Donna's Arctic Adventure

Learning About Another Culture

2009-03-26T18:20:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone! I have not gotten buried in the snow. The frozen north is beginning to thaw and life here has been very busy. We had a week in February where the students had a break and the teachers all did professional development activities for the full week. I did more Picturing Writing and had great fun creating lots of masterpieces to frame when I go back down south.

Jacques and I joined curling and almost made it to the finals in our curling league. It was more by luck that skill if you saw how we curled...especially me. I have fallen on my butt more that enough times this past month. We went in a tournament and had some really close games but lost again. It was great fun hanging out with friends and watching others curl.

This week and next our school is really into lots of cultural activities. It is Nunavut's 10th birthday on April 1st. We have a big assembly that day and are doing lots of Inuit activities throughout the next week. We had a tent in our library and elders talked about traditions when living in a tent and the lighting of the qulliq (spelling may be wrong). That is the lamp to light their tent or igloo. It now is used in ceremonies such as the first day of school. One of our staff knows how to light and keep the qulliq going. She might try to teach me sometime.

This is the tent in our library and my class is in back learning how to do beading. It was a way to learn patience as the elder instructor told the children. It was very trying to my patience when I had to thread 21 tiny needles over and over!

Anyone want a piece of frozen raw arctic char???

The tray on the table is the frozen, raw char. The Inuit staff and the elders loved it. I had a piece. It was like eating sushi. The stuff in the packages are whale blubber -maattaq(I think that is close to the right spelling). I tried it once and that was enough for me. It is very chewy and fishy tasting. Some people like to dip it in soya sauce. The next picture shows raw caribou, raw char and the blubber. The square container behind contains bannock which the students got to help make as well. Yes! That is the leg bone right on the table and they use the knife to hack off pieces. The knife is called an ulu. They are a great knife to use in the kitchen. Yes Charlotte! It was raw meat sitting on the table in our staff room! I thought of you when I saw it there on the table.(what would David think, too??)

We also did some square dancing. The dances were big events in the communities. There are some elders and staff teaching the students how to dance. Our class is going to do a dance for the school assembly. For those that know me...yes I always get into the dancing!

I think I am getting as many learning experiences as my students. We are having lots of fun learning together.

Rockin Ravens

2009-02-13T02:56:00.000-08:00

We have a great radio station up here called Raven Rock but that is not what I am blogging about. It is those giant crows up here that they call Ravens!

Jacques got a holiday turkey , a ham and some shrimp rings to have before Christmas but they arrive the evening before we left for the "South". He thought it was a great idea to put the box on our balcony til we returned. The outside makes a good freezer up here! The next morning before we headed to the airport he checked the box on the balcony.

As you can see, the taped up box is open and an empty shrimp ring was left for us to discover. The ravens had ripped open the box and eaten through one shrimp ring and started on another. I didn't know we had planned a present for our feathered neighbours. We had a good laugh about it and were able to store the other things in our freezer(minus 2 shrimp rings).

We didn't learn our lesson there. Jacques put a bag of garbage on the outside landing one day planning to throw it in the bin when we headed to work. He came back 15-20 minutes later to garbage strewn everywhere around the stairs. What a mess to clean up!

We still hadn't learned our lesson. The two of us went grocery shopping one Saturday morning. We put the bags of groceries in the back of the truck. After we decided to head to a restaurant for some lunch. I bet you can guess the rest of this story. Jacques picked up one of the bags when we went to unload. I heard him curse and ran to see the problem. The ravens had eaten 2 of our eggs and a bagel. This time they had breakfast on us.

Fool me once, fool me twice (and a third time)but those ravens aren't going to fool me again!

Sewing Time

2009-01-18T04:41:00.000-08:00

Finally got all of my parka cut out. Invited a few ladies over to do some sewing and that spurred me on to get all the material cut. It also took over a month to get the thinsulate material for the lining. No sense making a coat that I cannot wear in the very cold weather of Iqaluit. As you can see it will be a blue parka with blue and yellow trims as well as a fur around the hood. Looking at blue fox for the hood trim. My daughter is mad at me about using fur but it serves an important purpose here in the north. It keeps the wind off of one's face. I can tell you that we get some chilly winds.

