Some Videos

For the past few weeks, I have been up to my eyeballs in school projects. I'm "attending" University of Alaska full-time through online classes. I am determined to finally get my bachelor's degree. (Right now, I feel like a high school dropout in a family of overachievers.) I am taking a couple of writing classes, a Communications class, and an Alaska class. They are all a lot of fun—but the Alaska class is especially cool. It's one of the classes that all teachers new to the state are required to take. I am learning all sorts of cool stuff. Some of the assignments I've done have been a little weird—but they have been fun too. And I thought I'd share some of the Alaska stuff.

I have some links to some short videos I did (from a few seconds to 5 minutes long). But they are fun, and give more of a picture of life here. Some are informative, some are cool, and one is funny. (Just copy the address and paste it in the address bar.)

In Alaska we have what we call Spring Breakup. It has nothing to do with school—and everything to do with ice. It is where the ice in the rivers breaks up and starts to flow out to the ocean. That is part of the reason why it floods here every spring. The ice flows down the river and gets jammed up like a dam—plus you have the melting coming from upriver and the rain. For my Alaska class, we were to gather pictures of Spring Breakup in our area. The instructor posted a video that showed ice melting and little buds starting. He obviously lives in the southern part of the state. Living just below the Arctic Circle, mine was a little different. For a piece on our spring weather, go to:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v0LnDzFmcXE

If you would like a glimpse into tribal superstition, go to:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Whats-Your-Era/215920648422737?ref=ts#!/video/video.php?v=10150528828505034

To see a video on our homemade rabbit traps that we actually use:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Whats-Your-Era/215920648422737?ref=ts#!/video/video.php?v=10150524147900034

Every summer, local families who live by subsistence (eating off the land rather than having a job) move to fish camps where they work hard all summer. For information on fish camps go to:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Whats-Your-Era/215920648422737?ref=ts#!/video/video.php?v=10150462794040034

We have a video showing a rabbit Taco caught. It is only a few seconds long because I ran out of memory, but note--this is a real bunny. And it is dead—and frozen. So it’s not for everyone. To see it:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Whats-Your-Era/215920648422737?ref=ts#!/video/video.php?v=10150524253560034

And that's about it for now.