Feeling a bit unsure of what would happen this week of observation, I was pleasantly surprised to see a familiar face in the Fairbanks airport. Ashely, a fellow classmate in my ED 457 class at UAF, reassured me that everything was going to be ok and that her hometown of King Salmon was extremely welcoming and nothing to be intimidated by.
About 20 minutes after meeting up with Ashley in the Fairbanks airport we heard an announcement that our plane was boarding. Suddenly we were on our way and had started our exciting journey to Naknek! As I found, Anchorage serves as a hub going to many rural Alaskan communities, so Anchorage was our first stop before getting to our final destination of King Salmon. In the Anchorage airport I was relieved to be traveling with a "seasoned professional traveler" who was unfazed by choppy landings and walking down to gates that were outside of security. I shared that I had lived in New York City but rural life was something that I had not yet experienced.
After having spent over an hour in the Anchorage airport with Ashley and her sister Brittany (who stopped by, coming from her apartment in Anchorage) I felt totally confident that this was going to be a great experience.
Ashley's mom Laurie picked us up at the King Salmon airport and yes I have intentionally used both Naknek and King Salmon to describe the area in which I am going to. Let me explain, King Salmon is the airport which we flew into and the town in which Ashley lives and Naknek is the town of the actual school that we're going do our observations at. As I learned from Ashley, three regions actually feed into one school building; there is: King Salmon, Naknek, and South Naknek.
After we arrived home Laurie had made us some delicious tacos and then Ashley took me on a wonderful/educational tour of King Salmon and Naknek. She is a great tour guide was willing to answer all of my questions.
Today was a great start to my Naknek adventure and with the classroom observation starting tomorrow this week is bound to be educational and exciting!
About 20 minutes after meeting up with Ashley in the Fairbanks airport we heard an announcement that our plane was boarding. Suddenly we were on our way and had started our exciting journey to Naknek! As I found, Anchorage serves as a hub going to many rural Alaskan communities, so Anchorage was our first stop before getting to our final destination of King Salmon. In the Anchorage airport I was relieved to be traveling with a "seasoned professional traveler" who was unfazed by choppy landings and walking down to gates that were outside of security. I shared that I had lived in New York City but rural life was something that I had not yet experienced.
After having spent over an hour in the Anchorage airport with Ashley and her sister Brittany (who stopped by, coming from her apartment in Anchorage) I felt totally confident that this was going to be a great experience.
Ashley's mom Laurie picked us up at the King Salmon airport and yes I have intentionally used both Naknek and King Salmon to describe the area in which I am going to. Let me explain, King Salmon is the airport which we flew into and the town in which Ashley lives and Naknek is the town of the actual school that we're going do our observations at. As I learned from Ashley, three regions actually feed into one school building; there is: King Salmon, Naknek, and South Naknek.
After we arrived home Laurie had made us some delicious tacos and then Ashley took me on a wonderful/educational tour of King Salmon and Naknek. She is a great tour guide was willing to answer all of my questions.
Today was a great start to my Naknek adventure and with the classroom observation starting tomorrow this week is bound to be educational and exciting!