Sitka Sunsets

Here are some shots of the sunset over the area. The house I live in is on a little bay called Jamestown Bay. There were a few days last we when we were blessed with some beautiful sunsets. I grew up watching the sun rise over the ocean (on the east coast of Australia) so it is different to see the sun set over the ocean. This stretch of water is beautiful, pristine and protected by the surounding islands so there isn't too much ocean swell.

I mentioned in my last blog entry that Alaska was once on the other side of the International Date Line; the shifting of the International Date Line to its present position now means that Alaska is one of the last places in the world to see the sunset!! You see, Alaska was once owned and governed by Russia, therefore Russia's day actually began in Alaska! Russia agreed to sell Alaska to the United States and the sale took place in 1867. Under Russian rule Alaska followed the Julian calendar (which is approximately 10-12 days different to the Gregorian calenday).
When the sale of Alaska took place in 1867, it was also agreed that Alaska would change to the Gregorian calendar and the International Date Line would also be shifted all at the same time! So the sale of Alaska took place on 6 October 1867 under the Julian calendar (18 October on the Gregorian calendar) and that night at midnight they switched calendars and shifted the International Date Line making that next day the 18 October! This leads me to beg one question: Alaska commemorates the sale on 18 October each year, but should this celebration really occur on the 17 October??? Because even though it was effectively the 18 October for Alaska then, for the rest of the US it was 17 October! And when you factor in the shifting of the International Date Line (where the 18 October was followed by the 18 October) and......
I've just realised that all of this is starting to sound like 'blah-blah-blah-blah-blah', so I think I'll stop here. But really, if you woke up one morning and it was the 18 October, that would mean the previous day was the 17 October, but if you wake up and you've been on a long-haul Air New Zealand flight, then it might be the same day again, or if you were going in the opposite direction it could be two days later and you've completely missed a day and you won't know where it has gone.......

Work... Food... Time...

I have a job! Woo-hoo! I'm very thankful, and somewhat relieved! Job-hunting had become a bit of a chore. There are quite a few openings here, but with the added paperwork that an employer would need to go through for my work visa, things ended up in the too-hard basket, and a few promising job offers headed south. However, I persevered. I got out there and started pounding the pavement, introducing myself to people and making myself known. And finally I was interviewed and offered a job at a restaurant here. I'm quite happy with the offer too. It looks like I'll ultimately work in the kitchin, so I'll be able to put my McDonald's experience to good use while learning some new tricks at the same time. Not sure when I'll actually start work, though. That's all dependant on the work visa being approved... but hey, I'm pretty positive that this will be the last hurdle!

A really peculiar and interesting and exciting aspect to American culture is the food. There are lots of yummy things to eat here. On top of that, any foreign food usually has a bit of an American spin to it. I've had some great Mexican food: burritos, nachos; plus some huge steak. The meat tastes great: and there's lots of it! A ham sandwich is loaded with shavings of ham... The steak is awesome, often with marbling -- something that I had eaten little of before coming here. I still see some things at the store and I think: "What the hell is that???" but I am trying quite a few different things. One peculiar thing that is often eaten here at breakfast time is 'sausage'. And it's not sausage like we think of it, it's a flat, round patty of pork that is grilled or fried and eaten with eggs. Kind of like the sausage meat in a sausage and egg mcmuffin from McDonald's. (However, point of note: the sausage patty from McDonald's--in New Zealand at least--is actually made from beef.) I've tried eating the sausage, but it gives me a tummy-ache afterwards, so I'm going to give them a break for the time being.

Lastly, here is a really interesting fact about Alaska that I only recently discovered. Alaska used to be on the other side of the International Date Line!!! Seriously!!! The International Date Line used to run through the middle of the ocean between Fiji and Samoa (roughly) and would continue along the border between Canada and Alaska!!! How about that! So Alaska used to be the first place in the world to see the sun -- not Tonga or Gisborne!!!

Super-Bowl

The long and the short of it:

taking 3 and a half hours to play a one hour long game has got whiskers on it!!!! By the fourth quarter, I was BORED!

