Well. Now that we are back to writing in our blog...we had a true Northern experience this past week, that I figured we could share with all you folks back home...most who still don't even have snow!
Monday afternoon we got word that a crazy blizzard was coming in. We were not at all surprized to get the news that we wouldn't be headed into school on Tuesday morning. We got the whole day off, but we took a wander out over to the school- mostly to use the internet. There wasn't too much snow, it was the wind that was crazy. Most storms in the north aren't too snow-based. The winds just rip across the tundra with nothing to slow them down and create these massive snow drifts. They absolutely tower above your heads and can bring the town to a stand still. The weather is comparatively warm during a blizzard though, which is nice.
When we settled in for the night on Tuesday, we couldn't help but notice the wind picking up. We stuck our heads out the front door and we're blown away. We could not see across the street. It was a complete white out. When we tried to check our water light (it turns on red when you run low, and we were betting with the storm the water trucks would not be out) the garbage bag we use as a curtain got ripped out through the window. It was like a vaccuum.
Wednesday was easily the worst day. The snow was piled up against our door well past my hip, and we were told to stay inside no matter what. As if we would want to do anything else. We were officially snowed in- a la Little |House on the Prarie. The winds got up to 90 km an hour. It was simply not safe to go out. It ended up being kind of a surreal day. We haven't had such a lazy day since we got here. We woke up at 11 and it was pretty grey outside, watched a movie and by 1 in the afternoon it was midnight dark outside. The day flew by and it was eleven at night before we knew it.
It was definite confirmation that we need to come home for all our Christmas breaks. With storms like that, we would end up spending most of our holiday holed up on the couch. We're looking at two crazy weeks at home, but it will be worth the plane ticket just to see everybody.
Anyways, the storm finally calmed down mid-morning. This afternoon we were back in school. Everyone is gearing up for the Christmas concert, and school is just down right pleasant, so I was happy to get back and see all the kidlets. We are also planning our big YMCA exchange trip to Toronto for the spring and we wanted to get a parent meeting in before we leave for the break- hopefully the weather will cooperate!
One last thing...anyone looking to learn more about the north, try giving 'An Arctic Man' by Ernie Lyall a read. He lived in Taloyoak in the 70s- or Spence Bay as it was known then- and he puts a really interesting spin on it. Tons of his descendants are still in town today and we know them well.
Thursday 8 December 2011
Sunday 4 December 2011
Part 2 of Hiatus of Sorts
Housing Update:
So we do enjoy where we live. The place is quite nice and we would be quite content to stay there. However it is an elders complex so we are not allowed to stay. We're waiting on word from our Education Authority on what progress has been made on getting us our own house right now, so we'll see on that.
Shawna posted on facebook some pictures of the house and things. If you didn't see - I made an awesome walk-in freezer. It's approximately the size of our porch. It consists of snow and boxes. It works well.
So at this point I've got a few fish in one of the boxes, a bunch of bread that was on sale in another, and I think there's some Ice Cream somewhere in there too.
This is me with my spoils.
And defrosting the fish.
An important update in regards to the house is that it is really handy for hallowe'en. There's a little hallway that leads to each of the four units in our building. So I set up shop just inside our doorway to scare kids. A few small ones cried and many others jumped. The scheme: Shawna would open the door and invite the kids in holding a bowl of candy (to give a false sense of security) and as they entered the house I would yell and jab them with my pole.
We also put up our Christmas Tree. I picked up a bunch of decorations when I was away in Iqaluit. We got the tree from one of the RCMP officers that was leaving town. He forgot to give us a tree stand, so in the picture below the tree is held up with a box that has a hole in the top filled with a case of cream of mushroom soup to weight it down. It works, you just can't walk real quick by the tree as it's not terribly stable.
