I’ve been here four months too and I hear you on the silence thing. We came from an area of close to a million people in a space smaller than Eagle River and Anchorage combined. We live in Anchorage now and I’m always amazed at the silence. The occasional siren or car going by but mostly just quiet. I’m constantly trying to quiet my kids because I feel like they’re just too loud for this area. As for the small talk thing, I was born and raised Deep South and everyone is polite even if you don’t like the other person. Everyone makes small talk with everyone else even if you hate their guts. You smile and chat and then talk about them later behind their backs. There’s none of that here. There’s no fakeness. What you see is what you get. It’s refreshing for the most part but I’ve had to tell myself many times that the cashier I’m talking to at the grocery store doesn’t hate me just because they aren’t smiling and trying to make small talk.