Six months ago, I wrote about a trip to Fairbanks. Last weekend, I had the urge to do so again. There isn’t any need, though, because everything was the same. Same flight, same aerial views, same snacks, same airport shuttle to the same hotel – all for two more days of conferences on the same campus.

Oh, there were just enough differences to make it interesting. Last time I waited for my shuttle in the dark, surrounded by a foot of snow, wearing a heavy ski coat, gloves, and a wool hat – this time it was almost 80 degrees and sunny. Last time I attended a web portal training session in the Butrovich Building – this time it was in the International Arctic Research Center just up the hill for an instructional design workshop. Last time I entertained myself with a DVD I bought at Fred Meyer – this time I bought a book instead. Seriously, everything else, including the exact layout of my hotel room, was the same.

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