Three ladies came by and we got to work on two coats and learned how to sew some mittens. The mittens we are beginning with have duffel material on the outside and polar fleece for the lining. If we do a good job then we'll put fur around the bottom edges. Maybe later we will try to sew mittens out of leather.

We also have a pattern for a baby parka. I have a grand nephew that arrived on Christmas Day. He will be the first grand baby that I can sew for. Not ready for any of my own. Sometime in the future after the girls get their own futures settled.

Hope to get something finished soon to post on the blog. Lots of things started but nothing finished. That seems to be the direction I go with my sewing projects. Maybe having the girls come over on Saturdays will mean I might actually finish one thing! (or more)

Curling, Sunsets and Other Things

2009-01-13T15:49:00.001-08:00

Some of you might have remembered that I volunteered for the Nation Mixed Curling Bonspiel held here in Iqaluit. The local curling club put on an appreciation night for all of the volunteers. We had a buffet of munchies and lots of great prizes. I came away with a gift certificate to a local gift store. The group at the table are mostly people that work at the school with me. A fun bunch to party with!

Starting with the guy on the left Clyde, his wife Marilyn, Me, Barb, Steve and his girlfriend Rachel and at the back diane.The guy grinning at us is the gym teacher from my school and Barb's husband Harry.

The sun is starting to go down later in the day now. These two pictures were taken at about 2:00 in the afternoon. The sun and moon seen so much closer to us up here. By 2:30 it was dark again. I look forward to longer days.

Below is the view from the side of our building. The hill is covered with snow but it is not very deep. The wind blow so often that much of the snow get blown away. I like how hard and crunchy the snow is. You can walk on top of it and it makes such a neat sound.

Finally I started a course in Inuktitut. It is a very different language from english. Here is the words for "Yes I want to drink some coffee" ii, kaapiturumajunga Say that mouthful! The hour class went by very quickly. I hope to use some words with my own students. They will be able to help me with the pronounciation.

unnukkut

(Good Night)

Ramblings About The Holidays

2009-01-02T04:48:00.000-08:00

Jacques and I are back in the land of Ice and Snow. It seems like we barely left and boom we're back.

The trips down to NS and back were interesting in themselves. We left Iqaluit on the 20th of December full of excitement about seeing our children. Arrived in Ottawa after an hour and half delay waiting to load in Iqaluit. The waiting area is extremely small especially for a couple hundred people wanting to get out for Christmas. Good flight on the plane...wine and special coffees helped that!

We all arrived in Ottawa to hear that another storm was coming through on Sunday which might cancel many of the flights out the next day. Jacques checked with Air Canada to see if we could switch flights to get out earlier and beat the storm. He was told that the earliest would be the 27 th. He decided that we would take a trip somewhere south if we couldn't get home to the family. That was alright with me. That wouldn't have been alright with the kids ....but that's life!

We had dinner at The Keg with friends and enjoyed the evening in Ottawa. Life always looks better with good friends, food and wine.

The next morning I looked out to a few flakes that soon turned into lots and lots of snow. We started to check out cancellations in Ottawa and Toronto. Everything in Toronto was starting to be cancelled. Jacques was about to look at flights to Cuba. He saw that Porter Air was flying to Halifax that morning. We got on the phone because we saw that they had some seats available. The line was busy so we headed to the airport. It took us a while as we got lost getting there. As it happened they had seats available at $99 each so we took them. We raced back to the hotel and grabbed our bags then back to the airport. We checked in our baggage then went through security to wait and hope the flight didn't get cancelled. It became a waiting game as the flight kept getting delayed every 15 minutes. It was to leave at 11:40 and we were still waiting to board at 12:40. They we heard the magic words. We boarded and took off at 1:00. It seemed unreal that we actually landed in Halifax at 4:00 that afternoon when our original flight would have had us land at 10:45 that night. Everyone cheered as we landed because we knew we were lucky to make it home that weekend. Of course the family was shocked to have us arrive at their doors 6 hours before they were expecting us. They thought we were calling to say we couldn't made it. The storm hit Halifax soon after we had landed. It didn't bother us as we were enjoying a party with our children. That was the best Christmas present ever!

