolutely useless and Tony ended up fixing the plumbing. Looking back I probably should have come clean with Tony at the beginning and told him I know nothing about plumbing, but I didn’t have the heart to tell him that. ***Note to self…when someone ask you if you know how to fix the plumbing, say no and mention that you’re a finance major and that wasn’t covered in your core curriculum.

In regards to my new roommates, I live with three other guys; two of which I have met so far. Jared, a mid aged twenty-year-old former Texan resident, fly's a seat single engine prop plane out to the surrounding villages. Jared’s advice to me: “be careful about who you let drive you around in a snow machine. There’s a reason that the average women has six kids and the population isn’t growing.” Thanks Jared! Jared has offered to fly me around one of these days and do some “fun stuff” in his plane. When I asked what “fun stuff” is, he said flying really low and “stuff” like that. Terri is my other roommate. Terri is a quiet, disgruntled, ex hippy, Vietnam Vet who is a man of few words. The other night when I asked Terri if he would like some pasta if I made it, Terri replied, “I cook my own food.” Easy enough, so do I. Overall though, I can’t complain at all. It’s a free place to stay, offers companionship, has cable TV and should be relatively easy to clean up my 8x4 room when all is said and done.

As of now I am planning on staying in the Yute pilot housing for the next several weeks until I return back to Colorado for Thanksgiving and Christmas. I was originally scheduled to come home the 15^th of December, but decided to bump up my ticket in order to cover all the major holidays. When I gave the news to the girlfriend about possibly coming down to Omaha over Turkey day for the Missouri Valley Volleyball Tournament, I had one happy camper. As is stands right now, my plan is to return to Bethel on the 9^th of January when my semi permanent lodging will be available. I am in the process of working out a deal with my boss’s daughter to stay in an extra bedroom in her place for the remainder of my Bethel year. She is currently a city police officer, but looking to become an Alaskan State Trooper in the next few months. At least I know I will be safe! In regards to work, everything is going decent. Our program is off the ground and running, but my biggest challenge is still getting people to show up when they say they will. Scheduling here is all relative. There are some preliminary plans in the making, but I am hoping to score a teaching job at the high school here in Bethel as well. Most likely it would be in the form of substitute teaching as I have offered to teach courses in business and polotics. Here's my chance to convert a few!

Besides the change in temperature and location, the past month has been a great month. A few weeks back I had the opportunity to fly down to Anchorage early before our JVC fall retreat and do a little exploring on my own. The trip started out great as all my flights were on time and upon arrival into Ted Stephens International Airport I was greeted with a 2010 Dodge Ram rental car for the same price as my previously booked Chevy compact car. Deciding to make the most of my time, I drove South down the Seward Highway towards Seward. Several hours and a few sightseeing pit stops later, I arrived in Seward to find quite possibly one of the most beautiful quaint small towns I have ever seen.

Upon arrival in Seward, I made a quick stop through the visitors’ bureau to finalize my hiking plans. Twenty minutes later, I was making my way up “Exit Glacier” on what was undoubtedly one of the better glacier hikes I have experienced. Shedding clothes quickly, I made my way up the five mile trail to the top of the glacier in hopes of completing my hike before dark. Upon arrival at the top, I was greeted by several furry mountain goats lounging around in hopes of getting their daily allotment of vitamin D. The temperature difference between the bottom and the top was mind boggling, but to be expected in late October. Overall, it was a great trip to Seward. I had a chance to partake in some awesome hiking, car camp on the beach, experience the Seward nightlife with some friendly locals and drive on one of the most famous and epic highways in the country. Job well done!

Puppie Love

2009-10-01T11:38:00.014-08:00

With Fall in full swing and Winter fast approaching, an enthusiastic extra spring in their hop is very apparent. While pet owners back in the lower 48 begin the seasonal preparations for the cold and double check the size of fee fee's winter sweater and snow booties, Alaskan dog owners are tuning up the racing sleds and perfecting their mixture of salmon and kibbles and bits. That's right, it's time once again to start the preparations for the Winter dog mushing season. What I once considered to be good material for Disney Movie's, Paul Walker film's and children bedtime stories is now my Bethel reality and livelihood. Over the past few weeks we have had a unique chance to help out with several dog teams in Bethel. In whole, there are about three main dog teams in Bethel: The Kaiser's, Klejka's and Anksman's. Between these three, they account for about 50-70 dogs. This weekend, I am taking care of 30 of those dogs and 4 puppies at the "Friendly Dog Farm." Thirty four dogs...not bad for a weekends work. I will be the first to admit, this is pretty awesome work (or a nightmare if you despise dogs) and without question is a complete 180 from ordinary city life. The whole ordeal is quite amusing and it makes it even better when I try to imagine how raising thirty four dogs would fair in my preppy hometown city of Greenwood Village, CO. My guess, it would not even last a day living next to our friendly neighbor Tom. Considering Tom calls the police on the two barking dogs next door, I can only presume that more drastic measures would have to be taken such as calling the Denver SWAT team to neutralize the threat. "...roger that, we have a code red K-9 alert!"

