Entertainment

As promised, I am here to tell you about entertainment here in Bethel. I joked that it would be a short entry, since there isn't much to do in Bethel, but really that isn't being fair. In comparison to other places we have lived, Bethel does have a lot fewer options. There are no bars, no coffee houses, no zoo, no children's museum, no movie theatres, no bowling alley, no swimming pool, no Chuck e Cheese's and no other towns to go visit. Even a Sunday drive is quite limited here since there are only a few miles of roads. This can be quite shocking to a newcomer. But there are things to do, you just have to adjust your perspective.

If you love to go snowmobile riding then Bethel is a dream come true. There are literally endless trails that go out onto the tundra and at least seven months of snow. You can ride out to Three Step Mountain and look for firewood, you can travel up the Gweek river, you can ride all around town (on the roads) and you can travel to the villages on the frozen river. Unfortunately, we don't have snowmobiles (which are not called that here- they are called snowgos), and I am not that comfortable driving such machines. There is also a sharp learning curve up here, lose your way and there may not be another town for hundreds of miles. Misjudge the overflow on the river, and you may sink your machine. For some reason, I have not been motivated to take Jamie out under these conditions. However, the kids I work with talk endlessly about their adventures, and I know it is one of the best types of recreation available here.

In town there is bingo at the VFW, at the library there is craft hour on Saturday. There are periodic fiddle dances, and basketball games draw a large crowd on Friday nights. Jamie likes the games, they have great concessions, frozen yogurt, cotton candy, and snow cones- all of which aren't available anywhere else in Bethel. There is the teen center, which also houses the town gym, and judo and dance classes are available. There are a few parks, but I am afraid they wouldn't look like much to most people.

There are several annual events, and if you live here for any amount of time you know all about them. There is the Just Desserts night, which is a fundraiser for the Bethel Council of Arts, there is a concert to raise money for the K-300, and of course there are the dog sled races themselves, as well as the Eskimo dance festival Camai and community theatre.

What most people do for socializing is to gather at each others houses for dinner and or drinks. We have held a couple of game nights ourselves. If you want to get together with people this is kind of the only option, as there are no bars and people don't go to restaurants much. In Bethel if you want something to do you have to get involved, have a group of friends and be creative. That being said, I still loathe Sunday afternoons when the library is closed and the long cold afternoon stretches out before us.