It was great to see all our children, family and friends. I didn't realize how short our visit was until we started traveling around to see everyone. First a visit with all our children while they were having their own dinner party. It was nice to spend time with all of our children together in the same place. Off to the valley the next day. Strange to go home to our house with someone else living there. It is great that Linda and her family are enjoying our house. We had a terrific visit and got to see a few friends. Jackie was really glad we got the truck up and running. She now has a reliable vehicle to get her to school this winter. Remember Kiddo that it is just a loan!

Getting the Christmas dinner ready. Everyone is pitching in to help!

Enjoying a beautiful Christmas tree and all the trimmings at Blair and Denise's place.

Back to Halifax to spend Christmas with the rest of our family. Friends were kind enough to lend us their house in East Chezzecook. It was a beautiful spot to enjoy the holidays. Then off to the cottage for the last bit of our holidays. Our cottage at Round Bay is really home to me. It has been the one constant in my life from birth. It also made me miss home more that anywhere else we visited over the holidays.
The beach at Round Bay. I look forward to swimming in the waves next summer!

The old cottage is still standing....we don't know for how much longer?

We headed back to Halifax via the valley. Had to say another good-bye to our oldest child. Got to enjoy a meal with everyone at Pizza Delight. It was a long trip for 5 people in a small Ford Focus.

Dinner at Pizza Delight in Greenwood. Alex and Collette look impressed!
Jackie with that mischievious grin of her's. She had just licked Alex's ear and he wasn't happy with her!
All the family is together for the last time in 2008. Looking forward to more fun times together in 2009!

Said our final good byes in Halifax then it was time for the flight back to Ottawa. This trip was very uneventful. We got to the hotel in Ottawa at about 10:30 am. Enjoyed the day in Ottawa and did some shopping. Got a hockey bag and filled it with some essentials...boxes of wine, rum and other things.

Finally we headed backto the airport on the eve of the New Year. The flight was to leave for Iqaluit via Montreal and Kujuak(not correct spelling) Quebec. We waited in the airport with a group who had tried to get out the day before and had to turn around and go back to Ottawa after hours of wait up in Kujuak which is in the north of Quebec. We got to Montreal and had to wait on the tarmack for over 2 hours. We thn got to Kujuak and had another wait of on hour on the tarmack. We loaded on the plane at 8 am and got off after 3 pm. It is not fun sitting on a hot plane for hours. It was good to land after a long day sitting and waiting. We had 15 minutes to pick up groceries for our New Years Eve. Not much left on the shelves. Many of the grocery flights had not made it in due to bad weather. The shelves are filled up again now but we had no milk or fresh vegies for a few days. You have to make do when this happens. We are learning to be very adapting in this new environment. It was a quiet New Year but it looks to be a busy year coming up.

Getting Ready for the Holidays

2008-12-13T06:01:00.000-08:00

Christmas time is as busy up north as it is back in the south. Jacques and I have been busy with parties, visiting friends, practicing for concerts, getting in the Christmas spirit and counting the days til we see our kids. One of the two airlines that flys up north puts on a huge Gala ball at the end of November to kick off the holiday season. The tickets are $125 and the money goes to different charity groups in Iqaluit. I think over 500 people attended this event. Jacques was lucky enought to get us 2 tickets. That meant we both had to get dressed up. I haven't had an opportunity to really get dressed up in years. Well I am glad I still had my slinky black dress. It's the only one I brought north with me. I hoped it would do for a "Gala"! I looked okay and Jacques was handsome in his nice charcoal suit. Boy what a variety of dresses. There were beautiful evening gowns, terrific looking cocktail dresses and even prom dresses. I wish I had gotten some pictures of a few of the gorgeous dresses lots of the women wore. The hairdos were another thing. I just washed and blew my hair dry. These women had all been to the hairdressers for updos with ribbons, pearls and flowers strung through their hair. I guess when it is the only major event of the year you make the most of it. They had drinks and appetizers first. The appetizers were scallops wrapped in bacon and mini chicken shish kabobs. The bar was open and the liquor flowed. This was followed by a buffet meal prepared by the Frobisher Inn. A very nice meal! After the meal they presented cheques to the different charity groups and had a draw for some plane tickets and a beautiful sealskin coat. Darn! I didn't win anything. The evening ended with a dance to a fun band they had flown in from down south. Jacques and I boogied to the disco beat for a while and then caought a taxi home. All in all a lovely evening.

