Earth Day

Well, nothing says Earth Day like going ice fishing! We actually had a meeting scheduled for Earth Day (April 22nd), so we celebrated at the school on Friday, April 23rd instead. In the morning, we started out with a game of Earth ball (grades 4-6). I wish I had taken some pics of this as it was pretty funny!! We have a soccer ball that is about 10 times as big as it should be . . . so we played a game with it. After that, we had some recycled Art activities and a movie for the kids. The afternoon was the highlight of the day as we took the bus to "Old Water Lake," not to be confused with "New Water Lake," which is the current water source for Repulse Bay. Holes were drilled for ice fishing (it was about 6 ft of ice- glad I didn't have to drill the holes!!) and a couple of tents were set up for hot chocolate. A nice tobogganing hill was located just off of the lake, which was tons of fun! I made a few trips down the hill and only wiped out a couple of times. It was the perfect weather for our outing. I think it had to have been the warmest day of the year so far. A bunch of us had our jackets off and enjoying the beautiful sunshine! Only two fish were caught in the afternoon (lake trout), but everyone was having fun.


This is a pic on top of the hill looking back down on the lake and the ice fishing.

This is a picture of one of my students kneeling on the ice . . . there were some pretty cool designs!


Now this is the way to fish! Not sure whose chair it was, but it was comfy! I didn't even get a bite! We were jigging with sticks that had fishing line connected and some lures. I believe there was a bit of bait put on some of the hooks.


First fish of the afternoon.

Dogsledding and Ugly fish

I can't believe how quickly time goes by . . . I will be back home in less than 2 months already! I am looking forward to having a couple months off for visiting and enjoying the "south."
We had another blizzard the Saturday before Easter weekend. It was a good one! There were 90 km/hour winds mixed with snow . . .and we couldn't see the house next door. Here is a picture of what it looked like out our window:



A couple of days later I went for a dog sled ride with a fellow teacher. The weather was a lot more co-operative! The dogs are the same ones from a previous post. They have 9 dogs up here. I sat in the kamatik (sled) while Bill managed the dogs. We had a bit of an adventure in the beginning when the dogs took off in the wrong direction! When sled dogs take off (and these ones are only about 9 months old) it is hard to stop them!! We headed straight into town up and down over some hills. If we had of gone another 30 feet, the sled I was in would have been toppled over and I would have been dragged over some rock mounds. Luckily, Bill was able to stop them just in time and I hopped out! His wife followed us with the snowmobile and we were able to tie the dogs up to it and steer them in the right direction. Apparently, the dogs have never done that before, but it was kind of exciting and no harm was done. Once we got back on track, we headed out on the ice and enjoyed a beautiful evening ride. Here are a couple of pics getting set up and one out on the ice:




On Easter Monday, the community had a small fishing event. I received a phone call from another teacher telling me to go check it out. So, I got bundled up and headed out on the ice. There was a good number of locals out there jigging for "ugly fish." They really were pretty ugly!! One of our Inuktitut teachers gave me her jigging contraption to try it out for myself. I spent a good 10 minutes trying to catch one without success. I then walked around to see what everyone else had caught. I'm still not quite sure why they catch these fish as most of the people said that they don't eat them!? Some said that they boil the meat. Personally, I think they are just too ugly to eat! You be the judge:






One of our grade 8 students was out hunting with his grandfather last week and shot a muskox! They were north of here in the Pelly Bay region. The hide and skull were out drying at his grandparents house and they let us take some pictures. It was such a beautiful day, so I took a walk around town and took some more pictures.




Our school's maintenance guy shot 8 caribou last week. These are some of the skins.


These are a couple of views from up on the hill behind our house. Too bad there are no windows from the front of our house!!

