Teaching in Whittier, Alaska...the state's one-building town | INDIE ALASKA
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- Опубликовано: 20 окт 2013
- Watch the follow-up episode on Erika's Whittier experience: • I Lived in Whittier, A...
Erika Thompson #teaches grade school in #Whittier an Alaskan town where most people live and work in one building, and is only accessible by a #tunnel that closes each night.
Video: Travis Gilmour and Slavik Boyechko
Story: Slavik Boyechko
Music: Starship Amazing
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We decided to check in with Erika and see how she felt about her years living in Whittier. Watch it here: ruclips.net/video/P0y4D5RJuXE/видео.html
Russia city all people live in apartemen
Thank you for the info. Does the school have any sports teams? I ask because I worked in schools for 38 years, a small rural school for most of it, and am kind of looking for a new place to help out developing or helping with whatever is already there, sports etc. I also ref a few sports so could do that in Anchorage and area.
Thanks.
Whittier has been tempting me...I'm not a recluse or nothing, but I like the cold, and I kinda want to start over elsewhere.
@@aquariusfriar Come! Join us!
When we start colonizing Mars, they should go first. They got the sociology figured out.
souvikdas LOL
This is totally true, all we need is an apartment like that on mars xD
Agreed!
😂😂😂😂😂🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
this comment is ahead of its time. 6 yrs ago but then when u think about it that was just 2015 :O wait a minute.... time 💔
but Um humans don’t need to do any more colonization 😔💔
A nice setting for a horror movie
lol totally
what do you mean?
@@alexburnette2526 The building looks like the hotel in the Shining movie!
Like thi shining
Except they can close the town whenever they want to XD Literally. Shut the doors through the mountain lol
Can I just say what a valuable asset this lady is to her community - she is a force!!! Love her energy.
Definitely~ the world needs more like her. She is an inspiration !
There’s a new video from 3 weeks ago, I wonder if she’s still there, 8 years later
@@amazingabby25 she isn’t. She left a few years after this video was filmed. She was one of my favorite teachers.
As a former student of hers, I agree 1000%. She made learning fun and heck made the school day fun. She is part of the reason I want to be a teacher one day.
Alyssa Hicks awww that’s amazing. Why did she leave? Did she go somewhere else with a small community or did she move to be closer to her family
They don't close the tunnel to keep things out...
they close it to make sure *n o b o d y t r i e s t o l e a v e*
They close it to keep the walkers out!
😂
As isolated and desolate as that area is what the point of closing the tunnel?. I wouldn't think a criminal would want to take on an entire building full of folks.
Rofl!
Marcus Hennings I think it’s because the tunnel is one lane and cars can go through it once an our in one direction. So one hour people can leave and the next hour people can come. So I think that probably needs people to direct it or something and they don’t do it 24 hours a day. Or it could be like a light system but they just don’t want it open at night because maybe there are accidents I’m not sure.
Really cool that she’s grown up with those kids!
She really has. We have all been greatly impacted by her. Even after she moved she made sure to keep in contact with all of us.
No way in hell would I be happy with my kids calling her mom.
Hahaha swallowedinthesea11 is jelly.
@@jameseric6027 is 10
"It's like going to school with mom. They call me mom half the time."
Dawww :')
I agreed with you!! The kids must feel very comfortable with the teacher not scared like mine’s!! I don’t know what about you!!
My mom is a teacher assistant and the kids call my mother mom 😅 and they cry when they are finally going to public school because they aren't gonna see her again lol
I think it's really sweet when little kids call their teacher mom
What an amazing setting for a murder mystery :)
@@cageyourfeartwitch7045 Jesus Christ
Hulu's "Only Murders In The Building." It's new and Good.
@@Dylan_The_Car_Dealer would suffice as a murder victim, yes
❗emergency meeting❗
@@cageyourfeartwitch7045 not if he willingly agreed to do it, which he did.
