goodbye lovely coffee girl..

Today I received a letter from both of my grandmother's they are just so funny! I will have to wait to write back to them tomorrow though. Today has been a long but very fulfilling day, however, I am starting to see that my financial situation is becoming tight. Today my folks and I are going to create a budget for myself. I shouldn't need to buy any more big purchases such as Extra Tufs or anything for my room, but it's the everyday stuff like groceries that add up over time. Do you know the saying "everything's bigger in Texas" well, everything is more expensive in Alaska. I'm only feeding me and groceries are still nearly $100 a week. But I think this experience is good for me, it's a step closer to being on my own, and creating a budget will make me better at managing money. However, it's what I'll have to cut that I am struggling with. I have this fantastic coffee girl that I see every morning, Monday-Friday. And man, does she make a mean Hufflepuff. I'm not really sure what is in the Hufflepuff, it's a Spike's Cafe secret, but it is phenomenal! Anyways, I understand that sacrifices are important in life, it's a necessary decision that I will have to make. Goodbye lovely coffee girl.

I'm really enjoying my classes, here is another photo of my Outdoor Leadership class. We started our class by hiking 30 minutes into the woods where we sat down in the middle of the trail and talked about our training plan goal. My goals: I want to build strength and endurance, I want to learn how to ski and I want to hike the 100 mile wilderness when I return to Maine. Wish me luck!

Class Outside :) with Flo and Anna

 If you are planning on sending me a care package, I ran out of Chai Tea!

ps. Kristina, I love skyping you, please keep reading the blog and I will talk to you soon!

blessed..

Today I hiked Mt. Roberts with Mercede, Anna and Flo. We only hiked as far as the tram because we didn't have enough time to summit and get back to our afternoon plans. Although instead of hiking down we road the tram which, was nice, but to be honest, not all that exciting. I feel like I'm constantly online either check Facebook, posting or looking at photos on Instagram, watching movies, or writing this blog. I feel as though I have this constant need to be connected back home. I know I need to get out of this habit if I want to beat the long, dark and wet winter that lies ahead of me. In a previous post I mentioned how I was feeling anxious because I don't necessarily believe I am ready for what I signed up for. But I have been too busy comparing myself to everyone else. This is the biggest step I have ever taken in my life. I have never pushed or challenged myself this much before. I have been trying something new almost every day and I am going to continue trying new things.

I learned in one of my classes that there are three types of fun, I will only mention two of them because my professor never told us what the third type of fun is. So Type 1 Fun is when you are having fun while you are hiking, it is when you feel comfortable and you know that you are with a good crowd and life couldn't get any better. Type 2 Fun is when you are swimming in the Mendenhall River and you feel as though you have been stuck in an ice bath for the last 6 hours and you already lost feeling in your feet and hands. Now Type 2 Fun isn't fun when you are in the Mendenhall, no one appreciates feeling numb, however, in the end..it's all worth it. Now I don't mind saying that I have mostly Type 2 Fun experiences. As many of you know, I complain A LOT, I am a constant worry-wart and I hate feeling uncomfortable. But as long as I am able to look back and say, "Yeah, I'd do that again" or "Yeah, it was totally worth it", than I am satisfied.


And now that I am on this feeling thankful binge, I would like to thank a few people..

Thank you Anah and Bump for keeping me in the loop and sending me letters, you have done a wonderful job at bringing pieces of home to me in Alaska. I feel so much more comfortable calling Alaska home, when I know that I am constantly in your thoughts!

Thank you Kristina for being in my family. I know that at first our friendship was rocky, I underestimated how much of a wonderful and caring friend you are. I am so appreciative that we have become closer of the years, I hope that our bond only continues to grow.

Thank you Doug for waking up at strange hours in the morning to Skype me 10 Time Zones away. The messages of encouragement that you send me on a daily basis are truly the highlight of my day. I hope that we stay friends until we die old on our island off the coast of wherever. Je t'aime!

Thank you Mam for praying for me every single day, you are in my prayers as well. I know it must have been hard watching me leave, but imagine the joy you will feel when I return as a better me.


And lastly..

Thank you Mom and Dad for giving up your time, cutting out of work, spending loads of money and listening to me cry, laugh and become frustrated. I want you to know that I do appreciate everything that you have done for me and I know that you love me unconditionally. I wouldn't have gotten this far if I didn't have you as my parents. I love you both so much.

