2017 ~ The Reflection

As it's the last night of 2017, I'd thought it'd be fitting to reflect on my adventures this year. If you meet me in person, and you me what I've been up to, my first response is, "Nothing much. I'm pretty boring."

Yeah, have I mentioned that I'm a total introvert and mostly socialize with different online communities?

Sleeping Beauty's Castle, Disneyland

Because really, 2017 had some good adventures. Here's a look back at this year:

*Disneyland ~ I spent my 40th birthday with my family in Disneyland. I wasn't expecting my family to join me but we were all heading down to LA for a family thing, so it just worked out that way. I was thrilled to enter my 40s walking through Sleeping Beauty's castle (one of my favorite places on the planet) with one of my favorite people on the planet (my niece) at my side. Ah-maze-ing.

*Snow day at Donner Lake ~ my brother, his wife, my niece, and my giant snow dog and I took my CRV up to spend the day in the snow. We walked around, took pictures, threw snowballs, Dakota took a snow bath, and had a picnic in my car. As we left, it started snowing...which turned into a storm that left one of my friends stranded right by where we were. We, however, beat the storm and had arrived safely at home by that time. 

Dakota giving himself a snow bath

*Field Trips ~ I went on two overnight field trips this year. I went to Fort Ross, California for an overnight trip with another 4th grade class. I had just decided to change grades and thought it would be a good idea to check it out. It was because I'm not going back again. But I also went to Coloma, Ca (which you can read about here) and that was a good trip. It was a 2 night trip but totally worth it.  

*Conferences ~ I went to one incredible conference and one that I didn't need to attend. The one that I didn't need to go to was about cochlear implants at Stanford University. It was a good conference but not for a 4th grade teacher. The conference was designed for parents who are just starting the journey of getting implants and what to expect in the coming years. Most of the children are under the age of 4 and it just didn't work for me. And even the sessions lead by the doctors didn't teach me anything. One doctor said, "Well, everyone here knows this part, so for the sake of time, let's move on." And I was the only person in the room who had no clue what he was talking about.

Halls of Stanford University

The other conference I attended was incredible and truly deserves it's own post because this conference took place at Columbia University in New York City. It was not only a great conference that I got so much out of but it was also an incredible adventure in the city with my sister-in-law. 

*New grade level ~ Changing what grade level I teach (kindergarten to 4th grade) has been a huge adventure. New curriculum, new classroom, new age group, and new teaching hours for me. I'm liking it a lot, it's not easy but I'm finding that I'm loving a lot about it. K was hard to teach. I had to teach how to be a student and then the foundation of reading, writing, and math. Now, we dive into deeper levels with all that stuff. The math was a little tricky but I think it's going okay. 

Alice in Wonderland statue in Central Park, NYC

*Books, books, and more books ~ This year, I read a ton of books! Okay, yes I'm introverted but I still do things. I spend time with my family, I walk my dog, I even went to the gym in 2017 (more than once!) but one thing I did was I stopped watching TV. I caught up on all my shows over the summer. I made a point to watch Game of Thrones and Last Week Tonight but other than that, I'll watch Youtube videos for a bit and then I read. And I read more than one book at a time (they have to be different genres so I can keep them straight) and BAM! I read over 100 books. Goodreads says I read 111 books but I DNFed (did not finish) 7 books and reread 3 books....so really, I read 107 books this year. I count audiobooks, children's chapter books, and graphic novels as books I've read because I just do. When I was working out, I was listening to an audiobook. Any road trips? I've got an audiobook. I even read with my students during our library time (that's when I read the chapter books) so my students will see me reading and I can keep up with the new level books that my students read. 

Some things to look forward to in 2018:

I've got my trip to Europe which I have blogged about in great detail here and here. I'm hoping for another Disneyland trip but I haven't planned one out. I'll be going to Coloma again at the end of 2018. I'd like to take my teardrop trailer out this year but I discovered that I don't like camping so maybe I'll just sell it. I dunno. 

