My First "Penny Sale"

Today was soo exciting; I got to see so many new things!  I spent part of the morning in the grade 1/2 class.  I was talking with my teacher about possibly getting the opportunity to see a few of the other classes and he arranged it right away!  They were soo cute, and tiny compared to my 5/6's!  The best part was when they had music class and sang the Raffi song "Baby Beluga" for me.  Haha, this was one of my favourite songs when I was little so it was really cool to see them enjoying it so much!  Another interesting thing about school today was that there was a French film crew around all day.  I guess they have been all over the world, filming clips for a story about climate.
The BEST part of my day was after school was over.  A few of my students had mentioned that I should come to the "penny sale".  I had no idea what this was, but I decided to check it out.  They had about 25 items there, from fur mitts to seal skin pants to ulus (a special kind of traditional knife).  Tickets were 25 cents each, and you put tickets into a draw on whatever items you wanted.  I bought $20 worth of tickets and put all of them in on a few pairs of mitts and an ulu.  When the draw started, my number was the very first one called!!! :)   I won a pair of beauuuutiful seal skin mitts, with white wolf fur around the cuffs!  I was soo excited!  The funny thing was, Rosalie won a pair of mitts on the very next draw (and won 3 more items after that)!  We were very lucky, and very glad that we decided to go!  The other community members were checking out our winnings afterwards, and offering to trade for some of our items.  It was too late though, I was in love with my mittens!  I still can't believe I won them!  It was soo much fun and I think the elders in the community really liked the fact that we came out for the event.  Afterwards, there was a community feast in the library.  We went inside and watched the ladies clean some tarmigan (spelling?) and prepare some caribou.  We stayed for the prayer, but quietly excused ourselves before the feast began.  I just wasn't brave enough to try the raw meat... lol maybe another time!   Overall, it was an awesome day!!  And with tomorrow being a holiday, it was a great start to the long weekend!

No School!!

*Note: I didn't get a chance to write on here yesterday because I was exhausted... and napped really late!  But, it is important to share that I caught my first fish!! :)  We went on our second ice fishing trip yesterday afternoon.  The kids were teasing me because I didn't catch anything last time and my teacher even joked that he may have to give me a bad evaluation for not having enough 'survival skills'... haha, but i proved them all wrong!!  It was only a little fish, but it still counts! 

Wednesday: I had a lot more "firsts" today!  I was excited to get to school this morning because I knew I would be teaching my first 'solo' lesson to the kids!  I was nervous that they might give me a hard time but they did soo great!!  I talked to them about Nova Scotia and New Brunswick and the special characterstics of the Bay of Fundy.  They were excited to look at some pictures (postcards) I brought in of the area and had lots of questions... especially about trees (they are fascinated with them).  In terms of their actual langauage arts tasks, they all worked very hard and I was so happy!  My teacher also commented on their good behaviour afterwards and said I was a natural.  :)
I was happy that my lesson was first thing in the morning, because school ended up being canceled at recess, for the rest of the day!  There was a problem with the school's sewage tank and there was an awful smell all through the school.  It was gross, but it meant a day off so we were happy!  Rosalie, the vice principal Dave, and I walked up the road to their friend Billy's house.  He made us a pizza for lunch and we all played a game of poker for a while!  Haha, it was a very relaxing afternoon!  On the walk back to our apartment, we saw my teacher Lester and his wife.  They invited us over for supper this weekend, so I'm looking forward to that!  :)  Right now, I think its time for a nap.  Friday is a holiday, so that means tomorrow is the last day of school this week.... so hard to believe that I'll have 2 weeks done already, the time is flying by!

Week 2: School & Community Life

Community: There are some major differences that I've noticed about living in the North, rather than back home.  For example, everything is of a limited supply.  This weekend our water "ran out".  That was definitely a new concept for me!  We had to call an after-hours phone number and the "water truck" came to fill up our tank.  Luckily, they were very quick!  Another interesting aspect of this community is the amount of hunting that takes place.  For example, right now our neighbour has a pair of walrus tusks hanging on his porch.  In addition, a polar bear was killed just outside of town on saturday and I heard that the skin can be seen just outside the community Northern store.  They have a yearly cap of 13, which is the amount of polar bears the community is allowed to kill.  One of those 13 bears is "tagged" for sport hunting (usually by a paying tourist). One other major difference is that there isn't a court house, but rather a "court day"... which happens to be tomorrow.  Court officials fly into the town and the school gym is used for the day.  This event seems to be causing a great deal of tension among the students and the overall community. 

