The weekend of Hockey and Food

Monday, Sept 24, 2012

Like most weekends, they end too quickly. This weekend especially was very eventful, and I’m not just talking about spending all weekend planning for the school week. Saturday was a day of hockey. I signed up in the beginning of the week to play floor hockey on Saturday, thinking I was just going to play for an hour. However, I signed up for a whole day 8-team tournament. Since I haven’t played floor hockey since high school, I knew I was definitely not the one people could count on to score or win any games. Luckily I wasn’t the only one on our Teacher’s team that felt like that. The other teams included senior girls, senior boys, Arctic college students, DEW line employees, etc. We played three games and lost all three. Even though we lost, it was still fun and physically exhausting.

Later that night, we invited a few of our teacher friends and a couple of the DEW line employees for dinner at my house. The night ended early at about 8:30 and I was in bed by 9:30. I woke up the next morning with my lower body being sore from all the hockey playing from the previous day.

Mark, Jen’s friend from the DEW line, invited us for breakfast at the DEW site. The DEW line (Distant Early Warning) is part of the National Defense of Canada as it is one of many radar stations in Northern Canada that detects atmospheric disturbances. Only by invitation, were we allowed clearance to enjoy a wonderful hot breakfast. We felt like we were in heaven! Eggs, bacon, sausages, steak, potatoes, and beans filled our plates. We have not had a breakfast like this since we’re been here. Reminded me of being at Denny’s and ordering the Grand Slam...but better! Our breakfast was followed with a fruit bowl and ice cream! Mark took us on a tour of the station after breakfast. Walking down the narrow and straight hallways, I felt like I was in a submarine. The games room, gym, sauna and amazing meals made us wish that we were DEW line employees. Mark took us to the hangar to show us his helicopter (he`s a helicopter pilot). We even got a chance to hang around inside the helicopter. Jen was lucky enough last year to even get a chance to fly in one. Unfortunately Mark said that was only a one time deal. Overall, the visit to the station was a cool experience. Without the DEW line (built in the 50s) Hall Beach may not have existed. 

(in a traditional inuit amaunti...I dont think she was too happy)

Icebergs! Straight head!

September 17, 2012

As I’ve mentioned before, the weather has been getting colder...and well...more winterish (even though it’s technically still summer for another few days). The temperature is just sitting at around 0 degrees and I’ve seen more snow since my last post. The following pictures were taken on two separate days but just a couple days apart from each other. When I saw the water, I said to myself, “where did all that come from?” That ice was literally not there a few days ago and appeared just overnight. It was a pretty cool sight to see as I was told that this was not normal. I guess it won’t be too long until that water is frozen over.

(these was taken just a few days ago)

Now look at the water now. Just a couple days after the previous photos.

Fun Friday

Sept 15, 2012

Since fishing season is coming to an end, we figured we should stock up on our arctic char. We bought a whole bunch of fish from our char supplier, Adam and now we’re just cutting them up for the winter. This is what we did on a Friday night in the school kitchen! Is that sad?

(yummy! Super fresh sashimi)

It’s Christmas!

September 13, 2012

It’s Christmas and I’m not talking about the snow. After 5 weeks, my stuff that was taken by the moving company has finally arrived. Apparently my stuff has been sitting in the airport storage for quite some time but they just informed me yesterday since my stuff was taking up too much space. I was told the delivery time to my house would be around 4 so I was excited for the day to end so I could uncover all the things that I needed and stuff I completely forgot I packed.

