Adventures in Nunavut Part VIII

A belated Happy New Year to you all! It definitely has been awhile since I sat down to write. As far as adventures in Nunavut go, and more specifically Gjoa Haven, they have been literally, quite dark. It has only been in the last week that the sun has crept back up over the horizon, and for that I am grateful.

Christmas holidays were great and definitely came at the right time! Funny how stepping off of a plane into –17 weather in Edmonton can feel so incredibly warm!!! I spent a week on Vancouver Island at my Dad’s, relishing the opportunity to rediscover trees, mountains, rain, and unfrozen ocean. After beginning to unwind and get back into the wonderful outdoors I ventured back home to Kelowna for Christmas with my mom and to see lots of friends. It definitely was great to see people and just walk around outside unencumbered by a parka! What can I say, except that I have come to appreciate many things about being in the warmer outdoors, not to mention the more civilized life that I miss out on up here.

Amidst shopping for my return to the arctic, I managed to purchase some goldfish at a pet store in Kelowna a couple of hours before I caught my first plane out. It was an adventure to spend 24 hours in planes and airports with a clear bag full of fish. Unfortunately there were a few casualties, it must have been comical for others to watch me at the airport attempting to fetch dead fish out of the bag and then use bottled water on the plane to change the fishes’ water and give them some fresh air. It was well worth the challenge though as the five largest fish survived. It has been interesting to watch my students, as well as the youngest students in the elementary to the oldest in the high school want to come and see the new fish, they really are quite a novelty. I also managed to bring back some clam, mussel and crab shells intact from my time on Vancouver Island and they have been a source of considerable excitement among the students.

Getting back here, my roommate and I found everything in pretty good working order, that is except for our toilet, the line flushing out of it had frozen, so we got to live without a toilet for a few days! Thank goodness for living across from the school! I also just completed my second set of report cards, and helped sell for a couple more fundraising bingos for school programs that I am involved with. I have been gradually watching the movie, Pay It Forward, with my grade 7 class as a way of talking about and working at understanding plot summary, and it has been great to see the students get interested in it. Everyday they ask if we’re watching some of it….Friday morning we got a call at the house telling us school was cancelled, apparently one of the older estranged youth had been outside shooting off a gun, kind of scary, but not too much is surprising me around here anymore and it was resolved so we could go back for the afternoon. One thing I can say is that they love hockey, as I was out for a walk late last evening in –35 to –40 weather I came across a group of about 10 students playing street hockey, incredible!

Now, halfway through my first year of teaching, I’m still not too sure what to think of this whole profession. I definitely have a huge level of respect for those teachers who succeed and continue in this battle year in and out. I think I am starting to believe that I can indeed do this, but I am somewhat reluctant in knowing whether or not I want to. I know that I am passionate about young people, but I don’t know if I am passionate enough about the classroom and curriculum. Many of you who pray, have asked me what you can pray for me about, and I think that there are 3 things that I have in my mind at this point in time, including unconditional love for my students and those that I am around, to make the most of my time here, however long that might be, and third, that I would have peace and patience in approaching what to do after this school year, as I contemplate many things. It was great to see a number of you over the holidays, thanks for taking the time to visit and hang out, and thanks to the many of you who have taken the time to drop me a line about what is going on in your lives, and offering me encouragement. Hopefully next update I will have some more pictures for you!