Weather Update:
The weather hasn't been too bad - it's totally manageable. Rule of thumb, as always, is be prepared. Everyday is a parka day now. The big thing, as always, is trying to stay out of the wind. The air is certainly cold, but the wind is the killer. Our parkas have huge hoods that work really well, so we've never really been that cold. If we didn't have those, I'm not sure how we would fare. Probably poorly. I should mention though, Shawna has said she's been cold a few of the bad days - but I've written that off as an effect of her poor circulation. I don't think any boot or coat could keep her warm. Her toes seem to get cold even though her boots are rated to -100. So, we're going to have to get that figured out.
We're pretty well in 24hr darkness. It's more like 20hr darkness and four hours of dusk sort of thing. We don't see the sun anymore, but there is horizon that suggests a sun is nearby. The picture below was taken at about 1:00pm. The suggestion of the sun hours are from about 10:00am - 1:30 or so right now. I'm pretty sure when at the end of December its totally dark, but I'm not positive.
Last week we scored two days off of school. There was a blizzard zipping through the area that began on Sunday night and carried through to Tuesday night. We were told that our principal rarely cancels school even once in a year, so to have two days off was quite the treat! We did venture out during the storm. The winds were the main concern that prevented school from going on. The snow drifts that were built up on account of the winds were insane! We're dealing with like 15' snow drifts. Simply nuts. Two of them spread across roads that were that large. Due to this, the school bus can't get around, so school was cancelled for that reason. We took some pictures of our adventure outside during the storm, but the pictures don't really do the winds justice. I didn't get pictures of the drifts, my bad. Perhaps next time. The plow has taken care of them by now.
So there's a bit of an update for now. We'll be home in two weeks as mentioned before. We're both uber excited to see everyone! Post a comment if you have a question about anything at all!
So we do enjoy where we live. The place is quite nice and we would be quite content to stay there. However it is an elders complex so we are not allowed to stay. We're waiting on word from our Education Authority on what progress has been made on getting us our own house right now, so we'll see on that.
Shawna posted on facebook some pictures of the house and things. If you didn't see - I made an awesome walk-in freezer. It's approximately the size of our porch. It consists of snow and boxes. It works well.
An important update in regards to the house is that it is really handy for hallowe'en. There's a little hallway that leads to each of the four units in our building. So I set up shop just inside our doorway to scare kids. A few small ones cried and many others jumped. The scheme: Shawna would open the door and invite the kids in holding a bowl of candy (to give a false sense of security) and as they entered the house I would yell and jab them with my pole.
We also put up our Christmas Tree. I picked up a bunch of decorations when I was away in Iqaluit. We got the tree from one of the RCMP officers that was leaving town. He forgot to give us a tree stand, so in the picture below the tree is held up with a box that has a hole in the top filled with a case of cream of mushroom soup to weight it down. It works, you just can't walk real quick by the tree as it's not terribly stable.
Weather Update:
The weather hasn't been too bad - it's totally manageable. Rule of thumb, as always, is be prepared. Everyday is a parka day now. The big thing, as always, is trying to stay out of the wind. The air is certainly cold, but the wind is the killer. Our parkas have huge hoods that work really well, so we've never really been that cold. If we didn't have those, I'm not sure how we would fare. Probably poorly. I should mention though, Shawna has said she's been cold a few of the bad days - but I've written that off as an effect of her poor circulation. I don't think any boot or coat could keep her warm. Her toes seem to get cold even though her boots are rated to -100. So, we're going to have to get that figured out.
We're pretty well in 24hr darkness. It's more like 20hr darkness and four hours of dusk sort of thing. We don't see the sun anymore, but there is horizon that suggests a sun is nearby. The picture below was taken at about 1:00pm. The suggestion of the sun hours are from about 10:00am - 1:30 or so right now. I'm pretty sure when at the end of December its totally dark, but I'm not positive.
Last week we scored two days off of school. There was a blizzard zipping through the area that began on Sunday night and carried through to Tuesday night. We were told that our principal rarely cancels school even once in a year, so to have two days off was quite the treat! We did venture out during the storm. The winds were the main concern that prevented school from going on. The snow drifts that were built up on account of the winds were insane! We're dealing with like 15' snow drifts. Simply nuts. Two of them spread across roads that were that large. Due to this, the school bus can't get around, so school was cancelled for that reason. We took some pictures of our adventure outside during the storm, but the pictures don't really do the winds justice. I didn't get pictures of the drifts, my bad. Perhaps next time. The plow has taken care of them by now.