Mercede, Anna, Me & Flo

Mt. Roberts Tram

missing fall..

I apologize for not posting so much lately, but there really hasn't been too many new developments. I'm not sure how much you want to hear. As I mentioned before, if you want to know more about anything I've posted in the past, please feel free to comment and I'll explain!

Thursday night I went out to karaoke night at the Viking with my roommate and her friends. It was so much fun! I only sang one song "Wagon Wheel", but no matter how many drinks you have before singing, it's still kind of embarrassing. But that wasn't my only embarrassing moment. After telling my roommate of this story of a friend back home, who when she goes to the bar usually orders a Sex on the Beach however, the bartenders always cut her off after she tries to order a Sex in the City, I then turned around and ordered a Sex in the City. Fortunately for me I think the bartender was new because she looked like she way about to start making a Sex in the City, whatever that is. ;)

Yesterday was pretty uneventful, I ended up having a bunch of people (mostly exchange kids) over to my apartment. We made crêpes last night, however, the French are so proud of their crêpes that they wouldn't allow my thin pancakes to be considered crêpes, so instead we made something better: prêpes. It's a pancake recipe with vanilla and lemon juice added and is super watered down to make is essentially a super thin pancake. Just add bananas and nutella and it tastes exactly like a crêpe!

Today is a homework day, I'm headed down to the library in a bit to complete some of my homework because tomorrow, I'll hopefully be hiking Mt. Roberts! Have a wonderful day everyone, enjoy the lovely weather you have and the changes in the leaves. All we have is rain and pine trees so no leaf peeping for me. :(

Poohism...

I got a few letters from home..finally! My mum told me that she's been giving out my blog left and right to people at work. So to all of you at Yale Cordage, hello! I haven't asked my mom this yet, but all of my classes are outdoor practical skills classes, and something I would like to improve on are my knots! I don't really know of any knots but I would love it if one of my blog readers would send me a thin 3' long piece of rope and maybe a list of basic knots I could work on! And I promise to take pictures of the knots I accomplish and post them. :)
I haven't been up to very much lately, but my classes are truly amazing. One of my classes (Intro. to Outdoor Leadership) is held outside. Which, honestly doesn't sound too exciting. But where else would your entire class get to go outside, set up a tarp and sit around talking about our own wilderness tripping experiences and what it takes to be a leader, in the pouring rain? So, here are some photos of today's class!

"Promise me you'll always remember: you're braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem and smarter than you think." Winnie the Pooh

whatever me that i am..

Kristina and I skyped tonight, I keep trying to get her to read my blog, but she's just too lazy. :) I'm so happy that we are able to stay connected when we're thousands of miles apart. I can't imagine how difficult this would have been without all of the technology and possibilities that are present today. But at the same time, I think I could have still left. My friends, my family mean the world to me back home. But I can't help but feel that there are so many expectations of me from people back home. I am expected to do things a certain way, dress a certain way, act a certain way, react a certain way, respond a certain way. There aren't any expectations here, at least not for the most part. There is still Facebook of course which connects me to those expectations back home. But this experience has given me the freedom to start anew. To be whatever me that I am. I thought coming this far would help me find out who I truly am, to find myself. The truth is, I don't think I was ever lost. I just never felt comfortable to let the true me shine. I'm not saying that I'm a facade, just that different people see different sides of the same me. But it is normal to have different sides, we all show and hide our strengths and weaknesses. We all are shy and outgoing, it's just the difference between the two that makes us an individual.

a little extra..

Here are some photos that Anna took on our hike of Mt. Juneau that I wanted to include!

playing catch up!

