Adventures in Nunavut Part V

1. Our barge, forced to winter here, because of the ice.
2. Adventures in Cross-country Skiing
3. The typical mayhem of trying to find a parking spot at one of the stores. No assigned parking here.
4. Out on the land with some of the junior high students.
5. Chopping an ice hole for fishing.


October 15th,

Hello everybody! Well, it is the middle of October already, and I for one am glad, as that marks me having been here now for ten weeks, with only nine more weeks until I return to BC for the Christmas holidays! It will be so nice to see trees and mountains again, and I know the warmer temperatures will not disappoint either. I finally bit the bullet and purchased my plane tickets home for the holidays. Who would have dreamt that it would cost $2700 to fly from Gjoa Haven to Edmonton return over the holidays, thank goodness for Northern Living Allowances.

As usual there seems to be lots going on. We had a couple of elders in our town of 1,000 die in the same day, and it hit the community pretty hard, they have lost quite a few this year. In a culture where tradition is highly valued, but is quickly being lost, links to the past, seem to be getting further away. I also got to experience a day out on the land on the Friday before Thanksgiving weekend. We walked and rode on sleds pulled by skidoos out to a frozen lake and just spent the day hanging out and having fun. No real organization to speak of, but lots of kids ice fishing playing around on the ice, escaping to a tent we brought along to warm up in and cook in. While it seemed a little strange that there was no organization to it, since most of us are used to school trips where nearly every minute is structured for some purpose. Instead, it was kind of nice, as I felt that I was truly able to just relax and have fun with my students and be completely myself. It was also a great way to unwind heading into a long weekend.

Thanksgiving weekend was also a very pleasant blessing, the break was definitely needed, and it was a good chance to do some relaxing while also getting out. I got out Cross-country skiing a few times with a couple of the other teachers and nurses in the town and did a little exploring on my own. I skied out to the DEW line towers out past our airport. It still astonishes me that I live that far North! I also got to enjoy a turkey dinner with a couple of other teachers, and I discovered a food program for isolated communities in the North, where we can order nutritious, perishable food items through Yellowknife for their prices, plus a subsidized freight rate of $0.80/kg, so I’m rather excited about that! On the downside, our town water supply burst on Thanksgiving weekend, so we are now on very limited rations, in fact we ran out at our house for a couple of days, and now that we do have water, its not the nicest colour or smell, what an adventure!

This past Thursday also found us with our first official school closure due to blizzard conditions. So, it was nice to be able to go to school and catch up on a few personal things and get some marks ready for report cards, which are due by the end of this week to come. And this weekend has also found me playing basketball in a community recreation tournament. I am playing on a team with a couple of other teachers, an RCMP officer, and a couple of high school guys. Officiating has been something else, for any of you who have ever thought you’ve had it bad before, I could tell you some pretty frustrating stories about biased referees. I really don’t care about winning or losing, but I do like things to be fair! Besides those frustrations, it has been fun to play and build camaraderie amongst our team and play against a number of other guys in the community including a lot of my basketball guys.

This experience, with respect to teaching especially, has been an interesting one. It is a huge rollercoaster ride, and a very stretching experience. I think writing to you about it every couple of weeks, helps me to reflect on it, and remember just how incredible these experiences are, and how few people truly get to try something like this. Some days things seem to go all right in the classroom and know that I am making a difference, while other days, I seriously doubt why I am in this profession. Anyway, I must be going, I need to get ready for our last round robin game of the basketball tournament. Hopefully the next time that I write to you, at the end of October, I will be moving into my new accommodations in a house across the street from the school.

A Few New Pictures

1. The Canadian Coast Guard, Sir Wilfred Laurier, comes to town.
2. The Northern (formerly The Hudson Bay Post) and one of our two stores.
3. Proof that something does grow here when it isn't winter.
4. Our other store, the Co-op in the background with a a kakivak (Inuit fishing spear in front).
5. The supply barge arrives in Gjoa Haven.

Adventures in Nunavut Part IV

October 1st,

Well, it is beautifully, sunny outside, and probably about -20 with the windchill at the moment. The bay and the lakes are now frozen over, but it really is nice to see the sunshine, and apparently the Northern Lights were out in all their glory last night, though I was sleeping when they were out.

