No place like Nome

The first place that I visited when we got to go into town was the museum. It was a museum about Nome's history. The exhibits mostly consisted of information about the settling of nome during the gold rush and the race to get diptheria serum to Nome during the epidemic. This is, of course, what the Iditarod sled dog commemorates each year. The museum was well put together and clearly well maintained, although it was quite small. Above is the museum and below is a picture of Front Street. Front street is the street that runs along the beach and has lots of shops and bars.
The Bering Sea was frozen as far as the eye could see. It was a beautiful sight and I was just happy to get the chance to see it. We had had several days of blustery weather in Nome, but it finally cleared up enough for us to get to go into town. In fact, it was even above freezing at 35 degrees. It made for a very nice walk. A couple days later when we took off in our chartered aircraft for home, we could see that the ice was broken up not too far from the coast.
This structure is called "The Arch" and, as you can see, it is a marker for the end of the Iditarod sled dog race that finishes in Nome each year. Under the arch is me with the band/choir director from Dillingham. It's funny that we only see each other a couple time each year, but me and some of the other directors have become great friends. One of them, the director from Unalakleet, is leaving next year and I will miss her very much. Our band/choir trips just wont be quite the same without her there!
In the center of town is this huge gold panning dish and some statues of historical people from Nome. The kids had a great time throwing snow balls while waiting for the bus here. As I bent down to take a picture in front of this big gold pan, I got blasted right in the head with a snowball.
While the kids were at their Saturday night dance, I took a walk with one of the other band directors and we got to catch a glimpse of the setting sun. It was nice to get outside, because we had been trapped inside of the school for days.
I was impressed to see that Nome had a pretty big wind farm up on their little hill. This picture shows only about half of the windmills that they had. I'm sure that those windmills practically power the entire city (Nome is smaller than Bethel). I really wish our windmills would be installed soon. We were supposed to get a few last summer, but I'm not sure what ever happened to that.
Nome's slogan is "There's no place like Nome." Before going to Nome, somehow I had come under the impression that Nome was a really nice place to live and that they had a really great school. I had somehow gotten the impression that Nome was a little more "classy" than the rest of the bush villages, but after going there I can honestly say that I was not impressed. I could list all of the things that I saw that make me think that, but I dont feel that that is necessary. I would rather just say that although Bethel might have issues and our schools are not perfect by any means, I am proud of what we are doing here and can say that I think we have alot going for us. Being in the Nome school for a couple of days, made me realize what a great school I am teaching in and that I am glad I am here.