My Arctic Adventure- update 9/12

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smilez_n_hugs

smilez_n_hugs

Senior Member
Joined
Nov 3, 2008
Messages
4,290
Location
Collingwood ON
It has been a hectic summer. As some of you may have read I was offered a teaching job in the Northwest Territories which I accepted. So for the past few months I had been planning and packing for a cross country move. Liz (lizmo) had graciously offered to take in my 2 remaining ladies when I left but within a month of my flight date one of my ladies developed a fast growing tumor on her neck and 2 weeks later I noticed an internal mass in her sister :( So I made the decision to let them go right before I left....I am officially ratless for the first time in almost 6 years and it's not a good feeling.

Anyways for anyone who is interested I will try and keep this thread updated with pics and stories of my Northern Experience. So to start I am in Paulatuk, a small community (~300 people) located above the arctic circle. The wikipedia site is pretty good for more info and a map http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paulatuk

It is beautiful up here. It's a little colder that I would like (high of 6*C today) so I'm scared for the winter. I am teaching high school math but due to the small population I have multiple levels in one class. The students are extremely polite and I am really enjoying it. Although I have no animals with me whatsoever so I am feeling more than a little lost especially without my dog.

I have pics to post but I am just waiting on internet at home. Everything up here takes a little longer but hopefully later this week. Feel free to ask any questions or request pics of specific things. I look forward to talking to everyone!
 
Sorry about the loss of your ratties. Glad your move went well. Sorry, but I'm one of those dumb Americans so how cold is 6C using farenheit? Today its about 80+ F in Chicago, but yesterday we hit 100 degrees - quite hot and humid. Do you find it difficult to try and teach more than one level at a time? I was just wondering how that worked out - since I'm kind of picturing a "little house on the prairie" one room school house. :laugh4: I imagine it is quite beautiful up there.
 
It is hard to live without any pets - I tried once, and hated it! Sorry you had to say goodbye to your girls, but it sounds like it was the right decision...
Everyone I know who has lived up north says that it's cold, but you just dress for it and you're fine. It's not a biting cold like on the east coast.
It should be a great adventure!
 
holy sheep! you really are in the middle of nowhere!
wow!
it looks so isolated
you are so brave!


dspch911
6C is about 43 F (I cheat and use the online conversion chart lol)
 
Awww, I'm sorry to hear about your girls :(
I couldn't imagine being ratless.... OR internetless...

I had wondered how you were doing! I would love to be where you are right now, SO jealous! It looks like such a nice small town with BEAUTIFUL surroundings. I bet the hikes would be fantastic... LOL Can I come visit???
Hopefully you'll be able to find nice, warm snow gear to wear in the winter, I bet its gonna be pretty darn cold >.< But you'll get used to it :)

Are you on a fixed term contract kinda thing? Or is this a permanent position?
Glad your students aren't giving you a hard time :D
 
Good to hear from you! Glad you're having an adventure to distract you somewhat from not having pets. I'm curious about how you're finding the long days. Looking forward to hearing how thingsngo over the winter.
 
Just had another chat with the internet company and the people on the phone are getting fed up with the people in the community who are supposed to be doing it so I've been told I should have it today but I'm not holding my breath.

dspch911 said:
Sorry about the loss of your ratties. Glad your move went well. Sorry, but I'm one of those dumb Americans so how cold is 6C using farenheit? Today its about 80+ F in Chicago, but yesterday we hit 100 degrees - quite hot and humid. Do you find it difficult to try and teach more than one level at a time? I was just wondering how that worked out - since I'm kind of picturing a "little house on the prairie" one room school house. :laugh4: I imagine it is quite beautiful up there.
Click to expand...

LOL we aren't quite as small as Little House on the Prairie but still very small. The classes are divided: K-2, 3-6, 7-9 and then there are 2.5 high school teachers so I have to cover math from grade 7-12. At most I have 3 levels in 1 class (11 college level, 12 workplace and 12 college) so I'm keeping busy. It results in the students getting a lot of textbook work because I can really only do a full lesson for each level every 3rd day so I find it difficult in the sense that I feel like some students aren't getting the coverage of every topic they deserve.

crumbilina said:
Awww, I'm sorry to hear about your girls :(
I couldn't imagine being ratless.... OR internetless...