Responsibility is the name of the game with these dogs in the eyes of Cassie their trainer. Cassie, a Bethel resident and avid dog musher, works three jobs in order to create the flexibility to spend countless hours feeding and running the dogs. It was an awesome experience a few weeks back when a few of my roommates and I had a chance to help Cassie run the dogs. By far the most comical element of the setup process occurs when we pick the dogs up by the collars, kind of like you're trying to strangle them, and they hop like rabbits over to the six wheeler where they get hooked up to the lines. Due to passenger constraint limits on the ATV I had to sit out the first run, but was shocked by the look of the dogs upon their return as they were covered in mud and foaming at the mouth. It literally looked like they took them behind the shed and beat em with a stick. One of the main reason for the fatigue is due in part to warm temperatures as Alaskan Huskies function best right around zero degrees.

Before leaving town yesterday for a K-300 meeting (the major dog sled race in Bethel), Cassie had mentioned she was going to leave a few dog directions in case of emergency or lapse of memory on the JV's end. Little did we know that she would have a whole sheet (single spaced typed) laminated for our convenience. Thanks! Directions include:

Let buster, her personal house dog (because she doesn't have enough) out of the house, chain him up and give him a few handful of kibbles with water mixed in.
Mix 2/3 bucket of kibbles among 3 buckets, mix with warm water, mix some liquid fat (from a restaurants grill) in with the food, add one whole scoop of salmon to each of the three buckets, mix up all three buckets contents and bon appetit...
Give mother dog (with four very cute puppies) 1/2 cup of kibbles with piece of salmon on top.
Scoop poop (meaning throw poop into bushes and neighbors yard)
Check stitches of four female dogs who were spayed
Give Rudy his antibiotic: you will have to open his mouth, push the pill down his throat and make sure he swallows (very fun f.y.i.)
Make sure walk in freezer is between 0-10 degrees F (which we determined is full of hundreds of frozen salmon used to make the dogs stew)
Put Buster back in house and turn off freezer.

Nice, all of a sudden I am a freezer technician, veterinarian and gourmet chef. Sounds like something for Mike Rowe on Dirty Jobs. My only question is, do you think I should put some of this stuff on my resume?

If there is one thing I have learned about Bethel thus far, it's that valuing the little things is what makes this place unique and is what gets you through the days. Unlike a big city, or even a relatively small city, Bethel has fewer things to do than I'm accustomed to. The first month or so was relatively tough and I constantly found myself looking ahead to what I was going to do next. Well, like anything the person adapts to their surroundings and makes the best out of every situation given enough time and the right support. Now instead of looking ahead I find myself much more content and cherishing the little things that make Bethel a diamond in the tundra. Take for instance this past Friday. I was driving my 1990 Toyota all-trac sports car back to the house after taking care of the sled dogs when a major traffic jam caught my attention. "What in God's name could be causing such a scene in Bethel" I thought. It either has to be Sarah Palin walking down the street or someone from Obama's cabinet coming into town to tout their new Golden Globe Award. Well...I was wrong with both. Turns out a pair of two baby moose and their mother were taking a Friday night stroll through Bethel. You would think Alaskans would not get this excited over a couple moose, but it looked like something out of a Denali National Park tourist commercial. Unlike the Japanese tourist and their fancy thousand dollar Nikon cameras, Bethel residents rushed to the scene, cell phones in hand, and shot away with their cell phone cameras still excited that Bethel now has cell reception. Seeing the moose was cool and indeed a tribute to the five year moose moratorium, but my highlight was not so much the moose as it was watching people abandon their running vehicles in the middle of the road. T.I.B.

