Good Mail Day

There's nothing I love more than a good mail day. Today was the ideal mail day. I got 3 items, none of which were bills or junk.

1. I got the handbag I ordered from eBay. This was a little splurge as I'd been wanting the bag for so long. I sold so much of my stuff in such a short time, I decided to buy myself a present. I can't wait to start using it. I was surprised how quickly it arrived! From Florida to Iqaluit in 9 days (it arrived on the 30th). I think it's a record. And surprisingly enough, the USPS tracking information continued to update even while it was in transit in Canada. It's so nice when things actually work the way they're supposed to. Things like quick shipping, accurate information from southern companies...they're luxuries up here.

2. I received a postcard from a cohort on a web forum I frequent. It also came from the USA, though it did take quite a bit longer. It came from New York state, so it doesn't make sense why it took longer than a package mailed 2 weeks later.

3. The last item, also from the USA, was from my boyfriend's mom. She sent me a really nice card and it made my day. Something as inexpensive and easy to do as mailing a card to somebody really makes a big difference. I'm going to try and remember that so I can repeat the gesture.

In other news, I have almost everything packed. The only stuff left is the stuff I'm still using. When Anthony comes up next weekend, we're going to finish it off and then I'll finally be able to relax! I want nothing more than to soak in my last few days here, go for some nice walks, eat some nice meals, and go for a couple drives. Besides the stress of giving away my cats, the move thus far has been seamless and easy. Even giving away the cats happened quickly, it was much quicker and easier to find a home than I originally anticipated. I can't remember if I mentioned in my previous entry, but there was about double the interest in the cats than my Suzuki or TV...combined! That was a big surprise. Had I known it would be easy to find somebody, I would not have been so stressed out about it all year.

I'm also happy because I have and will be donating a lot of stuff to charity. 3 boxes of stuff plus 3 garbage bags of clothing. On the weekend, I filled an entire Rubbermaid tote (the largest size) with clothes. I walked away for a moment and then had a breakthrough thought. I asked myself how I would feel if I was without most of those clothes. I realized I didn't care about most of them, and so with that I filled an entire garbage bag (about half the tote) to go to charity. Now I am bringing half a tote and a suitcase of clothes. Pretty good for a 24 year old clothes-buying addict, I have to say. I'm pretty proud of myself for that. Before last year, I was constantly buying clothes and other stuff online. I rarely buy clothes online anymore (I can count twice in the past year) and I only make the odd online purchase here and there anymore. A pretty big improvement from the once and twice a week online buying habit I had before!

Anyway, enough about materialism. My latest obsession is planning to buy a car when I move to Sarnia. Originally I wanted to buy something brand new but after giving it a lot of thought, I've decided to go with a nicer used vehicle. I've been looking online, but it only serves to make me feel impatient that I can't buy something RIGHT NOW. I know, car buying cannot and should not be an instant gratification thing, but I'm a generation NOW person and delaying the pleasure of buying a car is excruciating. Okay, that was a little melodramatic, but I am excited about owning a car that isn't so much of a soccer mom-mobile. And about seeing my friends and family. And having Timmy's and McDonald's whenever I want, at any time of the day I want. And mail that only takes a few days to arrive. And stop lights and highways and long Wal-Mart aisles of candy. And considering it was 17C today and I was sweating my butt off...air conditioning!

Things I Never Thought I'd Ever Say

WEATHER
"It's only -20C? Heat wave!"
"It's too warm to wear my parka, I'm walking home in a sweater." (In February in Rankin, after eating maktak.)
"It's a dry cold. -30C isn't so bad."
"My fingers hurt, I got freezer burn again." (This is what I call the intense feeling of pain one feels when putting bare flesh on outdoor metal.)
"No, it's only June. There's still snow."
"I can't believe they're tobogganing...it's June."

CULTURE
"Is it just me or is this dog sled kinda slow?"
"Do you think they'll be serving maktak? I really want maktak. With some soya sauce, mmmm!"
"Will you take a photo of me in the igloo?"
"I can't pick anymore berries...my fingers are frozen stiff."

PRICES
"$4 for a 2L of Pepsi? Oh my god! SO CHEAP!"
"$6 for a beer? Wow, what a deal!"
"So $12 gets you a KFC Big Crunch and fries? Seems reasonable I guess."