I plan on continuing on my weight loss journey although my focus will be on getting in shape to handle all the walking I will be doing this summer. I do need to lose weight for 2019 because I'm going on a desert camel ride in Morocco and that would be cruel to the camel. 

I'm setting my reading goal at 100 books. I don't know if I'll make that but I can try.

I'm leaving the negative from 2017 behind and taking with me the good. Just as it should be. 

Happy New Year!

Booked My Flights Today!!

I'm so excited!

My flights to Europe are booked! (Go Ahead Tours booked them for me!)

I'll be flying out directly from San Francisco to Paris. 

I had wanted to fly out of Sacramento because not only is the airport nicer and less crowded, it's also so much easier to get there and back. San Francisco takes twice as long to get home than to get there with all the crazy Bay Area traffic. Finding someone who's willing to drive you is a lot to ask for.

However, the only flight to Paris that I could get for that day was to fly me from Sacramento to San Francisco and then to Paris. Now, that's just silly. My Go Ahead Tour contact and I decided to just fly out of SF. BART (Bay Area's subway) goes directly to SFO, so I am planning on taking that to the airport so I won't be hassled with needing a ride. I won't have much luggage, so that won't be too annoying. 

My flight home is gonna be an adventure!

I'm flying out of Vienna 11 days later. I'm flying to Zurich, Switzerland for a 4 hour layover to San Francisco. 

I have no problem spending 4 hours in Switzerland! I will buy a magnet from there for sure. My flight looks like it's going to be 3 hours with all the time zone changes. 

I figure I'll take Lyft to get home or take BART home again. I'm not sure what would be better. BART would be crowded but it would avoid the traffic and maybe be quicker. And after all the flying around the world, maybe I want to just get on a train and sit for an hour. I can do that. 

I am so excited. Booking flights is one step closer to going. My trip is almost all paid off and in a few months, they will book the hotels for me. My last trip had very nice hotels, nothing fancy but still very nice and with some great locations. 

I have a referral link if you are interested in checking out Go Ahead Tours for any trips in your future. Clicking on that link will give you $100 from Go Ahead to put on your trip with them and I get credits to use on my next tour!

I hope everyone had a great holiday and I'll see you in the next post!

Coloma, California

Today is my recovery day after a 3 day, 2 night field trip with 73 4th graders. I'm not going to get into the teacher aspect of the field trip (not the hours planning, gathering permission & medical forms, the shopping, the prepping, or the calling homes of bad behaviors & sick kids needing to leave early, nor my frustrations as what I felt as an educator) but I would focus on the adventure side of it. 

I'm not going to go into the program much because do you really need to know that I sat through meetings and half hour lessons? No, unless you want information on the program itself, then by all means visit Coloma Outdoor Discovery School (which is a great program and if you are a teacher, please consider attending). 

American River

My grandparents lived up in gold country for a while, but that's the extent of my experience with it. I learned about the California Gold Rush in school but that's about it.

Sometimes, we take our own backyards for granted. I've been to San Francisco a bunch of times, Sacramento & LA too. Because places like that are close by, it doesn't seem like a big deal to go there, but for someone who isn't from this area of California, it is a big deal. 

So today, my adventure will be about Coloma, which is a 2 hour bus ride away, in between Placerville (aka Hangtown) and Sacramento.

original location

If you aren't familiar with the history of the California Gold Rush, here it is in a nutshell: John Sutter set up Sutter's Mill in Coloma and while there James Marshall was in the American River, saw something, reached down and pulled out a gold nugget in 1848. Word spread (President Polk said to go check it out) and people flocked to California in the thousands hoping to strike it rich in 1849 (hence the 49ers). Mostly, they didn't. It was lawless and dangerous. The native people and the environment suffered as well.

So, onto Coloma today.

