Sierra

You sound like a person who will love the adventure of living in the bush (or in the swamps) of Bethel. Enjoy all the different types of people you will meet. I would suggest that you get an LLBean catalog and buy some of the $15 socks because there will be times when you need them and all supplies will be much cheaper to get before you go. Don't forget Bunny Boots or whatever they call them now.! We wintered one year in Fairbanks and our biggest problem was seeing (we both wear glasses and they freeze or mist over quickly)! A wool scarf for your neck and face and a good wool cap for your head, long johns... wool, wool, wool! Maybe take old blankets (quilts) with you that you never really liked that much and won't mind leaving when you come back for good.

People are people all over the place and if you don't limit your "type" you will make lots of friends, from the simple, plain living natives (think of rural American farmers of a few decades ago) right on to the scientists, teachers, priests, etc... Alaska has lots of quilt stores (what else to do all winter?) but getting it brought in will cost, even if you find some good shops in Bethel.

Had to laugh when you said you were going to rural Alaska, because that essentially means "not Anchorage, which is only 30 minutes away from Alaska". I was offered a teaching job in Bethel and was really being wooed by a couple of priests until they found out my husband was a counselor for problemed youth... and I became chopped liver and they spent time trying to woo him. That was years ago and I suspect Bethel has reliable electricity now.

Don't neglect the advice about getting sun therapy in the winter! We met a gal who thought the people from her office in Fairbanks were discusting the way they ran outside at noon, opened their jackets and blouses at the top, threw their arms wide and stood in the street facing the few minutes of sunshine they could get... until she got so depressed her fellow workers forced her to participate and she realized it was a pagan ritual, but a matter of physical survival.

We took jobs in Asia, instead of Alaska, but we go there regularly because we have family there... we thought if we took jobs in Alaska we'd never move and we wanted to see more of the world. Can't be sorry, but still love Alaska!!! Enjoy the northern lights!!!!