This weekend has been truly phenomenal! Friday night I met up with all of the exchange students for our meet and greet dinner. We are all always so busy and we try to connect but this dinner truly brought us all together for the first time since we met. We all hope to continue these get togethers through the rest of the year! Before the dinner however, Cody and I drove to 4 different stores attempting to find Friday the 13th! However, we proved unsuccessful, but we did end up watching Olympus Has Fallen, I definitely recommend it, be ready for the gore though! Saturday Anna and I met up with some exchange kids at Capital Brew Fest where we attempted to drink 50 beers in 4 hours, too bad I only made it to 15. Overall it was a wonderful time drinking and sharing stories and I was able to meet a ton of really cool people from the area. Saturday night was suppose to be Sushi night, but I got rain checked, instead I watch a movie with Mercede and Cody before catching a ride to Fred Meyer's UAS College Night. (Fred Meyer is similar to Walmart, except it's more stocked and better quality.) College Night was a blast, Mercede and I had a little too much fun with the grocery cart and singing/dancing throughout Fred Meyer. I got my first experience of going to Breeze In at 2am when they release the fresh doughnuts! Sunday, Anna and I woke up early and took the bus Downtown in order to hike Mt. Juneau. I thought Katahdin was beautiful from the top, Mt. Juneau is breathtaking. Anna and I talked about how photos can only do so much. So I tried my hardest to capture everything that steals your breath at the summit, however, to get the full feeling you'll have to climb it yourself.

I apologize for cramming an entire weekend into one post, I will certainly try to post daily. I appreciated the letters that are still continuing to come in, I hope they don't stop! Thank you so much to Little Katie and Aunt Crystal for thinking of me, I will write back to you tomorrow!

 Little Katie and Aunt Crystal's Letters

Capital Brewfest

Anna and I

A happy ending to Brewfest..

Mt. Juneau Trailhead

360 degrees

 

Anna and I

 Overlooking the channel

 Downtown

Oh, what a day..

 Our path..

 Crazy Austrians, Berg-Heil!

Schnapps :)

oh what a night..

So, last night I thought I'd be relaxing working on some homework and catching up on some episodes. Instead, I ended up going to the Breeze In with Cody. (Breeze In is a convenient store) Now Cody drives an old pick-up truck, like nearly 20 years-old, and I have nothing against old cars, but I'm not quite sure this truck would pass inspection in Maine. Anyways, it's a manual and he promised he'd teach me how to drive a stick-shift. So at 10pm last night, I'm in the middle of the Nugget Mall parking lot learning how to drive a stick-shift and.....I ONLY STALLED OUT ONCE! I never got beyond 2nd gear, but who cares! We're going to go practice driving again on Saturday, so wish me luck! Maybe I'll even drive it out of the parking lot this time!

Today is Friday the 13th, which to most people is either seen as some bad omen or a day full of bad luck, but it's probably one of my favorite days for many reasons. It's Friday which means no school tomorrow and 13 is one of my favorite numbers (I find it particularly lucky). Now I happen to be very superstitious and I have no idea where I got it from. Breaking a mirror is probably the worst thing you can do for yourself, if you walk under a ladder to reverse the bad luck you must immediately walk backwards underneath the ladder, black cats are really lucky to me, you spill salt and you better throw it over your left shoulder quickly, and lastly, the Evil Eye will protect you from any negative forces. I apologize for the long unimportant tangent, so back on track. Tonight I have the Dinner for all exchange students which will be exciting, there is just so many of us that it is difficult to get everyone together. And later tonight Cody and I are getting a ton of people together to watch Friday the 13th, I don't do well with scary movies but I'm sure it will be fun.

Anyways, I apologize that I didn't share too much about Alaska in this post, but hopefully you still enjoyed it. If you have any questions about Alaska or what I am doing I'd love it if you would comment on this post. It may help steer me in understanding what you are interested in knowing. So please, please comment and enjoy your Friday the 13th!

oh what a day..

Today was sublime! My three hour lab this morning happened to take a field trip to the Mendenhall Glacier and we were fortunate enough to walk along some of the trails. The trip consisted of taking GPS locations of how far the Mendenhall Glacier covered from 1786 to present day. After class I came back and cleaned the entire kitchen of my apartment before going downtown with some friends. I had read about the "Before I die I want to _______________." bulletins, but I never thought I would see one. Well, today was the day! And after thinking long and hard about what to write, only one thing came to mind.

I'm sure not many people have heard this story, but I'll share it anyways. Once upon a time I told my dad I was in love, and he insisted that I didn't know what love was. And just like most dad's, he was right. He could've been a little less harsh in his explanation about how I was too naive to understand the complexities of love, but nonetheless he was right. He recited 1st Corinthians 13 to me, and I've never forgotten it. The whole verse gives a simple but descriptive explanation about what love is and it ends with.."and these three remain, faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love." Anyways, it would be a great honor to say that I have experienced the love that my dad recited to me, the love I know my parents share. So, before I die I want to fall in love.

