Big City Life

I have been in Iqaluit for just over a month now and am finally starting to feel settled in my new home and school. Iqaluit is the capital of the territory. The population is around 8,000 people and it is the fastest growing capital city in Canada. There were so many things I loved about living in the remote communities but I must say that there are other things I am really enjoying here. For instance, it's nice to have such a variety of food available at 2 good stores. Being able to buy a national newspaper on the same day it's published. Arriving at Iqaluit knowing that there wasn't another 5 or 6 hours of travel left to go. Daylight!! The school was a shock to me at first. So many kids! There are over 300 students in our school (there were less than 60 in Resolute). There are a number of schools in the community and ours is Aqsarniit, the middle school (grades 6, 7, 8). So far, my job promises to be interesting and engaging, the staff at the school have been friendly and welcoming and the administration is supportive. Last week I attended a 5 day course to become certified as a facilitator to deliver a program called "Aboriginal Shield" which is meant to help prevent risky behavours in youth. Plugging away at my Master's degree and just generally busy. It has been unusually cold here in Iqaluit. We closed school one day when the temperature reached minus 54. Later that night it went down to minus 60. That is the coldest I have experenced in 2.5 years in the arctic. Just before I got here there had been rain and there was no ice on Frobisher Bay for the first time in living memory. Everybody here is talking about how odd the weather is becoming.
My new home is a one bedroom apartment right downtown. I have big corner windows through which I can see all the activity downtown and the planes coming and going from the aiport. They fly shockingly close to my window. The cats love the windows. There is a small roof that juts out from the window and the ravens land there and tease the cats and the dog. Lots of noise and excitement. The ravens in the arctic are enormous and I'm certain they're looking for a way to get in and steal a cat for dinner.
It's been too cold for getting out to take pictures - I worry about my camera when it's this cold. Here is one of the amazing views from the huge windows at the school. The school is very high up on a hill and has views all around.
The week after next is Professional Improvement week. Teachers can create their own projects and are provided with a week of time and some funding. This year I am going to begin learning about editing digital audio through some wonderful mentoring at the CBC radio station and by working on my own with Adobe Soundbooth. This will help with a course I've been taking through the Poynter Institute called Telling Stories with Sound.
Right now I'm going to pop out to the store and buy some Valentines to give to kids tomorrow. Imagine! "Up North" I would have had to ask someone down south to mail them up to me.