You can visit the original site of Sutter's Mill in a park that was established to preserve the history and the area. Sites offer troughs of river water and silt to go gold panning and you can still find gold in the river, however don't get too excited, it's not going to make you rich or pad your wallets.

mountain lion prints

My first day there, I spent at the camp. There are bunkhouses for the students and parent chaperones and cabins for the teachers. It's located right on the river. You have to cross a narrow bridge that is only room for pedestrians and one car. The bridge was built in the 1930s and while the cement was drying, a mountain lion decided to take a look around and left it's paw prints behind for us to see almost 90 years later. 

The program for the children was great, they baked corn bread over a fire, panned for gold and we ended the night with a hoe-down. The temperature had dropped around 40 degrees and I hadn't been cold like that in a while. I should say chilled because I had my Akiak jacket and was warm enough but my face was cold.

spot on the river

Despite my knowing the schedule, I didn't know what to expect as far as everything else. Sure, on paper I could tell you about it but having never been there, the vibe caught me by surprise. It reminded me of my time in Alaska, showing up for a training and having to check out my surroundings, being totally out of my element...which actually feels like my element now. The excitement, the unknown, the nature....I felt totally comfortable and ready to enjoy myself. 

I had to share a cabin with another teacher. I let her have the bedroom and I took the futon in the living room. It was cold but I had brought my Alaskan sleeping bag, which is normally too hot for me, and a comforter. I spread open my sleeping bag as a base and slept with the comforter. I was cozy and warm the whole trip. Score!

we're hikin'!

The second day was the big hiking day. Breakfast was cold! Some kids chose to go gold panning despite their fingers going numb. I decided to wait. There are all these places to check out in the valley, including a museum. I missed out on the valley stuff because of a sick student who needed my care (no complaints, that's part of my job and I'd rather I be there with my student than someone else) but I caught up to a group to hike up to the ridge.

I need to take a moment to talk about how people label hikes. This hike was labeled "moderate". It was heavily suggested that I go on this hike. Moderate to a plus size person should be taken as "difficult" because it was a difficult hike for me and for one other asthmatic student who attempted it. The inclines were steep in some parts and even going downhill hurt my toes. The view was truly impressive but honestly, I expected my breath to be taken away, and it was, just not from the view...more the getting there.

Granted, the pace was set up for children so there were many breaks. Just when I thought I was going to legit have a heart attack on that trail, the group stopped and I had a chance to catch my breath. Luckily, one of the dads in my group was a paramedic so I figured he'd step in and help me in case I got in really bad shape. He ended up helping the asthmatic who was struggling. I was glad he was there.

stairs in a forest

Moderate my ass.

I didn't break down. The students helped me, even if they never knew it. Because it wasn't easy for them either. Or weird things would happen like dropping a water bottle and it shattering so I would share my water with them, or being terrified of getting a tick or touching poison oak. I couldn't break down, they needed me.

So I carried on. I completed the hike and wanted to take a huge moment for myself when it was done but the naturalist was still teaching the kids and they needed to listen to her. Me chanting, "I DID IT! I DID IT!" wasn't appropriate.

By the way, the naturalists working with the children were phenomenal. Seriously top notch.

After dinner, we got to listen to a Native American speaker who was amazing. 

It wasn't as cold the second night but we were all exhausted so maybe we were too tired to feel the chill.

panning for gold

I tried my hand at panning for gold the next morning. My hands got cold (mostly my thumbs) and I didn't find anything. The kids were having a blast, many children I didn't know were coming up to me to correct my technique and show me how it's really done. Next year, I'm going to bring a gold necklace and throw it in my pan saying, "Look what I found!!" Instead, I announced that I couldn't find any gold and that the gold rush was officially over. One of the dads gave me a pretty good sized nugget he found and as I was transferring it to a student, I dropped it, never to be found again, much to the horror of the surrounding children. But let's face it, that's so typical of something I would do.

You'd think a 2 hour bus ride would be horrible but both rides went by pretty quickly and my students were really well behaved on the bus. 

