I have been reading non-stop. I have been going to doctors, getting medical exams, getting vaccinated against nasty diseases like Hep A and B and am aware that I need to get way more organized very soon. And I’m scared.
Little sayings like ‘courage is not the absence of fear’ pop into my mind but I have to say, the more waiting I do, the more scared I get. This doesn’t mean that I’m going to stay in Canada…I think this is a normal part of making a huge change in your life. It’s just such a powerful feeling, fear, that I thought I would mention it so that those of you who may decide to do something new and different in your life, to know that it’s part of the process.
The first stage of moving to a new place for me is always the ‘wow’ moments. As in “Wow, I’m really going to CHINA!” (Or Nunavut, or the Arctic, or Ontario…etc). Then I do all sorts of reading and research about the new place and get excited about it and think of all the things I want to do when I get there. In Nunavut it was the riding of my new ATV on the tundra, the picking of berries, the silence of walking out on the land, the meeting of new people. For China it is going to one of the most dynamic cities in the world (Beijing), the chance of travelling all over Asia, the food, the beauty of the land, the different culture that I will get to know really well in a year and a half, the teachers I will work with who also wanted to experience life this way. Then there’s a stage where I think of all the challenges. In Nunavut it was the cold, the lack of regular plumbing, the chance meeting of polar bears, etc. For China it is the pollution, the lack of ovens, the crowds, the cold apartments and not knowing the language of the majority of people around me, not being understood. The scary part is that you don’t really KNOW which challenge is going to be the one that is difficult for YOU to handle. I thought the fear of polar bears would be intense but I didn’t really think too much about it when I was actually on Baffin Island (although I had plenty of nightmares about it before I left!). What was really hard was the lack of support in my job and the utter loneliness when I didn’t fit in to any social group in that small town. Then there were the things that are impossible to predict before you leave. I had no idea that my dog would be killed, my father would die and my house would be broken into as I slept, terrorizing me after with what might have happened if the criminal had gotten in.
I know I am going anyway and I hope that I can meet the challenges without too much trouble, whatever they may be. For anyone else in the future thinking of moving to China, I am reading a fantastic book called ‘Living Abroad in China” by Barbara and Stuart Strother which outlines all the things that no one else tells you about living there. It has been a great resource. I am also devouring the Lonely Planet books on China and trying to learn Mandarin. In doing this research, i have managed to get my son excited about going to the Gobi desert to ride on a camel. I was reading a blog from a teacher who has been living in Dalian for the past few years and one of his trips was to the desert. I have promised to try and visit there with B– so that he can ride a camel too. Perhaps our May trip?
Regardless of what torture I put myself through before I leave, I should be in China in less than two weeks. Part of me is terrified and part is really excited. What an adventure awaits me and that little boy!
Monday, August 1, 2016
Wednesday, February 27, 2013
New address
Here is the address for my new blog. I bought my own domain so that I can post from China (who have blocked blogspot with their Great Firewall).
www.justgolda.com
Cheers!
www.justgolda.com
Cheers!
Friday, February 15, 2013
Last post...new location
This is probably my last post via blogspot. I know things can change but I bought myself a domain: justgolda.com and will be trying to post from there instead.
So a lot has happened since December 8th!
Let me begin by saying that a lot of what I post online is whitewashed. By that I mean "made to look cleaner and nicer than it really is". I probably won't change that very much but this particular post is designed to tell more of the truth than usual. That being said, I have had to take time and a little distance to make sure it wasn't one of those ranting posts that are completely one sided and hateful. I do NOT want to be one of those bloggers. I have tried to see mostly good and have managed to see the good in everything, even recent events. However, it has been mentioned that as a leaver-of-Nunvaut and one who hasn't signed a media form (promising not the inform the media of anything, even after my departure), I am in a unique position to inform new recruits about the 'truth' about living and working in the north. So this is my attempt to do that.
Let me first say this: this year has been tough for a lot of reasons. I arrived in Nunavut with a lot weighing on me. I was vaguely aware of how sick my father was and I was worried about him. In October I was informed that if I ever wanted to see him again, I better come ASAP and QSO (the school board I was working for) was extremely generous in granting me special leave to assist me in going to visit him for one last time. Apparently, this type of leave is extremely rare, especially for new Nuanvut teachers. I think I have my principal to thank for his insistance on the need for this leave. I was gone for a little over a week and the day I got back my dog was attacked by another dog and harmed enough that he bled out in 24 hours, internally. A month later my father passed away. On our Christmas break I attended my father's funeral, my mother having held it for my benefit. This year almost broke me emotionally, psychologically and financially (trips out are EXPENSIVE).
So I arrived with my high hopes: I was going to teach in this extreme place, I was going to do well AND I was going to get my Masters of Education degree in three years through a university who offered online MEd degrees. Even though I was going to teach grade 7/8 (which is not a grade I ever did well with), I was going to be able to meet the challenge, even though it was hard. The reality was a little harder to bear than I thought.
The realities are this: often places in Nunavut don't offer internet, even though they say they do. My house didnt have the option of having the internet, no matter how much money I was willing to throw at it. It was just in a bad spot for the Qiniq servers to reach. Also: The schools boards in Nunavut have blocked many useful sites from use, including all social media, all images (Good luck in making those powerpoint presentations at work!), all data sharing (so don't store your resources on SkyDrive or Dropbox!), all video sites (goodbye YouTube science experiments, goodbye all Prezi!) and many others. For someone who had planned on getting their MEd in 'Technology in Education' this was EXTREMELY frustrating, especially since the people that hired me were fully aware of what I was hoping to accomplish. If they had told me, I would have taken the job offer in the NWT instead.
Here is another frustration you should know about in Nunavut: some of the principals in Nunavut think that since they are in the north, they can get away for things that would have ended their careers quickly in the southern provinces. Sexual harrassment, put-downs of their staff, physical altercations between themselves and students as young as kindergarten age, and the lack of support of their staff is common place in some of these schools. I have personally been in the position of witnessing most of the former and have heard stories from teachers who have taught in other places in the north before coming to the village I was teaching in. I was told by my principal that 'almost anyone' could become an administrator because they were so desperate. All it takes is an acceptance into the two week program which is supposed to train principals, and you are fully qualified to run an entire school! I was offered a position on that training program myself and turned it down. I didn't feel that I was going to be able to run a school WELL because I only had 6 years experience as a teacher. How many people have their own ambitions blind them to the realities of their experience, I wonder? I want to add, however, that I am sure there are mostly dedicated, committed principals in most of the schools in the NU but my experience has been that there is some that are not and you should be prepared for the fact that you might have an incompetent one. If that happens, make sure you back up all the things he/she tells you with facts from other sources because often incompetent principals will cover up their inadequacies by blaming their staff.
