One week out

Well, I've been out of the North for one week now ... and boy does it feel strange. The temperatures down here in the south have either been nice and chilly (the way I like it) or disgustingly hot and humid .. well.. to me at least. To everyone else it's just normal early summer weather.

I haven't gotten too much accomplished during my first week out. Sure I managed to buy a new TV and mattress for the Yukon .. and i've done a crap load of laundry (now that I don't have to worry about running out of water halfway through a load) .. and I've picked up my Wii (need entertainment for the North ya know ... besides, it will be benefiting more than just me - ready for Wii weekends Kara??).

I've managed to dig my way through some of the paper work that GYT has sent me ... boy can they make the paper work any more confusing. I've been attaching post-it notes to all papers saying that part of it has already been forwarded to Teacher Recruitment (ie: my CRC and VS .. as it was easier to just run over to the RCMP in Arctic Bay than it would be trying to convince the RCMP down here that I need them not the Fredericton Police to run it).

And I've also managed to book my seat for the flight up to Whitehorse - to which Air Canada better not have a seat sale between now and then or I will be royally ticked off .. although, I did score one of the last two seats on the flight to Toronto to catch the connecting flight to Calgary then to Whitehorse .. so I guess in the end, it worked out. Oh, and of course, I took up Michael's suggestion of the Midnight Sun B&B for the 18&19 and will most likely be crashing at Michael and Fawn's the 20-22 (unless the GYT has arranged for hotels for us new to the Yukon teachers .. as there is this orientation thingy that we have to attend).

Oh, and I've even started repacking and organizing stuff that I'm taking with me to the Yukon ... at least what I brought home and already have in boxes here at the apartment ... looks like this weekend .. or maybe next week will be the dig through the storage locker to red sticker everything that I am taking with me (now if only I could find a volunteer who would like to watch me go completely insane while I decide what I should and shouldn't bring with me to the Yukon ... any takers? Anyone??!!)

Well, must get back to staring at this bus schedule ... gotta figure out how to get myself around this town with no vehicle for the summer (which I might add sucks purple monkey balls) .. but at least my truck will be waiting for me in Whitehorse when I arrive (yeah!).

Travel Update

Well, it has been a long day s far. I've been up for over 13 hours now (yeah, I know ... got to love it when you only get four hours of sleep the night before 12 hours of flying / airport jockying). And this fog that rolled in late last night was of NO help:






And then of course, there was the grey, overcast, crappy skies of this morning with more fog rolling in over the hills. This really put us all (at least the 7 of us who were heading out today) on pins and needles. We were ... well.. quite anxious to get out. I was more so anxious to get out as I haven't been back home in almost 10 months, and because I need to start coordinating my move to the Yukon!

But, by some large stroke of luck, the skies over Nanisivik were nice and clear (well.. as clear as they could be) and the plane landed (yeah!!!) and then whisked us all off to Iqaluit. And of course, Iqaluit was busy as usual with many flights all landing at the same time with 70% of those passengers heading to Ottawa on the two flights bound south. Out flight was filled with teachers from all over North Baffin (us lucky schools who finish early in the year).

So, that now brings me to now. Where I am slowly getting back in touch with reality, Internet (whoop-whoop! Free Wi-Fi!!! I was able to download an iTunes album in 5 minutes! Not two hours! It was great!). And OMG - I am drinking the most wonderful hazelnut latte from Second Cup right now. You have no idea how tasty this drink is to my taste buds. I am in heaven right now.

Well, Kate and OJ are now somewhere's in the air heading to Toronto ... Monty and Elizabeth are boarding their flight to Halifax, and I'm sitting here at Gate 19 waiting for my flight to board.. which should be soon. Not too sure where April and Nick went, but they did pass by here a couple of minutes ago.

Well, I guess that is all for now ... at least until I get home to NB.

On the Road Again .... er .. In the Air Again ..

Well, if everything went according to plan this morning, I should be in the air by the time this post publishes itself. Today, I am heading back to the homeland. Back to the land of maple syrup, lobster and Alpine. Home Sweet Home New Brunswick. Am I excited? uh... YES! I didn't get down to NB this year for Christmas as well ... 5000$ for 6 days down south just didn't seem to worth it. So I elected to stay up here in the North again for the holiday season.... and am REALLY looking forward heading home for 10 weeks.

But today, oh today. I am in a plane, heading for Iqaluit and then heading to Ottawa, and then to Fredericton, NB. How nice it is going to be to put my feel on maritime soil. To run them through the thick green blades of grass that will be welcoming be back.

As much as I am excited to be going back to NB and then onto the Yukon, I am also sad about leaving Arctic Bay. I have called this small, remote northern community home for two years now. It feels strange to be leaving. But, I have a feeling, this isn't the last of Kennie in Nunavut.

Well ... here's hoping I make it back to NB today ...

And the year draws to a close

Wow. End of the school year. It's hard to believe that the school year is done today ... in 35 minutes to be exact. At 3:35 pm, students will say their final farewells to the teachers for the summer (although I am sure we will see many of them over the weekend before they head out onto the land for some summer camping). It also marks the end of many "tour of duty" (as we have been affectionately calling it). There are some big changes on the way for Inuujaq School and Arctic Bay - but I am sure that they will all be excellent changes and life will keep on rolling here at the school.

This morning we all went out fishing at the point for sculpins and arctic cod. We mostly caught sculpins (or ugly fish) as they are known as here (and boy are they ugly!).






After spending all morning outside on the ice and then walking back to the community barely any of us teachers are able to keep our eyes open - are we ever tired. The kids? Naww .. hyper as ever (how I wish I had that energy again).

So that brings us to here, 3:13 pm ... with only 22 minutes left before the end of the school year. The buzz around the school - everyone is freaking out over the end of the year - kids are happy to be getting out soon to be able to go off and play and to stay up a late as they want all summer long without having to worry about getting up in the morning to come to school. The southern staff is either busy getting summer bags ready for their vacation down south or are packing like mad as they are preparing for new adventures.

What ever the end of the year may bring, in the end, I'll always be able to look back upon it and smile.

Summer: By Grade 1

Got to love the end of the school year. Kids are crazy .. but they still enjoy drawing and coloring (phew!). So today in grade 1 we made three large wall murals about summer and what they are planning to do / want to do this summer with their families.