I want to apologize to those of you who have written me and I haven’t gotten back to you at all. Please don’t take it personally, things are very busy for me, and without an internet connection at home, I seldom feel like going back to my classroom to a slow dial up connection late in the evening after basketball practices, etc. Hopefully this will change in another month. The grade 9 teacher at the school, Paul, has just purchased a 3 bedroom house right across the street from the school, and I am going to move in with him along with my current roommate, Branden, both are from Ontario. I am excited to not have a 10-15 minute walk to school when it gets to be -40 and below. Apparently, school only gets cancelled if their is extremely low visibility due to a blizzard or if the temperature gets to below -60! So, it will be great to live much closer, and we will also be getting satellite tv and a slower version of broadband internet at home. I think we will also have a couple of exercise machines, so it will be good to come home in the evenings and get some exercise while watching a hockey or basketball game.

As for the past couple of weeks, I struggled through a cold, was over it for about a week and was feeling better, but I think I’ve got the same things again in the past couple days. I think a few too many germs exist in and around my students. I got feeling pretty down and overwhelmed with everything about a week and a half ago, wondering what on earth I am doing here, but things seem to be calming down in the past week. I’m starting to realize that when I make mistakes its not a life and death matter, I just need to do my best with I have been given.

I got to help supervise a fundraising dance for our basketball team a couple of weekends ago. Dances are rather interesting here. Kids from about age 6 to early twenties show up at the community centre and hang out until about 3am, even the young ones, without parents. They play about 4 or 5 songs over and over again, and if they aren’t/can’t dance, they run around and play tag. Oh did I mention that all they seem to listen to is rap and hip hop, and the boys just love to watch WWE wrestling, how bizarre! It seems a little odd to see my sr. high basketball guys playing tag at a dance, but hey life is different here....year plans and sick plans are finally done, so now I can start to focus a little more on my day to day teaching, that is until report cards in another couple of weeks already!

In big town events, the Canadian Coast Guard stopped in for a day, but had to rush away to rescue some ships stranded in the ice. The barges have also come in during the past week and a half, so the town has been bustling with the unloading of food, new skidoos, vehicles, ATVs, boats, etc. Food prices on dry goods have dropped somewhat, to my relief, a can of Coke is now only a $1.87. There are a few inches of snow on the ground, and we seem to be in a time of transition, where half the people are driving skidoos, and half are still booting around on ATVs.

And my classroom seems like an experiment for me at times, but I’m starting to find some things and routines that work well, and incorporate Inuit culture, while also allowing me to learn about it. I still struggle with attitude from those 3 girls that I mentioned before. The two of them that are more openly defiant, I have had it out with in private, and things seem to be working better for the most part. Unfortunately it is the third girl who drives me nuts. She is not as openly defiant, instead there is a cynical, air of superiority about her and an attitude towards me that is consistently negative, often with a sneering smile. So, I am definitely being stretched to learn about unconditional love with her. I would appreciate your prayers regarding her. I seem to get along well with the boys, and I believe I am being able to make some inroads into some of their lives in terms of building positive relationships.

I have one guy, who has been bounced around foster homes for much of his life, and has now been living with an aunt and uncle here in Gjoa Haven for the past two years. He is fairly clever, but often he seems unwilling to apply himself to school. He wants attention so desperately and acceptance, but doesn’t seem to have a clue of how to go about it properly. He constantly wants my help, and would monopolize my time in the classroom if I let him. He seems to have a mischievious smile permanently plastered across his face, and he will often hang around with me after school, whether I am doing work in my classroom or coaching basketball in the gym, he just wants to hang out. I’ve started to see a few positive changes in his willingness to try in school, and I’ve had a positive meeting with his guardians, but he can be trying. He will often make noises in class, if I can’t help him out right away, because I am with another student. And just last week, he decided to come and ring the doorbell of my house at 6am in the morning for about a half a minute non-stop. What a kid, but perhaps if I do nothing else this year, I will make a difference in this guy’s life. I could tell you plenty of other stories about my students, but for now, I will stop, this is getting rather long and I need to get it sent off. An early Happy Thanksgiving to you all (and hooray for long weekends),

Nick.