Exchange Student

This past week we had the priveledge of hosting a cultural exchange student in our home. He came from the far away land of Anchorage. "But they're from the SAME state!" you might be thinking. This is true, however we live in an extremely diverse state. There is a significant difference between the culture(s) of Anchorage and the culture(s) that exist in rural Alaska.

16-year-old Ambrose came as part of the Rose Urban Rural Exchange program. Five students from West High in Anchorage along with their teacher Mandy Morell, traveled to Brevig Mission to attend school and learn more about the lifestyle of bush Alaska. In exchange, five students from Brevig will be traveling to Anchorage to stay with the families of these students to find out more about city life. It is an amazing opportunity for both parties.

*Please excuse Harold's face. All the kids were doing it.

Angie Alston was behind getting Brevig involved with this program. She did a wonderful job of finding cultural experiences for the Anchorage students. To be honest we hardly saw Ambrose, he was busy going from event to event. He saw Eskimo dance, ivory carving, went sledding down the mountainside, ate traditional Eskimo food and attended open gym each evening. The girls in the group even tackled a kuspuk making project.

This morning while Ambrose was packing up, he secretly wished the plane would be weathered out so that they could stay "just one more night". A good sign of a successful program.

~AnnMarie