It would be so awkward running into your exes all the time. Omg imagine getting evicted 💀 where do they work!?! I have so many questions 😂
You assume you'd get hooked up.
I don’t think they can get evicted. A company owns the whole building, the same one that owns the town and the surrounding land.
As a former resident and one of the kids in the video, no one really dates each other. I think a few people did and honestly it really isn’t that bad.
@When I Was Born for the 7th Time 😂😂😂
@@alyssahicks1836 marriage?
Now i know what it would be like to live in a vault in fallout.
"Because, in Vault 101: no one ever enters, and no one ever leaves."
Not just me who thought of that? Good.
+Nick E It's more like Rivet City though when you think about it.
Came for this!
It does feel like a vault.
I think the tunnel closing and being trapped on one side or the other would be the deal-breaker for me.
Definitely! Not being able to decide what time you get home from a night out. No way!
supermarket in my house sign me up
Right?!
I wouldn't mind owning the store u got constant clientel and easy control dam they should make more of these city's just one thing bugs me why the tunnel closes 10.30pm that will piss me off other than that it sounds great 1
A lot of the "unusual" things mentioned in the video are totally normal for Russians .
1) In cities and towns, most people live in flats, which are typically smaller than an average North American home.
2) Schools are usually within walking distance. Some students (or their parents) opt for a non-local school because of better educational opportunities, but generally, it takes 5-15min to get to your school.
3) Since schools are so densely located, teachers often live not far from their workplace, therefore often bumping into their students in public places.
4) Primary school lasts for 4 years, and the same teacher teaches the same group of children maths, Russian, literature and science throughout that period. Sometimes other subjects, too, depending on the school. Most of the time, if you stay at the same school, you will have the same classmates for 11 years, and see a lot of the same teachers for years. With some fluctuations, of course.
5) A lot of Russians value a close-knit community. We typically have at least a nodding acquaintance with the people in nearby flats. A lot of neighbours become friends, babysit each other's children, have emergency keys to their neighbours' flats, celebrate the New Year together and things like that. It's fine to drop by for a talk. However, the intimacy levels vary. Privacy, boundaries are becoming more and more important to the younger generations.
Well Alaska was part of russia
@@owens6574 haha you do have a point there
I don't agree only with 3)
Quite the same in Romania
These are all applicable to Germany, Belgium and The Netherlands too.
This reminds me of boarding school. But seriously, they should build a decent park/exercise area. It seems like the kind of place where people read a lot.
Inside or outside park. It’s probably cold as heck to be outside
there's an indoor playground tho
Its like an introverts paradise
Indeed. And I'm one.
Uhm no. The exact opposite? You have to see people everyday. The same people.
@@alandry6949 you dont have to. If you dont want to leave. Its a introverts paradise because you are living with people that you know since birth and you dont have to travel just to go yo different places and meet people
@@jojokun_1813 if I had to live in my school, I’d probably have a panic attack. I’m as introverted as it gets. And I don’t even like half the people I’ve known since birth
@@alandry6949 you dont have to like everyone you know. but meeting new people .... fuck that.
Feels very dystopian, as if they're living in a massive bomb shelter haha
Sammuel Floor sack
How is it dystopian? its the opposite. That's the wrong word to describe this. Most of the lower 48 cities are dystopian hellholes like Detroit, NYC, Austin and San Jose. I think the word you're trying to use is arcology. Whittier represents how a proto-arcological building functions in rural Alaska. Its amazing. You have the entire population under one roof and they manage to still cooperate and function as a micro society.
The ladder part of your comment is not far off, these buildings were designed for the military during the cold war, hence its construction during the 1950s.
@@PaganShagger I agree, there is nothing dystopian about this to me. The kids seem very happy and well adjusted, probably leaps and bounds ahead of the rest of the country.
S. Florczak Its not. I go to Whittier all the time its one of my favorite places in Alaska. We own a boat their too. Its a popular tourist town and its not just one building.