Our Inuit Art Gallery

2008-11-23T09:49:00.000-08:00

I am taking you up on your idea Donna P. Here is a peak at the beginnings of the Deschenes' Inuit Art Gallery (Ha! Ha!)

The two Bears is a piece we bought because the fellow knocked the price down to $10. I think it will actually look great in the right frame.

This picture on the right is our favourite piece. We wanted it as soon as we saw it. It is from a local artist here in Iqaluit. We hope to get a few more of his pieces. It represents celebrating after the kill of an animal (I think)

The set of three pictures at the bottom are about a hunter trying to catch a seal. Each picture we have purchased is different in the techniques. So many different works of art to choose from. I hope to select a few carvings to add to our collection sometime in the future.

2008-11-22T12:48:00.000-08:00

Well report cards are done and parents have been in to the school to pick them up. I feel like a weigh has been lifted off my shoulders. I worried about how the process would go up here. It was great to know that I could use what ever format I was comfortable with. I went with the report card style I used back at Kingston with a few tweeks. Other teachers here in Nakasuk liked my format and used it as well. It was so nice to here the positive comments from the parents about how their children like coming to school. It made my day!

Went out to the Kicking Caribou to celebrate with a few friends. Jacques tells me he got out extra money to do some Christmas shopping. I know that sounds weird to shop at the bar but that is what we do sometimes. A lot of the local artists have people come into the bars and restaurants selling carvings, jewelry, pictures and even clothing like mitts or hats. We have done a bit of shopping that way. Jacques bargained a picture priced at $260 down to $200. He got a set of 3 pictures the other night. We will probably have enough pictures for an art gallery in our living room when we go back home.

The Frobuild Family Apartment Building

Thought I would tell y'all a bit about our apartment here in Iqaluit. There are 6 apartments in the building. Everyone in the building works for Frobuild. There are 4 one bedroom apartments on the first floor and 2 three bedroom apartments on the second floor. We were lucky to have one of the 3 bedroom apartments. It gives us lots of room and has one of the best views in town. We see the airport and all the planes landing and taking off as well as the harbour and part of Frobisher Bay. No boats out on the water anymore. The harbour is frozen over already. Check out the pictures of our apartment.

The top 2 balconies are part of our apartment and our

entrance is at the side of the

building.

Above are 2 views of the kitchen

The dining area and the living room below

Our Bedroom

The spare room I use as an Office

Halloween Time in the North

2008-11-08T09:25:00.000-08:00

Well, Halloween has come and gone. We had no Trick or Treaters so Jacques and I get to eat the box of chips we had ready. We live in an area that doesn't have many children. It was also a very cold and uninviting night to be out Trick or Treating. Imagine wearing a snowsuit over your Halloween costume!

I did have a busy day at school. The children all dressed up for the afternoon and so did a lot of the staff. All I had was an orange shirt and black pants. I didn't know that they went all out for Halloween. I'll have to bring up a costume to wear next year. We had a party in our class that afternoon. I never so so many goodies. The children took home as big a haul of treats as if they had gone trick or treating in my room. Many parents made up bags of goodies for every child in my room as well as cookies and other treats. I had to find bags for all the loot they took home from school.

We had a costume parade in the Gym half way through the afternoon. The teachers did some crazy dancing in the middle of the gym and then each class paraded around so everyone could see all the different costumes. There were lots and lots of little princesses. I saw some very elaborate costumes. I had pirates,the Hulk, Spider man, many princesses, vampires and monsters.

First Snow Day

2008-10-30T06:57:00.000-07:00

A Storm Day so I have no school!!

Well I got the call at 7:00 am that school had been cancelled for the morning. Because all students go home for lunch they could have us back in class this afternoon. The way the wind is blowing...I don't think so! It started around supper time last night with a bit of wet snow then the high winds picked up. By 7:30 you couldn't see anything out the windows. Our back bedroom windows are covered in so much snow you cannot even see out of them. At least the building doesn't shake so much now. The posts must be frozen in the ground with the cold weather we have been having. Snowmobiles are now a better way to get around. They have started zooming up the roads here this morning. That means Jacques will be itching to buy us a couple. Imagine us roaring over the tundra together. Boy that would be some picture!