I have been fortunate, I think, in that I have been able to work with people who were fully committed, and mostly qualified, for their positions. The teachers I have worked with fall into several categories: 1)The old-timers who have been there forever and know the score on absolutely everything. Get on their good side because they are the best resources in the school! In a system where principals are recycled every 2 or 3 years, you need those teachers who have been there for 15 years on your side to let you know how things really are. However, they are hard to get close to because they have been burned several times and are usually a bit cynical. 2)The 'feed the children' teachers. They usually feel as if the only important thing in the community is making sure the children are fed. They often use their own personal resources to accomplish this and are adamant that their goals is the most important one in the school. 3) The "education is key" teachers who feel that the real goal of their experience is providing a top-notch education to the children who would, otherwise, be subject to the constant degradation of their education due to the lure of lowering expectations, rendering the possiblity of higher education completely unattainable. 4) The new teacher from teacher's college: I was this person in my first year. Stars in my eyes, beliefs that didn't match reality at ALL. You can usually find them weeping in the staff room at their breaks (JUST KIDDING). Okay, this is an over generalization. I met one that seeemed quite cynical already because he had already lived in another part of Nunavut. He preached that lowering your expectations would help you cope with the difficult situation of teaching in Nunavut. He told us once whose philosphy that was and from what book but I have forgotten. 5) The "heads down" teacher. The one who keeps their head down, has been there for about 3-5 years and is in survival mode. This doesn't mean they are not doing their job, just that keeping their head down is a coping mechanism and it usually works well.
Aside from me categorizing the teachers I have met, I still stick to the idea that most of us are committed people. So what happens up there? The amusing anecdotes doesn't tell the whole picture, does it? Here will likely be your experience in your first year in the Arctic if you are in an Inuit community (that's my only experience, so I will not speak for the Dene teachers or those of other aboriginal communities):
-You will spend most of your tme frustrated because of the lack of motivation on the part of the students. They will not do homework, they will not show up half the time and some of them will check out entirely of the process and you will wonder why they even come to school at all.
-You will call parents and find out that the apathy is family-wide. So what if their kid doesn't do homework? So what if they are late, or disrespectful, or non-attending. It is either your fault or the fault of another kid in the class. NOT their kid's fault, for sure.
-You will be blamed for most of the problems.
-if you choose to move to Nunavut, any opinions you have will be silenced. I personally received a "cease and desist" email from the union president because of some tweets. Look it up yourself if you are wondering what horrid things I said to warrant such a threat (@justgolda on twitter about November, 2012 time). The truth is that Nunavut government is afraid of criticism and you will not be allowed to express opinions as you would in any southern provinces. Also, if you teach in Nunavik, you can be fired for teaching evolution because your contract expressly forbids it.
-Your principal might not support you AT ALL. Ever. Or even worse, only sometimes and not in any discernable pattern so that you never really know what's going to happen if you send a kid to the office. Will he be punished or rewarded? You have a 30% chance of it being some kind of reprimand.
- You may have your windows broken at night because the kids are frustrated with you or think it's funny to terrorize you at night AND they know there won't be any consequences if they throw rocks at your windows.
- You may have little resources. Textbooks are almost non-existant. Many students in your class will not be able to read, regardless of the level they have managed to attain. YOu will wonder how they got this far. You will conclude that the teachers before you gave up but they probably didn't.
-The principal may not know what is going on. He or she may give you a bad evalutation for no good reaon. Don't take it too much to heart. It's not about competence up here, it's about other things entirely.
-You may not have a great place to live. YOu will most certainly run out of water and not be able to have a shower at some point.
DONT BRING YOUR CHILDREN UP HERE PLEASE!! I did this twice and I have to say this about this issue: Qualluunaat children DO NOT belong in the north! They are treated horribly by daycares and schools and in the community. Very, very few children leave the north unscathed by racism and intolerance.
Here are some stories from my own experience to help you decide whether or not to bring your child north:
The first place I taught in the arctic was in Nunavik. For the most part this community was good for me. It challenged me, I met the challenge and I was pretty happy with how it was going. However, I had brought my 7 year old daughter. The second year we were there she had a first year teacher and things started going badly. She started coming home with bruises and started getting real quiet about everything. Around November it had become really noticable and her claims that she had fallen were starting to sound really hollow. When it all came out it turned out she had being beaten everyday at school by other kids. She was suicidal at 8 years old because her self esteem had been eroded to such a degree that she believed she didn't deserve to live. I got her out of that community within a week for her own safety, both emotional and physical. The principal's first reaction was that she 'deserved it'. I don't know how I stopped myself from punching her, but I did. It took my daughter YEARS of therapy to overcome this experience.
The second experience I had in the north was in Nunavut. My son was 3 years old when we arrived and I figured that since he was younger, we wouldnt have the same problems. He started coming home from daycare in November saying that he hated 'those teachers' and the kids were biting and kicking him. He also came home one day and told me that he was 'white, like popcorn" and showed me that his legs were 'white too'. I was surprised that either he noticed or that someone had pointed it out to him. He was THREE! I didn't think that kids even saw in colour at that age. I still don't really know what happened at that daycare but he wasn't happy there. From what I saw in the school, I wouldn't want him to attend there either. The teachers were committed, caring teachers but they had no support from the administration and their ability to deal with students who were troubled was so limited. That itself would put my child at a disadvantage in school, in my opinion.
PLEASE DONT BRING YOUR CHILDREN UP TO THE ARCTIC!!! The only exception I can think of is if you manage to land yourself a great position in one of the major communities like Yellowknife, Whitehorse or Iqaluit. I have been told that is different.
I recently read a really hateful blog about the place I was supposed to move to, Tianjin, China and it made me sick to my stomach to read it. I really didn't want to be one of the ranters online, whining about a disappointing experience where I expected first world conditions in the north. I didn't. I had high expectations but not, I believe, unrealistic. I only wish to tell you what you are really in for so that you are not surprised when you get there. My experience was unique, everyone's is.