It was quite the adventure. If I teach 4th grade again next year (and there's no reason to think I won't be) I think I'll avoid the hike and play around more in the valley. But overall, it was a very successful field trip and adventure. 

Miss Ruark at the top of the ridge

Coming Summer 2018!

I'm not in a reflective sort of mood today, so I wanted to write about my next upcoming trip this summer: I'm going to Paris, Venice, & Vienna!

I never thought I'd be going back to Paris but I am so glad that I am! There were things that I didn't see or do that I plan on fixing that this time. When I was in Paris, I kept thinking, "I need to come back here one day." And while part of me knew that would happen, another part of me never believed it. 

But it's true!

I'm not going back to the Palace of Versailles because I was there last time and instead, I'm going to spend the day in the city. I had set the bar so low the first time, just being happy to see the Eiffel Tower that as long as I did that, I would be content. This time, I've got more plans. (BTW: I totally cried when my lifetime dream of seeing the Eiffel Tower became real. Totally cried.)

So here's the itinerary and my booked excursions:

An emotional moment in Paris!

Paris:

The 1st real day I'm taking a guided tour of the city! Here's what I'll see:

• Drive down the sycamore-lined Champs-Élysées to view the Arc de Triomphe
• Pass Pont Neuf and the legendary Notre-Dame Cathedral, located on an island in the Seine River
• See the Eiffel Tower, the Palais Garnier opera house and Place de la Concorde, the city’s grandest square
• Marvel at the iconic architecture of the Louvre and Hôtel des Invalides

Then, my afternoon will be free to do whatever so I'm thinking a visit to the Eiffel Tower will take a large portion of my time. I am going to touch the Eiffel Tower and actually go up this time. 

The 2nd day, I have most of the day free, so I'd like to explore Notre Dame and the Louvre. Then I booked an evening cruise down the Seine River. I did this cruise last time and it was one of my favorite experiences in Paris. 

I see now that I'll have to write about what I actually did last time in Paris. I had a great time and saw a burlesque show....I didn't exactly go the PG route. More on that in the next post.

Venice:

Venice, Italy

This is a bucket list city for me. I cannot wait to see Venice. I'll probably cry.

My first day is a travel day where I'll be flying from Paris to Venice.

My 2nd day in Venice, I will be taking a guided tour. Here's what I'll see:

• Step into the iconic St. Mark’s Square and enter St. Mark’s Basilica
• View the stately Doge’s Palace, built in the Venetian Gothic style in 1340
• Marvel at the Bridge of Sighs, the link between Doge’s Palace and the New Prison
• See a glassblowing demonstration to learn about the city’s most celebrated art

Then, after much personal debate with myself and my fear of tiny boats, I've booked a gondola canal cruise. I figured, when you go to Venice, it's something you just need to do.

My next day in Venice is actually not a whole day, I've booked an excursion to visit Verona, and see Juliet's Balcony. I hate Shakespeare and that play in particular but when you get the chance to visit another historic city in Italy, you go.

Ljubljana, Slovenia:

Ljubljana, Slovenia

Woah! There's another city on this trip! 

We are going to be crossing over into Slovenia and spending the night in Ljubljana, which is known for it's love of dragons. I'll be taking a walking tour here and this is what I'll see:

• Stop in Prešeren Square to see the France Prešeren Monument 
• Pass by the Triple Bridge, Town Hall and Baroque Robba Fountain
• View Ljubljana Cathedral, the Dragon Bridge and the famed open-air market

Graz:

Wait, another city? 

Yes, this one is a quick stop over to this World Heritage city. I have no idea what we will be doing here. But I'm down for what ever!

Vienna: 

So my first real day in Vienna will start with a guided tour of the city. Here's what I'll see:

Vienna, Austria

• Visit Schönbrunn Palace, the Rococo Hapsburg home with impressive gardens
• Travel down the Ringstrasse, Vienna’s tree-lines thoroughfare

• See the Parliament building, the Vienna State Opera and the grand Hofburg Palace, the Hapsburg’s preferred winter residence

Then that evening, I've booked a dinner and opera in Vienna excursion. I'm not sure if I will like opera but hearing it in Vienna, which is considered the capital of classical music, if I don't like it in Vienna, I won't like opera anywhere else on the planet.

