Sitka or Bust: Commute The World

Flying over the runway in King Salmon, I realized exactly how different each region of Alaska could possibly be. The cloud cover dispersed and I found myself staring at a wide grassland that looked almost like the savannah of the Lion King, just a different shade of olive drab and dark green. A river ran through it all, a wide twisting river of cascading colors and shades that made me yearn to go swimming. It was a land of lakes and puddles, of new beginnings and severing old ties.

Of course, at that moment I didn’t realize exactly how much I would be experiencing my own personal seclusion form  the outside world. The job advertisement had warned me there was no cell service and I was cool with that, who really calls me besides my mother anyways? But the website said there was also access to internet, though limited to email, rather than skype, downloads or streaming. Email is a decent connection to the outside world. I arrived here and was told email was strictly a chance occurrence, and that internet really never works. My roommate told me to hitchhike to town for the library. I told her my mother would really approve. I am currently considering the option.

I went through orientation following my brief interlude at the tin shack they called an airport and got my rain coat from the company store. I picked up a calling card too, once I realized that my mother would send the troops out to figure out why I hadn’t notified her of my safe arrival. The processing plant itself seemed pretty sweet at first glimpse, and it even smelled better than the fishing lodge I’d just left. I was surprised to say the least. But things got weird when , upon my reception, I noticed at least two distinctive and separate individuals bawling their eyes out and saying things like, “I can’t take another day of this,” or “I don’t know why I thought this was going to be a good idea.” I shrugged them off, but when I went to nap before my shift started, I found myself going over everything and wondering if I was going to break down eventually too.

My shift runs 10pm to 2pm. Today I fillet. We’ll see how I feel tomorrow.