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 :)

A bit of a longer post for today now that we are a little bit more settled. Our furniture has still not arrived, so we're currently staying at the VPs house. He is coming back into town by August 31st, so we're really hoping we can be out of his hair by then. The house is very similar to what we're going to be moving into, so it's giving us a good idea and it's really nice. The ground floor is a living room/dining area with a nice big kitchen. Then there is a bathroom on the landing to the stairs upstairs and two bedrooms/laundry room with a bunch of shelves on the top. The house also has a massive porch that is also used for storage.

 Craziest thing here is probably the sweltering heat. I guess the houses are built to take in as much heat as possible which will be amazing in the winter, but right now the temperature of the house is 27 degrees...same temperature as Kingston today! Outside its not too warm, but we went for a walk around town in capris and sweatshirts last night. The landscape can be described by its absolutely stunning rock and ocean views. The kids just run around everywhere like wild things, loving the land and the long hours of daylight they have this month. They are very curious about us and clearly knew we were coming and that we would be together. I can't say enough about how friendly everyone is...everyone says hello when they pass on the road, and they all welcome us and ask what grades we'll be teaching. We were wandering around last night and people kept driving up and making sure we weren't lost. The town just keeps growing...there are actually about a thousand people. So maybe one day soon we'll get a fast food restaurant :P

Only a couple things have gone wrong...two of Jon's bags, including his guitar didn't get here with us, but they arrived on a plane today and were delivered to our door. Also...mid-walk last night we were in the middle of town and what we assumed was a wolf walked right in front of us (Note by Jon: We saw it in the distance). Thankfully it turned out to be a wolf-dog who was chained up and didn't seem too bothered about us. Grocery prices are STUPID high. Last night we bought a pizza, a loaf of bread, some jam, popcorn and a frozen ice tea and it came to 48 DOLLARS! Thankfully the VP is going to bring us some stuff from Yellowknife when he flies in, like vegetables.

 We had the opportunity to get into the school today and see our classrooms, as well as get an entire box of curriculum material, so we've spent the afternoon planning. We're going out on a walk this evening with the assistant manager of the Northern Store we met this morning, so hopefully we'll be able to post some pictures soon!

11 Days!

This is our first test entry of the blog we're planning on keeping while we journey up to Taloyoak, Nunavut for a year of teaching grade seven. We were granted the positions at the end of May and are moving up in a very short eleven days to our new home. All of our effects were shipped up at the end of June and we're just hoping that they get there before we do. I don't much relish the thought of sleeping on the floor for a few nights while waiting for all of our furniture to arrive via barge order.

We also managed to squeeze in a big non-perishable grocery order on the last ship headed to our new hometown. It's much cheaper to get items shipped in by boat, but there is only a brief period of the year where the ice melts enough to allow ships through. Even though we ordered at the beginning of July, we won't receive the items until sometime in September.

Over the next few days before we leave, Jon and I are just trying to get in as much time with friends and family as possible- including a Jays game this weekend we are both excited for! Obviously we both want to be out in the summer heat as often as possible too. Come the end of August, we can expect to have frost on the ground in Taloyoak, which might be quite a shock to the system.

We fly out on July 25th from Toronto. In Toronto we'll also be meeting up with Sarah, who is a new hire music teacher as well. From Toronto we go on to Edmonton to spend the night. Then we catch an early morning flight to Yellowknife and finally make the last five hour trek to Taloyoak, where our principal will pick us up at the airport.

That's all for now! The rest of the blogging will continue either closer to the flight or upon arrival.

Family pets playing amongst boxes. They will not be accompanying us. :(