Feels Like Home to Me

The other day Jon and I wandered into the Northern, and were struck by how at home we felt. Our principal was making fun of Jon's grocery choices, kids were wandering by giving us high fives, and we even made a few inside jokes with one of the workers. A new guy has come up North (actually from Carleton Place- which is a little nuts) and all the kids were whispering at us to watch out for the giant. We left the store feeling as though we had really found our new home. When we first arrived here, I was a little reluctant to say we would be here for five years, but as time goes on, I am beginning to see that as more and more of a possibility. Even our little hotel room feels more homey- now that we have the internet and hangers. Our stuff is trickling in, and I feel sure it will all be here soon.

We continue to meet new people and Jon got out fishing with one of the local RCMP, while I went out berry picking with his wife and some local ladies. I had my first Honda ride out into the land. It was a little bit terrifying, I'm not going to lie. I think we'll definitely be going the snowmobile route. The blueberries here are delicious, but pretty different from down South. They grow really close to the ground, so we were pretty much laying down in the turf. Everything has a really short growing season, but apparently there are still cranberries to come which will be really delicious. The weather is pretty warm today, but in general it's been getting much cooler, and the nights are slowly creeping up- although the sun is still back in the sky by three in the morning.

We've been starting to get tradition into our classrooms. Our kids learned a bit about sod building houses last week, and we'll hopefully continue that lesson in two weeks at environmental camp, where we'll get to go out on to the land and actually build a small sod house. I'm also hoping to have an elder come in for gym class this week and lead the students in traditional Inuit games. We also did home visits last week, which gave us a really good idea of where our students come from, and who has support at home, but everyone was welcoming and friendly. We've been getting good reviews about how we're managing the grade sevens, and hoping to keep up that good reputation. I think as we go on, we realize even more the value of hands-on lessons. We also had the opportunity to meet the new Supervisor of Schools for our region, which is basically like the Superintendent. He was very nice and had some updates on our housing situation. He was also shockingly tall...like actually seven feet tall. Its his first year at the job- so I'm sure he's got a busy year ahead. As well as plenty of flying- anytime he wants to visit a school it means a flight. You would think they would have discovered Skype technology.

We miss everyone so much, but we are really happy to be here and I think we both feel that this is absolutely where we're supposed to be :)