@@PaganShagger Yeah, Austin and NYC are definitely not dystopian, they're very social, big, and rich. You're just saying it's dystopian because you don't like big cities whilst they're saying it's dystopian because the apartment complex in this town is built like a bomb shelter and it was a military bomb shelter decades ago.
I believe Whittier is much bigger now than it was when this video was made. There are a few more buildings there now than just Begich Tower. Now there's a seafood restaurant, a kayak center, an inn, a museum, a grocery store, a cafe, a rest stop, a Chinese buffet, an ice cream shop, a haunted building, a harbor store, a sports bar, a self storage building, a warehouse, a few condos, and a laundromat. Still no hospital, bank (though there's an atm at the harbor store), clinic, gas station, and firefighter station though.
But it's not about Storrs more about how all residents love in one building. But yes over time I believe they built a couple apartments and small houses.
Would probably be a very cool place to live, honestly.
Forget the building, the weather would send me packing. I need Sun.
Seems like what a Mars colony would look like, glad to see it would work pretty well
earth is flat no space exist
@12 inches unbuffed, if space does not exist, where is earth? why can we still see a moon and stars if we look up to the sky at night? why are timezones different in different parts of the world?
@@12inchesunbuffed33 Virgin flat-earther
Why does the tunnel close? Fear of nightly zombie outbreak?
White walkers.
Probably a few reasons, but one issue is it's a one way tunnel, so it opens from one side on the hour and the other side on the half hour (IIRC), and there are personnel associated with that. In addition there is a train track OVERLAYING the road, so trains use the road at the same time on the same very road (I believe this may be the only of its type in the world). More than likely this could be left to machines to handle but it's probably an issue of security as well, cost, and lack of demand. If anything happened in the tunnel it would both not be known for hours, but also shut an entire town down.
Zeroczar
Because there are bears and it only has one lane so who wants to operate that back and forth all night
probably because there are No Security Personnel Operators to maintain both Entrances of the Tunnel. If it was a two lane road, that would not be a problem. Plus, animals would seek shelter inside of it, especially during the cold months. And Animals and Vehicles can't occupy the same space, it's a very dangerous combination, especially for people.
I'd live here in a heart beat! My kind of town or village.
Alaska would love to have you!
Just want to let everyone know we welcome everyone who found us through TikTok!
Hello;)
@@darkecho4584 Hey!
I’m here from tiktok who else
how are you coping with covid. Central heating???
Yes! hahahaha
Honestly y’all realize how safe walking in that building is
God i was thinkin of the same thing!
Cameras watching everything you do
i would hope so bc otherwise it would b a bit scary
Alaska has one of the most violent crime rates out of any of the states sooooooo
This looks like the perfect recipe for depression. Bad weather and isolation. I lived in Anchorage area for 13 years and got severely depressed to the point to where my options were move or commit suicide.
she literally says in the video that there's no sense of isolation/loneliness because you're always surrounded by people.
***** Yes, moved to a sunny state :)
VIOLYNCE Alaska has one of the highest suicide rates in the nation and a lot of alcoholism. Look up SAD (seasonal depression). This is prevalent there.
+Jess J lmao i had SAD in middle school and high school because i lived in canada (and other personal issues). i'm just saying alaska and living at brechit towers DOES NOT equal depression automatically for everyone. as you can see the people in this video say they don't get depressed or lonely. it might've been the case for you but it's not just something you can say is guaranteed.
VIOLYNCE Of course it would not apply to everyone. Some people may enjoy it, some people may not. I know that correlation does not equal causation.
I've dreamed of a city in a building since I was a kid.
Wow, this place sounds amazing, if odd. What keeps all the people living there? I mean it sounds nice too, having a hardcore sense of community like that, but what an odd existence.
littlefurnace I go to Whittier all the time. Its just beautiful there and its a very popular tourist town. Its very cool because once you get to the other side of the tunnel its a total different atmosphere
I live there and she was my teacher😘.
How's life there??
Luna and Chloe's adventure yeah please respond what’s up there do u guys have weddings a proms and stuff like that how’s the internet??
