Happy in Alaska: Happy Way Up North

阿拉斯加的土地面积是一个巨大的州。事实上，如果你把阿拉斯加切成两半，每一半都会比得克萨斯州大。我经常访问城市Anchorage 和 Kenai，但我住在阿拉斯加内陆，所以我能做的最好的描述就是我在那里生活三年中的一些普通日子（以及未来的日子，如果是神允许）。

传统的阿拉斯加旅行有很多话要说，但对于那些计划去更内陆的人来说，这里是对内陆生活一天的看法。

Alaska is a huge state. In fact, if you cut Alaska in half, both halves would be larger than the state of Texas. I visited Anchorage and Kenai frequently, but I lived in the Interior of Alaska, so the best I can do is describe some of the common days from my life from the three years I lived there (and more in the future, God willing).

There's a lot to be said about more conventional Alaska travel, but for those who are planning to go inland a little more, here is perspective on a day of life in the Interior.

阿拉斯加内陆学生的一天

我喜欢阿拉斯加的反差。我住在Fairbanks郊外的一间小屋里，离大学大约三英里半，就在城外，周围是一片荒野。当我提到小屋时，并不是指在乡村优雅的经典精神视野中堆放的原木和漂亮的壁炉。

我说的是一个堆在一起非常坚固，不会跌倒，而且通风良好，但在 40 度以下时，为了加热，就不好通风了。没有自来水，也没有室内的水管（尽管室外的暖气灯似乎比普通灯更能忍受冬天），用无线网络查看电子邮件并找出当天要做的工作。

如果是夏天，那么它会很简单，因为它总是如此。假设我睡的很好而不是凌晨 3 点还在外面看书，那么这个时候就该做饭了，尽可能多地节约用水，并注意盘子和垃圾。然后我把笔记本电脑装在背包里，准备徒步进城 3.5 英里，其中大约 1 英里实际上是通过旷野小路。

骑自行车的人

当我走路时，很多人会骑自行车经过我，我经常对自己说，如果说蒙古人是骑马的人，那么阿拉斯加内陆人就是骑自行车的人。对于像我这样的新手感到很惊奇的是他们不用双手骑车、转弯和驾驶。只有一半的机会我会一路步行到镇上。

人们总是为搭便车的人停车，甚至经常为那些不伸出拇指（拦车手势）的人停车。我身高 6 英尺，体重 300 磅，所以同样的，他们甚至会为看起来“可怕”的人们停下来，这些人通常会变成好脾气的人。

生活在这个地方，很多人“知道如何处理自己”，也有一些很大的优势——比如没有人害怕载步行者。有九成的人不是在阿拉斯加出生和长大的，他们在 5、10 或 20 岁从中西部来的，并且再也没有回去过。移居这里的中西部人似乎很适应这里的生活，而且似乎是我认识的一些最酷的人，在那里他们与阿拉斯加人相处得很好。

如果这是一个正常的阿拉斯加冬日，零下四十度，我会在一天中的几个小时黎明和黄昏时忍者严寒，装备起来，然后步行去学校。几乎可以肯定，只要我伸出一个拇指，我就会被接走，如果就算我不伸出手，也会得到很多乘车服务。到了冬天的时候，四十以下仍然是可以步行的天气，只要行程不超过五英里。

城市里的生活和其他地方的城市里的生活一样，出奇地正常。唯一不同的是，更多的人在酒吧里有有趣的生活故事，去过其他地方，而对于一个作家来说，就好像灵感创造的天堂一样坐在这些地方听。

在周末任何有篝火燃烧的地方，你通常可以带着一打啤酒走上去开始聊天。聚会很有趣，总是围着火堆，并有美味的食物。嬉皮士、大学生、蓝领们都会再次会见。邻居们也经常出来，只是为了看看发生了什么事，有一次，一位演奏风笛的苏格兰人从黑暗中出现。多么好的时光啊。

资料来源：https://wanderwisdom.com/travel-destinations/A-Day-In-The-Life-Of-A-Typical-Alaskan

