I guess Tim and I have been slacking just a bit. The last couple of weeks have been busy and the weekends have been too. I know you’ve all been sitting on the edge of your seats waiting for our weekly post and have been extremely disappointed two weeks in a row when there hasn’t been one.
A couple of weeks ago, Tim left for a social studies conference in Denver. He was amazed at the cheeseburgers and the amount of people “outside”. He did take the cell phone with him that we had activated for a few days, but unfortunately it broke the first day he was gone. Luckily we did cross paths on skype on a few occasions, so we did get to talk. He came home with loads of books, DVDs, and other resources.
These past couple weeks of school have been hectic to say the least. Usually by this time of year you would expect the kids to settle down a little and have finished “exploring their boundaries”, but rebellion has sky rocketed. It doesn’t matter how big or small the rule: it gets broken. Cell phones are being used, ipods are out, hats are on, kids are running through the halls, kids are leaving class without permission, and fights are happening. We’re not quite sure what to do. On Thursday at our meeting one of the older teacher’s warned us that after Thanksgiving their behavior gets worse. How can it get worse? Pray for us is all I can say!
Tim went to Bethel this weekend for a wrestling tournament. Unfortunately, one of his wrestlers came home with a broken collarbone. Tim said they were at the hospital until 3:30 am Saturday morning. The good news is that wrestling is almost over. He probably has just one tournament left to go to.
This weekend I took an ivory carving class in the village. It was pretty cool. I got to use a sander, a band saw, and a dremel. I didn’t even know what a dremel was before. I made some pretty good pieces I think. Too bad I’m not big into wearing jewelry. Our instructor told me that I could sell a couple of my pieces for $150-300. That surprised me. Maybe I should take up carving. I guess I would have to find buyers though . . . and fossilized ivory. Side note: Unless you’re at least 1/8th Alaska Native it is illegal for you to carve white ivory or bone. You can buy carved ivory from a native, but they must have signed their work and you have to have proper paperwork proving that it’s legal. Us white guys can, however, carve fossilized ivory, but it doesn’t sell for as high of a price. The picture at the top of the post is the things I carved this weekend. Not too bad for my first time.
I got to teach Relief Society today. It was my first time teaching a lesson over the phone. The dynamics are definitely different, but it went well. Everyone was very willing to participate, which always helps.
A couple of weeks ago, Tim left for a social studies conference in Denver. He was amazed at the cheeseburgers and the amount of people “outside”. He did take the cell phone with him that we had activated for a few days, but unfortunately it broke the first day he was gone. Luckily we did cross paths on skype on a few occasions, so we did get to talk. He came home with loads of books, DVDs, and other resources.
These past couple weeks of school have been hectic to say the least. Usually by this time of year you would expect the kids to settle down a little and have finished “exploring their boundaries”, but rebellion has sky rocketed. It doesn’t matter how big or small the rule: it gets broken. Cell phones are being used, ipods are out, hats are on, kids are running through the halls, kids are leaving class without permission, and fights are happening. We’re not quite sure what to do. On Thursday at our meeting one of the older teacher’s warned us that after Thanksgiving their behavior gets worse. How can it get worse? Pray for us is all I can say!
Tim went to Bethel this weekend for a wrestling tournament. Unfortunately, one of his wrestlers came home with a broken collarbone. Tim said they were at the hospital until 3:30 am Saturday morning. The good news is that wrestling is almost over. He probably has just one tournament left to go to.
This weekend I took an ivory carving class in the village. It was pretty cool. I got to use a sander, a band saw, and a dremel. I didn’t even know what a dremel was before. I made some pretty good pieces I think. Too bad I’m not big into wearing jewelry. Our instructor told me that I could sell a couple of my pieces for $150-300. That surprised me. Maybe I should take up carving. I guess I would have to find buyers though . . . and fossilized ivory. Side note: Unless you’re at least 1/8th Alaska Native it is illegal for you to carve white ivory or bone. You can buy carved ivory from a native, but they must have signed their work and you have to have proper paperwork proving that it’s legal. Us white guys can, however, carve fossilized ivory, but it doesn’t sell for as high of a price. The picture at the top of the post is the things I carved this weekend. Not too bad for my first time.
I got to teach Relief Society today. It was my first time teaching a lesson over the phone. The dynamics are definitely different, but it went well. Everyone was very willing to participate, which always helps.
It’s been really cold and snowy the last couple of weeks. Today, however, it is rainy and foggy. Tim was barely able to make it home because of the ice on the runway. It looks like we may have some guests at our house tonight because some of the wrestlers from Manokotak shared a plane with our wrestlers, but they haven’t been able to fly out yet. The picture above is from our living room window. Most of the snow has melted today and the visibility is pretty poor.
I wish I had some more exciting things to write about, but mostly we’ve just been working and working more. We’re looking forward to Thanksgiving break. Happy Thanksgiving to all of you!
I wish I had some more exciting things to write about, but mostly we’ve just been working and working more. We’re looking forward to Thanksgiving break. Happy Thanksgiving to all of you!