:)

here we go..

Wow, who knew that all you needed to do was to go to a school across the country and then you can finally rake in the care packages! I really do appreciate the care packages that are being sent, but I also understand the price of send packages. So please, if you have to choose between a package or a letter, I would prefer to receive letters!

My classes are finally moving along, I won't say that I'm finally in the swing of things because my classes change on a weekly basis and that is the hardest to keep up with. I am very appreciative for being accepted into the Outdoor Skills and Leadership program, however, I still have my doubts and anxieties about it. I want to challenge myself while I am out here, but there are times when I am caught thinking that I am well over my head. I'm currently enrolled in an 243 Introduction to Outdoor Leadership class which I am very excited about, however, I also learned that the 244 Outdoor Leadership class will involve may hikes of local mountain in Alaska, which is still very exciting, but these hikes involve hiking to the top and skiing down. Now, this is where the truth comes out, I am from Maine and I do not know how to ski. I also have to begin creating a training plan which is essentially a work-out plan that I will create and adjust to accordingly as well as follow for the next several months.

So it is just small issues like those that overwhelm me. While in Maine I felt comfortable doing the same hikes over and over again, I thought I was in shape for the level of endurance needed for the outdoor activities I was participating in. Now I just feel completely out of my league. Hopefully this will change as the semester progresses.

I've sent out letters today, I hope that they find your way to you. Again, I really do appreciate the packages. And as my Dad requested, I've also posted a photo of all of the certificates I have earned thus far!

 Certificates

Care Package from Anah

from the depths of the mendenhall..

I have survived and I come crawling from the depths of the Mendenhall to deliver a message..I am officially a Swiftwater Rescue Technician! I'm not entirely sure what that means, other than now I know multiple ways of rescuing an individual from the river. However, after taking this class, I'm not entirely sure I'll be spending too much time around any fast moving water. I understand that it is important to know these skills and techniques in order to protect yourself and to protect others, but this class is also a really great way of scaring people from even attempting to go near water!

I've started receiving a few letters from back home, and they are all greatly appreciated and I will be replying back to you by tomorrow at the latest! You don't understand how good it feels to hold something from back home, or to be reminded of the east coast. Did you know that no one knows about Hannford's over here?! Well anyways, please continue to write to me and I will continue to write back as soon as possible.

I look forward to hearing from all of you either via letter, text, or simply commenting on this post.

Here is my address again in case you forgot it!
Samantha Hall
4300 University Drive
Juneau, AK 99801

Care Package from Aunt Heidi!

Another certificate!

my apologies!

I apologize everyone for not posting. Once school started I became overwhelmed with classes! I understand that many of you have just figured out how to find my blog and I encourage you to check it as often as possible, as long as I continue to post daily.

I have spent the last few days in the Mendenhall River for my Swift Water Rescue class so I can become a Swift Water Rescue Technician! Which pretty much allows me to save your life in the water..or rather it teaches me to have a fighting chance so I won't die in a river. Either way, you can only imagine how much work it can be, especially because the Mendenhall River flows from the Mendenhall Glacier so the water is roughly 34 degrees. I have never been so cold in my life! Both dry suits I wore had leaks in them, so both ended up becoming containers for glacier water, which you can imagine is pretty miserable. But even though I come home at night feeling as if I just got done with a rugby match (minus the bruises and whip lash) and even though I'm freezing my ass off all day long..it is completely worth it.

More to come later..when I'm less tired!!

class list this semester

what a day..

Juneau weather, yet another gorgeous day! I got so many errands done today, sent a package to France, picked up some stamps so I am ready to write back to people as soon as I receive some letters! But more importantly, I jumped into the frigid water of Auke Lake. It was invigorating! I hope to jump back in soon. My first class went well, the professor is out at a conference so we had a TA teach the class, all we did was watch a movie on athletics in the early 1900's but overall I'm looking forward to what this class has to offer. I haven't received any more French vocab yet but I'm sure there will be more to come!

mendenhall ice cave..

