If you're interested in learning more about this unique piece of America, check out these blogs.

The Brevig Mission School Blog

and

The Rudstrom Family Blog

--AnnMarie

Well, it's spring. The last day of school was on Tuesday and on Wednesday the weather warmed up and the sun is shining. It feels so good after a long winter. Just a few short days ago it was still below freezing and the cold north wind was blowing.
Spring means a few things to the people here in Brevig. It's time to start spring hunting and go to spring camp. People are hunting the birds that are migrating back and the sea mammals. They go out to the edge of the ice (about 10 miles out), put in their boats and go walrus and seal hunting. The walrus hunting has been poor for the past few years but this year is going really well. It means the local folks will have a lot of meat stored away for the next year and ivory available for carving. The skin of the animals is used for hand crafts and even organs are considered good eating. So far people have shared a little "oogruk" (bearded seal) and walrus meat with us. It's actually very good. The oogruk was very tender and didn't have an unusual taste at all. Many people cut the meat into strips and hang it on posts outside to dry, it's then eaten like jerky and dipped in seal oil. Seal oil is used like ketchup is used by so many Americans. Just put it on any food to enhance the flavor. I can handle eating a little of it but too much of it is not good for my stomach.
We will be leaving on Sunday for the rest of the summer. It's too bad we always leave at the most beautiful time of the year. But, our friends and family from our former life are calling and we've missed them very much over the past 9 months. Not long now and we'll be in the swing of mainstream America where people are eating hamburgers and french fries instead of walrus blubber and seal oil.

Finally- a break! This is the first holiday I have had since I started back in January, bar a Monday off in Feburary, and it's awesome. The sun is shining and it finally feels like summer is here.

When I go back to work in April, it's only two weeks and then the exams start, so I'll only have 3 classes, as the rest of my kids will be on study leave...boo hoo...only kidding. I can't wait. Only 10 weeks until summer holidays...bliss.

Well, we’ve been back from Arizona for a month already, but we had a great time. It was nice to see my girlfriend Mollie, her house, her dog, her grandparents etc. (Here she is with a taco bowl on her head, it was such a pretty color.) The weather was warm and the sun was shining. Currently it is 25 degrees below zero Fahrenheit and the wind is blowing. It doesn’t warm up here until at least May. But back to Arizona . . . I had never seen cacti in the wild before, so it was fun to see the “forests” of saguaro cacti around the city. I brought back a small cactus to add to our classroom plant and animal collection. On one of our outings we also saw some javalinas. To be honest I had never heard of these wild pigs before. We also spent one day in Mexico. We drove down to the boarder town of Nogales. I bought a bunch of cheap junk for the students in my class and Mollie bought them some Mexican candy. It was basically suckers coated in chili powder. The kids are still talking about how awful it was.

The end of the school year is quickly approaching, the daylight is back and prom, graduation, next year’s schedule and the new staff are at the forefront of our minds as teachers. Some good news is that I feel like by kindergarteners are prepared for first grade. I continue to push them to learn a few more things before May, but over all they’re really doing wonderfully. Most of them are reading well, can count and write numbers to 100, listen attentively to stories and can follow directions. I’m very pleased with their progress this year. As for the daylight, I’m really feeling the effects of it all. It is still light at 10:30 at night and I just don’t feel sleepy. Neither do the students apparently because we are all yawning our way through class. Hopefully we’ll get used to sleeping in the light in the next week or so.

It must be the time of year- out of a staff of about 80 teachers, we had 16 off today. That's a lot for our school...people tend not to phone in sick unless their foot's hanging off because schools in Scotland are so short staffed. Not exactly feeling great myself at the moment- I feel really run down and sick. Yuck. If only I could have a day or two to myself to just relax and get my energy levels back up again, then I'd be fighting fit and ready to kick some ass!

This week's been tough. To highlight, within the first two hours of today I'd been told to, "f**k off," and had a paper aeroplane thrown at my face. Ah, the joys of teaching in a secondary school! Easter can't come soon enough...

This horrible cold thing has just gone through Brevig. Everyone is sick! Everyone got sick within a matter of a couple days. It's so strange. We tried to have school on Monday despite the fact that most of the staff was the walking dead. Only 22 students out of 100 showed up. It was so bad we got out of school early and had the next two days cancelled. It was a wise move by the administration. My husband and I have been miserable the whole time. People haven't been showing up to work all around town. I've never seen so many people get sick at once.

But at last we are recovering. In fact, we are also taking a little time off. C.O. and I are going to Tucson, Arizona to see my friend. We leave on the first plane after school tomorrow. We fly all night, have a 12 hour lay over in Salt Lake City, then arrive in Tucson late Friday night. We're looking forward to the warm weather, eating out, fresh fruits and veggies. Yummy, yummy. I think I'll eat at least one salad every day. We so rarely see fresh produce up here and some times I just crave it.

Ah- it's half term; two extra days to myself and them only 5 weeks till Easter. The last few weeks have been so hectic and exhausting, this holiday really couldn't have come at a better time. Off to London this weekend with my man for a Valentine's break...I'm looking forward to it, but I'm a bit apprehansive as the last time I was in London was when the bombs went off. Still, I guess you can't live your life like that. Back to work on Wednesday...but I think I can handle a three day week!