Our next move is going to be a totally different place, China. It was always my goal to move overseas and teach there. It's the reason that I wanted to get my MEd degree, because I wanted to teach overseas and it was better to have a post graduate so I could qualify to get the better jobs. However, I think I'm okay with floating about the world, gaining knowledge about new cultures every few years. If you follow me on justgolda.com, you will hear about my new experiences, untainted by the old one in Nunavut.
If you are up north still, good for you! There were some great people up there and I loved the quiet and the beauty! If you are heading up north, make sure you read everything you can get your hands on, both good and bad, and make your decision based on ALL the information. I know that nothing could have persuaded me from trying it and I am glad I did, just so I can now look back on my life without regrets for cliffs-not-leaped-off and things-not-tried.
Cheers!
So a lot has happened since December 8th!
Let me begin by saying that a lot of what I post online is whitewashed. By that I mean "made to look cleaner and nicer than it really is". I probably won't change that very much but this particular post is designed to tell more of the truth than usual. That being said, I have had to take time and a little distance to make sure it wasn't one of those ranting posts that are completely one sided and hateful. I do NOT want to be one of those bloggers. I have tried to see mostly good and have managed to see the good in everything, even recent events. However, it has been mentioned that as a leaver-of-Nunvaut and one who hasn't signed a media form (promising not the inform the media of anything, even after my departure), I am in a unique position to inform new recruits about the 'truth' about living and working in the north. So this is my attempt to do that.
Let me first say this: this year has been tough for a lot of reasons. I arrived in Nunavut with a lot weighing on me. I was vaguely aware of how sick my father was and I was worried about him. In October I was informed that if I ever wanted to see him again, I better come ASAP and QSO (the school board I was working for) was extremely generous in granting me special leave to assist me in going to visit him for one last time. Apparently, this type of leave is extremely rare, especially for new Nuanvut teachers. I think I have my principal to thank for his insistance on the need for this leave. I was gone for a little over a week and the day I got back my dog was attacked by another dog and harmed enough that he bled out in 24 hours, internally. A month later my father passed away. On our Christmas break I attended my father's funeral, my mother having held it for my benefit. This year almost broke me emotionally, psychologically and financially (trips out are EXPENSIVE).
So I arrived with my high hopes: I was going to teach in this extreme place, I was going to do well AND I was going to get my Masters of Education degree in three years through a university who offered online MEd degrees. Even though I was going to teach grade 7/8 (which is not a grade I ever did well with), I was going to be able to meet the challenge, even though it was hard. The reality was a little harder to bear than I thought.
The realities are this: often places in Nunavut don't offer internet, even though they say they do. My house didnt have the option of having the internet, no matter how much money I was willing to throw at it. It was just in a bad spot for the Qiniq servers to reach. Also: The schools boards in Nunavut have blocked many useful sites from use, including all social media, all images (Good luck in making those powerpoint presentations at work!), all data sharing (so don't store your resources on SkyDrive or Dropbox!), all video sites (goodbye YouTube science experiments, goodbye all Prezi!) and many others. For someone who had planned on getting their MEd in 'Technology in Education' this was EXTREMELY frustrating, especially since the people that hired me were fully aware of what I was hoping to accomplish. If they had told me, I would have taken the job offer in the NWT instead.
Here is another frustration you should know about in Nunavut: some of the principals in Nunavut think that since they are in the north, they can get away for things that would have ended their careers quickly in the southern provinces. Sexual harrassment, put-downs of their staff, physical altercations between themselves and students as young as kindergarten age, and the lack of support of their staff is common place in some of these schools. I have personally been in the position of witnessing most of the former and have heard stories from teachers who have taught in other places in the north before coming to the village I was teaching in. I was told by my principal that 'almost anyone' could become an administrator because they were so desperate. All it takes is an acceptance into the two week program which is supposed to train principals, and you are fully qualified to run an entire school! I was offered a position on that training program myself and turned it down. I didn't feel that I was going to be able to run a school WELL because I only had 6 years experience as a teacher. How many people have their own ambitions blind them to the realities of their experience, I wonder? I want to add, however, that I am sure there are mostly dedicated, committed principals in most of the schools in the NU but my experience has been that there is some that are not and you should be prepared for the fact that you might have an incompetent one. If that happens, make sure you back up all the things he/she tells you with facts from other sources because often incompetent principals will cover up their inadequacies by blaming their staff.
I have been fortunate, I think, in that I have been able to work with people who were fully committed, and mostly qualified, for their positions. The teachers I have worked with fall into several categories: 1)The old-timers who have been there forever and know the score on absolutely everything. Get on their good side because they are the best resources in the school! In a system where principals are recycled every 2 or 3 years, you need those teachers who have been there for 15 years on your side to let you know how things really are. However, they are hard to get close to because they have been burned several times and are usually a bit cynical. 2)The 'feed the children' teachers. They usually feel as if the only important thing in the community is making sure the children are fed. They often use their own personal resources to accomplish this and are adamant that their goals is the most important one in the school. 3) The "education is key" teachers who feel that the real goal of their experience is providing a top-notch education to the children who would, otherwise, be subject to the constant degradation of their education due to the lure of lowering expectations, rendering the possiblity of higher education completely unattainable. 4) The new teacher from teacher's college: I was this person in my first year. Stars in my eyes, beliefs that didn't match reality at ALL. You can usually find them weeping in the staff room at their breaks (JUST KIDDING). Okay, this is an over generalization. I met one that seeemed quite cynical already because he had already lived in another part of Nunavut. He preached that lowering your expectations would help you cope with the difficult situation of teaching in Nunavut. He told us once whose philosphy that was and from what book but I have forgotten. 5) The "heads down" teacher. The one who keeps their head down, has been there for about 3-5 years and is in survival mode. This doesn't mean they are not doing their job, just that keeping their head down is a coping mechanism and it usually works well.
Aside from me categorizing the teachers I have met, I still stick to the idea that most of us are committed people. So what happens up there? The amusing anecdotes doesn't tell the whole picture, does it? Here will likely be your experience in your first year in the Arctic if you are in an Inuit community (that's my only experience, so I will not speak for the Dene teachers or those of other aboriginal communities):
-You will spend most of your tme frustrated because of the lack of motivation on the part of the students. They will not do homework, they will not show up half the time and some of them will check out entirely of the process and you will wonder why they even come to school at all.
-You will call parents and find out that the apathy is family-wide. So what if their kid doesn't do homework? So what if they are late, or disrespectful, or non-attending. It is either your fault or the fault of another kid in the class. NOT their kid's fault, for sure.
-You will be blamed for most of the problems.