TRAVEL
"Do you think you'll be home from Repulse Bay tonight?"
"I went to Igloolik, Chesterfield Inlet, and Repulse Bay in one day...for free!"
"I'm only bringing 4 Rubbermaid totes back with me plus my suitcase."
"What do you MEAN my suitcase is over 70lbs?"
"I got my return ticket for $1400...super cheap."

ODDITIES OF NORTHERN LIVING
"If you're going to Yellowknife, can you pick me up some rum?"
"Did the plane come in? I want my rum!"
"I wanted to buy milk but everywhere in town was sold out."
"No, polar bears do not wander around my neighbourhood."
"I know it's only November but if I don't mail these Christmas cards asap, they won't make it in time."
"Wow, my Internet is actually kind of tolerable. This 3 minute YouTube video only took 5 minutes to download."
"I'll drive the [Honda/SkiDoo]!"
"What time is it? Midnight? Oh, it's still bright out. I thought it was only 7ish."
"I can't keep my window open at night...I live next to White Row."

SHIPPING
"Wow, only one week for that package to arrive? From Ontario?!"
"Did somebody say FREE SHIPPING!?"
"I order my shampoo and conditioner online."

Cardiac Arrest, Northern Prices Style

Please swallow all foods and take a deep breath before casting your eyes on the photo below.







Clyde River, Nunavut. 12 cans of Coke. And no, there is nothing special about this case of pop. It's just a regular case of Coca Cola. For $60.

I used to think $21 for 12 cans in Rankin Inlet was expensive. I'll never say that again.

Photo credit goes to a brave coworker of mine.

Vehicle Lessons, Dog Sledding, & Long Overdue Price Photos

Well folks, last week was that time of year again. Yes that's right. A new chapter in the book of Vehicle Lessons Learned was added. After a particularly windy day, I was driving around Iqaluit's "New Plateau" area. I rounded a curve and boom. Stuck. Foot to gas pedal, no movement. My first thought was, "This can't be happening. This isn't real." I thought if I gave reality a few seconds to set in, I'd push the gas pedal again and we'd be on our way. No such luck. Attempts to dig or push the Suzuki out of bumper-high snow rendered useless. Yes, I was genuinely stuck. After a few phone calls placed to Wynberg's after-hours towing line and $200 later, the XL-7 was back on the mean streets of Iqaluit. I am never driving up to New Plateau area again...unless I have to.

The most embarrassing part of the ordeal was that I wasn't just on any drive, I was giving a "tour" of sorts to a visitor. I felt like a northern poser who had just been outed as a newbie southerner. A little bit of my dignity was left in that ditch, haha.

On Monday of my visitor's stay, we went dog sledding. I had never been and wasn't sure what to expect. The dogs weren't behaving too well unfortunately and so we had to stop often so the guide could motivate the dogs to run. I also learned that every single piece of outwear I own isn't good enough when all you're doing is sitting or standing. My fingers went numb in sealskin mittens and my toes were freezing in my -70C rated boots. Still, it was enjoyable.

Now for some photos. I've included some photos of grocery prices as it's been way too long since I've done that.


Walking to the dogs.


Me checking out the doggies.


The view while sitting.


Don't be fooled by the gear...I'm freezing under there.


The view while standing.


The dogs take a break while the humans eat some snacks and warm up.


Click the photo for a link to a larger size.




These photos are making me hungry.






I want chicken, I want liver, Meow Mix Meow Mix....holy freaking cow.




Money-saving tip: don't bring your pet to Nunavut.


More good advice: don't get addicted to energy drinks. That IS a 12-pack, folks.




Also, avoid making babies in the north if possible. Or let your baby roam free outside.




Probably the most ridiculous mark-up of them all.

My Parka: Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Other Coats

Once upon a time, I was a brand new Nunavummiuq who had never experienced a Nunavut winter (ohmigawd to think!). It's hard to imagine now such a time existed, but it's true. The year was 2006 and back when I was naive and the "newbie" part of my blog was still true, I purchased for myself Canada Goose's Mystique parka.

Here's a recent photo of me wearing my purchase.

