"I would do a lot of listening if I were you."

I totally forgot to tell you the best part of my exit interview last Friday. The whole process was pretty simple, basically I met with a couple of the directors from the program, they start by telling you everything that you are good at, then give you some advice of things that you could work on, and then I ask them questions. After they told me what a total bad-ass I am (duh) their one piece of advice was this,

"You are moving to an extremely conservative part of Alaska, logging and forestry are a huge part of the economy and culture. I don't know where your politics lay (YEAH RIGHT), but if I were you, I would do a LOT of listening before I do any talking."

Can you f-ing believe that? Wow, I was speechless. I have been known to have opinions on certain topics, but I have been sooo good since I've been up here. If politics do come up I usually just keep my mouth shut (shocking right?). I mean this woman had absolutely NO reason to make this comment to me other than the reality that I am from Washington state and sign all my emails with "peace." That is NOT to say that is not valuable advice that I will absolutely keep in mind when I make the move. I felt like I was wearing a "liberal" sign.

So I'm curious, is it that obvious? Please let me know via the "comment" function of this post.

Pic: Extened Warrior, Cannery Beach, Kenai Pennisula, AK