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Now, about California. Dakster, I'm not sure I could live in California either. Though I've visited extensively, that isn't the same as living there. Redlands seemed very nice, and my SIL had a great 100 year old orange grove behind her house that made the best juice I have ever had outside of our local moonshine. I loved Palm Desert as well. And then in the Northern part of the state, the redwoods are stunning, and San Jose wasn't bad at all.
I think that it's a good idea for high school students to attend college in another state if they can.
Last edited by Metlakatla; 05-16-2011 at 04:05 PM..
Reason: edited because the troll post I was responding to is gone
WIth you 100%. I have been all over the world, lived in Iceland (which is like a nicer version of AK or what AK should be), Oceana, Aisia, UK, America and many other places. There is nothing special about this place that I have seen. Thankfully I will be leaving here in a couple of months, I had a good time but give me a break. The weather is absolute garbage. Most people tell me they dont like the heat, then I notice they are overweight and not the person to take their shirt off at the beach. No wonder why they dig it.
One thing that blows my mind is trash. You can go way out inthe sticks and still trip over a beer bottle, people just dont care about the nature here. After the snow melts the place looks like a land fill.
Big deal if you get a PFD, its not even a lot of cash and everything is over priced for no reason. They say they have to ship everything in. Duh!! Most of the stuff bought in the US isnt from the US, same deal, why the markup?
Ive seen a few cools things here but its not for me. I like to see the sun for more than two weeks out of the year and eat fresh produce.
Met, I'm sure she talks that way in real life. No, I never heard anyone use 'fooking' lol. She certainly is misguided in more ways than one. Maybe she'll take her #$%%^@ self back where she came from. Vulgar? Hmmmm passed that a long time ago.
Well, hopefully she can get a grip on her behavior before she ends up unemployed. Alaska used to have a program that provided travel assistance for those who end up broke and stranded, but that no longer exists anymore.
WIth you 100%. I have been all over the world, lived in Iceland (which is like a nicer version of AK or what AK should be), Oceana, Aisia, UK, America and many other places. There is nothing special about this place that I have seen. Thankfully I will be leaving here in a couple of months, I had a good time but give me a break. The weather is absolute garbage. Most people tell me they dont like the heat, then I notice they are overweight and not the person to take their shirt off at the beach. No wonder why they dig it.
One thing that blows my mind is trash. You can go way out inthe sticks and still trip over a beer bottle, people just dont care about the nature here. After the snow melts the place looks like a land fill.
Big deal if you get a PFD, its not even a lot of cash and everything is over priced for no reason. They say they have to ship everything in. Duh!! Most of the stuff bought in the US isnt from the US, same deal, why the markup?
Ive seen a few cools things here but its not for me. I like to see the sun for more than two weeks out of the year and eat fresh produce.
This is interesting. I've never been to Iceland but have always wondered what it's like there. In what ways is it what Alaska should be?
I don't see much trash at all by the side of the road here on POW, but I have farther north, and I've seen what you mean about snow melt. I think that not having a bottle deposit creates some of those beer bottles and cans littering the roadsides....here, there's some school group that takes them so people tend to save them for them.
I haven't noticed that many overweight people living either in the interior or down here on POW but that's probably because the lifestyles here are much more active than in Anchorage or the other more urban areas.
The weather is something that some people just can't get past, but it's supposed to be that way. The farther north you go, the less human population the land can support, so we're anthropologically hard wired to prefer the warmer, more abundant climates; genetically we're still hunter/gatherers.
It would be interesting to hear more about what it was like to live in Iceland.
First of all, the California thing. And by the way, its name is California, not Cali. "Cali" sounds like something a "valley girl" would say. Sorry, not usually snobbish about wording, but that one bugs me. Anyhoo, California is NOT the land of milk and honey. It is pretty, sure. It has a lot to offer, sure. But every single one of my friends from here and from back home in AL who have moved out there left mighty quick. High cost of living for which the wages do not compensate, state government is running the place into the ground, and you will pay taxes on things that you didn't even know existed. Not to mention the horrible overcrowding, never-changing weather along the coast, and highly materialistic culture, especially in the cities such as San Diego, Los Angeles, Sacramento, Fresno, San Francisco, and so on. It's just not my thing. I understand the attraction I suppose, but there are much nicer states that also have temperate weather and oceans and mountains.
Secondly, Alaska. Why do people like it so much? I used to wonder the same thing about Alabama until I moved away from there. And then I understood. I'm actually in Birmingham right now, sitting on my parents' back porch as I type. This place is beautiful, full of lakes, rivers, small Appalachian foothills and impressive rock formations, swamps, coastal plains areas, and on top of all that, wonderful friendly people. Now, I hate the climate here, and I want something new to challenge me and take me outside my comfort zone; I want a place that will help me grow into a stronger person by dealing with the difficulties of the place. Alaska fits the bill. Bald eagles, huge mountains, rivers, forests, tundra, lakes, and more coast line than the rest of the US states combined. And that's the tip of the iceberg, so to speak (teehee, a pun).
So I guess what I'm trying to tell you is that anyplace can seem horrible to one person and wonderful to another, and only you can find out what place it is that suits you the best. And the thing is, it WILL take you moving away from Alaska to fully, completely realize all the wonderful things it has to offer, but I think that's wicked normal and that you will, just like everyone else, figure out where your priorities are before too long. It wasn't long ago that I was an angry teenager myself, as a matter of fact.