Life is good on my end. I have a lot to look forward to in the next several weeks between my trip to Anchorage where I will be touring around pre JVC retreat, continuing my financial education classes and best of all getting my big cast off my left arm this Wednesday. I haven't quite decided what the first thing I will do with my left arm is yet, but regardless it will feel great to have more mobility in my life. Having one arm was definitely a challenge, but again I realized how amazing the body is to adapting to the circumstances it is placed under. Throughout my six week escapades as a one arm gimp I even managed to impress several fellow Saturday afternoon football players during our weekly football showdown with my one arm receptions and even several interceptions. Football season will most likely continue for another couple weeks until the weather turns cold and the focus shifts to broom ball. Note***there are no live stats or audio for Bethel intramural sports.
It is quite amazing to witness the fast changes in the days up here in the "North Pole" as my sister would call it. Between the time we arrived in mid August to now, Oct 10th, the days are much shorter and the temperatures are fading quickly. The most noticeable change is the sunrise which now does not grace our presence till after 9:00 a.m. Don't tell my mom, but I have yet to use sun screen yet in AK and don't see any changes in the near future mostly because it ALWAYS RAINS. In more exciting news, the last barge came into Bethel a few weeks back to drop of last minute supplies and provisions for the upcoming winter. Most residents have numerous supplies, cars and toilet paper on the barge due to the reduced price of not buying local. Watching the barge dock is widely considered to be immense Friday afternoon fun and is good for at least two hours off a work day. I don't even think you need to take vacation time, it just seems like it's built into most contracts here that "barge watching" is considered work. Until Next time enjoy and thanks again for all the support back home, cards and care packages.

Woof woof,

John

"T.I.B"

2009-09-11T14:31:00.012-08:00

The great Leonardo Dicaprio once stated in one of his better flicks Blood Diamond "T.I.A." meaning this is Africa. Here in Bethel at the friendly confines of our permanently under construction house we have created our own version of the phrase which states "This is Bethel." T.I.B can be used for a wide variety of things that describe Bethel in some shape or manor. For example, imagine that your supper stoked because your mom just sent you a bunch of Subway gift cards to supplement the shitty diet...I mean simple diet we partake in every day and that your so relieved to be eating some good food only to find out that the Subway does not take Subway gift cards. I know right...you would think that a company would take their own company's gift card, but obviously it's more complicated than one might think. So keep imagining that your trying to explain to the cashier that the only reason that your at Subway is because you have a gift card and how you feel like you shouldn't have to pay for for your meal because no where does it say that this particular Subway does not accept gift cards, only to have the cashier tell you that he's just an employee and that he doesn't know but to talk to the manager who will be back in a little over a week. So instead of getting mad at the situation you simply mumble to yourself "T.I.B" as you pull out your credit card and pay for your $12 sub and everything seems better. It's a great trick to pull on yourself, but I recommend keeping the T.I.B.'S to under five per day.

Another example of when to use the phrase "T.I.B." occurred this past week when I was walking back to work after another one of my no show meetings (like 50% of all meetings). As I walked across the swamp/tundra on the elevated 15 foot board walk, I paused for a second to zip up the remaining half of my rain coat as a small day long rain storm passed, and managed to fumble my leather Creighton organizer with half my life in there only to watch it fall in slow motion down 15 feet through the cracks in the board walk and into the deep wet part of the swamp. As I sarcastically laugh to myself I realize that I had to go retrieve it, as it contains all the paperwork and savings registers for the newly opened savings accounts I just recently opened. I wish I had a picture to better describe the retrieval, but let me assure you it was quite the site to see a young preppy JV waiting through the waist deep mucky freezing swamp water in search of his prized leather organizer. The retrieval was a success though and as I regained my composure and made the wet smelly walk back to our house as the water seeped out of the cracks in my shoes I smiled to myself and said, "T.I.B. baby...T.I.B."

While there are plenty of T.I.B. moments to write and laugh about, there are other aspects of Bethel that are equally unique and add to the Alaska mystique . This past Labor day weekend we were fortunate enough to take a short day trip along the Kuskokuim river to explore Bethel's wild side thanks to our friend, neighbor and captain Dr. Joe Klejka. As we made our way up the wide and shallow river it dawned on me just how important this river is the the Yupik's way of life. Throughout our hour long journey up river in search of an abandoned Moravian boarding school we passed numerous residents fish camps in full use over the long weekend as residents made one last salmon push before winter hits. Along our journey we also encountered numerous moose hunters searching for the great Alaskan prize of a big piece of meet. Moose hunting is a very big deal in Alaska and especially this year in the Yukon Delta as Bethel and the surrounding villages just lifted a five year moose moratorium. As it stands currently Alaska fish and game has issued 175 moose permits, but in all reality the number of moose taken out of the delta will far surpass this limit, as many Bethel residents and villagers will shoot first and ask questions later.

