The job is... Well, let's just say, the reason I have so much more free time and my employment status are connected. I'l leave it at that for now, though I will get into the details later.
However, for the other questions, I will be happy to answer! And if anybody cares, I have a Dumb Tourist story to share too.
The park is doing fairly well right now. Lots of people from all over the world coming in to see the beauty of Alaska, the most common seeming to be the USA, and Australia. I love the poetry of that, the folks from Down Under coming to the Far North.
I did not get all too silly questions actually. The usual questions I would get are:
What is a moose?
Where can I see bears?
Where is McKinley?
So, I see Denali, where is Mt. McKinley? (for those who may not know, Denali is the native Athabaskan name for Mt. McKinley. Alaska has been trying to change it back since around 1975, but due to political shenanigans it stays McKinley. I can get more into that if people are interested.)
Where was Sarah Palin from?
And, connected to the previous question,
Can you see Russia from your house? (asked sarcastically)
So, you know, nothing too bad.
Coolest animal seen so far? Well, we had a moose give birth on one of the trails, shutting it down for about a month. It might still be closed, I don't know. And, we also had a black bear and her cubs walk around property. And, a local red fox who likes to chill out around the lodge and beg for food. Don't feed the fox, people. A fed bear fox is a dead bear fox.
Now, the stupid tourist comment. So, at my desk, I had this little map. It showed how big Alaska was compared to the rest of the USA by superimposing Alaska on the Lower 48. Something like this:
This map drew a lot of attention, with tourists looking at it and realising just how massive this state is. However, one time, a man and his wife came up and began to look at it.
"Look at this, Honey," the man said, showing the picture to his wife, "this is Alaska."
The wife looked at it, put her finger on the map, and muttered, "Minnesota, Iowa, Kansas..." under her breath, before she looked at me, and asked:
"So, this aria is called Alaska?"
Now I know hair color has nothing to do with intelligence, but the fact that she was blonde just made it the next level of hilarious. I have no idea how I kept myself composed, but I somehow managed to keep my composure and say that no, it was a comparison, not a definition. That would be, by far, the funniest moment behind the desk.