Today is the first day of school and I don't have class until 3pm!! Looks like I'll take care of some errands..here are some other photos that Anna Gutschi (another exchange student from Austria) took while at the ice caves. Enjoy!

once in a lifetime..

Today a few friends and I hiked the West Glacier trail and climbed inside of the ice caves. It was honestly a once in a lifetime experience. It's like walking into an enormous freezer. And all the way in the back of the cave there is a hole in the ceiling looking up into the blue sky. The only way to get there is to walk through a waterfall of glacier melt, ankle deep in a swift moving river. But once you're directly underneath the hole the sun shines down on you. Anna took photos of the hole in the glacier, I'll be sure to post those later. Other than the extraordinary blue ice within the glacier we were fortunate enough to have gorgeous weather. It is very seldom that Juneau has good weather but so far I have been very lucky. Tomorrow I start school and I am not prepared what-so-ever. I have no notebooks, no paper, nothing for school. Hopefully tomorrow I will wake up early, make breakfast, go for a jog, buy a notebook, grab some coffee and speak to my professors about schedule conflicts, but the only thing that is certain is my plan to jump into Auke Lake. Wish me luck!

Tonight I skyped with Doug, it was so good to talk to him, no matter what it seems like he always has the right thing to say. He's now teaching me French so that I won't look like a typical American tourist when I visit him in Le Mans. Here's my vocab this week:
Bonjour, je m'appelle Sam.
Comment ça va?
Bien et toi?
Je voudrais une bière s'il vous plait.

ps. My roommates are wonderful and I couldn't be more pleased with them!

first time for everything

Unfortunately, I haven't seen a bear in a while. Although that might be good because tomorrow I set off to hike the West Glacier Trail up to the ice caves at the Mendenhall Glacier, so wish me luck!

But today..I had my first Alaskan..and then I had a few more. ;)

 Squires Rest with Anna Gutschi

cheers

So far..the Alaskan experience has been everything I could have imagined and more. It is hard to stay connected back home though. I've spent the last 9 days in a rigorous Wilderness First Responder course which requires 80 hours of training. Therefore, in my free time I am checking in with my family, studying, trying to make connections/friends with my roommates and my fellow exchange comrades, and trying not to get too lost. Postcards are especially appreciated, I received my first one today and I intend to reply promptly! I have met loads of great people, and have unfortunately picked up strange terms such as, "I need to use the loo" or "let me know when you wanna head down to the pub". I feel as though I am constantly looking back to home, constantly on Facebook trying to determine when my friends back home arrived at school, and constantly updated with APO emails and reminders of when the first BAM practice will be. I do miss home. I miss being surrounded by my brothers and advocating for what is best for our group and our community; I miss showing up 5 minutes late to a BAM practice and no longer receiving a glare because my tardiness is expected; I miss the Thai food and Bruce's; I miss receiving Dove Dark Chocolate quotes and eating Sour Patch Watermelons on a monthly basis; I miss having someone read what I write before I submit it; and I miss watching twisted dark dramas that make absolutely no sense by the end. Although I miss all of these things, and although they can never be replaced, I know Alaska has more to offer me and I simply cannot wait to seek a great perhaps.

day seven

Seven bears sighted in seven days.

Man, Alaska is quite the experience. Other than 9 hour days filled with wilderness first responder training, I feel as if I have been running around non-stop since I arrived in Juneau. But it is absolutely gorgeous here. I can't quite capture the image of mountains that rise up out of the water. It is unlike anything I have ever seen before. I'd love to have photos printed and mail them home to friends and family. Unfortunately, I haven't received any letters or packages from anyone! I hope this changes soon, it's hard to keep up with life back in Maine when your only resource to find out information is via Facebook. Please everyone, feel free to text/call/write me, I would love to hear from you!

I'll try to post more frequently!!