@@ShaxHC Correction: How is the internet connection in there?
This is either my daughter or son that said this comment. We still here! Internet good. Nice to visit but not to live!
@@ShaxHC helps to have good jobs to live here. & the school for kids. They all get one on one with teachers.
There's something very special about a community like this when it's in a harsh environment.
The only thing that that tells me is it must be very hard to construct a separate home in Whittier.
You cant buy any land in Whittier it's not because of how hard it is to build a house it's just there isnt any land to build it on
@@martynaaleksandra3062 Couldn't they build houseboats?
@@allies7184 Weather. There are times it snows all winter.
@@allies7184 Waiting time to get a slip there is often over 10 to 15 years.
Then don't live in Whittier, Anchorage is more your style.
Holy cow I was so little when they filmed this 🥺. Man I miss these guys 🥺🥺
Where did you end up, Alyssa? Are your parents still there?
@@kerrynight3271 my parents are not in Whittier anymore, we moved to a different city but are still in AK.
That’s so cool!
@@alyssahicks1836 Thanks for responding! I wish you the best.
Does she still teach there?
You could literally not skip school or sneak off screw around as a kid whatsoever, any and everybody knows your mom and will tell her, those have to be the most well behaved kids
Notice how the teacher left her apartment door wide open when going to walk her do, that is what a friendly and safe community is all about! I remember leaving our home unlocked and widows open when we would leave the house, boy I miss those days!
The cameraman was inside.
Cameras watching all the hallways
@@hengineer And where exactly would someone go after pillaging someone's place? One call and the tunnel shuts down.
this seems like a modern village, everyone lives close together so there's a strong community
Going to your friends house: "Mom, I'm going upstairs!"
Good teachers/good people make a difference. Thanks, Erika!
Yup
Reminds me of mount weather community from "The 100"
I know right? I was wondering if they filmed there, but then I remembered that it was shot in Vancouver.
10 years ago I was on a contract on a cruise ship. Every week we had an overnight in Whittier... This building was fascinating me everytime... somehow... Now the story is complete... Thanks and all the best!!! ;)
Teachers are always the catalyst in the society.
For some reason I think that I would love this.
I have been there. I couldn't feel any further from home (Australia). I remember that awful tunnel and the cold weather. Back then (2001) there was little places to get food and I was so hungry. As long as the residents like it, thats all that matters.
Go in the summer! It’s much better!
The door always open for the kids in need!! Such a beautiful teacher!!
It reminds me some experiments in Fallout in vaults... Community lives all together in a closed habitat. Very interesting. They should be very nice and kind people to live so close to each other.
Anton Ivanov exactly what I was thinking,fortunately there's no reactor to explode and crazy Overseer :)
What a pleasant and thoughtful young woman - gave a very balanced viewpoint both negative and positive about the location. I could identify with this because as a child I lived for a time in the Orkneys and there were similarities.
Thanks for sharing your story!
@@indiealaska My dad was a lighthouse keeper. :)
@@2011littlejohn1 That's awesome! We should do a story on your dad!
@@indiealaska To be honest my mother was the more unusual character. She was so independent that I never realized there were gender inequalities until I grew up. Though my dad could do anything from constructing buildings to flying planes or even bass guitar in my rock band. :)
Reminds me of something I would have come up with as a kid, like a fantasy land or my imagination. I remember drawing a map of a "town" before. Giving all stores names, drawing the roads, etc
It'd be cool to see a schematic of that building, it's hard to see how so many things fit inside.
Who's here after watching that tiktok vid
Glad you found us! We are big TikTok fans
What's the logic behind closing the tunnel every night?
Indie Alaska maybe have times for the tunnel direction, maybe automate the system, maybe hire a night-shift guy... really? what if there is an emergency?
Abid Omar I'm guessing since this is America If you call 911 I'm sure they'll send a plane or helicopter right away to rescue you.
Zombies come out
+DrMarchus LOL!