I have been a busy girl since I did my last post. Things are going well and I really enjoy being involved in a new system and school. I guess a change is as good as a rest. I have started Aqua Fit classes with 4 other ladies from school. We go Mondays, and Wednesdays from 6:00 to 7:00 pm as as Saturday mornings at 9:00 am. All go to breakfast after the Saturday morning class. The pool is in the same building as the Frobisher Inn. They serve a nice breakfast and a great Sunday Brunch!

I am getting back into sewing so it was a good idea that I shipped my sewing machine up here. Got some blue material to make my first Inuit parka. Very excited to get started on the coat and know it will come in handy in the winter snows.
Did pick up a Canada Goose coat which is good for the minus 50 weather we will be getting later. My aunt figures it must be made of gold threads form the cost of it. Too Much!! Check out Donna the big Brown Bear! It feels like I 'm wrapped in a huge duvet. I could fall over and the coat would break my fall with all the padding it has. I bought a blue knitted hat and learned it is a Pangirtung Hat. They come from the community of Pangirtung which is a short airplane ride from us. It fits nice and snug on my head and has been very practical on cold and windy days supervising the playground.

Took my class swimming a couple times in the last few weeks. They love it and it is fun watching them splash and play in the water. Our first swim day was after about 6 inches of new snow had fallen. We have to hike up a steep hill to get to the pool. That's right...no buses to take us there. It was a beautiful walk in the new fallen snow. On the way back we all slipped and rolled down the hill. The children had as much fun on the walk back to school as they did in the pool. So did I!

We just got our first piece of Inuit art. Bought a drawing when we were out at a bar one night. They come around to your tables in restaurants and bars trying to sell clothes, earrings, purses, mitts, hats, carvings and pictures. We have bought a few things when we have been out. Jacques has wanted to get some pictures since he arrived in Iqaluit. Check out the photo of our first piece of art. Well enjoy the fall but remember us snuggling down for a long winter's nap.

PS It is Jacques' birthday but I cannot give him his present because I left it at school. He could use it today as it is a nice pair of handmade leather mitts. Oh well, they will come in handy over the rest of the winter I am sure we will have!

Building a Home in Iqaluit

2008-10-11T06:37:00.000-07:00

I have been fascinated by the way they build homes up here. The ground and weather don't lend themselves well to putting in cement basements like back south. They start with large steel posts that are pounded into the ground using this crazy machine...don't have any idea what it is called. The ground is all rocks and then you hit the permafrost. Not easy to deal with when you want to place a home on it. The homes are actually above the ground. That means the main floors need to be well insulated. The floor has steel and wooden beams for support then they are insulated.

Once The floor has been laid then they go to work on the walls, one side at a time.

When all of the sides have been raised then it is on with the roof.

They use metal for all the roofs here. Just like our old house in Greenwood for those who remember our home on Dalmation Drive. When it rains you hear that drip drip noise on your roof.

Now they have a roof and they can work on the inside away from the wind and snow. Right now there are a lot of homes going up on our street. They are working 7 days a week to get things set before the real snows come through. I will update this blog when they actually finish the outside of the house.

Happy Thanksgiving to all our friends!

Donna and Jacques

Almost Two Months in Iqaluit

2008-09-28T06:25:00.000-07:00

All is quiet here on Sundays except for the builders across the street. They even work Sundays. I guess you have to take advantage of the good weather while it is here in order to get things done before the snows really arrive.

We had our school Terry Fox Walk on Friday(Sept 26) and had milder weather for it. We walked a circle around the main roads of the city and back to our school. It stopped a lot of traffic and lots of people came outside to cheer the children on. It did seem a bit strange walking in ski jackets and gloves. When we got back to school they gave the kids a longer recess. Seemed just like back home.

No classes on September 29th as we had a staff inservice day on Picturing Writing. I love the program already cuz I get to play with watercolour paints. My students love it too. We hadn't done much except play with the paints on dry paper and wet paper. We did have the priviledge of learning more under the program developer herself- Beth Olshansky. She came to our class for an hour every day and worked with the children. She focused on the sky and how it changes during the different times of day. They did paintings of twilight and sunset. They also started to write about their paintings too. We will soon have enough work together for them to each have their first published book. Check out some of their paintings.

