Dear Friends,
As some of you know, I am moving on from my brief stint in California, where I have finally finished up coursework to attain my California teaching credential. So, where will life take me next? I have been employed by the Bering Strait School District in Alaska! I will be the only 6-12 English teacher in a school in Elim, teaching approximately 85 Yupik Indians. I'm already finding a lot of healthy distraction from current woes and worries by working with the social studies teacher there to create a cross-curricular unit on the Iditarod, which passes through my future village just days before the mushers cross the finishing line in Nome, the nearest "big city" (population 3000), seventy miles north of Elim. My future colleagues tell me there is plenty to keep me occupied in Elim, though, from salmon and crab fishing, to hiking to the hot springs ten miles away.
Anyone who has had to listen to me moan and groan about this year's dramas and heartaches knows that this is just the change I'm needing. In the meantime, here are some sneak previews of how life will look for me next year, courtesy some photos taken by the kindergarten teacher from my school.So, no, I haven't lost my mind entirely...not yet. But yes, I will need to hear from you a little more regularly to keep me from falling full-fledge into insanity! :) I will be leaving in time to arrive in Elim by the 8th of August, stopping over in Anchorage for a day or two to get outfitted in my snow gear and to try to stock up on as much food as possible before I have to start getting it shipped to "the bush." Wish me luck! I know it's not going to be the romantic tale of discovery and enchantment I'm sometimes tempted to weave, but I'm not cutting myself off to the possibility of a little magic either! I can't wait to tell you all about it.
Your Arctic Monkey,
Nicole
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