Today at school was the Terry Fox Run. I was a bit surprised to find out that this was an annual event at the school, so I was excited to see what it was going to be like. Pledge forms were given out...I only got 3 back but that’s ok. The past couple days I’ve been educating my students about Terry’s story and reason why we run. The kids were super excited to use their new pedometers and I thought it was cute when they would show me their step count every 5 minutes while they walk and shake the pedometers in their hands. The afternoon started with a quick assembly telling where the students were suppose to run to. The airport...roughly 45-60 mins walk each way from the school. The RCMP and the army joined us for the “run” (by run I mean 90% of everyone walked) and patrolled the roads for safety. The weather started off pretty calm. The snow had stopped and there were sunny breaks in the beginning of the walk, however on the way back, the weather was the complete opposite...foggy, crazy windy, and snowing/freezing rain. I was cold and I was dressed appropriately. It seems like the children here are not yet dressed for the weather. No hats, no gloves, thin jackets, and some even still wearing shorts! Including the mayor! On the way back, the RCMP and other helpers were picking people up to go back to the school. The event ended with a short closing ceremony in the gym and sandwiches, cookies and juice in the classrooms. Overall, a very good day.

(the whole school plus more)

(my class showing me their pedometers)

(Lydia and Christa from Grade 2. I love Lydia's jacket.)

(such a cutie!)

(one of the troops)

A White September

Sept 13, 2012

For anyone back home who is tired of the summer temperatures, this is the sight I woke up to this morning. A good start to the Terry Fox Run today.lol

The polar walk

Sept 9, 2012

Today was the 2^nd annual polar walk. You’re probably wondering what it is. Well, it’s basically involves dunking your body into the freezing cold Arctic Ocean. Ashley had agreed to do this swim for weeks now. The founder of this walk is Snowball (yes, that is his legal name). It has now become a birthday tradition and anyone who is brave enough, is more than welcome to join. I had thought about it at one point but luckily I didn’t agree to anything. It was a bit chilly today, especially with the wind chill. In total, there were 4 brave souls, Ashley, Snowball and two local girls. This event attracted a small crowd of about 10-15 people. One spectator was a drunk guy holding a big bottle of vodka who was causing quite a stir with a few people. Even though we were literally right next to the RCMP station, there was no answer at the station when the drunkard was getting into a confrontation with a boy. It was definitely a horrible situation to be watching and I felt like I should have done something to help the boy out. Apparently the drunkard was holding on to a dog that he claimed was his, however it really belonged to the boy. While the boy tugged onto the dog’s leash, crying and screaming for that man to let go, everyone was just watching.... :s The drunkard eventually got arrested when the RCMP showed up.

That being put aside, the swim was entertaining to watch. Ashley walked in, then right back out and decided to go back into the water one more time. She definitely won her bet against John.

Snow...already?

Sept 6, 2012

This week has been going by pretty fast so far, even though, which I won’t get into detail, has been quite a stressful week at work. I woke up this morning to see flurries outside my window! Since we have cable, which also includes Toronto news, I sometimes get jealous how warm it still is back home. I knew it snowed earlier in Nunavut than what I’m use to, but its Sept 6th! The flurries only lasted the morning and nothing stayed on the ground. As told by a few people, this is definitely earlier than usual to see snow, since the real stuff usually comes in October. The temperature has been pretty consistent since I’ve been here, usually averaging 5 degrees. It’s funny when people still refer today as summer, even though technically it still is.

Well it’s not the front cover but it’s something. While at home, Jen and I were flipping through the Nunavut News and she came across this paragraph in the “Students head back to school” section.

Oh did I also mention that I am one of the table tennis and badminton coaches for the school? I think my dad would be proud haha. What can I say....I’m the stereotypical Chinese! Lol

Fisherman’s Bay

Sept 1, 2012

Our day started at 11am when John picked Ashley, Cassandra, Linda and I up for an afternoon road trip to Fisherman’s Bay. John just bought a pickup truck and loves fishing so he wanted to take us girls on a fishing trip. Fisherman’s Bay is about an hour north from Hall Beach. It was a bumpy ride and I definitely felt the motion sickness kicking in at times, but the trip there made me think more that we were in the middle of nowhere. 

