Fred Meyers is the biggest store you have.
The sun is an unknown object to you.
You think the sky is grey, not blue.
Tourists are more common than residents.
You see more gift shops than all other kinds of stores.
You see more boats than cars.
Everyone owns at least one gun for hunting.
You see more people fishing than playing video games.
You see a bear make a touchdown.
You eat ice cream on a cold day.
June is a sunny month.
You walk to the mall and you only see about 3 people there.
You try tanning in 70*F.
Softball, baseball and soccer are outdoor sports played with 3 inches of rain on the ground.
Everyone owns a boat.
Everyone shops online.
Half the stars you see are airplanes.
It rains on a sunny day.
The only thing closest to grass is moss.
You see more people smoking fish than cigarettes.
You see kids swimming in the glacier.
You consider stepping in the rain a shower.
Someone you don’t know knows your name.
Your best friend is a snowman.
You have a glacier in your back yard.
You have only one fast-food restaurant in a capitol city.
You have more boots than clean socks.
It takes you five hours to catch a salmon.
You walk outside, look up and say, “What’s that big yellow thing in the sky, it burns!”
You can’t walk to the store without finding a path through the trees.
All the shirts say hockey mom.
You hit a deer 16 different times, when really you’ve hit 16 different deer.
You laugh when someone asks where the igloos are.
You get stuck driving in snow.
The only thing hot is your coffee.
You smell dead fish from your house.
Have caught a halibut.
Get excited that the overpass is open.
You favorite basketball player is Carlos Boozer.
You go in the snow and get to warm.
Your not afraid of jumping off your roof during winter.
Your not afraid to get, “close and personal” with the bears at the glacier.
If you get asked if you’ve seen a penguin.
Recognize a moose as Bullwinkle’s.
You know what the polar plunge is.
Your dog has ever scared away a bear.
You’re tired of the taste of salmon.
Someone has ever asked you if you name is Raven cloud.
You mow your lawn with a snow blower.
You have to wear a rain jacket in the summer.
You wear a t-shirt in 30* weather.
You think seeing a bear isn’t a big deal.
You go out in the snow in the winter half dressed.
You like skiing.
You don’t have a tan.
You react to blue sky.
You know what an iceberg is.

Highlights from our team's expectations for their exchange

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Highlights from our team's thoughts about being a Cultural Ambassador

see more on the Personal Profiles

To be quiet when we see or hear a sign of animal.

That it is important to know where to look.

That your trap should be set up.

What are some of the important things that you have learned about your Sister Schools culture from this visit?: You never really see people doing something independently, you always see them in a group.They are independent when they get there food.We learned that they don't waist food. But if you do then it makes you feel bad unless they give it to there dogs then that makes everybody happy.
How do you think that this visit has changed how you think about yourself and your own culture?: I think it made us realize that we should not waste that much. Now we realize the little things in life that we never really noticed before.It taught us to be more kind and respectful.They have to be very conservative with things like gas,food, and house hold supplies.

1) What was the greatest thing about this exchange?: FOOD! THE FOOD WAS AWESOME!!!!
2) If you could have changed one thing about your trip to your Sister School community, what would it be?: Spending better time getting to know out housers better than we did.
3) As you looked at your Sister School’s Destination Log, what did you notice about how your Sister School Cultural Ambassadors see your community?: They thought our community had a lot of crime, We think they changed their minds.
4) How does their perspective influence your view of your community?: We see it a lot bigger than we used to. It seems to us now like LA used to seem.
5) What are two things that you learned about your Sister School community’s culture as a result of your trip?: They don't want to be wasteful. And it was good to here how honest and kind they all were.
6) How are the people in your Sister School community different than the people in your home community?: Everybody knows everybody there, and there's no way we could even memorize the names of 36 thousand some-odd people.
7) What do you think the people of your Sister School community have most in common with the people in your community?: We all like to hang out with friends.
8) During the exchange, when were the moments you felt most like you were being a Cultural Ambassador (i.e., sharing culture, learning culture, or building bridges)?: When we learned about the Yupik things that they still did, and had been doing for years.
9) Why do you think it’s important for students to be Cultural Ambassadors in Alaska?: So we can learn about our heratige and remember that there are other people in Alaska that don't live just like us.
10) What are two things you learned about yourself by participating in this program?: We learned that we can be ourselves and that we are sometimes way too mean.
11) What are two things you learned about your community?: We have a lot, even if we don't know it.
There's a lot more going on here than we think.
12) What are some things you think that all Alaskans have in common?: Fish eating
We are used to cold weather