Welcome to my life

Thursday, August 16, 2012

Today was the day I left Ontario. Having only a couple hours of sleep, I woke up at 4am to get ready for my 7am flight from Toronto to Ottawa. This was the first of three flights that will take me north of the Arctic Circle and the start of my life in Hall Beach. My day started off pretty stressful as I waited in the airport check in counter. Since it was a domestic flight to Ottawa, many people only had one bag to check in. Then you have me...10 bags in total! 9 checked in and 1 carry on. Luckily everything worked out and I was able to check in all 9 bags without much hassle (unfortunately as I learned later that day, other teachers were able to check in only 4 bags!).

After a short 45 minute flight to Ottawa, I waited for my next flight from Ottawa to Iqaluit, Nunavut’s capital city. As I sat in the lounge while watching the cargo people load up the plane, I notice a few things around me that made me realize that I was really going to Nunavut. First, a man wearing a t-shirt that said “Don’t call me Eskimos”. Other than his tshirt, he was carrying a massive bag full of Tim Hortons donuts, keeping in mind that there is maybe only one Timmy’s in the entire territory. Lastly, huskies! Couple kennels of Huskies being loaded on the plane. After this, I said to myself, “Wow! This really is happening.”

The flight was two hours. Watching the beautiful landscape of northern Quebec with green forests surrounded by hundreds of lakes quickly became brown tundra surrounded by hundreds of lakes. I guess I just have to get use to not seeing any trees anymore. 

 

(somewhere over Northern Quebec)

 (Canadian North from Ottawa to Iqualuit)

About 6 hours later after I left Toronto, I am now waiting in Iqualiuit for my last flight to Hall Beach. The  airport was small. Looked more like a bus terminal. Check in desks, security checks and baggage claim all in the same room. Probably a good thing... I found 5 other teachers also there for the same reason. I even found my roommate and her 1 year old husky. It’ll be different having a dog around, but since Yoshi is not here, Bubba can keep me company. For the next few hours we discussed aspects of teaching and our move to Nunavut. 

 (landing in Hall Beach airport)

 (our plane to Hall Beach--only 20 passengers)

 (the smallest airport terminal i have ever seen. this is the baggage claim area)

Welcome to Hall Beach! Similar to Iqualuit, Hall Beach looks like a desert, flat land, dirt roads, and no signs of trees, plants and flowers. As we made our way into the airport building, and yes, it was a quarter of the size of Iqualuit’s airport, we were greeted by our Principal. Now all we needed were our bags. Unfortunately one of my bags was left behind due to weight allowance for that flight. Hopefully it’ll see it tomorrow when the next flight in arrives. Once we loaded all of our bags (I was with 3 other teachers) into two pickup trucks, we were off to see our houses. Ashley’s house was the first stop. She was moving into a house that was occupied by 3 teachers last year. One of those teachers, Jennifer, my roommate now, was moving out, the other teacher who is coming back next week, and Ashley. However, when we walked into the house, it was a sight that no one wanted to see when returning after summer holidays. With no signs of breaking and entering, pop cans and cigarette butts were left on the table, Jennifer’s rooms was somewhat messy with missing Inuit art and handmade clothing stolen from her room. The room that belonged to the other teacher was a complete mess! Clothes, pens, books and other personal items scattered all over the floor. Not sure what those people were looking for but it luckily they didn’t steal the tv. They did manage to write a letter of “apology” filled with lots of inappropriate words and a drawing of a penis. Let’s just say it wasn’t the highlight of our...well especially for Ashley as she was warned that her place is safe since it is across the road from the police station. I guess nothing is ever certain. Even though I felt bad for Ashley walking into her house after being welcomed by a break-in, I was thankful I wasn’t living there.

On to my house. It’s smaller than Ashley’s but much cleaner and newer looking. With new furniture with tags still on them, clean and decent looking appliances, somewhat freshly painted walls, the place looked a lot better than what I had pictured in my mind. *Sigh* I’m relieved.

 (my house from outside)

 (before unpacking)

 (view from my bedroom window)

After this long day of travel and moving, it was turkey time. That’s right, a turkey baking in the oven in the middle of summer. John, our Principal, and his wife, Patricia had prepared a welcome dinner at their home. Turkey, potatoes, steamed vegetables and dessert = YUM! I wasn’t prepared to eat so much so soon as I had stuffed myself with lasagna, chicken puff pastries and strawberry shortcake the night before.