However, the super-bowl is a huge American sporting tradition so I had to join in! And the game itself is fun! I'm still not quite sure how it all works (what the hell does "fourth and goal" mean??) but still it was quite cool. The only downside for me was the fact that the game was soooo drawn out. (Time-out again??!!! Another f*ing commercial break??!!) The game is an hour long - BUT IT TAKES THEM 3-1/2 HOURS TO PLAY IT!!! I'm curious, though do they still show the super-bowl in Australia. I wondered whether Douglas was taking the whole morning off work just to watch the game. Here are a few pics of the game...

American Culture

Well, I have given the blog a rest for a little while; partly because I couldn't be bothered typing a blog these past few weeks. I also think I needed to take the time to properly settle into the way of life over here. There has been so much to take in that at times it has been somewhat overwhelming. That said, I think I really needed to let the dust settle and just absorb everything that has been going on around me. And after a few weeks, now I find myself observing a lot more and acknowledging the way things are done here. The American Way....

People talk about culture shock. Here in Alaska I can separate it into two parts: Alaska and the US. As for Alaska, it's great, relaxed, laid-back and a very beautiful place to live. The US, on the other hand, is where the bigger culture shock lies. The United States is definitely a wealthy country driven by a consumer's dollar. Nothing is out of reach for Americans; one can literally have anything he wants. Make a phone call at nine o'clock in the morning and it's on your doorstep at three o'clock in the afternoon. As for the old phrase 'To have and to have not', well, forget the 'have not' part: if you want it you can have it. Even at the supermarket: anything you can imagine has been stuck into a can and put on the shelf! At times, it has been overwhelming! And people are telling me that this is only Alaska - everything must be shipped in; imagine what it must be like in the lower 48 (the contigious part of the States)!! This attitude is definitely reflected in the advertising: nothing seems like a luxury. I hear ads saying, "When you choose your spa pool..." A spa pool, somthing that has always struck me as a luxury item reserved for the rich and famous, is wrapped up and packaged as something the average Joe can have! Furthermore, because one can have anything he wants this leads people to think that they actually need all this... crap!

I had an enjoyable conversation with a man here who had been to New Zealand, and I want to share something I found ironic. He said, "I love the Kiwi ingenuity! If something's broken, they pull out their tools and screwdrivers and will work on it all day and fix it! It's amazing!" I told him that I had discovered the reverse here in the US. He replied, "Oh no, we don't fix anything! We just buy a new one!"

At this point I must make it clear that my impressions of the US are drawn from my experience of only one state. The US is a very vast country and I hear that it is indeed very diverse! So my impressions and interpretations can't be taken as a blanket representation for the whole country.

On my journey of discovery here in America, I did find it quite overwhelming at first! And it was easy to make the mistake of comparing or criticising the way things are done. However, I have found that after a few weeks, I'm observing more and more and trying to take it all in as opposed to trying to criticise it.

One thing that I do notice is that people choose to turn a blind eye to things that go on. I'm not sure if that is just here because we are in a small town, or if that is true for the rest of the US. I understand the 'turn a blind eye' mentality when it comes to respecting people's privacy and minding one's own business. However, I really question where the boundary lies. How much should one turn a blind eye to? And at what point does our duty as a human being begin? How much do we let slide before we say to a man, "Mate, you need to stop bashing up your wife"? Or when do you tell a heavily pregnant woman that she needs to stop drinking alcohol because she is poisoning her child? People explain it away, "Well, it's none of my business..." "I shouldn't interfere..." But it makes me wonder - if you know that something that is fundamentally wrong is happening and you do nothing to stop it, aren't you equally at fault? And just because something is widely acknowledged, or even widely accepted, it doesn't mean it is right. In some small villages here in Alaska there is a problem with incest; it is widely known and acknowledged - but incest is never right! At what point will people say, "We need to put a stop to this"? Where does our duty as human beings start? When does our conscience kick in and kick our arses into action?