So there's a bit of an update for now. We'll be home in two weeks as mentioned before. We're both uber excited to see everyone! Post a comment if you have a question about anything at all!
Saturday 3 December 2011
Hiatus of Sorts
Alright - so we took a brief hiatus from blogging, but there were sort of some reasons. Well, not great ones, but ones at least. We became real busy with school around report card time getting final assignments done, catching up on marking and record keeping, then doing comments and such. Then we just neglected the blog pretty much. We couldn't blog from home either because Shawna conveniently let our router fall from the window sill. I was like, hey this router should be able to handle a fall. Then I found out it fell many times, and she only told me about it when it broke. So, I say it's her fault. haha
Synopsis of this blog:
School update - it's busy but still going well. Christmas time comes with lots of interruptions.
Housing update - we still live in an elders complex. Not sure when we'll move.
Weather update - it's pretty well 24hr darkness. Parka is a daily attire. We had a blizzard. We're good.
Home update - we fly out on the 17th and are home for two weeks. We're pretty really excited.
Various Funness - we played in a mini concert that was unreal, I am back from Iqaluit trip, Shawna wants a dog ... still
School update:
So what's been up at school. We both feel like we're getting into a pretty solid groove planning and teaching wise. We no longer spend outlandish amounts of time at the school, though we both spend the most time of all the teachers here we think. It might have something to do with the fact that there's not a heck of a lot to do during the day, so it gets us out. While we're here we can give each other company so that works well.
It takes us probably an hour or so to hash out the coming week. And then a few hour chunks to get the lesson part done. We can usually get it done in one go if we're feeling really keen, or just space it out though the week and our preps. So we're getting the hang of things and actually feel like we're making some progress with teaching. GOLDEN TEACHING BREAKTHROUGH: chunking. Have 5 questions? Insteaaaaaad of giving a page of 5 questions, we give a small piece of paper with 1 question, and then when they're done that they get question 2 on a new paper. It works wonders and we are pumping that into many of our lessons. So that's awesome.
okay - well apparently I have to leave now because Shawna needs to put some potatoes in the oven. I will complete the blog tomorrow.
Shawna is trying to claim I'm chunking the blog - but I think to all who read this you will see who is causing the blogs neglect.
Synopsis of this blog:
School update - it's busy but still going well. Christmas time comes with lots of interruptions.
Housing update - we still live in an elders complex. Not sure when we'll move.
Weather update - it's pretty well 24hr darkness. Parka is a daily attire. We had a blizzard. We're good.
Home update - we fly out on the 17th and are home for two weeks. We're pretty really excited.
Various Funness - we played in a mini concert that was unreal, I am back from Iqaluit trip, Shawna wants a dog ... still
School update:
So what's been up at school. We both feel like we're getting into a pretty solid groove planning and teaching wise. We no longer spend outlandish amounts of time at the school, though we both spend the most time of all the teachers here we think. It might have something to do with the fact that there's not a heck of a lot to do during the day, so it gets us out. While we're here we can give each other company so that works well.
It takes us probably an hour or so to hash out the coming week. And then a few hour chunks to get the lesson part done. We can usually get it done in one go if we're feeling really keen, or just space it out though the week and our preps. So we're getting the hang of things and actually feel like we're making some progress with teaching. GOLDEN TEACHING BREAKTHROUGH: chunking. Have 5 questions? Insteaaaaaad of giving a page of 5 questions, we give a small piece of paper with 1 question, and then when they're done that they get question 2 on a new paper. It works wonders and we are pumping that into many of our lessons. So that's awesome.
okay - well apparently I have to leave now because Shawna needs to put some potatoes in the oven. I will complete the blog tomorrow.
Shawna is trying to claim I'm chunking the blog - but I think to all who read this you will see who is causing the blogs neglect.
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