After the school day ends, not much. I coached cross-country running this fall, so I could get a little change in scenery. We traveled to Kotzebue, Buckland, and Kiana. Kiana is beautiful, and Buckland has a small beach. I go to the baptist church every Wednesday night, because of the homemade soup and singing. I have had to sing solo a couple of times when people didn't know some songs we sing at the church of Christ.
I like to help fellow teachers bring their groceries back from the store. I am a pretty good pack mule...so good that one of the teachers introduced me as his pack mule to the secretary. My goal for the spring is to convince the young teacher to let me help her bring home groceries. I don't think she believes how good I am.
The difference in southwest Alaska and northwest Alaska is interesting. Southwest Alaska - Manokotak- has small smokehouses
-maqii, that northwest Alaska does not have. That is the Yupik tribe. Northwest Alaska is Inupuit.(sp)
I went ice fishing once in Selawik, March 2022 with a fellow teacher. The temp was a toasty 25 degrees, so we were out there for several hours without getting cold.
In Selawik, you cannot even get a change of scenery by walking, because the "roads" are boardwalks, and pedestrians have to yield to the kids driving four-wheelers or snow machines. Sometimes you just hope you haven't been too mean to the kids that day because they can run you off the boardwalk if they want.
I found myself applying for anything to get a break from the same old thing. I might be an expert at one thing listed above and am definitely an expert at snow-shoveling. I am also an expert at applying to do things that would take me out of Selawik. I am getting out of Selawik for a conference in February,-Saturday through Thursday - and in April coming to Texas for a very long time for a bunch of dr. appointments. That was fun, when I discovered I could do that last year. I looked at my pay stub in August of last year and realized I would never come close to using the sick leave days, so I took a week in April for dr. visits, instead of using the summer.
My district allows us to use sick leave to travel, so the 2 days coming and going all count as sick leave days. I am taking 9 days off in April, and coincidentally, the day before my first day off is a Monday-staff development day. it doesn't get much better than that.
The countdown is about to begin. My flight from the Arctic for the last time is May 25. If boredom is your thing, Selawik is pretty much king, imo.