School: I still can't believe I'm in my second week at the school already!  Today was another good day.  We learned that we'll be going on another cod fishing trip tomorrow, so the kids are very excited for that!  I also had a chat with my teacher today and we started to schedule in some times for me to be the lead teacher for a few lessons.  I'm starting on wednesday with a lesson on the tides in the bay of fundy.  The children have been very curious about where I'm from, so I hope that they will be engaged!  I also plan to start a writing lesson with them next week, where we will work together to compose an email to eventually send to my last practicum class back in Amherst!  I'm looking foward to taking on a larger role in the classroom, but I'm also a little unsure about how it will go.  These students are performing at around a grade 3 level, and I've been finding it hard to adjust my expectations (when compared to my last grade 6 class).  Things are alot slower in the classroom here, and are mainly handout based.  These students don't do well with independent work and are very resistant to writing assignments.  But advice from the other teachers in the school has been encouraging.  Basically, everyone just tries their best, goes at a slower pace, and doesn't take the resistence personal.  I guess, as the teachers at the Mount always stressed to us, you just have to "meet the students where they are, and try to move them forward."  Wish me luck!  :)

Our Walks

I have had the BEST afternoon here in Kimmirut!!  Rosalie and I decided to take Saku out for a walk after lunch.  It's a warm day, with light winds and a few flurries in the air...  we just couldn't stay inside! We went up behind the arena on the outskirts of town.  Before I knew it, I was surrounded by beautiful snow covered hills that seemed to go on forever! Then, we came across a small Inukshuk: the perfect chance for a photo op!  I got some great shots of Saku and I in front of the rock formation... it was so cool!  After about a half hour, we decided to head back to the apartment. 
About an hour later, our neighbor Chris invited us to go out on a walk with him to Soper Lake.  Little did I know at the time, but this turned into a 2 and a half hour hike out on the land!  Although I'm completely exhausted now, I'm soo glad that I went!!  I got to see so much in such a short amount of time!  Just outside of town we came across a dog team that was tied up.  I think there were 7 dogs altogether, all beautiful huskies (but not as cute as Saku! lol).  Next, while walking down the path toward the lake, we spotted another inukshuk at the very top of a high cliff! We then walked all the way across the frozen lake, and came upon a group that was just finishing some ice fishing.  There were a couple familiar faces (teachers from the school) and they invited us into their tent for hot chocolate (my favorite, yumm!).  After this short break, we decided to head back.  We spotted some fox tracks in the snow while we walked along.  At the end of the lake, Chris showed me the "reversing falls" and explained that, in the summer, the falls change direction depending on the tides.  It was a very nice spot!  We saw a few more dogs on the walk back, and a few of my students shouted hello's from the arena when we made it back to town!  I was happy to see the apartment... time for a nap!! :)

Weekend

Since leaving school friday afternoon, things have definitely slowed down.  It has been a quiet and relaxing weekend so far... which is nice after a busy week with the kids!   Friday night Rosalie and I just hung around the apartment and watched a movie (Australia).  Then on saturday I slept in past 9, which was soo nice!  I still had some sleep to catch up on from the long journey to get up here!   We spent the rest of the day doing odd jobs around the apartment: I did a load of laudry, read my book, and made a few phone calls home to talk to Jenn and Dad.  It was so nice to catch up with them and share some of my stories so far!  That night we had a yummy supper: Rosalie made a fresh loaf of bread in her breadmaker and cleaned & cooked a big fish for us.  I was skeptical at first, but it was actually really good!   Today we are planning to head out for a walk.  It is a beautiful day (rumoured to reach +2) and Saku (the husky dog) is getting restless.  She wants to go run in the snow and visit her friends down the road!  It will be nice to get outside for a bit and see what everyone is up to!  Then it will be time to give mom a call, and then start getting things ready for week 2!  I was talking to the teachers in the staff room on friday about what they do on the weekends.  Apparently playing card games is the most popular passtime.  They also sometimes enjoy getting together and playing songs on the guitar.  I plan to stop in sometime soon to visit and participate myself.

"Atii Tracyyy!!"