My second day in Vienna will consist of a Danube River Cruise! This the website's description of my excursion: Travel to Melk for a visit to one of Europe’s most beautiful Baroque monasteries, an architectural wonder perched high atop a cliff. Then, enjoy some free time in the charming, red-roofed town before embarking on a leisurely cruise down the Danube River. Your ship will take you by age-old castles and picturesque villages. Disembark in Dürnstein, where Richard the Lionheart was held captive, and enjoy free time for lunch. En route to Vienna, stop in the Wachau Valley for a wine tasting of regional vintages.

The next day will be my return flight home. There was a Prague extension that I debated taking but there's another tour that involves Budapest and Prague and I want to take that tour one day. So I decided that 12 days would be enough for this trip. I'll be stopping in 3 countries, 6+ cities and I think that's going to be well worth my time and money. 

Let me just say, I cannot wait for this summer!

Travel: The Hows & The Why

On a helicopter ride outside of Anchorage, Alaska

Why travel the world?

My first reason for traveling is simply that I wanted to see beautiful sights for myself. It wasn't enough to see Iceland through pictures or movies filmed there. I wanted to stand in front of these majestic sights and let my senses go wild. 

But I experienced something I hadn't counted on, which gave me more reasons to travel.

The biggest new insight I had was that outside of my little world, my body size didn't really matter. People don't look me in the face here. They see past me. It's not something I really notice until people started looking me in the face. I said in one of my videos that I thought it was a US thing, but then I went to New York City and found that sadly, it's a California thing. People acknowledge other people in the world. They look you in the eye and smile. People talk to you. I don't feel self conscious when I travel. I feel beautiful.

There's so much you can learn by experiencing another culture. Seeing how people live differently around the world is such an eye opening experience. After growing up in suburbia, seeing life in a rural community is a shock to the system or even comparing it to life in the city. 

In Central Park, NYC

As an educator, it's really changed me for the better on how I relate to children and what I think they are capable of. Here's a simple story: in New York and other cities, children show up to a basketball court with a basketball and some friends. They don't have referees or even adults watching them. In Alaska, basketball is the sport every child and adult plays. They bring a ball and show up. Again, no referees because they know the rules. So there I am at yard duty, and I'm told I really need to watch the basketball games cause they don't know what they are doing. But I don't. I glance over to check that they aren't fouling each other left and right but I don't need to watch them like a hawk. I've even given them compliments on their sportsmanship. Children all over this country play basketball. I trust the students here to do the same. If they don't, then we have a problem. 

I also realize that not everyone has the same life experience as me. It makes me less judgmental as a person. Life is not confined to my tiny bubble.

Actually, travel has increased my tiny bubble.  

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Myth: You need a lot of money to travel

I used to believe that. I surrounded my tiny house in Alaska with black & white posters from Paris, Venice, and New York. I figured that I would never go to those places because I didn't make a whole lot of money, and you need money to travel.

I dreamed of one day going to Paris. It was more than simply a bucket list item. I loved everything about Paris, the glamour, the sophistication, the elegance...etc. But my life was never heading in that direction. Or so I thought.

In Iceland

My travels started in Iceland. I had a crazy idea to just go after watching a movie filmed in Iceland. I had been saving my money for my move back to California. I decided to give myself the trip of a lifetime since I would never be able to afford something like that again. I booked my own flight, hotel, and day trips based around Reykjavik. I paid for the trip upfront. Because that's what I thought you did to travel.

I went by myself and had a great time. 

The only thing that I didn't like was I would be looking at something amazing...and I'd have the urge to turn to someone next to me and say, "Oh my god! Did you see that!?!" but strangers don't really like that....especially if you don't speak the same language.