讨论问题:

1. 阿拉斯加有多大？

2.作者住在什么样的房子里？

3. 阿拉斯加的夏天与其他地方有何不同？

4. 学校有多远，他怎么到那里？

5. 阿拉斯加人在内地使用什么交通工具？

6. 如果一个人不是在阿拉斯加出生和长大的，那么这个人可能来自哪里？

7. 在阿拉斯加一个正常的冬日，作家如何去上学？

8. 周末在有篝火的地方会发生什么？

9. 你住的地方有美食聚会吗？ 你在哪里举办这些聚会，你邀请谁？

10 .你喜欢住在哪些地方？ 为什么？

A Day in the Life of an Interior Alaskan Student

I love the contrasts of Alaska. I lived in a cabin just outside of Fairbanks, about three and a half miles from the University, which sits just outside of the city and is surrounded by heavy wilderness. When I say cabin, I don't mean logs stacked up with a nice fireplace in the classic mental vision of rustic elegance.

I'm talking about a slapped together structure solid enough not to fall apart, and drafty, but not too draft to heat when it's 40 below. No running water, no indoor plumbing (though a heat lamp in the outhouse makes winter far more bearable than with just a normal light), and wireless Internet to check on e-mail and figure out any responsibilities for the day.

If it's summer, then it will be light because it always is. Assuming I slept well instead of reading a book outside until 3 a.m. then it's time to make a meal, conserving as much water as possible and keeping an eye on dishes and trash. Then I pack my laptop in my backpack and prepare for a 3 ½ mile hike into town, about a mile of which actually is via a hiking trail.

People of the Bike

While I walk many people will pass on bikes, and I've often thought to myself that if Mongolians were people of the horse, than Interior Alaskans are people of the bike. The sheer number who ride, turn, and steer without hands is pretty amazing to a novice like me. There is only a 50/50 chance I'll walk all the way to town.

People pull over for hitchhikers all the time, and often times even for those who aren't sticking out a thumb. I'm 6 feet even and 300 lbs, so yeah, they even stop for the "scary" guys who usually turn out just to be good-natured fellas.

Living in a place where so many people "know how to handle themselves" has some great advantages—like no one being scared to pick up walkers. Nine times out of ten if the person isn't born and raised Alaskan, they showed up from the Midwest 5, 10, or 20 years ago and never went back. Displaced Midwesterners seem to fit right in, and seem to be some of the coolest people I know, up there with the Alaskans they get along so well with.

If it's a normal Alaska winter day and forty degrees below zero, I suck it up, bundle up, and walk to school during the few hours of the day when there is a dawn/dusk light. It's almost a certainty I'll get picked up if I just stick a thumb out, and I'll get plenty of rides if I don't. By the time winter is in full force, forty below is still walking weather, as long as the goal isn't more than five miles away.

Life in the city is amazingly normal like life in cities elsewhere. Only difference is more people in bars have interesting life stories, have been to other places, and for a writer just sitting and listening in these places can be a creative heaven.

On the weekends anywhere there's a bonfire burning, you can usually walk right up with a six pack and start chatting away. Parties are fun, always around a fire and with good food cooking. Hippies, college students, blue collars alike all meet. Neighbors often show up just to see what's going on, and one time a Scotsman playing bagpipes appeared out of the darkness. Great times.

Source: https://wanderwisdom.com/travel-destinations/A-Day-In-The-Life-Of-A-Typical-Alaskan

Discussion Question:

1. How big is Alaska?

2. What type of house did the writer live in?

3. How is Alaskan summer different from other places?

4. How far is the school and how does he get there?

5. What mode of transportation do Alaskans use in the interior?

6. If a person isn’t born and grew up in Alaska, where did that person likely come from?

7. How does the writer go to school on a normal winter day in Alaska?

8. What happens on weekends at a place with a bonfire?

9. Do you have food gatherings where you live?  Where do you have these gatherings and who do you invite?

10. Which places do you like to live at?  Why?