These are pictures of Twilight up in the North done by grade 1 and 2 students. The picture below is a finished Sunset page for one of their books which will be called Painting the Sky.I am very proud of my little artists.

Leaving you with a real Iqaluit sunset. No snow today!

Snow in September

2008-09-20T14:05:00.000-07:00

One minute you couldn't see down the hill to the airport and the next the sky is clear again!

I wasn't expecting to dig out my boots, ski jacket and gloves so soon. We has small snow showers on Sunday (the 14th). Looked out my window one minute to a clear view and a whiteout the next. It was over as soon as it arrived. It has snowed on and off all week since.

When we got up Tuesday(16th) morning there was a couple inches of snow on the ground. I was on duty all day and had to deal with snowball. I should say dirtballs because our playground is all sand and gravel. We do not have pavement only days here. No pavement to speak of anywhere around the school. By supper time there was no snow around but it keeps coming back in spurts. We did have a high wind warning on Wednesday night. The buildings rocked and rolled all night. Being up on stilts means these buildings move a bit in strong winds. I got rocked to sleep that night.

See the metal posts that hold our building up. We live on the top floor, too!

This was the sunrise on Thirsday morning. It was like the sun painted the ground with a golden paintbrush.The mountains in the distance look beautiful with their white dusting of snow. You can actually see the snow showers coming off in the distance when the cloud cover is not too low.

That's all from "way North of Nova Scotia" This week!

Starting Over Again

2008-09-11T16:22:00.000-07:00

Wow! It is hard to believe that I have been here almost 4 weeks now. It was strange walking into a different school and trying to set up a new classroom. The school looks like a big octagonal marshmallow in the center of town. It is are located across from the main grocery store, too. At noon and supper time we even have some traffic. There are no traffic lights. We have lots of 3 and 4 way stops. The speed limit is 40km/hr or 30 in front of the hospital. Jacques has a hard time keeping down under those speeds after spending years doing so much highway driving. We have already gotten into a daily routine. He goes to work at 5 or 6 and then is back to pick me up at 7:30. Check out his vehicle. It is a good thing it is 4 wheel drive as the roads are real rough out here. We have checked out most of the roads in town but haven't gone all the way out the Road to Nowhere. I'll need a couple gravol for that road!
Well back to school life. Classes start at 8:45 am and we sing O'Canada partly in Inuktitut then french and finally in English. I haven't retained any Inuktitut yet. All the children take off their outdoor shoes at the entrance and carry them to class. Imagine trying to do that at Kingston School. I have a class of 21 students. There are 8 grade 2 students and 13 grade 1's. They only have 1/2 day Kindergarten so many of the children are not as ready for grade 1 as those with full days in primary in NS. Different systems. They do provide a lot of materials for the classroom. I have oodles of math manipulative's compared to back home. My class was well supplied with books and other materials. This picture is the bulletin board outside my room.

We finish our morning at 11:50 when everyone goes home for lunch. We have 3 buses to take those that do not walk or get picked up. I had one student just stay on the playground the first day because she just wanted to swing. That afternoon when we got her on the bus she didn't get home. They found her on a playground in her neighbourhood on the swings. We have to make sure she gets to the bus daily. My students call me Donna. It was very strange when they called my name for the first few days. It's a Hey Donna here and a Hey Donna there! We get recess at 10:30 and the children have snack time before we go out. We provide Cheez Whiz and crackers for those without snacks. There are also apples and oranges as well. The picture below is my Word Wall and the shelves where my students leave indoor shoes and snacks.

