Northern Exposure

Teaching job in Alaska leads to many adventures
Editor’s Note: Laura Brager, a Clear Lake native and 2002 graduate of Ventura High School, has taken adventure to a whole new level. Brager moved to Grayling, Alaska in August to teach kindergarten through second grade in the small native Alaskan village. Brager was back in Clear Lake over Christmas break and took the time to write about her life in the north. If you enjoy her story, she has a website that she updates frequently to keep her family and friends informed at www.teachalaska.blogspot.com

By Laura Brager
After I graduated this past spring from the University of Northern Iowa, I knew I wanted to do something unique. I also knew that somehow this job was going to come to me. Teaching jobs are hard to find so I wasn’t sure how this was going to happen. I had put my resume on a random website and got an email one day asking if I was adventurous and if I had ever thought about moving to Alaska. As soon as I got the email, I told my family that if they offered me the job I was going to go. I emailed them back on a Monday and by Friday I had accepted the job. I was moving to the middle of the Alaskan bush.

Life in Grayling
Grayling, Alaska is a village of about 120 people. It is located in the east, central part of Alaska. There are no roads that lead into or out of the village. In the summer, people can reach Grayling by boat and in the winter is accessible by snowmachine (snowmobiles). The main mode of transportation for the village is small bush planes. There is a school with 43 students and four regular education teachers k-12. Grayling is located on the Yukon river. On the other side of the river is flat, tundra. On my side it is the beginning of a mountain range. We have fairly large foothills right by the village. It reminds me of Northern Minnesota on steroids.
I would say the most interesting and challenging part of my life is the lack of transportation. In the last four months I’d say I’ve become an expert bush plane passenger. I’ve learned how to load a plane, lock the doors and windows, climb onto wings to get into the planes and to try really hard not to get sick when it gets bumpy! Six months ago, I had only been in a plane once. Flying in the winter is an adventure, as all passengers need to dress very warmly, including boots and snowpants. Needless to say, when that’s your sole source of transportation you learn quick!
Entertainment is not a strong point in Grayling. If you are looking for a place with a lot to do, Grayling isn’t the place. We have a store and a community hall. That’s pretty much the extent of entertainment. There are no restaurants, movie theaters, coffee shops, or stores besides the Native Store. So the big thing to do is BINGO. You cannot imagine how intense this sport is. I never knew there was so much to know about BINGO.
My day to day life is pretty simple. Besides working at school, I do things like stacking wood, hauling fuel oil, cutting fish, building fires, and enjoying the beauty. I was worried that I would get bored, but I find there are always things to do.
Some days I feel as if I live in a different country. In fact, they refer to the lower 48 states as America. English is the language that is spoken, however their native language is Holikachuk. The elders have a very thick accent and they use a different grammar. When the village was learning English, they started using the English words, but kept the word order. It can get a bit confusing.
Teaching in the bush has some big challenges. You need to think ahead because getting supplies can take a couple of weeks. I teach three different grades so I have to teach to all the standards for all the grades. Some days I feel like I am a professional juggler. Alcohol is a struggle in Grayling. This leaves many kids with some very serious struggles with school. It’s a hard job, but very rewarding.

Grayling Weather
The most common questions I get about life in Alaska is about the weather and the sunlight. The week I left it was around -40. That’s cold, but it’s not the same as if it would be that cold in Iowa. It is a dry cold which means you can actually be outside. I live about 1/3 of a mile away from the school and I made it to school on those cold mornings. The difference is your body is fighting the cold so much that your muscles automatically flex. By the time you get to where you’re going, you’re body is physically exhausted from fighting the cold. It’s very intense, but quite an accomplishment when you get somewhere warm. Also, we have about four feet of snow on the ground which is nice. The snow is banked around my house which makes it a lot warmer.
When I left, we had about four and one half hours of time where you could see the sun plus about an hour of twilight. The sun stays so low that it is always sunrise or sunset. So the world looks very pastel and colorful. Everything has a blue or pink tint to it. The downfall is you sleep a lot more because it’s dark a lot longer. This summer we’ll have about three hours of twilight and no real darkness. It’s amazing how much more productive you are when there is more light.
One morning I got a call from a town Elder telling me the ice was coming down the river. I walked down and found these 6-8 foot chunks of ice floating down the river. Up the river it’s colder and the ice freezes then travels down. It continued like this for about a month and a half. Then one day all the chunks just stopped moving. I went for my first ride across the river on the 17th. It’s a scary experience knowing you’re on a rushing river.

Grayling Adventures
When I first arrived in Grayling, it was blueberry season. My landlord was nice enough to take me blueberry picking with her and some of her sisters. This village is very afraid of bears, so the women were telling me how there were men on the hill with guns so it was safe. Well about an hour or so into the picking, the men with the rifles came by. Turns out they were about 20 minutes away from us. What were they going to do if we ran into a bear? I’m pretty sure I could have been eaten by the time they could have gotten there!
That reminds me, in the first couple weeks of school, we took the entire school hiking up Blueberry Hill. Leading the way was our guide with a shotgun. It was the first moment when I realized I wasn’t in the lower 48 any more. How many school sanctioned events do you have where a man is hired to carry a gun?
I live on the Yukon river which has the most unbelievable salmon you have ever tasted. I’d have to say my first salmon experience was a humorous one. One of the men in the village caught a couple of fish and offered them to me as I was walking to the post office. I was pretty excited, but I think I was still expecting this nicely prepared fish-stick. Turns out I got a six pound salmon. I got the salmon to my house and realized I have nothing to cut this fish up with. So I scavenged through my house to find anything sharp. I ended up with a paring knife and a hacksaw. I figured the hacksaw was bigger, so I started with that. That was a horrible choice. I sprayed fish blood and guts all over my house. I think I ended up with about five bites worth of fish and a very disgusting house.
Life in Grayling revolves around the fish that run and the hunting seasons. A couple weeks ago, the eels ran. The village heard about a week before that they were coming. For about four hours, the men in the village net eels and throw them on the ice. The eels freeze almost instantly. They’re then boxed and shipped to South Korea for $1 a pound. It’s a tradition that only men do it. Also, women are not allowed on the ice until the eels have run. In the end, I think the men ended up with about 4,000 pounds of eels this year.
I’ve had some experiences with wildlife that have been a bit unusual. One of the first weeks, I was walking down the river when I heard something behind me. At first I was a little nervous because there are bears and moose that occasionally come into the village and I was a good mile away. I turn around and there was a fox following me. He followed for about a half a mile and then disappeared. He was very skittish of me, but still interested. Another day we had a moose walking down main street. One of the teachers stepped out of her house and looked up to see a huge bull moose walking down her street.
I know I will look back at my time in Grayling as a time I grew a lot as a person. I’ve learned to be content with my life and be thankful for what I have. I love where I live and feel very lucky that I have the opportunity to experience all I have so far. I would urge people to step out of their comfort zone and try something different. I know it’s made a huge difference in my life and my view of the world.