Midway thru Training

Well, I've made it to Alaska! After accepting a job with Alaskan Observers at the beginning of the month, saying goodbyes in Spokane, packing everything to Pasco, and driving over to Seattle, I arrived in Anchorage early last Monday morning and jumped right into our intensive 3 wk training course. The course is in conjunction with Univ of Alaska and the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS). There are 6 of us in training which runs from 8-5 alternating between 2 main instructors, Mike and Joe (both previous observers). We've already covered a ton of information regarding safety, commercial fisheries history, gear types, regulations, sampling theory and methods, live at sea, and of course fish indentifications. Today we actually had a fascinating guest lecturer from Univ of Alaska Fairbanks who talked all about the marine mammals we may encounter.
I'm living in company provided apartments with 4 other classmates and a couple of prior observer who happen to be in town in between deployments. After class we generally grab a bite to eat and spend the rest of the night on written and reading assignments for the next day.
It's been absolutely beautiful in Anchorage! The backdrop of mountains is amazing and though still cold its been sunny most days. Also it doesn't get completely dark until around 9pm.
Final lab and written exams are next week and upon successful completion we're slated to head out to Dutch Harbor next Saturday for deployment.