Friday: Today was another beautiful day!  It was sunny, no winds, and even warmed up to around -9 this afternoon...  balmy weather for these parts!!  Because of this, and the fact that it was friday, we decided to give the class a treat.  We borrowed some crazy carpets from the school and walked up to a big hill behind my teacher's apartment to go sledding for the afternoon.  We stayed for 2 hours and everyone had a ball!  The hill was much steeper than I had expected, but these kids had absolutely no fear!  They were zooming down the hill and even taking a running start!  A few of the boys were even going over jumps built into the hill about halfway down!  It was crazy.  After watching the kids for a little while, they started to ask why I wasn't sledding too.  Haha, and to be honest, it was because I was scared half to death!  This hill was BIG and they were going down so FAST!  Still, I decided that I had to give it a try anyways.  They told me to go down on my stomach, but that wasn't gonna happen!  As I stood there planning the best way to do this, they started to cheer... "Atii Tracy, Tracy Tracy", over and over again!  (Atii means 'Lets go' in Inuktitut).  Haha, nothing like a little peer pressure from your grade 5s and 6s!  But it worked; I held my breath and pushed myself over the edge!  I am happy to report that I survived and had an absolute blast acting like a kid again!  We ended the afternoon by snacking on homemade cookies Mrs. H had baked last night for us... it was a perfect start to the weekend!  :)

Ready, Set, Go!!

Thursday: What an exciting week this has been!  It seems like everyday there is something special taking place at the school, and today was no exception.  The high school students were given the challenge of building qamotiks (sleds) out of cardboard boxes. They spent an hour this afternoon designing their sleds and constructing them, to scale.  Then, everyone went out on the harbour ice to watch them race.  Two members from each group got to ride in the sleds, while the other team members had to pull them by a rope.  All teams did a great job, and it seemed as if the whole community came out on the ice to watch!  It was a beautiful sunny day and many people even took off their hats and jackets!
As far as the 5/6 classroom goes, we had a pretty good day together.  I worked one-on-one with a few students who needed some extra help during lessons. It made me smile when they would call my name, because they wanted to show me the work they had finished at their desk (it is a big deal when these students show excitement about learning)!  Next week I'm going to ease into teaching the class, starting with language arts.  Mr. H and I are hoping that the students will respond positively to me taking the lead...  they are an unpredictable bunch, so we will see.  For now I'm just enjoying a cup of tea (which I just discovered I really like, since being in the North) and enjoying some relatively fast internet access...   lol the simple luxuries I took for granted before coming here!

My First Week (so far)

Tuesday: I had a great day with my class! We started off the day with a breakfast program, snacking on yummy biscuits made by another teacher  One difference from home was that the children arrived on their own schedule... only a few were present at the bell, but they slowly trickled in throughout the first hour.  Mr. H started off the day by reading aloud from a novel.  I thought this was really funny, because they are reading "Maniac McGee" which is a book that my grade 6's in Amherst were reading for their literature circles.  Small world!
The afternoon was definitely the highlight of the day!! The weather warmed up enough for us to be able to go out on the land and do some cod fishing.  The local Inuit ladies were kind enough to lend me some extra clothes and fur mitts, to ensure I would be warm enough.  We all piled onto the local snowmobiles and qamutiks (wooden sleds hooked to the back) and headed out to the frozen Soper Lake.  Once there, the men drilled holes in the ice and the children started fishing.  They used fishing line with a large hook on the end, tied to a wooden stick.  One girl in my class showed me their fishing technique, which involved lowering the line into the water and then quickly jolting it up again.  Repeating this motion over and over, many children were quite successful!  One girl, Meeka, caught 7 or 8 fish one right after the other...  what a pro!! It was such an awesome experience.  I also found it humorous that the children were listening to bands like "Down with Webster" on their IPods the whole time.  What an interesting collaboration of traditional and modern culture!

Wednesday: The theme for today would have to be "never a dull moment".  We started the morning off with an unexpected fire drill... in VERY cold weather!  We decided to dance the Hokey-Pokey to keep warm, while waiting to get back inside.  While there wasn't an actual fire in the school, there were many "fires" that needed to be put out within the classroom this morning.  One student even became so angry that he threw over his desk and stormed out of the room.  Shortly after, another issue arose and a student knocked over a large table.  While these incidents were shocking at the time, they were not completely unexpected.  My teacher and I have had discussions about the lack of anger management strategies the children possess, and some of the personal issues they may be dealing with.  This is simply a reality of teaching in the North.
While the morning was quite rocky, I had a great afternoon with my class!! The students are beginning to warm up to me and are talking with me in English much more (before they would only speak in their language, Inuktitut, and I'm not completely sure if they were asking questions or secretly teasing me)!  There are some great little personalities in our room and I'm becoming very fond of my students already!  We had a great music class together this afternoon, where they ang some of their favourite songs for me (I caught one performance on video).  Rosalie and I ended the day with a school team meeting and then a quick shopping trip to the local Co-Op.
*Ps: here is a picture of the cute puppies we see everyday on our walk to school:

First Day of Spring ?

