It wasn't easy adjusting to the USA, not really. I didn't expect it to be, but most disconcerting was seeing how limited work was. Sarah was working 50 hour weeks and it wasn't fair to be choosy, so I was looking at jobs doing anything. Cleaning buses, bar work, gas station attendant. But no joy. Each day I felt incredibly guilty that Sarah would get up at 6am, and I would have to sit through boredom. To fill the day. Luckily I had a dog and a cat to keep me company.
Some days, I would get the car and I would take Horton on the local trails. Other days, I wouldn't have the car and Horton and I would go up the trail behind the house. I tried to get some structure. 8am make the bed. 8:30am have breakfast then do the dishes. 9am, allocate an hour to job hunting. And of course plenty of Internet and tea breaks.
It wasn't all boredom. One Saturday we helped out at the state fair. Sarah and I volunteered at the Haines Animal Rescue Kennel (HARK) stall. Sarah sold tickets for a duck game and I sold raffle tickets at $20 a pop, for a $1500 holiday. I thought 20 bucks would be a tall order, but I was surprised to see how many I sold. My sales were helped by nationality when I heard a British accent and the camera crew for Discovery Channel were at the fair. I got a hug and raffle sale. We saw a few bands, ate cheesecake on a stick, and had a couple of drinks in The Klondike Bar. The weather was perfect, a perfect day.
A couple of occasions I helped Sarah. Well I didn't help, I guested on her radio show. Her idea was to have banter about music. I wasn't sure about this. If there is one thing we disagree over is music, a lot. I foresaw a domestic in the radio. In all, it went very smoothly.
I love Haines. I like all the people I've met thus far (bar only one). But I needed work and one day I got a bite. However it was a job in Juneau. At first I inquired about working remotely, but it seemed that wasn't possible. But the job looked exactly the thing I wanted not just in America but anywhere. For ages I lamented that my only contribution to society by way of occupation is by paying tax. After almost a decade in useless advertising and TV, I now had the chance to work for a company which helps teenagers get on the right track. And not a bad salary to do it either. I was interviewed twice over the phone. On Friday August 9th, I received a call. "Hello Chris, I'd like to offer you your first job in America, when can you come in?". "Next Tuesday?" I replied. "Great, see you then". I booked a hostel and ferry for Juneau and paced the room with excitement for a while.
The weekend went too fast. I booked on the 7pm ferry to Juneau, getting me in at 11:45pm. Sarah dropped me off. With my rucksack and man-bag I boarded the boat, and told myself how confident I should be. I watched the night fall in, and the mountains each side of Chanel become golden as the last of the sun splashed the snowy peaks. I went to the bar and had myself one or two Alaskan Summer Ales. Golden bubbles dancing in a frosted glass, I became self conscious how fast it went down. But it felt good. I returned to my seat now darkness had descended, and fell asleep. I awoke 30 minutes outside of Juneau.
Auke Ferry terminal is at least 15 miles outside of downtown Juneau where I was staying. And I wondered how I would get into town. There must be taxis waiting. Actually there aren't, but luckily I found a couple of Aussies who offered to share a cab with me. The total was $36 for the ride, and with a tip we paid $40 between us. The Aussies were staying at the Alaskan Hotel on Franklin Street, and as they were dropped off I first saw Juneau night life. The ferries of tourists had left, those who worked for a living, paid their bar tab over an hour ago. Only left were the drunks. The place reminded me of the old west. Compact and lawless. I was staying up the road at the hostel. Little did I know, they locked up after 11pm. If you turned up after then, tough luck basically. I hammered on the door without luck. After a while a guest talked to me through the door and said she can't let me in. Disgruntled and tired I made my way back down the hill to the Alaskan Hotel and got a half decent room for $70. It was at least 1:30am before my head hit the pillow properly and I fell asleep. I was up again at 6am. Tuesday was a big day.
My new boss offered to pick me up from the hostel, so I walked up and waited there for her. Storing my bag in the hostel. Before work she drove me around Juneau giving me the tour. So nice of her and I struggled to take it all in. What I did notice thought, were coffee shops, Walmarts, Fred Meyers and freeways. Haines is lovely, but for some reason I felt I'd really now arrived in America.
My office is lovely, and my own office I will add, which is quite new to me after years in open-plan big buildings. Straight away I knew I'd be ok. All my co-workers are great. I seriously like each one I've met. I know I'm a bother for the company in not having a place sorted or a vehicle, but it's like they wanted to help so much. And this is normal. Most of those at my organization came from somewhere else and came off the ferry in Alaska confused, bewildered and needing all the help and advice they could get.
My first week was brilliant in Juneau outside of work. At the hostel I met Iain from Ohio, Basil from Harvard, Emilie and Sarah from England and for 3 days on the trot we made The Alaskan Hotel Bar our haunt. On the last Friday, we extended our bar crawl one place to The Red Dog Saloon. A great place on the corner of Franklin and Marine, with saloon doors and sawdust on the floor. With the bar lady dressed as a Wild West whore, it is obviously touristy, but with the tourists gone and a bar full of stuffed hunted animals, it's a must. Of my three nights at the Alaskan Bar, listening to live bands, I thought to myself in my beer buzzed haze, Juneau is a place I could love. And even though settling in is unsettling, I think settling couldn't be much easier, being fresh off the boat, no social security card, no car and only Craigslist for a chance of a home.
Throughout the week, finding a place to stay was a worry. Particularly as the hostel only allowed 5 nights in any 3 month period. And it's the only hostel in Juneau. I emailed as best I could. I don't have a cell so email was all I had. Many replies that the places had been filled had come through. I was also in competition with another hosteller to find a place, although I was a lot less fussy. However, come Friday I found a place 2 miles from work. A room in a house. I moved in on Tuesday August 20th. The plus side is, that the place is near work and some stores so its functional without a car. The downside is, I wanted a downtown place, as I wanted The Alaskan to be my local. That said, it's probably for the best.
With the mountains surrounding me in a spaced middle-class part of Juneau. A glacier looming in the near distance as I walk home from work, life is pretty good. I need my bike, and I'm pushing for that this weekend. The snow is coming soon and I'm worried there isn't much cycling left.
So my routine is work all week, and an early ferry on Friday or Saturday back to Haines to see Sarah and Horton (and Vlad the annoying cat). Life is pretty good. America is pretty good.
