The Alaskan Adventure - Volume 5 - Spontaneity

The last couple of weeks have been filled with some great new adventures. Now mind you, these adventures are not typical and are far from planned out. Imagine getting done with your day at work and a friend stops by, and asks you what you’re up to that night. You’re not sure so you tell them you’re still figuring it out. Then they suddenly ask you if you’d like to go on a moose and whale hunt down the Yukon River and out to the Bering Sea. Well...uh...’yeah’!!! Their next response is, "great", pack a bag for two days and we’ll leave in an hour. Your jaw drops, you pinch yourself and are on your way to get ready. I was asked by two friends in the village, Mathew and Sarah, who had welcomed me with open arms since I arrived in the village back in the beginning of August. I was also joined by Jeremy and Josh, my partners in crime (no crimes really), who have become two best friends and are a couple of the guys I spend most of my time with around the village. They too are big outdoor adventurers and it made for a fun group. The two day trip was amazing to say the least. To highlight; we traveled 252 miles by boat, saw 32 moose, got 3 geese and 2 ducks, collected whale bones, camped on the edge of the Bering Sea, saw Baluga whales surface, witnessed a spectacular sunrise and had a ton of laughs.

The second adventure came while relaxing on the couch after a day of work. The 7:30 pm phone call came, and again the surprise request. “Hey, what are you doin’? Wanna go catch a moose?" Of course I was off the couch before I could even hang up the phone. So my roommate Jeremy and I were on our way with Mathew again, to catch a moose. And yes, that’s the proper terminology up here. You don’t shoot or kill a moose, you ‘catch’ it. When we arrived to our destination, and after a short tracking of the female moose, Mathew dropped it with one-shot precision. The next hour-and-a-half was one of the most amazing biology lessons I have ever experienced. Mathew had done hundreds of ‘dressings’ (cutting and cleaning) of moose in his life and it quickly showed. He knew every inch of the moose, and meticulously cut, separated and saved everything that would be kept for food. Jeremy and I assisted in as many ways as we could, while we listened to Mathew share his traditions, experiences and stories from years of hunting moose. It was amazing. Speaking of traditions, Mathew told us about one tradition that involved eating a piece of the liver as part of the catch. Instantly my eyes popped out of my head, I silently cringed, and I think I swallowed my tongue. I’m not sure. Thoughts of vomiting my guts out quickly crossed my mind. And of course Jeremy is standing across from me like a little kid on Christmas saying excitedly, “Yeah, let’s do it!” I wanted to pick up a handful of moose guts and throw it at him. Now at this moment I’m thinking I would rather eat a block of cheese, which I hate (and yes I know, how can I hate cheese if I’m from Wisconsin? I just do.). Well...to make this long story longer, Mathew cut a piece for both of us, I chewed it up, swallowed and smiled. You know what they say, “When in Rome...!” I knew by the looks on Mathew and Jeremy’s faces that they were laughing their asses off inside, but I did it. Well, from there, the night culminated with Mathew offering us a hind quarter of the moose, which we humbly accepted. So after dropping us off on his four-wheeler, Jeremy and I hauled the huge leg into the kitchen of our apartment. We didn’t have any newspaper for the table so I grabbed a sheet off my bed that would soak up the blood while we carved the meat off. Surprising I know, but you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do. We cut and cut and cut, and ended up with a freezer full of meat. It was really cool to be a part of.

The last couple of weeks also introduced me to a legend in Mountain Village, Thomas Tookalook. I was buying my muck boots before our first hunting trip, down at Kwikpak, where we regularly getting our salmon. One of the villagers who I was having a pleasant conversation with, told me to tell my friend Mathew that Thomas Tookalook said he (Mathew) had no idea what he was doing while moose hunting. I laughed and said I would pass along the message. I asked his name again to be sure I had it right. The man reiterated, “Thomas Tookalook”. When I passed the message onto Mathew a little while later, he could not stop laughing. Mathew soon explained that Thomas Tookalook was the pretend name of the village, peeping Tom. Thomas Took-A-Look. It was the fake name that villagers liked to use to have fun with the newcomers and I took it, hook, line and sinker. Oh my gosh. We all got a good laugh and I will be a little bit more on guard as to some of the new names that I learn.

Another exciting addition to my life in Mountain Village was being able to experience bingo for the first time. Every Monday night at the village’s town hall, people gather to play bingo. It is another great opportunity to meet people, and you get to see some very serious and devoted bingo players. I recruited several of our group to come along and was joined by Jeremy, Jack, Josh and his wife Niki, who are all part of Mountain Village School. It was a lot of fun. And wouldn’t you know it, beginners luck was on my side and I won a round to the tune of $68. Not too shabby. I will be sure to return the following Monday for more laughs and camaraderie.

At this point, the first 2 1/2 weeks of teaching we’re now in the books as well. I have to say that I have been very lucky to start the year with a great group of people to work with. Not only the teachers, but every single person from the village who works in the school have been amazing to me. And honestly, I couldn’t be more sincere about that. They continue to welcome me like I am a part of the family and village and are genuinely interested in knowing about my life, where I come from and offer any and all advice you would ever want to know about the village. One funny observation that I’ve made since I’ve started at the school, is the very humble way that everyone from the village says good morning. It is simply that, “Good morning”. I am so used to seeing people in the morning and saying mid-west, Wisconsin things like, “Hey, how are you? How are you doing today? Hi, how’s it going? Hi, how are ya’?” And I get the same response from the villagers every-single-time simply, “Good morning”. I think I can learn a good lesson from this. Maybe not always expect a dissertation from people every time you say hello. Just a simple good morning is kind and friendly enough. I now find myself saying a simple, “Good morning”, much more often. I like that better.

I am also excited to say that this year’s third-grade class, is one of the best and most pleasant that I have had in many, many years. There is just something special about them that makes the group very easy to teach, and just as easy to appreciate and get attached to. Seven boys and thirteen girls make up a great, little group. I’m so excited to see their smiling little faces each day as they greet me with a warm, “Good morning Mr. Matt.” I love it. Another amazing thing that I have experienced with the school is that the kids are a regular fixture around the school after school hours. Not all students obviously, but many. As you already know, the village is small and the kids want to be outside and keep busy. And factor in that teacher housing surrounds the school and that I also hate sitting in my apartment, we regularly see a lot of our students. I’m sure there are many people reading this who might wonder, gosh, how do you handle that? Is that difficult? And honestly, no, not at all. I have learned that there is an unspoken familiarity and security that the kids get from seeing us on a regular basis. They get to see that you are a regular person outside of the classroom as well. You walk around in your muck boots, you go to the grocery store, you go to the spring to get water, you go to church, or you go for walks from here to there. All things that they do, and all things that they are familiar with. It is a very good feeling to not only be Mr. Matt in the classroom, but the same friendly, Mr. Matt around the village. It’s feeling more and more like home...everyday.

Stay tuned...