-if you choose to move to Nunavut, any opinions you have will be silenced. I personally received a "cease and desist" email from the union president because of some tweets. Look it up yourself if you are wondering what horrid things I said to warrant such a threat (@justgolda on twitter about November, 2012 time). The truth is that Nunavut government is afraid of criticism and you will not be allowed to express opinions as you would in any southern provinces. Also, if you teach in Nunavik, you can be fired for teaching evolution because your contract expressly forbids it.
-Your principal might not support you AT ALL. Ever. Or even worse, only sometimes and not in any discernable pattern so that you never really know what's going to happen if you send a kid to the office. Will he be punished or rewarded? You have a 30% chance of it being some kind of reprimand.
- You may have your windows broken at night because the kids are frustrated with you or think it's funny to terrorize you at night AND they know there won't be any consequences if they throw rocks at your windows.
- You may have little resources. Textbooks are almost non-existant. Many students in your class will not be able to read, regardless of the level they have managed to attain. YOu will wonder how they got this far. You will conclude that the teachers before you gave up but they probably didn't.
-The principal may not know what is going on. He or she may give you a bad evalutation for no good reaon. Don't take it too much to heart. It's not about competence up here, it's about other things entirely.
-You may not have a great place to live. YOu will most certainly run out of water and not be able to have a shower at some point.
DONT BRING YOUR CHILDREN UP HERE PLEASE!! I did this twice and I have to say this about this issue: Qualluunaat children DO NOT belong in the north! They are treated horribly by daycares and schools and in the community. Very, very few children leave the north unscathed by racism and intolerance.
Here are some stories from my own experience to help you decide whether or not to bring your child north:
The first place I taught in the arctic was in Nunavik. For the most part this community was good for me. It challenged me, I met the challenge and I was pretty happy with how it was going. However, I had brought my 7 year old daughter. The second year we were there she had a first year teacher and things started going badly. She started coming home with bruises and started getting real quiet about everything. Around November it had become really noticable and her claims that she had fallen were starting to sound really hollow. When it all came out it turned out she had being beaten everyday at school by other kids. She was suicidal at 8 years old because her self esteem had been eroded to such a degree that she believed she didn't deserve to live. I got her out of that community within a week for her own safety, both emotional and physical. The principal's first reaction was that she 'deserved it'. I don't know how I stopped myself from punching her, but I did. It took my daughter YEARS of therapy to overcome this experience.
The second experience I had in the north was in Nunavut. My son was 3 years old when we arrived and I figured that since he was younger, we wouldnt have the same problems. He started coming home from daycare in November saying that he hated 'those teachers' and the kids were biting and kicking him. He also came home one day and told me that he was 'white, like popcorn" and showed me that his legs were 'white too'. I was surprised that either he noticed or that someone had pointed it out to him. He was THREE! I didn't think that kids even saw in colour at that age. I still don't really know what happened at that daycare but he wasn't happy there. From what I saw in the school, I wouldn't want him to attend there either. The teachers were committed, caring teachers but they had no support from the administration and their ability to deal with students who were troubled was so limited. That itself would put my child at a disadvantage in school, in my opinion.
PLEASE DONT BRING YOUR CHILDREN UP TO THE ARCTIC!!! The only exception I can think of is if you manage to land yourself a great position in one of the major communities like Yellowknife, Whitehorse or Iqaluit. I have been told that is different.
I recently read a really hateful blog about the place I was supposed to move to, Tianjin, China and it made me sick to my stomach to read it. I really didn't want to be one of the ranters online, whining about a disappointing experience where I expected first world conditions in the north. I didn't. I had high expectations but not, I believe, unrealistic. I only wish to tell you what you are really in for so that you are not surprised when you get there. My experience was unique, everyone's is.
Our next move is going to be a totally different place, China. It was always my goal to move overseas and teach there. It's the reason that I wanted to get my MEd degree, because I wanted to teach overseas and it was better to have a post graduate so I could qualify to get the better jobs. However, I think I'm okay with floating about the world, gaining knowledge about new cultures every few years. If you follow me on justgolda.com, you will hear about my new experiences, untainted by the old one in Nunavut.
If you are up north still, good for you! There were some great people up there and I loved the quiet and the beauty! If you are heading up north, make sure you read everything you can get your hands on, both good and bad, and make your decision based on ALL the information. I know that nothing could have persuaded me from trying it and I am glad I did, just so I can now look back on my life without regrets for cliffs-not-leaped-off and things-not-tried.
Cheers!
Saturday, December 8, 2012
My Saturday without water
I know this is part of the whole culture shock experience but sometimes I just wish things would be NORMAL. Does anyone have days/weeks like that?
I got awoken at 2am this morning by a loud buzzing sound. It sounded like it was coming from the heating system but an hour later, when I flushed the toilet it stopped. So it must be my septic system that was causing the problem. I sat here for an hour, unable to decide what to do with no one to call, having no idea who was the emergency contact for a possible heating problem and I was worried I might succumb to carbon monoxide poisoning so it was a crappy morning.
I think one of the hardest things about moving somewhere new is not knowing what to do if something serious happens. Who do you call? The 'helpful' advice I got on Facebook was to call a plumbing guy. "Of course, I never even considered that. Duh." *rolls eyes* There ARE no heating and plumbing guys here or I would have called them. Sheesh.
It makes me worry for the next place I go. If it's a different country and I have to add a language barrier to the mix, what might happen then? What if one of us gets really sick or something serious happens and I can't get help? Scary stuff. I know I'm resourceful but last night showed me also how vulnerable I could be too.
So the latest news on the front has been this:
I have been talking to a Vancouver recruiting agency about a possible job in Brunei for the next school year. I passed the initial interview and was asked to submit more paperwork. Currently I am waiting to hear from the interviewer in Brunei itself.
I also received a call from a company that manages schools in China and getting a job there is also a possibility. The recruiter from that company only hires BC certified teachers and he called me 2 years ago to set up an interview but I had already accepted a job elsewhere for that year. He said they will definitely have positions next year and I am on the list to be interviewed for them.
It has also been mentioned that if I am interested in becoming an administrator in Nunavut, it wouldn't be a very long road to achieving that goal and I could have an opportunity at the end of this school year to take the administrator's course. That would be an upward movement in my career and it's worth looking in to.
So there are a lot of possibilities on the horizon and I don't quite know which way to go. Another possible option, should there be a spot, is to go back to the school that I liked so much from last year. I would certainly love to teach science there again.
