1. The darkness is really no big deal. At least not for us. Everyone from back home always wonders what it's like to experience the winter darkness up here, but honestly, we haven't noticed it that much. Sure, it's dark when we wake up in the morning and go to work, but it's dark like that a lot of places across the U.S. during the winter months. The sun doesn't rise right now until between 10:30 and 11:00, but it already stays up well past 5:00 at night. I don't think it gets really dark until 6:30 or so. The gain in darkness and then light after December 21st is so much faster here than elsewhere that you hardly get used to the amount of darkness before it starts staying lighter longer. We're already on the upswing for gaining more light!
2. The moon here is unlike any place we have ever lived. Not only can you see it throughout most of the day when it's clear; when it's dark, the moon looks huge and as if you could just reach out and grab it because it's so clear. A lot of time in the dark morning, the moon is hovering really close to the horizon rather than high in the sky, and it just lights up the white winter tundra.
3. Everywhere else in the U.S. may not be having a cold winter, but we sure are! The month of January set a record here in Bethel for the most cold days in a row in recorded history. The average temp was -17 degrees F. http://kyuk.org/bethel-experiences-record-cold-for-january/. That's not including windchill. Most of the month windchill made it feel like -30 to -50 degrees. So our first winter in Bethel has been a milestone weather year! If we can make it through this one, I think we'll be fine. Today we had a heat wave though! It's +30 and feels like +14. It's amazing how warm that feels after having the bitter cold for so long.