Kokhanok Day Five

Get settled, that's important.

I will say that it seems as though I've lived a few months here already on account of what I've done. The first night I arrived, the other two new hires and myself keyed into the school and wandered about. We found the school to be a complete mess. The school is going under a remodel and with 12 days out before the doors open for students doors were unhinged, carpeting was non-existent, books and materials for all the grades and subjects were scattered throughout the building, desks were broken and the ever precious "teacher binder" was discovered in the far back corner on a shelf buried under by boxes. I wouldn't have been surprised had a moose strolled through the room.

The housing is far more than what I expected so that's a relief and I'm working with the most laid back crew probably ever assembled - and for good reason. When it come to the staff, everyone has a distinct and colorful background making us all individuals in our own right. One has a deep Texan accent bordered by an outgoing energized personality, another has worked for almost twenty years in Yellowstone and is gifted with an "aw-shucks" sensibility.



Another co-worker got married on Sunday to one of the locals and I know now that Russian Orthodox weddings are long. The newlyweds hopped on a Honda and drove down the dirt road to the Community Hall for the reception where my apple crisp was left lonely to heaps of Agutuk (berries mixed with either salmon or crisco).



The younger kids are wonderful. We've run into them now & then on the playground - just outside our front door - and have gone on walks with them. These walks soon turn into "hey - let's tell the new teachers about..." and in short order we're hearing about "hairy man", "little people", "hula-hooks", and the infamous lake monster.