I know I have no control over what happens next but I would very much like to know how this is going to play out! It would be amazing to spend two years in tropical Brunei and I think that is my first choice. I'm stuck a little on the second choice because although I want to teach in another country, I also would like to teach at the school I left last year as well. The principal there was amazing and when I left I felt that I could have learned a lot more from watching her for a longer period of time. I also miss things about that place like being able to run and eat fresh veggies and eggs right from the farm.
Anyway...my water has just been fixed by the housing guy and now I can have a shower and wash my dishes! :) I have waited all day so this is exciting news! Such little things can make you so happy here because the little things are all we have.
Here's some photos for you:
I got awoken at 2am this morning by a loud buzzing sound. It sounded like it was coming from the heating system but an hour later, when I flushed the toilet it stopped. So it must be my septic system that was causing the problem. I sat here for an hour, unable to decide what to do with no one to call, having no idea who was the emergency contact for a possible heating problem and I was worried I might succumb to carbon monoxide poisoning so it was a crappy morning.
I think one of the hardest things about moving somewhere new is not knowing what to do if something serious happens. Who do you call? The 'helpful' advice I got on Facebook was to call a plumbing guy. "Of course, I never even considered that. Duh." *rolls eyes* There ARE no heating and plumbing guys here or I would have called them. Sheesh.
It makes me worry for the next place I go. If it's a different country and I have to add a language barrier to the mix, what might happen then? What if one of us gets really sick or something serious happens and I can't get help? Scary stuff. I know I'm resourceful but last night showed me also how vulnerable I could be too.
So the latest news on the front has been this:
I have been talking to a Vancouver recruiting agency about a possible job in Brunei for the next school year. I passed the initial interview and was asked to submit more paperwork. Currently I am waiting to hear from the interviewer in Brunei itself.
I also received a call from a company that manages schools in China and getting a job there is also a possibility. The recruiter from that company only hires BC certified teachers and he called me 2 years ago to set up an interview but I had already accepted a job elsewhere for that year. He said they will definitely have positions next year and I am on the list to be interviewed for them.
It has also been mentioned that if I am interested in becoming an administrator in Nunavut, it wouldn't be a very long road to achieving that goal and I could have an opportunity at the end of this school year to take the administrator's course. That would be an upward movement in my career and it's worth looking in to.
So there are a lot of possibilities on the horizon and I don't quite know which way to go. Another possible option, should there be a spot, is to go back to the school that I liked so much from last year. I would certainly love to teach science there again.
I know I have no control over what happens next but I would very much like to know how this is going to play out! It would be amazing to spend two years in tropical Brunei and I think that is my first choice. I'm stuck a little on the second choice because although I want to teach in another country, I also would like to teach at the school I left last year as well. The principal there was amazing and when I left I felt that I could have learned a lot more from watching her for a longer period of time. I also miss things about that place like being able to run and eat fresh veggies and eggs right from the farm.
Anyway...my water has just been fixed by the housing guy and now I can have a shower and wash my dishes! :) I have waited all day so this is exciting news! Such little things can make you so happy here because the little things are all we have.
Here's some photos for you:
My son sliding down a hill
Fields of white
Lake Harbour
Sunrise in my backyard
Backyard
The Arctic sky
Sunday, December 2, 2012
Project based life
I was looking over my blog today and realized, much to my embarrassment, that I haven't posted anything in over a month! Terrible blogger that I am, I have many times thought "I just have nothing to say" while excusing myself from writing.
Here is my blog about my projects and how to stave off the boredom of living in a northern place:
First of all, there often isn't much to do. I absolutely do not miss the rat race of having so many things to accomplish in a day that you are never finished but there are days here that are boring. Now I know I live in this amazing place where the land goes on forever but going out on the land by oneself is somewhat dangerous and it is bloody COLD out there. Often my weekends consist of a one shopping trip to our small grocery store and then trying to find things to do at home. To help me pass the time I come up with projects and read ideas about how to become a better person/mom/teacher.
Project 1: I have a guitar which I am trying to learn how to play and my father gifted me a violin before he died that I plan to learn how to play once I get the bow re-haired in my Christmas trip "down south".
Project 2: I have been reading about the evils of wheat from Dr. Davis' "Wheat Belly" book and have decided to change my diet to eliminate wheat just to see if he's right. This takes a bit more planning than if I lived south of here because our food choices are severly limited up here in the north. So I've ordered some of the ingrediants I need to replace the wheat and grains in my diet and will have to wait until my Christmas trip to get the rest of the stuff I need to replace wheat.
Project 3: Exercise. I miss running so much and yet all my efforts to get a treadmill up here have met with failure. However, I did manage to get an elliptical machine and I have purchased some Xbox Zumba games that I have yet to try out. The elliptical is very helpful and I am glad it got up here. I am very unhappy with the 15 pounds that I have gained back since I moved here and haven't been able to run. I am in the process of coming up with a realistic plan for exercise that will help me feel better.
Project 4: This blog (and we know how well THAT'S going).
Project 5: Come January I will be taking two university courses online for my professional development. I recently found out that the teacher's union here will pay up to $2500/year for courses for the teachers in their organization. Why isn't everyone doing this?? We talk about how lucky the kids are to receive free education but some of us aren't appreciating when we get it. So I am taking the courses to become a better teacher and less of a hypocrite. (I have decided on "ESL" and "Tech in Education - part 2)
Project 6: This is my most exciting one yet. I have been applying to interesting jobs overseas and have met with some success so far. I received an email recently asking me if I was interested in apply to a job in Brunei. I applied and did an interview with the recruiting firm in Vancouver and got accepted to their firm! Now I have to wait to see if the Brunei office is interested as well. I should hear by the middle of December, I'm told. So I may be living in a completely different place next year!
I should also mention that I recently was told that if I applied to a teaching leadership program up here to become an administrator in Nunavut, my application would be supported and in a few years I could move from teacher to administrator (Principal or vice-Principal). I have mixed feelings about this: First, it would be a great career move to move upwards into admin and I could change a lot of things I see wrong with the system if I was higher up the food chain. However, my goal was to work here to be able to go overseas so I could experience more of the world and gain a wider perspective on everything. So it's a tough choice. If I chose the admin route I would be 'stuck' up here for a few years, minimum. If I choose the overseas path I would be travelling and teaching but may never really change anything in the profound way I wanted to when I started this teaching career. I'm completely torn.
