Anchorage

I met a new friend at the Anchorage Museum and as we looked out the window over the whole city she said with an almost rhapsodic voice, "Anchorage is not the ugliest city in America... but it's definitely in the top ten."  Walking around, it's hard to disagree.  It reminds me of the flat blocks back in Prague, built for one purpose, and aesthetics was not it.  

It's easy to look just in front of you.  It's easy to discount the city for its blocks of beige boxes.  But they serve an essential function.  The hold the offices of businesses and industry that provide us the opportunity to live in modern comfort and...

 to live in a city with this as the horizon.  

I've been in Alaska three weeks.  I found a job teaching preschool and I took it!  I do not view this as wildly-adventurous.  We live in a time when opportunities must be seized because it is unlikely that they will come along again soon.  But one thing I have found about Alaska is that there are opportunities here.  Things are not as rough as in the rest of the country.  This is the first place I've been where most recent college graduates I meet are working in their chosen fields.  

And I'm digging the people.  The fashion is blog-worthy.  The beer is good.  Public transit is working well for me so far.  The public libraries are awe-inspiring.  

And I can be friends with this reindeer on Facebook.  

(My roommate tells me that this is not the original Star, but a replacement.  As a child, she would drive by and whisper, "I will free you someday, little reindeer.")

Expect more Anchorage love from me!
-Colleen