Back In Alaska

Well I am back in Alaska for the summer. Perhaps this summer I will be better at keeping up to date on my blogging.
I got here 2 weeks ago today but it doesn't really seem like it has been that long. This year I came by myself, no sister or roommate or anything. However I am working for some good friends that I met last year, so I am not completely alone.
So far it has been a weird whirlwind of familiarity mixed with something quite the opposite. As soon as I stepped off the plane and into Greg's car and began driving down the highway towards town I felt as though I had stepped back in time, as if I had never left. Ever since that moment I have had to figure out what is still the same and what has changed. Most of the places and even some of the people have not changed at all since I left last summer, but I have changed and so have those around me. I am meeting new people and reaquainting with some old ones, and its been a giant game of figuring out where things are now and what my place is in this city this time around.
I have so far been enjoying myself. I stayed with a girl I knew last year for the first week and a half and two days ago I finally moved into my new home for the summer. A different home that I was planning on, but this one is closer to town and with Christians as well as a little bit cheaper. My job is going great, I am doing well and my bosses keep praising me every day and saying that I am their "Ace". It is a day by day thing though, and every day brings with it is own possibility of doing either really well or really poorly. I am a "booth person" which means I stand in a booth in a row of booths and vie for the tourists attention so I can sell them tours and make commission. Its actually kind of fun and entertaining because all day long I get to people watch and my actions bring direct results. However I never know going into the day how I am going to come out of it, if I will have made a good amount of money or barely anything. It keeps me on my toes.
Its been a little hard just making myself feel comfortable and at home here again, happy. Most of the people I hung out with last year are not here any more and so in the evenings after work I have to find new ways of having fun. A few nights I have spent by myself and while some have been really nice and relaxing, I can't help but feel a tinge of lonliness at not having anyone to share these moments with. But over the weeks I have been meeting new people and rekindling old aquaintances that I think will turn into nice friendships this year, so I am not too worried, its just the time spent before everything gets rolling that is the hardest. It always is, but it always works out as well.
For those of you who know, Doc Waters, Chilkat Cones and that little diner have all closed down and are now just empty rooms. The parking lot across the street where the busses pick up and drop off is half demolished along with part of the hill behind it, they are making a parking lot. The Mongolian grill is gone and is now an Italian place that isn't that great, but it still looks the exact same and is run by the same people. They have new booths down on the docks, they are really tall and wooden, although the ones on the other side of the tram are the same, but they have been painted white instead of green. Silverbow I think has new paint on the inside, but the colors may still be the same, althout some things have been rearranged in the front area where you order food. That big cabinet is gone and there are shelves on the wall instead. The church by my old house (where some ACA guides are living, the Tandy's and Joel Hunt along with a guy Brad Hurd from school and another guy Jeff are all in there, so I have visited and it was awesome, different but still so much the same) is almost finished now, it used to just be a construction site with a big sign of a picture of the new church and a newspaper ad about when the church burnt down. The man in the wheel chair is still there still saying the same jokes, and the same homeless people are still walking around, although they have taken to sitting on benches and holding signs asking for money. Also the Creating Place has closed down which I was extremely sad about, and there is new Weimer art up in Heritage (Coffee, not Heights, which I still keep saying). I still get asked what there is to do at the Glacier and people still want to know what sea level we are at and how far town is from the very beginning of town. Softball games are every Monday and we wear pink tye-dye and are still called the seabreezes, as we should be. Jackie still bought new shoes on her birthday and ACA is still running around in their water proof jackets, but they can only wear jeans now I think. I still see the guides who live in Juneau catch the boat over to the site, hoping they are at the right dock, and that bear chair is still there, only it has a fresh coat of paint as does the sun dial. I miss you all and if you have the money you should definitely come and visit me!!!!!!!!