A word about the title of my blog: There is a lot of talk about project based learning in education and it's seen as the way of the future especially amongst technology-in-education types. However, I wonder at living a project-based life as a way of feeling like you are accomplishing something worthwhile and being happy. Just an idea I'm playing with.
Only 2 and 1/2 weeks to our Xmas trip down south! I cannot wait for a break!
Here is my blog about my projects and how to stave off the boredom of living in a northern place:
First of all, there often isn't much to do. I absolutely do not miss the rat race of having so many things to accomplish in a day that you are never finished but there are days here that are boring. Now I know I live in this amazing place where the land goes on forever but going out on the land by oneself is somewhat dangerous and it is bloody COLD out there. Often my weekends consist of a one shopping trip to our small grocery store and then trying to find things to do at home. To help me pass the time I come up with projects and read ideas about how to become a better person/mom/teacher.
Project 1: I have a guitar which I am trying to learn how to play and my father gifted me a violin before he died that I plan to learn how to play once I get the bow re-haired in my Christmas trip "down south".
Project 2: I have been reading about the evils of wheat from Dr. Davis' "Wheat Belly" book and have decided to change my diet to eliminate wheat just to see if he's right. This takes a bit more planning than if I lived south of here because our food choices are severly limited up here in the north. So I've ordered some of the ingrediants I need to replace the wheat and grains in my diet and will have to wait until my Christmas trip to get the rest of the stuff I need to replace wheat.
Project 3: Exercise. I miss running so much and yet all my efforts to get a treadmill up here have met with failure. However, I did manage to get an elliptical machine and I have purchased some Xbox Zumba games that I have yet to try out. The elliptical is very helpful and I am glad it got up here. I am very unhappy with the 15 pounds that I have gained back since I moved here and haven't been able to run. I am in the process of coming up with a realistic plan for exercise that will help me feel better.
Project 4: This blog (and we know how well THAT'S going).
Project 5: Come January I will be taking two university courses online for my professional development. I recently found out that the teacher's union here will pay up to $2500/year for courses for the teachers in their organization. Why isn't everyone doing this?? We talk about how lucky the kids are to receive free education but some of us aren't appreciating when we get it. So I am taking the courses to become a better teacher and less of a hypocrite. (I have decided on "ESL" and "Tech in Education - part 2)
Project 6: This is my most exciting one yet. I have been applying to interesting jobs overseas and have met with some success so far. I received an email recently asking me if I was interested in apply to a job in Brunei. I applied and did an interview with the recruiting firm in Vancouver and got accepted to their firm! Now I have to wait to see if the Brunei office is interested as well. I should hear by the middle of December, I'm told. So I may be living in a completely different place next year!
I should also mention that I recently was told that if I applied to a teaching leadership program up here to become an administrator in Nunavut, my application would be supported and in a few years I could move from teacher to administrator (Principal or vice-Principal). I have mixed feelings about this: First, it would be a great career move to move upwards into admin and I could change a lot of things I see wrong with the system if I was higher up the food chain. However, my goal was to work here to be able to go overseas so I could experience more of the world and gain a wider perspective on everything. So it's a tough choice. If I chose the admin route I would be 'stuck' up here for a few years, minimum. If I choose the overseas path I would be travelling and teaching but may never really change anything in the profound way I wanted to when I started this teaching career. I'm completely torn.
A word about the title of my blog: There is a lot of talk about project based learning in education and it's seen as the way of the future especially amongst technology-in-education types. However, I wonder at living a project-based life as a way of feeling like you are accomplishing something worthwhile and being happy. Just an idea I'm playing with.
Only 2 and 1/2 weeks to our Xmas trip down south! I cannot wait for a break!
Sunday, October 28, 2012
It's the little things
People are always asking me what it's like to live here in the Arctic. I tell them 'hard' but that hardly covers it. So I've compiled a list of things that make it hard and the reasons why the people who move north do it.
For those of you new to JustGolda, I should mention that this is the second time I have lived in an Inuit community. I started my teaching career in Umiujaq, Quebec which is a village of about 350 Inuit residents. I was a Secondary one and two teacher (equivalent to grade 8/9) in my first year and I stayed for two years before returning to northern Ontario.
This year I am living in a hamlet of 415 Inuit residents in Kimmirut, Nunavut. This is quite a bit further north than I was before and it's already getting darker. The differences between the two communities are more than I thought. People in Kimmirut are on average, friendlier and more welcoming to newcomers. Not to put down the people of Umiujaq because some of them were awesome. It's just that the ones that were racist towards us left a lasting impression and I have not encountered much racism here yet. Also, here in Kimmirut the kids don't throw rocks at my windows at night and that is something that happened a lot in Umiujaq. It's the little things... :)
OK, so here are some of the things that are different from living in southern Canada:
1) We have water tanks and septic tanks in our house. There is no sewage and water system in this hamlet so all of us need to get water delivered to our house. This is not overly difficult until the water or septic truck break down. If you don't get water delivered or the septic tank is full, you don't have water to use until it's fixed. It happened quite a few times in Umiujaq that people had to go for days with no shower or running water because of a septic or water truck breakdown. Another thing that happened in Umiujaq was that if you pissed off the person driving one of the two trucks they might 'forget' that they had to deliver water to you. Either this doesn't happen in Kimmirut or I haven't pissed anyone off yet.
2) Everything is delivered by plane. Everything. There are no roads up to northern communities so food, bottled water, soap, absolutely everything needs to be flown in. If there is a snow storm you have to wait for new stuff for quite awhile sometimes because the plane can't land. Here in this small place we go lots of days with no plane. Also, in Kimmirut we have a small landing strip so the only planes that can land are Twin Otters and they are TINY. This means that if I want something like a treadmill, too bad for me because the plane door is too small for it to fit in there. (This has happened to me this year already. I cannot get a treadmill delivered)
The twin otter
Inside the twin otter
3) OK, I lied because there is another way to get stuff in here. The sea lift is a huge ship that comes twice a year with goods. It is far cheaper to ship in bulk through the sea lift so really organized people order a full year of canned food on the sea lift and get it around the middle of October. This is also how they get ATVs and snowmobiles into the community. I have also seen whole houses delivered by sea lift. A fairly big box of space rents for about $500 on the sea lift so if you want a whole load of canned or dry food you can get it this way and save money on groceries during the year.
