Alaska is huge, a bit bigger than South Africa. I live in a rainforest in the South east on an island with less than 10 000 people. It’s a small island, less than 20 miles of road. Weather is cool year round, summer is 15C, winters average about 0C to -5C maybe a little cooler. (Other parts of alaska see high 30’sC in the summer and -40C to -60C). It rains a lot here, and a lot is an understatement lol. We just got almost 4inches in 2 days. The Some things are a little difficult (more an inconvenience lol), like finding milk on a Sunday because the barge comes in on a Monday so the town is out of milk. Or having to go to all 3 grocery stores to get what we need. No big chain stores except for McDonald’s. Everything we buy has to be shipped up. But there is fishing, something I never thought I would enjoy. Fresh salmon and halibut all summer. Then frozen in the winter. Everybody shares fish. We can buy crab and shrimp off the dock in the winter. People are very nice.it’s a small community so we look out for each other. Crime isn’t even worth mentioning. People have very little to complain about and things like a 1/2 mile of road construction on the main road is what people whine about. Our big concerns are things like bears getting into the trash and losing fear of people. Other parts of alaska are worse, Anchorage has one of the highest violent crime rates in the US. Alaska is part of the USA and it’s the same requirement to get in. But I can tell you, nurses are in very high demand. They are at the top of the list when it comes to immigration. I knew 4 South Africans that had immigrated and worked at a 25 bed hospital. All hospitals here have shortages and the rest of the US isn’t any better. Nurses decide to travel and go work at a hospital for a few months for insanely high wages and sign on bonuses, some include accommodations and transport. If anyone want to get into the US, become a nurse. One thing I have to say though, as good as life is, not one day passes that my heart doesn’t ache for South Africa.