And that was the extent of my travels. I had a really amazing adventure and I figured that was it. The highlight of my life.

Then my uncle died. He was married to my aunt who was a travel agent. My uncle left me some money. I figured I would be responsible with the money.

In front of the Trevi Fountain, Rome

Then I changed my mind. I figured what better way to honor my aunt than to see Paris. Minutes later, I booked a trip for London, Paris, and Rome. Then I called my sister-in-law and burst into tears. Because it wasn't real. I wasn't really going to Paris...but I was.

Again, I had the money.

I chose a tour group because I wanted to be with a group this time. That way, I could have a connection with my fellow travelers. Granted, I did no research into the group until after I booked with them. Turns out, they've been in the business for the last 50 years and the price was pretty good. I based it on my gut and my gut lead me in the right direction. 

But my tour group accepted payments. I didn't need the money up front. I didn't need to save up and then book. I could book the trip and then make monthly payments. 

In London

I DON'T NEED A LOT OF MONEY TO TRAVEL ~ I just need to budget the payments and set up the automatic payments. 

It was hard at first to readjust my budget but since I wanted to travel more, I had to make it a priority. So I did. That's the secret: if you want to travel, you have to make it a priority.

I booked a trip for this summer: I'm going to Paris, Venice, & Vienna. My trip will be paid off in May. It will take me about 18 months to pay it off but that's how I am able to go. A little patience goes a long way on this one. And I will be able to go on a big trip every other year.

Except next year, cause one of my big debts will be paid off in the next couple of months, so I'm celebrating with a trip to Portugal, Spain, & Morocco. Cause priorities. 

Since I'm using the same tour group, I've gotten discounts and they have a referral program! Here's the link if you wanna check them out: http://www.goaheadtours.com/account/create?referrer=c04df340-a886-4674-8d61-4a3c5389607f

So that's my hows & whys of traveling. It's taken me a bit to figure out how to make it happen, but now there's no stopping me!

In front of the Eiffel Tower, Paris

Keeping Up With the Adventures

I have made several attempts to reestablish this blog but none have taken hold. I start one direction and then I lose interest.

So, the question at the heart of the matter is: what do I want to blog about?

And the answer was: nothing.

I had even attempted a YouTube channel. You can see the videos, I'm not taking them down. But I lost interest in that as well. 

So I let everything just sit. I did nothing.

And then a random notification came up that someone had left a comment on one of my videos. Specifically, my video about traveling to Europe when you're plus sized. 

The comment read, "Thanks for posting this. I am going to Europe in a few months and am having crazy anxiety about it being plus size myself. I feel a bit more confident after watching this." 

And all of a sudden, I realized that I had done some good with my silly little YouTube experiment. Someone felt better after listening to what I had to say. I could not have been more flattered about that.

Which got me thinking, maybe I should keep using my voice and sharing my experiences. I'm not saying that I could change the world or anything, BUT I've already made a tiny difference, who's to say I can't do more?

This blog was at it's best when I wrote about my adventures. So I am bringing the focus back to where it used to be. I'm talking weekly updates, either looking to future adventures or ones I never wrote about. 

And there's so much to say!

Here's a look to the past:
*Hawaii
*moving to rural Alaska
*driving the Alaska Highway to move back
*Iceland
*the teardrop trailer experiment
*Disneyland
*Santa Monica/UCLA
*London
*Paris 
*Rome
*Las Vegas
*Stanford University area
*New York City/Columbia University

My upcoming adventures:
*Paris 2018
*Venice 2018
*Ljubljana, Slovenia 2018
*Vienna 2018
*Portugal 2019
*Spain 2019
*Morocco 2019

There might even be a Mexico trip slated for 2018 with my family but that is still in development. 

I'm not going to cover all of these adventures, as some of the colleges involved professional development for my teaching career and not that exciting but I am excited to bring my blog back to what it was originally designed to be...that feels good.