(A historic landmark in Nunavut. This might be hard to believe, but this use to be an Inuit shelter hundreds of years ago)

(found a walrus skull)

Unfortunately, when we got to Fisherman’s Bay, there were no fish caught and it was definitely cold and windy as it rain all day. Either way, still a good getaway away from school. Did I mention we even got a chance to shot guns? John and Linda being hunters, John brought he shotgun and gave us a chance to try it out. Of course we didn’t shoot anything, but it was still lots of fun firing a gun for the first time. Now Gareth and I can go shooting together lol 

(Cassandra made her own inuksuk)

(whale bone just outside of town. behind is the DEW line towers)

(I love the Nunavut license plate)

Dead animals

August 31, 2012

A couple days ago there were sightings of two polar bears in town. Us, the newbies in town, of course wanted to get a glimpse of these bears, even though the locals see them more as a danger than anything else. Well, after school, Ashley, Cassandra and I decided to go for a walk before heading back to school to plan out the next day. We bumped into one of the teachers who told us to stick around the area because the polar bear was found and shot down outside of town, and that they were bringing it back in (hopefully still in one peace). We stuck around but there was nothing. We then bumped into the mayor (yes, there is a mayor in town lol) who told us that the bear was being cut up where it was caught. Maybe next time we can get a glimpse of a polar bear...alive or dead.

 (this photo was taken by Barry, the Northern manager of the two polar bears, which I found out today, were both shot down. So sad!)

On a brighter note, today is Friday! And it’s the long weekend! So far it’s been great. Left school at a decent time (5pm), had a good dinner and even did some dancing on the xbox connect with some good company. However, I would say the highlight of my day was watching Ashley being chased by children and a goose. Only in the arctic....lol

 (Ashley running for her life lol)

(another animal butchering on the side of the road)

(can you tell what that was?)

“Lynette! The big boat is coming!”

August 30, 2012

After having a good dinner of spaghetti, arctic char, pizza and other random foods, a few of us went with Jennifer’s on her daily evening walk with Bubba. One thing that I like about Hall Beach is that you hardly ever walk alone. By this I mean, as soon as we step out of our house, the trail of students begin to grow. We usually have a few kids outside our house. For a week, it was the same two girls who would knock on our door (sometimes every 10 minutes!) to see when Bubba was coming outside.  Anyways, once we leave, a couple of kids would follow us on our stroll, and then kids would join once they see the crowd. I think at one point there were at least 10 kids following us. We went further outside of town today. There is one inuksuk that I’ve been wanting to see. It’s not really impressive and looks much bigger from far away, but it was my first real sighting of an inuksuk. The children told me if someone is building one and it fell, it would mean that person will die soon. It is also bad luck to knock one down.

Throughout the walk the kids were super excited about the massive cargo boat on its way to town. This was the sealift. In the beginning of the walk the ship was just a little dot, but by the end of the walk, it wasn’t very far from the coast. For most of the year, Nunavut is only accessible by plane since there are no roads and the water is frozen over. There are only a couple times in the year that people could make a purchase from down south to get it shipped here by boat. Food, household items, and large items like ski-doos are popular for the sealift. It’s a lot cheaper. Many people make these orders in June so it can arrive by the end of August/early September. I guess for many people it’s like Christmas. Probably the same feeling I will get when my stuff arrives to Hall Beach from the moving company.

Huskies

August 29, 2012

I’ve always thought that huskies were beautiful but I’ve never really been around them in the past. Before, I was excited to see huskies in the environment that they were made for. Luckily, Jennifer, my roommate has a one year old husky named Bubba. There’s only been one or two dogs where I have felt comfortable around. I’ve had a fear of dog since I was little, but I find myself slowly getting over my fear. Bubba has been great. Quiet dog and well trained so I’ve had no problems at all when he’s around. He’s like the dog version of Yoshi.

This posting is really for my friend, Peter K....the Husky Lover. This photo is for you. 

(passing by a husky family during an evening stroll)