Several weeks ago we had the opportunity to have dinner with an officer of the Alaskan State Troopers Wildlife division and here several of his many stories relating to illegal wildlife poaching. My hands down favorite story of the night was his description of their sting operation set up about a year back to catch illegal moose hunters. One of the fish and game rules in Alaska is that it's illegal to shoot a moose out of a boat. So, in hopes of catching some illegal moose hunters, the Alaska Fish and Game set up a rubber moose on the shoreline posed in a grazing position. Within two minutes of the set up, shots were being fired at this rubber moose from a boat down river. The plan backfired however as the troopers had hopes to catch some rich white hunters from the lower 49, but in turn got a pair of local Yupik hunters. Woops...

As far as my work and personal life are concerned, everything is pretty good as a whole. As you might have caught on from my discussion earlier about the swamp, I have a big ole' cast on my arm thanks to a frisbee fall around a month ago. Turns out I have a small fracture in my scaphoid bone in my wrist. While it is not necessarily painful or even that annoying the scaphoid bone is relatively important in the long run and needs to be healed properly to regain full strength and range of motion in the hand. As it stands right now, I have a little over two months left in the cast before my release back into the wild. While annoying and very itchy, it does have some perks such as fewer household chores and plenty of TLC from the roommates although I think both might be wearing thin...? Work is good but a little slow at times. A good part of my day is spent keeping up with the daily news, weather and sports; but if there is one thing my boss has taught me so far, is that it's important to stay well versed in the matters of the world. My technical job is to teach banking/finances classes as part of a savings matching and financial education program. So far we have three people enrolled in the program and have started up with the classes and are looking for another 6-7 participants. They seem to put up with me and not mind the classes, and as a whole I keep their attention fairly well until we hit interest rates. Then it's like...who cares. Another interesting aspect of my job has been seeing how the whole government grant process works. My boss Jerry is the Bethel grant master from what I have witnessed and heard from other folks around Bethel.

Well, until next time I hope you enjoy. In the words of Bill and Ted from Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventures; "be excellent!"

Two weeks in....and more Salmon

2009-08-21T13:58:00.004-08:00

Two weeks in and life in Bethel Alaska keeps trucking on. It feels kind of nice not to be the completely new kid in town and the perks of living in such a small town is that you can really get the lay of the land fast. When we first arrived, our initial greeting crew at the airport us to cherish the few "unknown" days of Bethel because they would be few and far between. I now know what they are saying and appreciate their advice. As a whole though, life has been good and am enjoying settling into my job here at Bethel Community Services Foundation.

Bethel Community Services Foundation or (BCSF) is primarily a philanthropic trust fund set up about 4-5 years ago here in Bethel to serve various aspects of the Bethel community and neighboring Alaskan Native villages. Together with my boss, Jerry Drake, the two of us head up BCSF along with a board of directors and gaming managers (aka Bingo directors). My primary role here at BCSF is to assist in the Savings and Financial Education Program or SAFE as we like to refer to it. The basic premises of the program is to assist various individuals with the accumulation of wealth, whether that be the purchase of a car, snow machine (snow mobile), first home, apartment rent, or basic business tools that will hopefully help these individuals towards the highly sought after road to financial freedom. Week one was a bit slow, but have managed to get into the swing of the Bethel community through various fundraisers, chamber of commerce meetings, and board of directors meetings. Several of my room mates are rather jealous of all the perks of my job specifically referring to my weekly lunch with Jerry at the Bethel Chamber of Commerce meetings. Never in my life would I have expected that I would be so excited to go out to lunch, but given the circumstances and the simplicity of our average community meals here in Bethel, it was a very nice treat to say the least as I enjoyed my $18 dollar hamburger, $3 iced tea and previously frozen fries. Ahhh...just like Chipotle!

Jerry is a nice guy to work with and keeps me on my toes with his witty comments and colored commentary. He's a perfect example of the Jack of all trades. Throughout his career here in Alaska, Jerry has worked as a commercial airlines pilot, mechanic, accountant and now Executive Director of BCSF. Besides "free lunch Wednesday" there are several other perks here at BCSF such as free MAXIM magazines since his son's wife no longer lets them into the house. Hey, don't blame me....I just work here and would not want to offend Jerry's generous gifts.

Life in community is different but good. It's a little more touchy feely than I am used to but will undoubtedly be a good growing experience for me. Everything in the house seems to be grounds for a discussion. "What kind of peanut butter should we buy, chunky or creamy? I don't know, better have a community meeting." I suppose that's what living in community is all about, but it's definitely a huge change from living with my previous roommate James at Creighton where the most important conversation we would partake in was what type and how much beer to buy.

