You Said What?!? Alaska Questions Edition

Only eight more days until I am tucked safely back in the Chugach Mountains, the sound of frolicking moose and polar bears lulling me to sweet sleep within my igloo. No more "big" city traffic, no more being accosted by drunk people, no more 2 am library trips, and no more answering questions about Alaska.

Being from Alaska is a great conversation starter. I've become almost smugly expectant when I tell people where I'm from and if I don't get the requisite "YOUR FROM WHERE!?!" I am almost disappointed. As Joe from Toledo put it one night: "Gee, I wish I could score points with girls just by being from somewhere."

They say that every coin has two sides, and I suppose mine does too. The one thing I CANNOT avoid is the "Alaska Questions" that anyone from my fair state is all too familiar with. For those of you who don't hail from the land of ice and unlimited oil (here is my sole political pitch: opening ANWR = good thing), here is a compendium of the FAQs about the state.

1. "Is it always cold there?"

• No, it's not. In the summer the temp. skyrockets to a comfortable mid-60s, sometimes even high 70s. The coldest it ever really gets in Anchorage is about -5, and that certainly doesn't happen often.

2. "Is it always dark?"

• No, in fact, half of the year its "always" light. Winter solstice is Dec. 21 and yes, that day sucks and has only a couple of hours of sunlight. Summer solstice is June 21 and yes, that day rocks and has tons of sunshine.
  

3. "What do you do for fun?"

• I'm always tempted to say: "Well, I don't really have much time for fun, what with hunting, gathering, shelter building, and learning to speak Russian to trade furs with Victor." I live in a city of 300,000...I do pretty much the same stuff everyone my age does. The only real uniqueness might be that I ski, bike, hike, and camp a bit more than some other people.

4. "Have seen a polar bear/grizzly bear/moose/caribou/insert other Alaskan mammal here?"

• Yes to all of them. Except polar bear (in the wild...I saw Aupon at the zoo). I've seen moose and black bear a bit closer than I would care to as well...

5. "Can you see Russia from your house?"

• Thank you Tina Fey...this one NEVER gets old...

6. "Have you met/do you like Sarah Palin?"

• Yes, I've met Sarah...twice. Once at school, once at a breakfast I attended. I actually saw her ultrasound when she was pregnant with Trig...how is that for weird? As for liking her...eh...I could take her or leave her.

7. "Don't you get paid to live there?"

• That'd be a yes...thank god for the Permanent Fund Dividend.
  

8. "Do you celebrate Thanksgiving?"

• To be clear, I only got this one once but it is by far the best question I've ever gotten. Yes, we do.

8 Questions for 8 days left! One Lost out...

Qualified Success and New Seasonal Experiences

A brief update on the success of everyone's favorite collegiate crew team (that'd be Marquette).

This weekend we competed at the "Tail of the Fox" regatta in Depere, WI, which is just west of Green Bay, about 2 and a half hours from campus. The novice men's 8 (a boat with 8 rowers, all of whom are in their first year) took second in a 4 K race with a time of roughly 4:10. I rowed in the 5th seat of the boat (number one is in the bow...now visualize) which is two seats further up the boat than I usually sit. We beat a team called Qrew Chicago, which is a novice team of older people...we think. No one could quite figure out just what their deal was (college, professionals, community team, random collection of people found on a street corner?). Michigan Tech beat us, which engendered some good natured competitive anger. We'll see how that carries over to this week's race in Rockford, which will be a lot bigger (12 boats in our race...gasp).

In other sporting news, the Strabbotsford Pro-Hoes and Average Joes lost their second game of the Intramural Coed-C League soccer season by a crushing score of 3-1. We were worried about our playoff potential, but then we remembered that all the teams make the postseason tournament, so we just got ice cream instead of fretting.

(Note: the name of the team is derivative of the names of the two dorms represented- Straz Tower and Abbottsford Hall. "Pro-Hoes and Average Joes" comes from "Honors Program - Pro Hoes- and the rest of the team who are Average Joes).

Quote of the Day: "Mother-Son is not a good thing" -- Dr. Spargo's commentary on sexual pairings and their acceptability in society during our study of Oedipus Rex.

My digital camera now officially has a charger, but still no USB connection cable. That means that I could be taking pictures of Marquette, but you wouldn't be able to view them without coming down here. If you came down, you could just look at Marquette...in real life, making the camera still pretty useless.

To those of you in Alaska: Its still in the 40s and 50s down here...I've been watching the weather in Anchorage and the Schadenfreude is almost unbearable.

Lastly, they have fall here? Who knew? Apparently its a time when the leaves turn colors in between summer and winter. More updates on this "new" season to come.