4) Most communities are restricted for alcohol so you can't just go to the store and buy it. You also aren't allowed to bring it in without a permit. Some communities are 'dry' so there is no alcohol at all. In those communities they sometimes don't even allow you to buy bakers yeast without being given a good reason because it's too easy to make alcohol with yeast (as if you couldn't do it by just fermenting it over time!) This is difficult for those of us used to having wine with dinner and drinks with friends. I must say though, it is incredibly easy to get around these laws and it's almost easier to get alcohol in banned communities than in restricted communities. I find so far that in restricted communities people make at least some effort to abide by the process put in place. I'm not saying that I personally am breaking laws, just that I know it's easy to do so.
5) There are things we just can't get. Some companies refuse to deliver up here at all. It's annoying. I will never understand why they won't just charge more for shipping instead of cutting us off altogether. (Yes, I'm talking to you, Avon Canada. You suck!) Other companies have started charging MORE for shipping than it actually costs them (Sears Canada).
6) It's quiet. REALLY quiet. When I go outside at night there are no sounds and it's a relief to the ears. There are no traffic noises, no background hum of millions of people, nothing. Sometimes when out on a hike you will hear the flapping of a crow's wings but aside from that, total silence. I love that.
7) It's cold of course. We need heavier winter gear. As long as you have that you are fine.
8) In this smaller community there are no cars. None. There are a few trucks, mostly owned by the store, airport and hamlet but there are no cars. If someone has a vehicle it is an ATV or a snowmobile.
9) The sky is alive. I don't know how to accurately describe the Arctic sky. At night, even when there are no auroras, the sky seems alive to me. It's an amazing sky and one of the reasons people love the north so much. It's also a wide open sky with no big buildings or trees to get in the way of the view.
10) Oh yeah! No trees! We have no trees here because we are above the tree line. I personally don't have any strong feelings about trees but know that some people are bothered by the lack of trees.
From my back porch
11) There are only two stores. The Northern store and the Coop store. The Northern store is one that is southern based (Winnipeg, I think) and has a southern manager. The Coop is Inuit run and probably based in Iqaluit although I'm not sure. At the Coop you buy shares and actually make dividends every year. Unfortunately, the Coop often has expired food but is cheaper overall than the Northern store. I'm very glad to have two stores!
12) It's often very windy. That wouldn't be as much of a problem if I wasn't driving an ATV instead of a car. :)
13) The culture is different and so you have to go through culture shock when you come up here. Culture shock usually consists of three main periods of time: when you first arrive you are amazed and enthralled by all the new ideas and think everything is great. Then you start to see the bad stuff and start to think everything is really bad. Then you come to the conclusion that your ideas of good and bad need to be adjusted and you come to terms with both your culture and the new one and can allow them to co-exist in the world without judging them.
14) There are polar bears. You in big cities may have to look around outside your door for drive by shooters and kidnappers but here we have to look around outside before we go out so that we don't get eaten by a polar bear. We also have to be careful when wandering around in this vast land to not run into a hungry animal. As the sign in Timmins, Ontario says "Bears are dangerous". ha! (I have always found that sign to be hilarious. Imagine...having to warn people that bears are dangerous).
15) Lastly, it's darker here during the winter. I am expecting in December, the darkest time of the year, it will begin to get dark at 2pm and get light much later than the south. We are closer to the north pole here so the summer will be brighter than the south. This isn't bothering me yet so hopefully we will get through it without too much sadness.
There are many other differences but these are the main ones. If you have any questions, I would be glad to answer them. Later I will write about how teaching is different here.
For those of you new to JustGolda, I should mention that this is the second time I have lived in an Inuit community. I started my teaching career in Umiujaq, Quebec which is a village of about 350 Inuit residents. I was a Secondary one and two teacher (equivalent to grade 8/9) in my first year and I stayed for two years before returning to northern Ontario.
This year I am living in a hamlet of 415 Inuit residents in Kimmirut, Nunavut. This is quite a bit further north than I was before and it's already getting darker. The differences between the two communities are more than I thought. People in Kimmirut are on average, friendlier and more welcoming to newcomers. Not to put down the people of Umiujaq because some of them were awesome. It's just that the ones that were racist towards us left a lasting impression and I have not encountered much racism here yet. Also, here in Kimmirut the kids don't throw rocks at my windows at night and that is something that happened a lot in Umiujaq. It's the little things... :)
OK, so here are some of the things that are different from living in southern Canada:
1) We have water tanks and septic tanks in our house. There is no sewage and water system in this hamlet so all of us need to get water delivered to our house. This is not overly difficult until the water or septic truck break down. If you don't get water delivered or the septic tank is full, you don't have water to use until it's fixed. It happened quite a few times in Umiujaq that people had to go for days with no shower or running water because of a septic or water truck breakdown. Another thing that happened in Umiujaq was that if you pissed off the person driving one of the two trucks they might 'forget' that they had to deliver water to you. Either this doesn't happen in Kimmirut or I haven't pissed anyone off yet.
2) Everything is delivered by plane. Everything. There are no roads up to northern communities so food, bottled water, soap, absolutely everything needs to be flown in. If there is a snow storm you have to wait for new stuff for quite awhile sometimes because the plane can't land. Here in this small place we go lots of days with no plane. Also, in Kimmirut we have a small landing strip so the only planes that can land are Twin Otters and they are TINY. This means that if I want something like a treadmill, too bad for me because the plane door is too small for it to fit in there. (This has happened to me this year already. I cannot get a treadmill delivered)
The twin otter 
Inside the twin otter3) OK, I lied because there is another way to get stuff in here. The sea lift is a huge ship that comes twice a year with goods. It is far cheaper to ship in bulk through the sea lift so really organized people order a full year of canned food on the sea lift and get it around the middle of October. This is also how they get ATVs and snowmobiles into the community. I have also seen whole houses delivered by sea lift. A fairly big box of space rents for about $500 on the sea lift so if you want a whole load of canned or dry food you can get it this way and save money on groceries during the year.
4) Most communities are restricted for alcohol so you can't just go to the store and buy it. You also aren't allowed to bring it in without a permit. Some communities are 'dry' so there is no alcohol at all. In those communities they sometimes don't even allow you to buy bakers yeast without being given a good reason because it's too easy to make alcohol with yeast (as if you couldn't do it by just fermenting it over time!) This is difficult for those of us used to having wine with dinner and drinks with friends. I must say though, it is incredibly easy to get around these laws and it's almost easier to get alcohol in banned communities than in restricted communities. I find so far that in restricted communities people make at least some effort to abide by the process put in place. I'm not saying that I personally am breaking laws, just that I know it's easy to do so.
