Kimmirut, Nunavut

Well, three interviews later and I have been offered (and have accepted) a teaching position in Kimmirut, Nunavut. Kimmirut (formerly Lake Harbour) is in southern Baffin Island. It is an Inuit village of 411 people and is half an hour from Iqualuit by plane. They have the shortest runway in Nunavut and are only serviced by Twin Otter planes. Will be an interesting experience.
One of the things that impressed me about Kimmirut, aside from the fact that they wanted to hire me so obviously have excellent taste in teachers (kidding!) is that the principal reserved a spot for me at the daycare so that I was certain to have childcare when I got there. I thought that was an 'above and beyond' moment and I really appreciated it. It also reminded me that in small places like that, people are nice to each other without any ulterior motives. I missed that, living here in the Lower Mainland of BC, where people would probably walk over you if they saw you dying in the street.
So I am Kimmirut-bound in August! I will finally be a resident of the north again and will, at long last, get to see Nunavut. Before that, of course, I will be having my summer-long camping trip. I was planning on going across all of Canada to Newfoundland but now I will probably only make it as far as Manitoba. My sister has moved up the date to her wedding because my father is so desperately ill and she wants him to be able to attend. At this point, it is doubtful that he will be able to live through the summer and has decided to discontinue chemotherapy treatment because that is making him feel so awful all the time.
I will be blogging about our trip and look forward to the adventures ahead!

Plans and hopes

I have been meaning to write in this blog since December!

Well I suppose a lot has changed since December.  I lost a boyfriend and gained a few friends. I was informed of an obstacle to going overseas that I had not anticipated regarding my son.  It's an obstacle that will take time and money to overcome. I have a few more months of experience in teaching at the aboriginal school I have been teaching at since August.  I have taught things I knew nothing about at the end of the year and have IMMENSELY enjoyed learning the new things. I have learned to be a runner and ran the Vancouver Sun Run and more recently, the Run for Water (10k)

A lot of things have stayed the same too.  My father is still very ill and is now progressively been getting worse.  I still hate rain and the place I grew up, regardless of all the things I have done to overcome this dislike.  I still have wanderlust and am constantly looking OUT instead of enjoying what is here and now. 

Some decisions I have made since December: 1) Life is too short to stay in one spot for another year. So I may not be able to go overseas next year but I certainly do not have to stay here.  I have been applying at jobs in the Arctic part of Canada as well as several jobs in the far eastern parts, Labrador. 2) I have stayed here far too long. It is disturbing that I feel like continuing on the highway OUT of BC everyday I have to drive in to work. So I have decided to do something about that this summer.  3) Stuff weighs you down so I need to get rid of most of my stuff.

My children and I are going on a two month camping trip come July.  We are starting out in BC and meandering our way around Canada, wherever we feel like going, whenever we feel like going there.  My daughter is coming out from Ontario and driving with us. We have tents. Will travel. Can't wait.

I am selling most of our stuff and have already given notice at my apartment.  I will have boxes in storage of things like photo albums and books I cannot part with but everything else is going to be gone. We will be sans 'stuff' soon. It's terrifying.

I am hoping SO MUCH to be able to go elsewhere next September.  Hopefully I hear from a school board in the north soon or it may be too late.  The thought of staying here another year is suffocating.  I love my job here but the rain and other things about British Columbia has become toxic for me. I need to leave.

I will try very hard to keep this blog up more often. I would like to write about my cross country trip and have a few other things to say about teaching in an aboriginal school in BC.  Attendance issues and technology debates are coming up!

Oh, the Fates are mean!

I haven't been entirely sure how to write this post.  The past two weeks have been difficult.

First let me say that I make my future plans with the best of intentions. I fully plan on following through and am not nearly as wishy-washy as I must appear.  However, things change so fast in my life that I cannot keep up sometimes. Does this happen to everyone?

Last I wrote about going up North again and re-experiencing the Arctic tundra in an Inuit village. Since that day I have found out that my father, who lives close to me now, has been diagnosed with terminal cancer.  The doctor says that he likely has four to six months to live and if the treatment goes well, then maybe a year and super optimistically, two years.

The receiving of news like that is too personal to delve into.  Suffice it to say that I need to be near my family for the next year or two and my plans will be on hold.

Another day I will speak about teaching here in BC. This place is as interesting as the next and I have not given enough credit to it. 

So! New plan!  Golda is staying here in BC, hoping to recieve another teaching contract in the same school for next year.