Narration

I have completed my first full day in Alaska here in Denali. Far far from civilization- the closest grocery store is a two and a half hour drive to Fairbanks. This is wilderness. I am surrounded by beauty and spectacle but I have lived in cities- major world cities and small towns too. But not small enough towns that the population doubles when the summer workers came into town.
This is different.
The midnight sun is confusing and although days are long and weary, I'm not tired. Even after a full day of plane, taxi, and bus rides yesterday, when it came to 11pm I wasn't wishing to sleep a wink.
Yesterday my five hour bus ride from Anchorage to Denali felt shorter than my three hour flight- probably because it was guided and narrated. And listening to that narration and information I learned quite a bit, which I will share with you all now.
1. The five types of salmon, by common and specific name in size order and how to remember them.
2. How to react to moose and bear attacks.
3. Who Mary Carey was- and met her daughter.
4. The strategy behind the placement of huskies in dog mushing.
5. The story behind why the Iditrarod ends in Nome.
6. How to model the shape of Alaska with my hand.
7. How northern lights are created and when and why we can see them.
8. The two types of spruce trees in Alaska.
9. The watershed that causes rivers to run North or South in Alaska because of the continental divide.
10. How to make a latte.
11. That Houston, AK tied to old oil Houston, TX.
12. A man's fascination with doll goats basically created the Denali National Park.
13. 1 in 6 people in Alaska has a personal pilot's license
14. Ne means land, and na means flowing water in an old native Alaskan tribe.
15. The identification stickers on whether something was Alaskan grown, made, or made by an Alaskan native.

.One day in, spent a lot of time in HR. I have my first shift tomorrow- with a nine hour shift out of the 41 I was scheduled this week.

Oh and I already saw three moose today.

Others

Stretching all our limbs like a soccer mom does to save seats at a sporting event, we roll ourselves out of the car we had been sitting in for three or so hours. Passing through Olympia, Aberdeen, and Humptulips, we finally made the trek to Kalaloch. A Pacific Ocean beach that greeted us with a sign reading “Beach log kills,” turned out to be a beautiful locale. The beach was filled with hundreds of dried Velella jellyfish and huge sandstone rocks that looked like they belonged on the moon. There were caverns, arches, and trees that the ground had fallen out from them, but they stood nonetheless with their roots perched perfectly strong against the sides of fallout.

Upon walking the shore, Ryan mentioned my last “moody little blog post” which I couldn’t help but agree that I should’ve signed “xoxo” in true gossip girl fashion. Alas, I stand by it.

All day long, “Come as you are” by Nirvana was stuck in my head because it was imprinted on the welcome sign to Aberdeen in honor of Kurt Cobain. The whole day I couldn’t help but think of if Kurt had been where I had or if he went to the beaches often at all. Traveling through the city with boarded up windows that intermixed with coffee huts- I tried to fit this all together with what I knew about Nirvana. And it didn’t really mesh- which I guess is what “Come as you are” is about anyway.

Also in Aberdeen, we stopped for coffee.

After an obscurely long wait, we pulled up to the kitschy coffee hut to look at what they offered. There were teas, coffee, extras, and “others”? And that is where it all started.

Under coffee there was the category “Blended” which I assumed in Starbucks terminology meant Frappuccino, hence sounding lovely as I was melting in my seat, pinned down through the windshield by the penetrating sun. Therefore, I ordered a blended coffee. The peppy barista asked me a series of questions as to if I wanted it iced, with espresso shots, what flavor I wanted, if I wanted it chocolatey, if I wanted a Frappuccino thing, etc. It was an ordeal. I just wanted a latte blended together with ice. That’s it. Finally, we both came to a consensus and I was looking forward to be melting alongside my frozen drink in the front seat of Ryan’s car. The barista then was asking her next customer a series of questions on what “iced” entailed.

I suddenly realized that I would soon be in the peppy barista’s position in Alaska.

And also totally clueless.

As much as I love coffee. I don’t know anything about how to make it. I am the classic Seattle hypocrite who’s not from Seattle, claims they are, drinks their coffee, critiques it, and is completely ignorant. BUT! I hope to soon be educated about the topic by becoming a barista….and asking probably a longer series of questions than I was asked that day.