I feel for you, but I also think that before you totally bash it and say how awful it is, maybe take a look around you, see what you see, and then think whether you will ever see those things in the lower 48. Because a lot of those things are not to be found down here. This ain't no Shangri-La.
If most of my family lived there I'd probably want to move too. Happiness is more about people than location for most of us. Enjoy the people you love, enjoy visits to other places but stay close to your loved ones.
I grew up in Alaska and love it, and right now all my kids still live here. But if they all leave Alaska and start families in the lower 48 I'll probably leave too.
If most of my family lived there I'd probably want to move too. Happiness is more about people than location for most of us. Enjoy the people you love, enjoy visits to other places but stay close to your loved ones.
You know, I was thinking the same thing when I picked western NC as the place I would live and go to college, because it's so close to my family in AL. But you know, I just don't think that holds up, at least not for me. The thing is, now that you can hop on a plane from most anywhere and fly to most anywhere in a short amount of time, distance becomes less relevant. Because even though I live only 5.5 hours away from my family, I still only visit a couple times a year. Plus, if and when I move to Alaska, my family can always fly up and visit me in the summer months and I can take them to all the great places and all that. We've really bridged the gap with commercial flight now. I visited my family just as much when I lived in MA as I do now living in NC.
So I guess I think people are definitely important, but I also think location is very important for some people, and you can always make new friends and keep the old ones. Most of my friends are leaving here soon anyway, so there won't be much left for me here as far as people.
WIth you 100%. I have been all over the world, lived in Iceland (which is like a nicer version of AK or what AK should be), Oceana, Aisia, UK, America and many other places. There is nothing special about this place that I have seen. Thankfully I will be leaving here in a couple of months, I had a good time but give me a break. The weather is absolute garbage. Most people tell me they dont like the heat, then I notice they are overweight and not the person to take their shirt off at the beach. No wonder why they dig it.
One thing that blows my mind is trash. You can go way out inthe sticks and still trip over a beer bottle, people just dont care about the nature here. After the snow melts the place looks like a land fill.
Big deal if you get a PFD, its not even a lot of cash and everything is over priced for no reason. They say they have to ship everything in. Duh!! Most of the stuff bought in the US isnt from the US, same deal, why the markup?
Ive seen a few cools things here but its not for me. I like to see the sun for more than two weeks out of the year and eat fresh produce.
Oh my goodness yes! Glad somebody sees it the way I do too, you brought up some points I forgot to mention so thanx!(: just curious, where will you be relocating?
First of all, the California thing. And by the way, its name is California, not Cali. "Cali" sounds like something a "valley girl" would say. Sorry, not usually snobbish about wording, but that one bugs me. Anyhoo, California is NOT the land of milk and honey. It is pretty, sure. It has a lot to offer, sure. But every single one of my friends from here and from back home in AL who have moved out there left mighty quick. High cost of living for which the wages do not compensate, state government is running the place into the ground, and you will pay taxes on things that you didn't even know existed. Not to mention the horrible overcrowding, never-changing weather along the coast, and highly materialistic culture, especially in the cities such as San Diego, Los Angeles, Sacramento, Fresno, San Francisco, and so on. It's just not my thing. I understand the attraction I suppose, but there are much nicer states that also have temperate weather and oceans and mountains.
Secondly, Alaska. Why do people like it so much? I used to wonder the same thing about Alabama until I moved away from there. And then I understood. I'm actually in Birmingham right now, sitting on my parents' back porch as I type. This place is beautiful, full of lakes, rivers, small Appalachian foothills and impressive rock formations, swamps, coastal plains areas, and on top of all that, wonderful friendly people. Now, I hate the climate here, and I want something new to challenge me and take me outside my comfort zone; I want a place that will help me grow into a stronger person by dealing with the difficulties of the place. Alaska fits the bill. Bald eagles, huge mountains, rivers, forests, tundra, lakes, and more coast line than the rest of the US states combined. And that's the tip of the iceberg, so to speak (teehee, a pun).
So I guess what I'm trying to tell you is that anyplace can seem horrible to one person and wonderful to another, and only you can find out what place it is that suits you the best. And the thing is, it WILL take you moving away from Alaska to fully, completely realize all the wonderful things it has to offer, but I think that's wicked normal and that you will, just like everyone else, figure out where your priorities are before too long. It wasn't long ago that I was an angry teenager myself, as a matter of fact.
I feel for you, but I also think that before you totally bash it and say how awful it is, maybe take a look around you, see what you see, and then think whether you will ever see those things in the lower 48. Because a lot of those things are not to be found down here. This ain't no Shangri-La.
I'll definitely keep that in mind. After high school I'll be moving to Fresno and living there for a year before I start college, so I'll be able to see if I REALLY like it. I have a strong feeling I will, but I've been wrong before.
That's kinda funny at you mention "Cali" sounds like a valley girl thing, because Fresno is a part of the valley :P haha. BUT I have to disagree with the whole valley rich girl, materialistic stereotype, because it's I've never seen that, neither has my mother and she was born and raised there. I can't really speak for the other places you mentioned, but not everyones the same. Like up here, obviously not everyone is into fishing and what not, so I don't too much appreciate you saying that :P
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