Everyone is back in class at 1:05. It gives Jacques and I enough time to go for lunch at home or out to one of the restaurants. We usually end up at the Snack because it is quick and the often serve Quebec style food. My class has language lessons at 1:05 everyday. Some go for French and the others go for Inuktitut. Every second day I pick them up from language and take them to Gym, I get 1/2 hour prep on Day 1 and an hour prep on Day 2. They only get music if I sing to them...poor kids! Thank goodness I brought a couple tapes and Cd's with me. Send me children's music, ladies! Below is our carpet area with my calendar and math board

Our school day ends at 3:45. Boy am I exhausted by then. We have staff meetings on Thursdays after school. I usually get home around 5:00 or 6:00 depending when Jacques comes to get me. It is too far a walk up the hill after school . This picture shows our reading and listening area with pillows and carpet. Every table seats 4 students. The gap in the wall is a space to go into the next classroom. We have cupboards and shelves blocking it from both sides. The room is a weird shape. (all rooms are weird shapes)I am excited about getting my student computers up and running. I have a teacher computer with a colour printer. I can even photocopy pages on it. All student materials are supplied by the school. We have a storage room where we go and get what ever materials we think we will use in our room. I found lots of supplies in my room so had lots to get me started the first week of classes. There is a little side room on the right side of my class if you are entering the room. I can set up a painting area there for art or have quiet assessment time with students. I have a fully stocked art cabinet so I am set to be creative!This picture shows more white boards and my math bulletin board.

I have oodles of math manipulatives in the bookcase and beside it. I do not have to go searching the school for math supplies because I have most everything I need at my fingertips.

This is my little area with storage and a work area plus 2 sinks. I have a blackboard, too.

Check out the only window in my class. It is like we are in a boat with this porthole.

My Bank of computers which are yet to be hooked up. Below is the teacher's corner where I get to work once the students have gone home. Hope you liked the tour of my class. I am enjoying setting up a whole new class and experience.

Catch you again in a week or 2. I have started watching the procedure they go through when building a house up here in the North. One is just getting started across the street from our apartment.

Way North of Nova Scotia!

2008-08-25T14:10:00.000-07:00

I finally arrived in Iqaluit after a hectic summer visiting with my family! It was nice to slow down and just check out the view. We have a terrific view from our apartment. To the right we have the airport so I can check out the planes as they land and take off. The yellow building in the background is the main terminal for the airport. To the left is Frobisher Bay where a large cargo ship, a couple military ships and numerous small fishing boats dot the water. The background is the mountainous coastline stretching for miles. Sometimes we even see white shapes floating in the water (icebergs). You can also see that much of the city is spread out in front of us.

It is a very rugged and rocky landscape. All you see are rocks and patches of grass. There are some different flowers scattered here and there. We have a few flowers growing by our driveway and they are Arctic Poppies. They look like poppies grown in NS but they are much shorter. The weather is much cooler than home at this time of year. It has been around 10' C most days. We only had 1 day of rain since I arrived. Many roads are gravel but they have paved a lot of roads on the other side of town and most of the downtown. We are in an area where they are doing a lot of construction so many of truck travel by our place daily. We wont be getting our road paved for this year. The building sometimes shakes when large vehicles go by, or if there is a strong wind and when my washer goes into the spin cycle.

We have checked out a number of the restaurants and other shops in town. When you are eating in the restaurants it is not unusual for a number of people to go by wanting to sell you different types of Innuit art. Jacques bought me a pair of earrings made out of whale baleen. They are little, black Inukshuks. I have tried caribou steak and musk-ox stew and enjoyed them.

I was into the school and am excited to get going and meet the children in my class. It is very strange starting to set up in a new place and not knowing how things work or where anything is. At least I can find my classroom. The students have gym 2 times a week and language classes every day so those are my prep classes. Some students take French and the others the Innuit language. There is no music teacher so these lucky children will get to listen to my singing voice...Oh Dear! You cannot miss the school as it is the big marshmallow in the center of town. It is about a 10 minute walk from my place but the walk home is straight uphill. Maybe I will lose some weight hiking home after school??? Maybe Not!

Talking about fitness...Jacques and I checked out the local provincial park. We hiked to the falls and checked out the people fishing for Arctic Char. We may soon get rods and fishing licences to check it out ourselves. One couple were having a fire on the hillside. It reminded me of bonfires at the beach. Here you have to scrounge for scraps of lumber if you want to have a fire as there is no wood on the land to burn. There's lots of scrap wood from all the pallets left from things being shipped in and all the building going on. It really is a very different place from the maritimes that I am used to!

Missing home but looking forward to lots of new adventures and experiences!