So I will come to Alaska as I did Aberdeen, as I am- a clueless, peppy, and questioning barista that will take ten minutes just to start your order.

Alaska, come as you are, as a friend, as a known enemy- see you in three days.

5/19/15

This morning I woke up angry.

A mood I rarely come across and don't know how to deal with. I felt betrayed and hurt- and thus pissed off.

So I did what I thought was best: to pour myself a cup of coffee bountiful with milk and brown sugar, sit down and write my long abandoned blog.

And here we are.

Part One: President

My friend Mitch and I have determined that we are members of the “Care Too Much Club” which means that we will never turn our friends down. We will always drop everything and be there for whomever, whenever. This however takes a toll that I was unaware of until this morning when I woke up in a twist. So, I would like to formally step down from my post of President of this club and join the “Mutual Caring Society” that is pretty difficult to get into.

Part Two: Frontier

In just five days I will be moving to the great state that is Alaska! There I will be a barista for the McKinley Chalet Resort in Denali until August. I am so incredibly excited and over the moon for the adventures I plan on taking.

Part Three: Un-American

I have had an amazing year in DC and at American University trying out crew and joining a sorority. Oh, and also my classes and professors were the best I could have ever wished for. Even with all my activities, I still felt out of place. Thus, I have applied to transfer schools but will not hear back until late this month.

Part Four: Truth

Sometimes it’s hard to say “They’re missing out” or “Their loss” and actually mean it. I fully intent and logically agree with myself each time I find myself saying these phrases. However, believing in them is a challenge.

Part Five: Apology

This morning I was standing in line at the local pharmacy waiting for a prescription. The woman standing in front of me, who also had parked next to me, wore a lacy cream dress past her knees, ruby pointy flats, a new, navy, Michael Kors handbag, and clean cut blonde bob. After chatting with the pharmacist she turned around to those of us behind her in line chuckling and said, “Sorry, it usually doesn't take this long!”

But I was no fool.

I knew that she asked for probiotics, which needed to be chilled- and that she asked for ice. Her mentioning forgetting her cooler is what lengthened the time of her endeavor. Don’t blame the pharmacy now. I knew the insignificant truth behind her polite and courteous apology. I brushed off the minute of two that I waiting in line while the pharmacist grabbed ice.

This leads me back to waking up so mad this morning. Recently, I've found that I know more than people assume I do. I’m not going to burn bridges but some may mysteriously fall down without a guaranteed explanation.

A note:

Basically this post can be summed up in one sentence from the film, Network (1976) which I watched this year in my cinema course:"I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take this anymore."

Character

Two days ago I was talking with Mariah about just that and I was curious as to what other people thought about me joining crew. After all, did they really expect the girl who successfully got out of going to high school while still graduating, the person who lived for some time in a temple and meditated for eight hours a day, and skipped class to grab milkshakes and donuts with her best friends to join one the most intense sports? Nope, probably not.

This epiphany of course occurred to me on yet another oar run during practice this morning. Every weekday morning at 5:00am, 4 girls carrying and running with 2 oars for 1 mile. I wake up at 4:00 every morning when I really am not a morning person. I'm running miles and did 1000 push-ups in a day when I never used my free membership even though I work at a gym. And when crew went through ROTC boot camp for a day the lieutenant said, "In the army, you either become strong or smart." Immediately I thought smart- I would rather be smart. I'm really not built for crew at all.

And then I thought about why I joined crew. And I didn't think much of it at the time, I just signed up at an activity faire and then that was that. Why not?

And that's how I realized I have made most of my decisions in life.....through the use of "Why not?"

I didn't think I would live in Thailand or DC.

I didn't think I would get a role in the musical or one-acts last year.

I didn't think I would actually be ok at impromptu speaking.

I didn't think I would like TCC or hiking as much as I do.

And I didn't think that I would be as close to the people who I am today.

Many of experiences that have helped me to become who I am, have always been out of "character" and out of the box.

So even though this slightly more athletic Turi is pretty ridiculous and amusing, don't think for a second that I thought this through.