(from March 21)
I've finally made it to Kimmirut...  but sadly, my luggage has not! I flew into the community on a tiny little plane and there just wasn't enough room for everyone's stuff.  But no worries, it will be arriving on the next plane tomorrow!

It has been a complete whirlwind of a day! The principal met me at the airport (if you can call it that!) and helped me arrange a ride to school.  A few kind Inuit girls picked me up in the back of their pick-up truck.  Once at school, I was able to meet my cooperating teacher, Lester, and my host Rosalie.  Both were very welcoming and made me feel at ease.  I spent the rest of the day in the grade 5/6 classroom, which was quite different from my previous practicum class back home! The children are very very busy and curious about my story.  I tried my best to learn their names, but I think I'll need some more practice to get the pronunciation correct!  At the end of the day, one of the other staff members gave me a lift to the apartment on his snowmobile, which was a blast!  I'm starting to get settled in and am in love with my other roommate during this stay, Sakku the husky dog!  She is absolutely gorgeous and very affectionate!


I am looking forward to the adventures tomorrow will bring.  Weather permitting, my class will be going out on an afternoon fishing trip!  I'm so excited to get out and experience all the exciting things this culture has to offer!

*Pictures to follow  (I'm having trouble uploading right now... the dial up internet is very slow, will try again later)

Enjoying the Journey!

What an AMAZING trip so far… and I haven’t even made it to my final destination yet!!

Our group had a blast yesterday, during our stop-over in Ottawa.  We did some sightseeing downtown; taking in Parliament Hill, the Rideau Canal and Ottawa Locks, as well as the beautiful Chateau Lauier.  This was my first time visiting the city and I absolutely loved it!

Today has been a whole new adventure… words can’t even describe it.  I made sure to get a window seat for our flight to Iqaluit this morning and I’m SO glad I did!  During the 3 hour flight, I was amazed at how drastically the landscape changed below me.  The trees started to disappear and the snow and ice took over.  There was nothing but a land of white “marshmallows” as far as I could see.   Then, as if out of nowhere, a cluster of buildings appeared and we landed in the “city” of Iqaluit. 

Stepping off the plane was confirmation that I was in a whole new world!  Haha... It was very cold, but sunny and beautiful!  The airport was tiny but bustling with people.  Then some of our group had to part ways.  We sent Mandy & Sarah off to Pond Inlet and Jennifer & I grabbed a cab to the hotel.  This was where I had my first touch of homesickness: when I realized that my cell phone had no service and the internet was down.  However, after a quick chat with my family on the hotel phone, I am feeling much better.  

Everyone we’ve met has been extremely friendly and welcoming!  We’re off to explore the area for the afternoon, then grab a bite to eat.  It will likely be an early night, as we are both exhausted and overwhelmed at this point!  I’m just so thankful for the opportunity to visit the area and really looking forward to meeting everyone in Kimmirut tomorrow! J

15 Days!!

It's only about 2 weeks now until the big trip!!  I am getting VERY excited... and maybe just a little bit nervous.    I thought I would write a quick note about all the preparations I've been making lately:
- I have been in contact with my practicum teacher and my host in Kimmirut; both seem very friendly and welcoming.  They have been wonderful answering all of my little questions about the experience!  :)
- I finally have just about everything I need to stay nice and warm while exporing this amazing territory.  I've got my parka, snow pants, boots, and hat checked off the list (see picture below).   There are just a few last minute things left to get: warm mittens and thick socks. 
- I found a great website about the weather in Kimmirut.  I've been checking it almost everyday to compare the temperatures to what we are experiencing here in NS.  It's been colder in Kimmirut lately, but not by a whole lot.  There is a webcam view of the harbour on this site too, which I find is very cool.  Click here to check it out!
I will definitely be taking loads of pictures on my trip and will try to post on this blog as often as possible (but be patient, I will only have slow dial-up internet).  Now that we're soo close, I'm hoping the days will just fly by, so that I can finally get this adventure started!