Rankin Inlet

So, I haven't even been in Repulse Bay for two months, and I already have the pleasure of taking part in a teacher's workshop. The fun thing about workshops is that you have to be flown out to attend (no roads come in or out of Repulse). That means that I get a paid "holiday" to Rankin Inlet. We are doing a Reader's Theatre workshop here Tuesday and Wednesday. It was pretty good today. We did a lot of practical activities that I will be able to use in my grade 3 and 4 ESL classes. I have some non-readers in both classes which makes it hard doing Reader's Theatre, hence the "reader's" part, but some of the activities are drama based, which I'm sure the kids will love.
Anyways, enough about teaching. The other cool part about being in a bigger community is that I can go to a restaurant!! There are no restaurants in Repulse Bay, other than the Inns North, which no one goes to eat there other than guests. There are a few places to eat here. I had sushi for lunch today!! That was so exciting for me. It may not seem that exciting, but really think about living somewhere where you have NO restaurants. There are so many things that we take for granted in the "south," as it is referred to up here. Other things that excite me about being in Rankin Inlet is that there is a pharmacy, pottery studio (heading there tomorrow), and a much larger variety of things to buy at the Northern store and Co-op. Tomorrow I'm going to print some pictures from my camera . . . yippee!
I brought my cell phone here as I use it as my alarm clock. I completely forgot that I could get cell phone service here! I haven't cancelled my Bell phone plan yet. . . I guess it's pointless to cancel now as I will be home in a couple of months.
The owners of the Lodge I am staying at (Nanuq Lodge) have about 40 dogs! There are 4 dogsled teams in total, plus some puppies! The woman who runs the lodge is the aunt to Jordin Tootoo. Anyways, I will be taking a couple of bags of dog food back to Repulse for some fellow teachers who have sled dogs (see pics below) and in return they are going to take me dogsledding this weekend! I am really looking forward to that. I haven't been able to see very much outside of Repulse yet. I am also looking forward to warmer weather and being able to go out on the land . . . fishing, hiking, etc.

I had mentioned in my previous post about some meetings that we attended at the school back in the beginning of March. There were some elders present from the community, as well as members from the DEA (District Education Authority). We talked about the Lands Claim Agreement, new school curriculum, etc. It was a very informative couple of days for me to see and learn more about Nunavut and the community here in Repulse. There was an interpreter present which was very useful. I was able to hear testimony from some of the elders and other locals who spoke about earlier days, before the first houses were brought to Repulse Bay (1960's). They spoke about the first time they saw money, white people and schools. It is hard to comprehend how much change has occurred here in such a short period of time. I feel lucky to be able to live in a very traditional community where Inuktitut is still the primary language and people still go out hunting on the land. A lot of culture is being left behind, however, which is really sad. I imagine it won't be long before their language and other traditions start to fade away too.

Heritage Day

On Monday, March 1st, we celebrated Heritage Day at Tusarvik School. This was a great introduction to Arctic culture for me! There were several activities, such as making (and eating) bannock, tool making, drum dancing, storytelling, igloo making, traditional Inuit games, and dog sledding. It was amazing!
The bannock was made with flour, water, baking soda, salt, and lard (traditionally they used seal, walrus, or other types of lard, but now it is often made with Crisco). I guess it depends on what is available.
There were a couple of elders from the community there to tell the students about traditional tools and what they were used for. Most of the tools were made from animal bones, antlers, etc. They also talked about some of the games that they played with the bones.
There were a couple of ladies (elders) who sang/chanted while the students and teachers used the drums. Yes, I gave it a try, and I think I did a pretty good job.
In the gym we played some Inuit games. There was leg wrestling, balancing, tug-of-war, and a number of other games & activities.
A couple of elders told stories from their childhood. It was in Inuktitut, so I didn't understand what they were saying. I was lucky, however, to hear elders talking about days when they were younger at a workshop yesterday, but I will talk more about that in another post.
There were a couple of guys from the community who came and constructed igloos. It looked really hard! It was super cold outside, but I would say that this activity was one of my favourites!
We then headed down to the ice to let some of the students take a dog sled ride. It was really cold out on the ice (very windy!!). I had to take a group of students back to the school early as we were freezing! The wind chill was -43, which isn't that bad, but it was bad enough that some people got a touch of frost bite.
Anyways, being a new teacher in the community, it was fun for me to experience these activities with my students. They were great and explained a lot of things to me. Everyday I am learning more about the culture and traditions here and I am very appreciative of the opportunity that I was given to live and work in this community!

Repulse Bay, Nunavut

Well, seeing as most of you will never visit me here (sort of out of the way!), here is some information about Repulse Bay:

Introduction
Surrounding Repulse Bay there are countless inuksuit (plural of inukshuk). These rocks piled on top of each other in the shape of a human, and other forms, are referred to in English as stone cairns. Some of these inuksuit were built hundreds or thousands of years ago by Inuit to show where they had traveled, or to mark good fishing and/or hunting locations. The landscape is dotted with scenic inlets and rolling hills, some of which are snow-covered year round.