+Chris Kratsch To deter crime and keep residents safe .
I wonder how things went with the pandemic. There should be a follow up!
A teacher, bears the greatest responsibility and wisdom.
I wonder how they're doing now during covid
haha it's like a quarantine center for them :)
I have lived in AK for 2 years, absolutely loved it. They don't get many people there, but every one I met was extremely friendly and kind. If I would move to the US again, AK is possibly the only state I would go.
I went on a kayaking trip that started in Whittier and the guide had grown up there and graduated from the school. He was the only one in his graduating class.
This reminds me of the Judge Dredd movie.
First thing I thought of...
Snowpiecer for me
Yeah me too, but in that movie for that building the movie was about it was living 75,000 people living under the same roof. As a fact, China has proposed to construct such a building in the city Changsha. The tower will have 202 floors and will be able to house up to 17,000 people.
Јudge Dred comics!
***** Plot twist: Teacher is the MAMA! :D
She leaves her door wide open when she take out her dog. WOW!!!!
Yes, very un-American. But normal in various other parts of the world
@@numbereightyseven That's because the camera man was in there.
numbereightyseven
You wouldn’t be able to do it here in the uk either
Pretty sure that was just for the shot.
This looks like the perfect place to study effects of isolation on a small community, like on another planet. :)
Well they've been living like this for decades...
Alaska is both a state and its own magical little world that non-Alaskans may never come to understand
This is an amazing story... Makes our small city seem a *lot* bigger!
This video caught my eye because I live in Whittier, California and occasionally computers mix the two up. The two cities could not be more different. Whittier, CA is basically a mini Los Angeles: most buildings are one story tall, you have to drive to get anywhere, and it's swallowed up in the great urban sprawl of the greater Los Angeles area. Not to mention we never, ever get snow.
it's like fallout shelter
Bless your heart best teacher ever !!!!
This is so fascinating to me that this little town is so extreme in the way that everyone lives in the same building and are so close to each other! It intrigues me!
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Just fantastic! It's literally my dream comes true, since I used to have dreams in which there were such city-buildings with the same concept though those in my dreams were mostly much larger. Anyway, I'd love to visit there and stay for months or even years.
Bruh, just give me high speed internet and I would, without any single thought or doubt, move there in 0.005 seconds!
We have high-speed internet in Alaska! You should come here!
I love this little town. The people are genuine and generous with their time and knowledge of the area. We met so may locals that directed us to so many unique opportunities. Example: catching salmon by hand. Its was awesome and my kids still talk about. They also have one of the BEST gift shops ever. So many hand made local jewelry and crafts. I am looking forward to returning.
That sense of community... Love it.
Thank you for sharing this!!! Its an awesome video and an awesome perspective!
Thank YOU for the kind words!
Looks like the best teaching job in the world. No threats or beatings from students like Whittier L.A..
I loved her energy, she look likes a nice teacher!
Great teacher, I bet the kids love her dearly!!!
Of course she doesn't have any discipline problems, she has like 10 kids in her class!
And they're mostly White.
@@HigherQualityUploads Based.
Yay for small class size!
@@HigherQualityUploads what’s their race got to do with it?
@@miapike202 Everything.
I'm pretty sure there's a Wal Mart in that building.
😆🤔
You brought back memories I have been there many times. Thank you for the video.
This is the best comment of the week. Thank you for the serotonin boost :)
I suddenly saw this and it gave me memories of the 6 minute stories.
anyone else come from tiktok lol
Yes shut up
Share the link!
@@carmellosanders418 calm down mate
@@indiealaska idk if this is the tiktok that person saw but the one i saw was vm.tiktok.com/ZMJ5aVCvM/
Okay but my question is how are they dealing with covid this year
So I think hey, this would be kind of cool. Then, I think of the movie "30 Days of Night" and I'm like ummm, probably not.
This is really awesome Erika.. we miss you all terribly!!!