Auke Bay

day two

Well day two started out a little rough. I decided I needed to go to Walmart after realizing that I didn't have any toothpaste or shampoo and conditioner. So I embark on this journey to Walmart with an exchange student from Austria. We get to Walmart and I kept telling myself not to buy too much, only the essentials because I need to be able to carry everything back. Well, let me tell you this, I went overload! I could barely carry my newly bought items back and Walmart is cheap as hell, so, of course their bags are cheap as hell! After the fourth bag broke on me on my mile, uphill hike back to my apartment through construction, I wanted to break down and cry. Let me just say that, this is quite a pathetic reason to cry and I won't get too into it but there were other circumstances that had occurred and this was icing on the cake. Well what did I do? I couldn't carry the bags back, they were too heavy and my items kept ripping the bag and crashing to the ground. So, I left my bags with a construction worker on the side of one of Juneau's main roads and walked to my apartment in order to grab a duffle bag so that I could carry all my belongings back. And then I cried. Again, pathetic I realize, but I believe it was necessary. After that I began knitting a scarf waiting for my roommate to return home from work and then we went out to SE Waffle Co., where we had dinner and were finally able to connect!

Let's hope that day three starts out how day two ended!

home

Hello everyone!

I just wanted to let you know that I have arrived at my new home for the next 10 months! I have set my room up, I met one of my roommates, I grabbed coffee from a local coffee shop, I have toured my campus, and I have gotten one of those student ID's (crappy photo and all!). I am not feeling homesick (yet!), let's hope it stays that way! There are still many items I need to pick up at the store before I can really call this place home, but I encourage all of you to write to me in order to help with the transition. I'd also like to mention that I would appreciate snail mail over e-mails. I will continue to post photos so that you can continue to follow me on my new adventure!

I look forward to hearing from you!
Sam


Snail Mail:
Samantha Hall
4300 University Dr.
Juneau, AK 99801

E-mail:
samantha_grace11@yahoo.com

Facebook:
Samantha Grace

so many new things..all at once.

my first e-mail!

too bad it's simply notifying me of my own password change..

my acceptance!

Samantha ,  you are in.  F13.

Happy thanksgiving !

Forest

:D

my half acceptance..

Hi Samantha.  

Thanks for putting in your application, it looks excellent.  Im hoping to serve your needs and you are certainly qualified to participate in our program;  unfortunately I dont see an immediate solution if you are indeed interested in earning our certificate and attending in the spring and then the fall.  

Our leadership cohort is tight knit this year and including an additional member on our spring capstone seems unlikely- in addition a fair amount of the leadership curriculum, including the decision on what our capstone expedition will be, occurs (and has now occurred) in the fall.  There may be an alternative, one as of yet undetermined, but as I said in past correspondence the program does run fall to spring.  We're a small program at a small school.  Both Kevin Krein and myself are teaching overloads in F12/S13 to meet demand for our existing students.  

Id love to work with you in S13 and F13;  I cannot commit to a certificate completion plan at this time as the staffing and schedule may not allow it.  Again, there may be alternative but we're not seeing one on our end, at least right now.  

I do wonder if perhaps you might delay your attendance here until next fall.  Happy to talk to you on the phone about this.  Excited to see you in Spring 2013.

Forest

Forest Wagner
Assistant Professor and Program Director, Outdoor Studies
University of Alaska Southeast
(907)796-6361

here goes nothing..

first off,
I apologize for not writing sooner, it has certainly been a long haul getting all of this information and paperwork together and I still have so much farther to go. Now I'm at this stand still, a dilemma, if you will. After accepting my placement at the University of Alaska Southeast for the spring 2013 semester, I now may have to change my plans.

first plan:

go to UAS for spring 2013 semester
get away from Farmington
meet new people
try new things
come home

second plan:

heard there was an Outdoor Studies program which sounds really great
I can get a certificate out of it if I go for two semesters
go to UAS for spring and fall 2013 semester
get certificate
come home

third plan:

apply for Outdoor Studies certificate program
find out that I got half accepted
would prefer if I delay my departure or attend for three semesters
come home summer 2014

problem #1: if I attend UAS for three semesters, then I miss UMF graduation.
problem #2: I also miss my senior seminar class and won't receive the 8 more credits of rehab elective courses that I need to graduate.
problem #3: because I missed those vital classes in the graduation process I won't graduate on time.
problem #4: I would have to go to school at UMF for another semester (if everything works out) and graduate in the winter of 2014.
problem #5: I would essentially be transferring and would be giving up seeing my friends and her for a very long time.
problem #6: I planned on not getting involved for fear of making my decisions more complicated, it seems that I have recently made it more difficult to make these decisions.



What do I do now?