Repulse Bay is located on the Arctic Circle, 66oN. Buildings in town include: a two bay fire station, Arctic College, new RCMP detachment, Social Services office, small hotel, airport, three churches (Anglican, Roman Catholic, and Glad Tidings), post office, two stores (Northern and Co-Op), arena, and the new Hamlet building. The first language of most people here is Inuktitut.

History
Before 1964, Repulse Bay consisted of a Hudson Bay Company store and a Roman Catholic Mission building. The Inuit of the area lived in small camps and came into Repulse Bay for supplies and to trade at the Bay store. In 1964 the first houses came. These houses were small one-room dwellings, often referred to as "matchbox houses." As the number of people moving into the community increased, so to did the demand for additional housing.

Weather
It is an area of true Arctic climate, characterized by extreme long and cold winters and cool short summers. The temperature ranges from 15 to 20°C in the summer and between -40 and -50°C in the winter. Winter usually sets in during mid-October and ends around the end of April. Snow can be expected at any time during the year, as can winds, which are usually from the northwest at an average speed of 17 km per hour.

Wildlife
Just north of the community is a cliff where seagulls nest in the early summer. It is from this nesting place that Repulse Bay got its Inuktitut name: Naujaat (fledgling, or baby seagull). Other birds that make this region part of their annual migratory tour include: snow buntings (signaling the beginning of spring), loons, eider ducks, long-tailed ducks, jaegers, snowy owls, terns, ravens, ptarmigan, tundra swans, peregrine falcons, gyrfalcons, rough-legged hawks, Canada geese, snow geese, and sandhill cranes. There is also an abundance of marine wildlife around the community of Repulse Bay. When out boating in the ocean one has the chance to see bearded, ringed, harbour, or harp seals, as well as, beluga, orca, narwhal and, if extremely lucky, bowhead whales (the second largest animal on the planet), and possibly even polar bears or walrus.
When "out on the land" in either the fall or spring it is not uncommon to see herds of caribou within 25 kilometers of town. As well, arctic hares, wolves, foxes, and the occasional wolverine roam the tundra outside of Repulse Bay.

I got this info from the following website: http://mailhub.edu.nu.ca/kivalliq/orientation/Repulse.html.
Click here to see the local weather forecast: Weather Office
Some info about artwork can be found here: Artwork
Any questions, let me know. I will try to find the answer for you.

My first blizzard!

Well, school was shut down early on Friday due to a blizzard passing through. I guess it wasn't a super bad one, but it was pretty cold and blowy. Some teacher were supposed to fly down south, but their flight was cancelled. The below pics are the same view on two different days. It can be really dangerous to walk around in a blizzard as it can be disorientating and you could get lost very easily.




Below are some pictures from today. I went for a walk with Aubrey (the principal) out on the ice, then around town. The sled dogs are kept out of town (on the ice) during the winter I believe. There were 3 teams of dogs out there. We stopped by to see Carroll and Bill's dogs as well (kept at their house). They have about 9 dogs? It was a beautiful day and a great way to see some of the town.

My first week

I have decided to start this blog to share with friends and family back home to keep everyone up to date with my goings on. I hope to post lots of pictures to share my Arctic experience.

Well, I have almost survived my first week. I arrived in Repulse Bay last Tuesday and I have been lucky with the weather so far! I guess it has been "warmer" than normal for this time of year. I know that winter isn't over yet and I am looking forward to see what will come.

The school has been very welcoming and my class is great! Grade 4 was always my favourite. The kids are still pretty eager to please. :) I don't understand (probably never will) their sleeping habits. Some of my students only show up in the morning or the afternoon (or not at all), or they fall asleep in class. Some of them stay up until 4 in the morning, then sleep all day. I'm told it will only get worse as the days become longer. By mid-April there will be 24 hours of sun and the kids have a hard time sleeping. I need to invest in some curtains before then!
A lot of the kids are very sensitive and I haven't made it through the day yet without someone crying! lol Some of them have some very sharp words.

The apartment is really nice! It is a 2 bedroom, 2 bath unit, not even 2 years old. It is pretty modern and in great shape. I will be getting a roommate on February 26th. Normally, I wouldn't be thrilled about it, but up here it will be nice to have someone to hang out with (and share the exuberant rent)!

On another note, Alex Bilodeau just won Canada's first gold!! Way to go! He seems like such a genuine person, so glad he won! He deserves it. :)

My first impressions of Nunavut have been great. I hope the next few months continue to go well. The only thing that would make this adventure even better would be if Chris were here too!! Maybe he will miss me so much that he will move up here for a while!! Maybe.

Soon I will post some stuff about Repulse Bay.