Adventures at the Airport

So, if you've been wondering because of the lack of blog posts what I've been doing... Well, for one, its summer. :) Alaskan summers are so short, we have to jam pack them full. And the past month or so, I've been somewhat of a workaholic. At the beginning of the summer, I quit my job of 10+ years to work temporarily at the local Literacy Council. I know some think that's crazy for me to quit a good job that has been more than good to me for a temp position. But I prayed hard about it and felt it was a good switch. It gave me an opportunity to teach ESL, which is a field I'm kinda studying for and thinking about doing overseas. 

I still had my job at the airport, but wasn't on the regular schedule. The first part of the summer, I only worked a night or two a week; some weeks not at all. It was nice to relax at home and spend time outside in the sun! :) But the past 3-4 weeks, I've been scheduled more and subbed even more. The past two weeks, I think I've worked about 60+ hours - which is a lot for me! That's in addition to taking an online summer class, teaching Sunday School and mentoring/teaching a couple people. 

Not complaining here, its all my own choice. I do enjoy working, though some days when I'm falling asleep on my feet, I tell myself "you're crazy!" But I work hard here, so I can take months off later and travel. :) So, its worth it. 

And even when I'm working I have crazy adventures. One Saturday morning in July I was working the early, early morning shift. (my body definitely doesn't like getting out of bed at 330am). I had gone downstairs at the airport to say goodbye to one of my students who was headed to India to visit family for month. I noticed two guys sleeping on a bench and thought they were firefighters heading home. As I was leaving, they were gathering their belongings. I stopped and said hi and found out they were actually Danish backpackers. They had arrived at 2am and were sleeping until they could go to their hostel. After talking for a bit, I offered them a ride to their accommodations, as I was in between planes. 

A couple days later I was able to help them out again, by giving them a ride from the East Ramp to the West Ramp of our airport. They were getting ready to fly out on a small bush plane to the Brooks Range to backpack and float the Noatak River. Their plans were to go for 7 weeks!! Actually they are still out in the Bush. I always enjoy meeting people from other countries; now, I have a connection in Denmark - one more place to visit one day. 

The Danish Backpackers

The other thing at the airport, you never know what airplanes you might see. :) One evening, we were waiting for our commercial flight, when an older plane landed and pulled into our ramp area. We waved at them to move over to the next gate area. The plane was marked with Russian words and flag, but the tail # was American. But then we overheard it was coming in from Canada. Such an odd mix. I think they were coming in for something to do with the a memorial of the Soviet-American Land Lease from WWII. But who knows.... just interesting all the different aircraft that land at our airport. 

the "Soviet" plane

We've had beautiful weather most of the summer. Lots of sunshine and warm/hot days. I enjoy working the sunny days outside on the ramp. One week in July it was rainy off and on all week. I went to work for just 2 1/2 hours - when I arrived, the sun was shining, but black clouds were off in the distance. When I left later in the afternoon, the sun was again shining. But the time in between..... well not so much. I was wearing my hoodie, because it was a little chilly. Under the sun, it was getting warmer though, so I debated taking my sweatshirt off. Decided against it.... and then it started sprinkling. Then raining. Then hailing. Then pouring buckets of rain!! We were huddled underneath the plane waiting for the passengers to finish boarding, so we could push back. We were more than soaked to the skin, I'm pretty sure I could have wrung a gallon of water out of my clothes. My boss told me I looked like a drowned rat. Yeah, it was that bad. And I had to be back about an hour later to work again. So, went to my friend's house nearby to borrow their dryer. 

drowned rat

But then there are the beautiful summery/fall days with blue skies and big fluffy clouds! 

from the Ramp of our airport

Camping + Our Men

While in the states earlier this summer, I had the privilege to go camping with some of my most awesome friends. Took us forever to decide on where to go, but didn't really matter, since we just wanted to hang out together. Camping in the States is different than here in Alaska. Here you can pretty much go anywhere and set up a tent. Finally got to a campsite and alas, it wasn't as remote as we had hoped for. We were near a road, though actually it was the more private site in the area. We went behind the actual site to set up our tent. 

Our tent story is a good one also.... its all about who you know. ;) When we first began talking about this camping trip, I told my two friends, I wouldn't be able to bring any camping supplies, as I was flying to the States and didn't want to lug that stuff around. Both of them have plenty, so they would supply what we needed.... somehow there was miscommunication. When we finally got all together, we discovered each of them had thought the other was bringing the tent! Now, I don't mind sleeping under the stars (though I wouldn't do it here in AK cause I would die from mosquito exposure), but a tent surely would be nice. Down there they have lots more insects.... spiders, ticks, etc. 

Anyway, we were at church the day before our grand camping expedition and I was talking to a family, who knows people here in Alaska and I mentioned our lack of a tent. Well, they let us borrow a tent! And it was plenty big enough for all 3 of us, plus our bags. Problem solved! 

We only camped out two nights, but it was fun just to sit around the fire talking long into the night with some amazing, godly people. I cooked most of the meals and at times even surprised myself at how well they turned out. :) The second day out, we went for a hike through the hills and forests. Nothing like Alaska of course, but still pretty. I really like huge trees (something we lack here). And then we sat next to a small pond and soaked up some sun! 

Our wet wood campfire. :) 

After the camping trip, we went into town for the annual WV conference. This year's group was awesome; again got to see people I haven't seen in a while and meet others that I've only heard of or spoken to via phone or email. Always a blessing to be around so many people who love the Lord and want to be involved in Bible Translation worldwide. 