I had wondered how you were doing! I would love to be where you are right now, SO jealous! It looks like such a nice small town with BEAUTIFUL surroundings. I bet the hikes would be fantastic... LOL Can I come visit???
Hopefully you'll be able to find nice, warm snow gear to wear in the winter, I bet its gonna be pretty darn cold >.< But you'll get used to it :)

Are you on a fixed term contract kinda thing? Or is this a permanent position?
Glad your students aren't giving you a hard time :D
Click to expand...

You can definitely come visit...I have an empty bedroom and all! I really wish it was just a little easier to get up here so people could come visit but it's 3 different planes and a huge pita.

My contract is indeterminate so basically I can stay for as long as I want. I can up here planning one year but we'll see. Either way it would be a 2 year max for me.

jorats said:
Wow, what an adventure for you. Please do keep us updated for sure.
Is the cost of everything very expensive there?
Click to expand...

Cost wise it's very random. My rent, hydro, heat etc. are about the same but only because they are subsidized. As for food things like bread, eggs, hot dogs, yogurt aren't noticeably more expensive but cheese ($18/block), milk ($8/L), pop ($24/12 cans), chips ($8) are ridiculous. I'm thankful I switched to almond milk and was able to send a bunch up here so I'm set. And then of course anything you can't buy here is super expensive unless you can find online sites who still do free shipping so I'm learning to live without a lot of things.

Thanks for all the well wishes! Pics will come soon.
 
Okay it has been a hectic month. Tons of planning, adjusting and of course home sickness. And the home sickness is made even worse by lack of fur babies. I have argues every option with myself about getting a pet but I just can't do it up here with no vets and access only by plane. Not to mention I just discovered they don't allow you to have checked pets on a plane when traveling over xmas so that was the ultimate deciding factor.

On top of that my 18 year old cat had to be pts last week. I'd had him since he was a kitten and had never been away from him for more than 3 weeks. He had been dealing with hyperthyroidism and we were just getting it under control so the vet suspects kidney issues. I know he lived a good life and it was his time but I hate that I wasn't there. I'm so lucky my mom and sister were brave enough to be there and stay with him.

So without further ado I will start the picture dump lol

The little plane I flew in on


It's hard to see but this is a view from the plane. Paulatuk is right in the middle and that's the Beauford Sea


My house


My house from behind


The view from my front door


More scenery


My school


Sunset over the water


I have more pics of the town that I will upload later.
 
Stuffed polar bear in the Yellowknife Airport


Catholic Church in Inuvik designed to look like an Igloo


From the plane


Just last week I woke up to snow. Luckily it didn't stay but soon it will.


Due to the permafrost all of the towns water has to be stored in these tanks and delivered by a truck


Health centre where we have 2 nurses


And just because she's cute...my sister's kitten while I was trying to pack


The other side of town


Catholic Church in Paulatuk


The lone house on the edge of town




The only store in town and the hotel
 
jorats said:
Wow, great pictures, what an adventure for you!
How are you enjoying the culture anything that stands out for you?
Click to expand...

I think the part of the culture that stands out the most is how much us 'white folk' have affected it. Last week we all attended a funeral for a very well known elder in the community and I was shocked to find out that the service was your standard catholic service. There wasn't even anything spoken in their native language.

It is also something to see first hand what residential schools did to these communities. It has pretty much given all of these people an excuse to be lazy. There are maybe 40 people in town (besides the teachers) who actually work for a living. The rest live off government assistance. And on top of that very few people here value an education so without parent's encouraging their kids to go to school they just show up when they feel like it. It's a completely different world than Ontario that's for sure.
 
That's very interesting. And I have to say, it's nice to see that you place the blame not with the people, but with those who tried their damnedest to make them white.
 

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