If you are interested in the video that started this post, you can view it here:




It's good to be back! Check for my updates on Sundays, starting this Sunday!

PETA Doesn't Go to Alaska

Background: Alaskans wear fur. They've been wearing fur since they crossed over the land bridge from Asia & Russian. You can't even bat an eye at it because there's a whole rich history of Alaskan Natives and hunting, sewing parkas, etc. It's a subsistence way of life up there and it's not for the "politically correct".

This story is about fur....or rather about my attempt to sew rabbit fur baby booties. 

First of all, being immersed in a new culture is somewhat intimidating. I was going to title this story: The Whitest White Chick in the Room but I decided the PETA title better suited this specific story. 

I went to Akiak wanting to learn about the Yup'ik culture. I knew that there was a long history of white teachers coming to teach Alaskan Native children and expecting them to adapt to the white ways. There was one story I was told of a woman who's teacher use to make them wipe their feet every morning before coming into the classroom, not because their feet were dirty but because he told them they were removing their Yup'ik ways and to leave them behind when they walked through the door. When I met this woman, I expected her to be much older than just 20 years my senior. 

I didn't want that for my students. I was NOT going to be that person. I was not that kind of white teacher.

**Side note: did it matter that I was white? Yes. I looked different than my students. Not just my skin color but my hazel eyes were something that brought on a lot of comments. I know that many people want to see past race and it shouldn't matter what color my skin is, but when you go to a place, where people who look like you mistreated a group of people because they weren't like you, it makes you very conscious of your skin color. There is a lot of mistrust of white teachers in that area. And I'll tell you something truly frightening: in my new teacher orientation for Akiak: two white teachers there ended up being accused of sexual abuse. One was accused by his own daughter, and the other from several female students in the village. So as much as we want to say, "Hey, don't blame me for the sins of the past!" all I can do is let my actions and respect shine through because I still saw teachers using their white privilege (sadly, even more than those two really bad ones) to put native children down.**

I was going to be as respectful as I could be and be open to new adventures. But I would be true to myself at the same time. I was told that I should be quiet and reserved because that was expected of women. Well, I'm loud and quite a talker so that was out. I later realized that was bad advice anyways. Humans want people to be themselves and not pretend to be anybody else.   

So, back to my story:

I was invited to a sewing group where we would be sewing rabbit fur baby booties. This was amazing! A chance for me to learn some domestic skills! I didn't know anyone who was going to have a baby to give the booties too but that didn't matter. 

Before I left for Alaska, I had become a vegetarian. I knew that it was going to be pretty ridiculous to try and maintain that kind of lifestyle so I had given it up. But I did find some irony in that fact when I got to choose my rabbit pelt. It was already skinned and treated (you can send away for pelts already to work on) so it needed to be cut into the pattern for the booties.

You use a knife or a razor blade to cut the pelt after you trace it. You were suppose to make little cuts and the goal was not to lose the rabbit fur off the skin. You wanted as little amount of fur coming off as possible.

Our instructor told us this and looked around. She nodded at several of the other ladies as they brushed off the few rabbit hairs that come off of the pelt. 

Then she looked at me.

Me, who was covered in rabbit fur. It was all in my lap, my sleeves, in my hair, eyelashes, and it kept trying to blow in my mouth with I talked. I kept having to blow/spit the fur out as ladylike as possible. 

A couple of the little girls in the room kept coming over to me in attempts to brush the rabbit fur off. They had never seen so much fur come off of a skin before. They were giggling as they shook their head's at me. 

Then the principal's wife had to leave early because the fur coming off of me got on her and she started having an allergic reaction to it. There was just so much of it. 

Probably didn't help that I thought the whole thing was hysterical. 

Or maybe it did.

I think it did leave an impression on the women that night. It would not be the first time they'd be shaking their heads at me. (Like the time I didn't want to sew the hem on the sleeves of the shirt I sewed so I stapled them instead. Olinka busted me for that one.) 

Whitest white chick in the room.

That's me.