5) There are things we just can't get. Some companies refuse to deliver up here at all. It's annoying. I will never understand why they won't just charge more for shipping instead of cutting us off altogether. (Yes, I'm talking to you, Avon Canada. You suck!) Other companies have started charging MORE for shipping than it actually costs them (Sears Canada).
6) It's quiet. REALLY quiet. When I go outside at night there are no sounds and it's a relief to the ears. There are no traffic noises, no background hum of millions of people, nothing. Sometimes when out on a hike you will hear the flapping of a crow's wings but aside from that, total silence. I love that.
7) It's cold of course. We need heavier winter gear. As long as you have that you are fine.
8) In this smaller community there are no cars. None. There are a few trucks, mostly owned by the store, airport and hamlet but there are no cars. If someone has a vehicle it is an ATV or a snowmobile.
9) The sky is alive. I don't know how to accurately describe the Arctic sky. At night, even when there are no auroras, the sky seems alive to me. It's an amazing sky and one of the reasons people love the north so much. It's also a wide open sky with no big buildings or trees to get in the way of the view.
10) Oh yeah! No trees! We have no trees here because we are above the tree line. I personally don't have any strong feelings about trees but know that some people are bothered by the lack of trees.
From my back porch11) There are only two stores. The Northern store and the Coop store. The Northern store is one that is southern based (Winnipeg, I think) and has a southern manager. The Coop is Inuit run and probably based in Iqaluit although I'm not sure. At the Coop you buy shares and actually make dividends every year. Unfortunately, the Coop often has expired food but is cheaper overall than the Northern store. I'm very glad to have two stores!
12) It's often very windy. That wouldn't be as much of a problem if I wasn't driving an ATV instead of a car. :)
13) The culture is different and so you have to go through culture shock when you come up here. Culture shock usually consists of three main periods of time: when you first arrive you are amazed and enthralled by all the new ideas and think everything is great. Then you start to see the bad stuff and start to think everything is really bad. Then you come to the conclusion that your ideas of good and bad need to be adjusted and you come to terms with both your culture and the new one and can allow them to co-exist in the world without judging them.
14) There are polar bears. You in big cities may have to look around outside your door for drive by shooters and kidnappers but here we have to look around outside before we go out so that we don't get eaten by a polar bear. We also have to be careful when wandering around in this vast land to not run into a hungry animal. As the sign in Timmins, Ontario says "Bears are dangerous". ha! (I have always found that sign to be hilarious. Imagine...having to warn people that bears are dangerous).
15) Lastly, it's darker here during the winter. I am expecting in December, the darkest time of the year, it will begin to get dark at 2pm and get light much later than the south. We are closer to the north pole here so the summer will be brighter than the south. This isn't bothering me yet so hopefully we will get through it without too much sadness.
There are many other differences but these are the main ones. If you have any questions, I would be glad to answer them. Later I will write about how teaching is different here.
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
Leaving Kimmirut (temporarily)
My last post was so negative that I had to write this one just to even it out.
I am currently in BC, where I started from two months ago because I got a call two weeks ago asking me to call my brother and ask him to come early because if he wanted to see my father before he died it was imperative that him come immediately. I made that call and my brother left early to come down from his home in northern BC. When I mentioned this at work, several people asked me if I was going. At first I didn't even consider it. All the reasons: its too expensive, I'm a new employee and won't be able to get leave, etc. Then it occurred to me that this is not something you don't do because of money. There are no do-overs after death. So I bought a ticket and with the help of my principal, managed to get compassion leave from work.
I have to say this: when the chips are down, a small community in Nunavut is the best place to be. People who barely know me and have never met my father were making cards and praying for us. They have been so kind, all of them. People who have lost their own parents came up and hugged me and didn't say stupid things that don't help. Just hugged me. Because they know how much this hurts.
I'm in BC now and have been since Friday. My father isn't doing well. He is in pain and we know he wants to let go. He is scared and it's hard to see but I'm glad I am getting to spend this time with him and will be able to say goodbye.
It seems so unfair. A man like my father, having to die this painful and undignified death. In this day and age of men who don't take responsibility.... My father was a man who always took care of his family first. He went to work his sheet metal job while my mother took care of their five kids. They were both strict parents, took us to church every week, upheld high standards for us, always behaved well in front of us kids. No swearing, drinking, drugs, etc. They both worked hard and were always there for us. I grew up not even knowing how awful life could have been if I didn't have my parents because they didn't let us see the hard things in life until later.
Originally this post was going to be about how much I appreciated the support I got in Kimmirut before I left but I see it's morphing into something else. I will wrap it up by saying tht this is one of the hardest things I've had to go through and the support I received from almost strangers was touching. I will be back in Kimmirut on Tuesday and will pick up where I left off.
I am currently in BC, where I started from two months ago because I got a call two weeks ago asking me to call my brother and ask him to come early because if he wanted to see my father before he died it was imperative that him come immediately. I made that call and my brother left early to come down from his home in northern BC. When I mentioned this at work, several people asked me if I was going. At first I didn't even consider it. All the reasons: its too expensive, I'm a new employee and won't be able to get leave, etc. Then it occurred to me that this is not something you don't do because of money. There are no do-overs after death. So I bought a ticket and with the help of my principal, managed to get compassion leave from work.
I have to say this: when the chips are down, a small community in Nunavut is the best place to be. People who barely know me and have never met my father were making cards and praying for us. They have been so kind, all of them. People who have lost their own parents came up and hugged me and didn't say stupid things that don't help. Just hugged me. Because they know how much this hurts.
I'm in BC now and have been since Friday. My father isn't doing well. He is in pain and we know he wants to let go. He is scared and it's hard to see but I'm glad I am getting to spend this time with him and will be able to say goodbye.
It seems so unfair. A man like my father, having to die this painful and undignified death. In this day and age of men who don't take responsibility.... My father was a man who always took care of his family first. He went to work his sheet metal job while my mother took care of their five kids. They were both strict parents, took us to church every week, upheld high standards for us, always behaved well in front of us kids. No swearing, drinking, drugs, etc. They both worked hard and were always there for us. I grew up not even knowing how awful life could have been if I didn't have my parents because they didn't let us see the hard things in life until later.
Originally this post was going to be about how much I appreciated the support I got in Kimmirut before I left but I see it's morphing into something else. I will wrap it up by saying tht this is one of the hardest things I've had to go through and the support I received from almost strangers was touching. I will be back in Kimmirut on Tuesday and will pick up where I left off.
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