Update

It has been a while since my last blog post and thus an update is due!

Part 1: Student
On paperwork it usually asks what your occupation is and as a young adult I write "student." However, I have never really felt that was completely true until now. I have never in my entire life spent so much time studying or sitting in frumpy library seats. I was talking to one of my professors about this to which he responded "well, that's how you know you are going to a good school." Alas.

Part 2: Rotation
The girls on the crew team have decided that our day to day routine goes like this.
         Rowing
         Omelette
         Study
         Sleep
         Repeat
There is an omelette station in the cafeteria and because we get back from practice around 7:40ish, there is only us and the ROTC kids in line. And i must make a confession, I've never had an omelette before I came to AU but nothing tastes better after practice than an omelette, potatoes, and chocolate milk.

Part 3: Monumenting
Here in DC, the monuments on the mall are open all day and night. Mainly because you can't really close them....but doesn't matter. The point is that at night the monuments are beautifully lit and there aren't any tourists. Thus going to see the monuments in the middle of the night is called monumenting- I've been twice so far and this last time my friends and I ran into two people who worked for NYU at the Washington Memorial. They were both here for a conference in DC and only had the weekend to see the city and thus we decided to combine our groups and walk to the LIncoln Memorial. They were both extremely interesting ladies and upon crossing a crosswalk one pulled me aside from the group. She told me that she could tell I was really intelligent and recommended that I never stop or let anything get in my way. I'm incredibly flattered and it caught me off guard. This is because we met as all of my friends and I were singing Africa by Toto while our legs and feet resting on the memorial to star gaze.

Part 4: NYC
This past Saturday I had the opportunity to spend the day in New York City! About 50 kids in the UC program including hopped on a bus to ride 4.5 hours there and then in the evening ride 4.5 hours back. I spent the day with my friend from crew and we did quite a bit.
Found a street fair and ate gyros.
Walked to MoMA- only to figure out that museums in New York are not like DC museums and cost a lot to get into.
Walked through central park to climb a boulder, lye in the sun, and accidentally took a nap.
Visited the met.
Took the subway.
Ate some cheesecake and a diner.
Walked along the Highline in Chelsea which is brand spanking new. It's old railroad tracks that have been renovated to be an outdoor walking path above the city. They still have some of the old tracks, plenty of sitting room with lawns to picnic in. The whole path is surrounded by different greenery and later on the path turns next to the Hudson River. It's beautiful and one of my most favorite spaces ever.
Got chocolate milkshakes.
Met my friend's French Jewish grandmother who was a doctor in Switzerland and went through the Holocaust. She lives on the Upper West Side in a building that Garrison Keiller lives and Alec Baldwin used to. We went to dinner at a Turkish restaurant on Broadway and the food was divine.

This being only the second time in New York, it was an adventure but I found myself remembering the grid of the city just fine from my previous visit and overall it just felt like a bigger Seattle.

Athlete

My mom has always told my sister and I that we were athletes.
Granted, we were competitive swimmers since around the age of 5 in my mom's eyes, but realistically we joined a club team when we were 7.

Through the years I have participated in a lot of different sports. I was a swimmer, soccer player, runner, hiker, went to tennis and diving camps, danced for a year or two, did gymnastics for a few months, attempting to play volleyball, beat my Thai classmates at badminton, but all of that was before I went into high school. I have tried it all and loved every moment but to revise what my mom told me, I was a great kid athlete.

But, oh how that has changed in a week.

I found myself the school's involvement fair last Wednesday. About 90% of the booths reflected some humanitarian effort or a very effective labeled sorority I should join. 10% were basic clubs like frisbee, the Jewish Frat houses that gave out free falafel, and vegetarian clubs.

I had been looking for some sort of dance club the whole day. Waltzing? Swing dance? Salsa? Nada. So I went on to find something physical and active. The tennis club turned out to be super competitive and not for the beginners. And besides I don't actually own a racquet so...I moved on. Eventually, I made my way to the Crew Club. Not stage crew, the rowing type of crew. Knowing that it was an intense, prestigious, and sometimes the only way to get into an ivy league type of sport- I knew I would probably get shot down faster than the tennis club did to me earlier.

