Hi all!
This weekend has been a both a bit of a whirlwind as well as very mellow.
Jamie left on Friday. Jams and I sent him off with a delicious trip to a conveyor belt sushi bar. We love a conveyor belt sushi bars! We dropped him off all together too early for his flight as he got through security in 5 minutes and was just sitting at the gate. Ah well. He certainly didn’t miss his flight. Jams and I then spent the afternoon studying up. Me on Alaska and him on his Human Services degree. Around 6pm made dinner and ate while watching Roma. Winner of the Foreign Film category at the Oscars. Spectacularly stunning film, very clear examples of class distinction in Mexico, overall uplifting but I’m not sure I’m interested in seeing it again.
The next day we lounged around for awhile before we decided to get Jams back on his training schedule for his Half Marathon on June 22. We decided on a short 3 mile run along the Tony Knowles Trail. Tony Knowles was the democratic mayor of Anchorage for two terms in the early 80s and then Governor of Alaska from 1994 - 2002. The coastal trail is 11 miles and while we didn’t do all of it, our little 3 mile run turned into 5.63 so I’m really suffering today. After our run we called Jams’ friend Joe and went over to So Thai!
So Thai is the restaurant owned by the sister and mom of one of my students from the EFL school I teach at in Boston! Crazy coincidence, huh? The mom came out to say hello and I sent the picture off to her daughter. The daughter/my student (Prae) will be out in Alaska in August and I’ll see her then.
As you might have guessed from the restaurants we visited, Anchorage has a huge collection of international foods and restaurants and LOTS of thai food. Thus far, they have been good. I’ll keep you posted as I eat more.
After our lunch we went home to freshen up for our night of music and dancing. The music started off at the Alaska Performing Arts Center. The Anchorage Civic Orchestra, with their non-audition community orchestra with 70ish members- was performing their free concert! The theme was The Sounds of Futures Past. They played some classics - Oklahoma, 2001, A Space Odyssey, The Blue Danube and the Star Trek Theme Song. It was pretty spectacular! Especially for a non-audition community orchestra! The theater itself was pretty great too as it was designed specifically with Alaska in mind. The seats were upholstered with a Salmon Berry design and the carpet was of Alaskan Poppies. They tried to make the atrium mimic “big trees” with the tall columns and lighting (that effect was..ok). Even the bathroom stalls had ferns painted on them.
After the show we went to the winter pop-up “La Potato” for a night of Djs and dancing. We met up with our friend Antarctica friend Sage, ordered some french fries (obviously as we were at a place named The Potato) and drank some beer while we waited for the DJs to start playing some actual dance music. Ultimately they did but by this time is was 12:30 and my ride was leaving. So off we went!
We woke up this morning to make Hot Cross Buns for Easter and by “we” I mean, Jams woke up, prepped the dough and then went out for coffee with a friend. I slept until 10am and then rolled out of bed in time to pre-heat the oven for his return. And pack. I had to leave Jams’ house today as his roommate is coming back and so I found a couch to surf. I think you all know that couch surfing is a community online where people offer up space in their house for you to stay for free. The place I found happened to only be 3 minutes from Jams’ house and here I am. I’m the only couch surfer. There’s two permanent residents, Wil and his daughter, and then there’s three renters. I’ve met most of them. The place is super communal. I’ve already been fed some Elk Chili, used the hot tub, met the massive Malamute dog and there appears to be a beer fridge - with keg. I’m really glad it’s a chill environment because I am BEAT today. I’ve been drinking pretty much constantly for three weeks, have been trying to cram a lot of Alaska knowledge into my poorly organized brain and have been constantly networking. I spent most of today napping/hot tubbing/organizing photos. It’s been a nice break. Honestly, being surrounded by strangers had been surprising relaxing. I’ll be moving into a friends house in May with the exchange being that I will paint the inside of her house for her. Ok! June is still up for grabs but I have a potential tiny house to move into.
As for spinning back up some studying, I’m back into the fray tomorrow as I meet with my company “mentor”. I’m curious what she’s going to tell me. And I’ll try to get back to some touring as well. Maybe tomorrow will be my Museum day!
Thanks for reading these guys! I appreciate it when you let me know you like it or are, at least, reading it. It keeps me motivated!
No comments:
Post a Comment