Wow! I never realized how small Whittier was. I’m totally following this channel. I live in Anchorage and only been in Alaska for 10 months.
Basically the whole town is getting Hostel/Dorm experience whole life.
Pretty much...
While the lazy girl in me would find this a paradise (I hate driving lol) living here would make my social anxiety rise through the roof because it seems everyone would know your business and I like to be alone at least once a week lol. I would like to visit Alaska. I have a friend who travels a lot for work so she lived in Anchorage for like a year and she loved it. She was upset when her job made her move to Minneapolis lol.
What a genuinely nice person.
so wonderful I was a substitute teacher! Awesome community experience you are blessed!😆🌏
I experienced communal living many years ago, and it was a living hell. Not only did I have to eat all my meals at a table with asshole jocks from school, I was also forced into doing chores, and participating in social activities with those cretins. I still have nightmares about those times. Thankfully, my mother came to her senses, and we now live alone in privacy. With no more of those silly distractions, and on demand Doritos, and Code Red, nothing comes between me and my $3000 gaming PC any more.
*****
Communist never create such buildings but capitalist did.
***** wait a minute... at this point I lost the difference between socialism, communism and capitalism. It's typical slavery with different pretext.
You have access to the internet on your 3000$ computer please use it to research Begich Towers!
Hmm, I'm not sure if you are telling the truth or it's just the fedora talking.
Zoopy Joobles has a 3" Dick WcjugmRc Nope they'll let others use force on their behalf.
They buy governments and parties so that they do their bidding.
Aside from that, try the don't buy it mentality with a bank.........especially know that the US and quite a few other countries are trillions "in debt".
Which is a well thought out system to keep governments and countries at their mercy.
Why are companies not officially using force, because right now they can't risk it,
If they could get away with it, they would, it's not something moral that holds the worst of the lot at bay, but the constraints of what they can get away with.
And yes generally the most powerful companies are the worst of the lot.
***** Agreed.
The sad part is that most US Citizens cry communist a lot, without actually knowing what it means.
And they seem to favour binary thinking a lot.
Living here is my dream! Don't be surprised if I move in soon.
Alaska would love to have you!
Love this video, so inspiring.
LOVE LOVE LOVE!!!!!!!
Hey I used to live there it's really a good place
Just like Fermont, Quebec. Everyone lives in "the wall".
Not everyone. Some people lives in houses outside the wall. They're just not theirs since all houses are own by mining companies
What!? We need a video about that now
What a awesome young woman!!!!!!!!!
Bless you dear!!!!!!!
This was very interesting... I would love to visit one day!
The last safe haven on earth
There's a few others. Eg St Helena, Faroe Islands, Svalbard,
Lmao. You act like you know the entire Earth. There's literally more safe havens than actual settlements. There are places all over the world where no human has ever been.
@@melo7572 which places are that😍?
wow, this is so cool. I would love to visit that place one day.
I'm amazed by their sense of community! :)
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This seems very strange to me - The building could be in the Bronx and looks like a prison - I understand that it is a community but for a foreigner like me it seems very cold 🧐 but it works for all the residents and that’s important
I wonder how's their internet service like?
They prob use 1 wifi so its probably very slow lmao
Alexandria Frost Nah. Theres good service there. I go there all the time
I’ve been here for a couple hours, indeed an eerie setting but very beautiful and friendly people
We hope you enjoyed Whittier!
You all livin in the same building. That's so cool!
Being in Alaska myself, everytime I hear of Whittier I cannot help but think it is like a miniature version of Judge Dredd Alaska style....plus I am always wondering if you don't pay the rent do they toss you out,,,,and are there any homeless in a town with one living quarters to speak of.
I think the apartments are a sort of one time payment deal much like buying a house except you don't have full ownership
I was looking for this comment :D immediatly thought of the mega blocks in judge dredd
Heard the rent there is pretty cheap
It’s like being stuck in quarantine
the best set up for a community, i wish i could live there!
Wow! That sounds amazing! I would like to try live there for a while!!!