Suprisingly, Nome does not feel as foreign as I thought it would. Yes, the weater is incredibly cold and looking out the window and seeing a frozen sea is quite a change from Los Angeles, but overall Nome feels oddly familiar. I noticed on the plane that the closer we got to Nome the more talkative people became. Everyone was friendly, chatty and accessible- quite a change from the behavior of people in Los Angeles. It reminded me a lot of Louisiana. And maybe that's why Nome doesn't seem so odd- it is kind of like the south on ice. The house I am staying in is cozy, if not a little like a hunting camp, most people get around by pickup trucks, snow machines, or ATVs, and the people here are hard working and rugged.
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