Recently my wife and I, with our two kids, decided to make a giant life change and move to Alaska! She just finished her masters in educational administration, and we knew a move was most likely coming, however I can safely say going to the Bering Strait (with Russia something like 180 miles across the water) into a Yupik village never entered my mind. We were living in Umatilla, Oregon right next to the Columbia River. My wife was teaching English at a junior/senior high school in Irrigon, and I was a part owner of a tavern and grill in Plymouth, WA for 8 years with my family. Recently, my parents decided to get divorced after forty plus years of marriage, and then the lawyers got involved and consequently the tavern sits closed. So, my new roles are stay at home dad and recreational fisherman. Not too shabby!
So back to how this all came about. My wife, being a loving woman, knew I would love to live in Alaska if given the chance. Before she even finished grad school, she began researching the Bering Strait School District, applied, was interviewed, and accepted a position as Assistant Principal in Stebbins. So began the process of packing, selling , and storing everything a family of four has amassed over the years into totes to send, two storage units (really one for the car) and seven giant suit cases to take to the airport.
On a rainy Spokane morning, we left for the airport at 3:45 AM after stuffing all of our luggage into every nook and cranny a Chevy Tahoe has to offer, kissed my mother-in-law (whom I call Zola) and jokingly told her we would see her in 3 to 5 years ! Almost immediately after arriving at the airport, we were bumped onto a five AM flight to Seattle. We ended up being "that family" when our two year old son freaked out because he couldn't see his mother because she was seated across and up an aisle; it so happens that people would rather listen to a toddler scream then give up their assigned seats, which ended up okay because as soon as the plane started he was a rock star!
Fast forward about 12 hours and three layovers to the fourth and final little eight seat plane and the two year old practically co-piloted the flight, which I think amazed the pilot because he noted that my son watched his every movement. After being up for 15 hours, we landed gently on a gravel runway surrounded by tundra and the chilly Bering Sea. We were met with help with our luggage and a ride from some of my wife's colleagues; they even had dinner and coffee for us and the kids.
Once in our new home, we immediately went to sleep. Just kidding; the kids did, but my wife and I opened the mountains of boxes (every single one) we had shipped ahead of time, and then crashed.
As a side note, we have now been here 5 days, but I would like to catch up on those days with photos. If someone can please tell me how to add them and a profile pic too! I'm new to all of this, I even broke down and finally got a Facebook account just to do Steemit, which I just read about on Yahoo yesterday. Any help would be much appreciated because the pictures of these people and way of life are truly amazing, and my family is lucky to be a part of it!
Until next time,
Jason Hall signing out
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