One day we headed into town to walk around and enjoy friend's company. I was looking through pictures to include with this post and randomly selected several. After I uploaded them, I had to laugh.... the ones I had chosen were of three of us girls with "random guys!" Not sure if this has anything to do with the types of guys we actually like... haha. 

First up is the hardworking, dwarf man... Guess C likes 'em short. At least she didn't chose the pig behind her. 

Then there's me with Honest Abe. Tall, honest guys... I could go for that. Though I prefer one who doesn't get assassinated. 

And finally, LL with the easy-going, happy guy! She does like to have fun and laugh, so good choice. 

Beach Wedding!

I've always heard how beautiful the Pensacola Beach is and I finally got to experience it for myself. It was quite pretty. Especially since I was there at sunset. The only thing was - it was incredibly windy! Like REALLY windy! Course I had worn my hair down, because I thought it would look nice for the wedding. Yeah, bad idea. I had a mop of curls billowing around my head like a Cumulonimbus cloud. 

Pensacola White Sand Beaches

Of course, it was a beautiful wedding, because it was two amazing people joining together for life in the sight of God, family and friends. I've known the bride for almost 20 years and the groom for the past 10 years. You know what makes me feel old? -is the fact that I've taught them both! I have great memories of sitting around the living room coffee table working on ninth grade Algebra with Ang. And Norman, ha! a great student, when he wasn't drawing cartoons in his math notebook. :) 

They have both grown into wonderful, godly adults and our relationship has changed from tutor/student to friend/friend. Ang has been my Canadian sister ever since I lived with their family years ago. So, there wasn't anything to keep me from being there on their special day!

beautiful bride, right before the ceremony

Like I said, the wind was crazy. Ang ended up ditching her veil, cause it just wildly blew all over the place. And you could barely hear them say their vows, but it was still beautiful! And an excellent testimony to the lost family and friends who attended. God was honored.

I really enjoyed getting to spend so much time with the extended family. Especially all the granddaughters! I had a blast hanging out with all the girls. And of course, it's always good to see my Canadian parents. :) I love having family all around the world. Seeing good friends come from various locations in the world to gather together makes me long for heaven! Can't wait to be with my Saviour and for those I love to be all in one place. 

with the cousins

Had to take a picture of course with the other curly-haired girl! :) We have to stick together you know. Controlling these curls is a battle (one I lose quite frequently), so we have be friends. This one is rambunctious little girl! haha, just the kind I love being around.  

curly-hair friends

Friends! and Florida

Last month I spent a week in Florida. I went down for a good friend's (my Canadian family) wedding, but got to spend most nights at my awesome friend, Whitnie's house. We had a marvelous time together: drinking coffee, late night talking and praying, eating awesome food, laughing and taking pictures. She's been a marvelous friend over the past six years I've known her. I was sad when she moved out of Alaska last summer, but it's one friendship that has stayed strong across the miles. 

Whitnie was able to get a day off work while I was there, so we set out for a day adventure in Mobile, AL. First on our list of places to see was the U.S.S. Alabama, a battleship used in the Pacific during World War II. We skipped the guided/numbered tours and just set out to explore the ship ourselves. We wandered around finding all kinds of nooks and rooms with cool stuff in it. It was pretty amazing. It was hot that day and I was getting dehydrated, so we didn't stick around to explore the submarine, but next time we will! 

love the USA!

thanks to the random guy who took our picture

Outside the entrance was this giant, mock shell that I just had to hug. I did get something all over my arm and shirt because of it. :( but it still needed that hug. Haha. There was also a big bell in the front of the building. Not sure if you were supposed to or not, but they did leave the metal ringer thing inside it..... so yes I rang the bell. :) 

And Whitnie rang the bell too! Love her expression below. :D It was a pretty epic day. After the Alabama, we wandered around downtown Mobile, where we met a couple from Austria. We chatted with them for a few minutes, during which I invited them to Alaska and they invited me to Austria. :) Then we went to a small cafe for shwarma and kebabs! It was Whitnie's first Mediterranean food. It was pretty tasty! Tho' I have to say the falafel I can get here in Alaska is way better! 

Tutoring Makes Friends

Last fall semester, I took a class about 2nd Language Teaching. Part of the requirement was to tutor an ESL student currently at UAF for 5 hours during the semester. Because they had surplus of ESL students who wanted a tutor, I was assigned two! Mine were both from Japan, though they had never met until arriving at UAF. Mika, Tsukino and I had a great time together and we spent more than the required 5 hours together. 

We spent a lot of time just working on pronunciation, talking, reviewing their homework, writing essays and having a good time. They were glad to have an American friend they could talk freely with. Mika decided to come back to UAF for the spring semester as well, so we got to spend even more time together. She came to church with me a couple times and I was able to share the Gospel with her as well. 

I am so glad for the opportunity to meet and become friends with Mika and Tsukino! Even though it was part of school assignment, we became good friends. We are still in contact and Mika can't wait until I come visit her in Japan. :) 

Don't overlook opportunities to help someone! You may become great friends, all from investing a little of your time. 

our last evening together before Mika left Alaska

Downtown Fairbanks

The Vagabond has Returned

It's been a while.... I was down in the Lower 48 for much of May and part of June, without a computer, hence the obvious lack of blog posts. But never fear, I am alive and well. And working on getting back into a routine, so hopefully you will be hearing from me soon with a real post. Though I had thought of taking a break from blogging... since there's only 3 or so faithful readers, that I am aware of. Maybe if there were more, I'd be more faithful in writing..... If I could be convinced there are more than 3 of you reading my boring, ahem, interesting posts......