There are always lots of surprises living in Bethel. Take for instance the common courtesy that most of us have to knock or ring the doorbell before entering someones house. Those rules don't apply here in Bethel. At all! When someone wants to get a hold of you they simply come into your home and start yelling "hello." It's taken some getting used to, but definitely ads to the whole community experience when you never know who's coming on or what they are bringing. Take for instance this past Tuesday. It was about 10:45 p.m., the majority of us were either asleep or reading a juicy romance novel, when in bust our next door neighbor Wilson. Yes, like the show Home Improvement. With him, Wilson had a freshly caught silver salmon in a black trash bag and was wanting to know if we wanted it. Sure we said, but how do we clean it and fillet it? Sure enough, Wilson came prepared with a local butchering tool and twenty minutes later we had a nice fish head (which apparently goes great with soup) and two nicely cut fillets of silver salmon.

With that, I will leave you dreaming about fish head soup and Maxim magazines. Next time on JVC Bethel Adventures.....salmon slop, animal fat and poop as I indulge on our adventures of taking care of 30 Alaskan Huskie sled dogs.

Welcome to Bethel

2009-08-13T14:16:00.007-08:00

For those of you who might not know, I am doing a year of service up in Bethel, Alaska with the Jesuit Volunteer Corps. My exact title/job is not quite known yet, but in short I will be working for a non-profit (Bethel Community Services) in the micro-finance/philanthropy sector. Bethel is a nice quaint town located about 400 miles West of Anchorage with a population of just around 6,000. Bethel's demographics are about 70% native, with the other 30% being people from all over the world who think it's fun to live in middle of no where.

We stated our journey in Portland, Oregon at Camp Adams where all 122 Jesuit Volunteer's (JV's) from the northwest met for orientation and training. To my surprise Camp Adams was not quite as much of a bible camp as I thought it was going to be, although I definitely would consider myself in the minority since I am a non-vegan, SUV driving, son of an oil barren, republican and don't regularly save our households rain water to help flush the toilet; but other than that I fit right in. As a whole everyone at orientation was a very nice and unique person who shared a common passion of wanting to do some good in the world. Orientation was a definite tribute to the Jesuits as roughly 70-80% of all volunteers attended some sort of Jesuit high school or University. One of the highlights of orientation for most of us, but especially the ladies (like 70% of all JV's) was Fr. Grubb. Who said Jesuit Priest are square...? Fr. Grubb is the Dane Cook of priest with his rugged looks, funny stories and quick Wit. It was a nice change up to have some good laughs and a youthful message after four days of talks. As a whole Orientation was a great place to get to know the roommates and work out the basic house arrangements before heading up to Bethel. We ended orientation with a fantastic dinner and mass with numerous other former JV's and supporters.

On Saturday August 8th, the seven of us departed for Bethel with ALL OF OUR STUFF in anticipation of what lie ahead it the last frontier. Our travel was plagued with delays and broken planes as all three of our flights had some sort of technical difficulty, but in hindsight it was nice to have that one extra cold beer at the Anchorage Chilli's before heading out. Upon arrival in Bethel we were surprised by over a dozen former JV's, eager neighbors, bosses and supportive community members as they ushered us and our bags away in style on a scenic tour of town on the one paved road.

Bethel is a simple yet nice place. From the outside it's not much to look at and has very little shot at winning any top prizes in the parade of homes, but from our five short days here we can already tell that the community is what makes this place tick. In our five days here we have only had to prepare one meal. Talk about service! Without question one of the common community builders in Bethel is potlucks. On Sunday (not even 24 hours into our adventure) we were informed that our JV house was hosting a community potluck. We had very little to offer besides plates and expired salad dressings, but our neighbors, friends and community came through with a grand slam. No where in my life have I seen so many different types and flavors of Salmon. Here in Bethel one of the common catch phrases we hear a lot about is subsistence living, meaning to live off the land; but for now I might leave that topic for a different day and blog.

It seems like summer flew by so quick and it was just yesterday that I was teaching tennis and playing golf at the Pinery Country club, but I suppose it's time to trade in those tennis shoes for a pair of mud boots and that ball cap for a wool hat. Bethel seems like a great little town and in my few short days am beginning to see why so many former JV's continue to stay and make this Tundra there home. I am hoping to get some pictures up at some point of the town, our house, etc...but am having some problems with the website. If and when I do I will be sure to post some cool pics. Until then adios.

Toodles,

John