To my surprise, crew has a very high learning curb and novices are highly encouraged to join!
And thus I immediately signed up.

Practice started that Saturday where we learned how to use the rowing machines (they called them ergs, probably because whenever you erg, you say "erg" as everyone hates ergs (or it's short for ergometer (either or really)). We got in the eight person boat with the varsity coxswain and off we went...clumsily.
.
Practices have been three days a week so far, starting at 4:25am. Tuesday I couldn't really feel half my legs. Today two people threw up after the fitness test. Crew is very tough. But has it's rewards. I'm already developing friends through crew, once we were out on the water a second time I got the hang of it, I can actually do push-ups now, and I get to be out on the water all the time!
This means I am now qualified as a (one week experienced) college athlete which is a little strange. I always assumed that "college athletes" were gigantic football players, recruited volleyball players, and national champions. But here I am- my butt getting kicked at 4am with no experience of butt-kicking practices in a long time-standing among them.
And thus another revision must be made to my mother's statement, "I am a (one week so far!) college athlete."

On another note, please feel free to suggest any topics that I should write about! Anything about DC, college, my life, opinions on underwater basket weaving, whatever your heart desires!

College

Alright, so I'm traveling again and hence the blog must be a thing again!
What has happened since my return back home?
1. Graduated from high school while talking community college credits which sorta didn't at all transfer to my school now. And got heavily involved in theatre.
2. I went to Stanford for a debate tournament, and don't particularly think San Fran is all that jazz.
3. Kearney vistited right after Thanksgiving and it was just divine.
4. Sophie visited for two weeks where we went to Canada (oh I went to Canada a lot this year), Seattle, Mt. Rainier, and even down to Portland to visit Alex for a couple days.
5. My family hosted an exchange student from Italy named Francesca and we had a blast teaching her that you can't steal food out of the "serve yourself" organic bins at Fred Meyer.
6. Mariah, Tasha, Emma, and I officially created a title for out friendship called "The Circle of Trust." Yes, we are intimidating. Yes, we are incredibly silly. And no, you can not be in it.

And now I'm in college!
I currently am attending American University in Northwest DC and loving it, however the east coast is strange. A gap year was very very tempting however, 1. education is important, 2. I had no money to go abraod and frolic and backpack, and 3. the school gave me money to go here so, why not?

Classes are good, professors are good, I just got a job which is good.
However, just like I did in Thailand, I will probably mainly focus on cultural aspects of my life here at school instead of more scholarly content. And just like I did in Thailand, here are a list of things that are different over here in DC.

1. No hipsters or indie kids- everyone here looks like they can be pinned on a pintrest board rather than placed in a Nirvana concert.
2. Flat- no hills. I'm not sure how I feel about this yet.
3. New chain restaurants- there is a kid on my floor who goes to this Mediterranean restaurant called "Cava" all the time. It is set up subway style except with rice, pita, and felafel. I call him Cavakid, appropriately.
4. Iced black coffee- I mean, why?
5. Boating shoes- with no boats to be seen.
6. Monogramming- I previously just thought this could be found in Land's End catalogs until I realized that the east coast is just Land's End in real life. There is a brand called Vineyard Vines which is kinda a mix between Gap and American Apparel that is popular here?
7. No thrift stores- I honestly don't know what to do.
8. Grassy plains to relax upon- I miss the forests and rocky beaches but there is nothing like a good plain of green grass to stretch out upon.
9. Important people- I got lost in the International Service building during the first week of classes because I wrote my classroom down wrong and asked a man walking in the hall for some help. He helped me find my class but then I realized that I could've just met someone very important that works closely with I don't know the UN and they could've turned me into an ambassador and I totally missed that opportunity because I wrote down a three instead of a five on my schedule. Or it could've been the president of the school and I would have been equally oblivious. It pays to recognize people here and it is a bit stressful.
10. Business- one of the first things I noticed while in DC and the short half hour I spent in Philly with my sister, Anikka, is that people are not especially polite. They aren't rude. They just aren't gregarious. Which is kind of sad. But alas, business as usual.

And that has been kind of what is going on so far in DC but more updates will follow!