Alaska Day

Today’s session of the Gabfest club was dedicated to Alaska day. Alaska Day is a legal holiday in the U.S. state of Alaska, observed on October 18. It is the anniversary of the formal transfer of the Territory of Alaska from Russian Empire to the United States that occurred on Friday, October 18, 1867.
The club members shared their knowledge about and associations with the name “Alaska”. It turned out that few basic facts are known to the Ukrainian audience and this state is associated with cold dark nights. But Alaska is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the USA. The group was offered a Holland America cruise line’s video about cruises to Alaska (with subtitles in English). The video provided an insight into the wide range of tourist activities available in Alaska for cruise passengers. A cruise to Glacier Bay National Park with Holland America Line will show you a UNESCO World Heritage Site that protects a unique ecosystem of plants and animals living in concert with an ever-changing glacial landscape. When a monumental chunk of ice splits off a glacier and thunders into the sea the impact shoots water hundreds of feet into the air. You hold your breath as you catch the moment on film. Then you wait for it all to happen again. And it does: Glacier Bay has more actively calving tidewater glaciers than anyplace else in the world. 
A land trip to the Denali national park heralds some new astonishment. Watch for ptarmigan, Alaska's state bird, in the open valleys and golden eagles patrolling the higher elevations and ridge tops. With luck, you'll see grizzlies crossing braided streams, Dall sheep traversing rugged cliffs and moose foraging in upland meadows. Listen to ravens, magpies and gray jays chattering in the brush. And always present, there looms Mount McKinley, raising its massive alabaster bulk high above the surrounding plain. The group was impressed with the new facts about the culture and nature of Alaska in summer. The video has changed their perception of this state.
To wrap up the topic of Alaska we introduced other objects named “Alaska”: a cake with ice cream centre (in the USA) and a parka jacket and snow boots (in ex-USSR countries).
 

At the end of the session we introduced to the group a book by Alice Munro available at the WOA centre and presented her short biography. Alice Munro is the winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature 2013.
The session was very informative and was enjoyed by all participants.
Number of participants – 31.

Have a look at more pictures, please