(That's me in Igloolik!)

The parka cost in the range of $600 from Weaver & Devore in Yellowknife. I had no idea what I was in store for buying a parka I'd never seen, for the harshest winters in Canada I'd never experienced.

This winter marks my 4th winter in Nunavut. Whenever the topic comes up, Canada Goose parkas ALWAYS come highly recommended from me. I don't care how good other brands are, I don't want to wear anything out there that WASN'T designed for this weather.

But after 4 winters of wearing my parka from October/November to April, I will tell you that I can't stand it anymore. I rarely speak of negative things on my blog, but I have a secret: I hate my parka. It comes out of nothing except being sick of wearing it, and being too cheap to buy another one.

Let me discuss the ways I hate this parka.

The colour: It was the only option I had at the time and I can tell you, this is Canada Goose's ugliest colour besides plain white (I can't fathom why on earth anyone would buy a white parka where it is always snowy, but that's beside the point). My parka is basically the colour of vomit. Or of coffee with too much cream. Which brings me to my next point.

The stains: I admit, part of the reason I hate my parka is because of how disgusting it has become. After roughly 26 months of wearing it, it has acted as a bib, splash guard, and napkin countless times. Despite the fact the parka is the colour of coffee, it still manages to display a lovely collage of coffee stains. Splatter art? I think not. Being that I'm too cheap, lazy, and distrusting to have it dry cleaned, I've resigned myself to living with the numerous stains (which, trust me, do not end at just coffee). The good news is that if I'm ever stranded on the land, I could probably eat the outside of my parka and get enough nutritional intake to survive awhile.

The hood: To anyone thinking of buying this parka, I will tell you that the length is great, but the hood is terrible. There is some kind of velcro contraption on it that does NOTHING and there is no drawstring or anything to hold the hood on your head. When I lived in the Kivalliq, land of constant violent winds, the hood might as well have been gone with the wind (ha ha I'm so funny). In fact, the hood is pointless unless there is zero wind (a rarity, I assure you). With wind, you have to hold it on your head or wrap a scarf around the outside of the hood. I cannot understand why a company that puts such effective, well-thought out hoods on its other parkas failed to do anything even remotely useful for this parka.

The malfunctions: Okay, maybe I am getting picky now, but sometime toward the end of winter 2008/2009, the zipper started falling apart. For many months I was unable to unzip it completely and had to resort to stepping in the thing. I will admit the zipper has seen a LOT of use, but it still disappoints me that for the money paid for it, things are falling apart. Don't even get me started on the cuffs. The cuffs are a ripped up mess and won't last another winter, I know that for sure.

The look: Can I tell you how many times I've been told I look like I'm wearing a sleeping bag? Please? Oh wait, I can't, it's too many times to count. Actually, I get the comment so often that it makes me laugh. I had thought the same thing about it when I first got it.

Anyway, this entry isn't going to wrap up with some cute "but I love my parka anyway!!!" I wrap up this entry by telling you that I avoid the parka whenever necessary. And I also wrap it up by posting a geeky photo of me using my parka as a blanket, which it came in decidedly handy for a cold plane.



Dear parka,

We've been together a long time, but I think your days of hard work will be over soon.

Air Trip

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know. Where have I been? Between the gym, badminton, curling, work, and my "social life," I really, honestly have not had time to write. I'm rarely home for more than a few hours at a time. And you know what? That's a heckuva lot better than having nothing to do but pump out entries! So sorry to say, but if you've been missing my entries, I sure haven't.

As I type this, I have to be out the door in 30 minutes for curling so this will be a shorter version of the entry I wish I had time to write.

On November 1st, I went on what I called an "air trip" being that it couldn't be a "road trip." I had the opportunity to visit Igloolik, Repulse Bay, and Chesterfield Inlet in one day. It was amazing and I loved every second of it, even freezing my butt off on the Pilatus.

I don't have time to post the photos and provide witty and urbane commentary, so please just look at the album on Flickr. You'll save us both time.

Twenty minutes before I have to get my butt out the door again. Townie Bastard hasn't slaughtered me at curling yet, though I'm sure my time is near!!

Happy 3 Years

(I apologize for the tininess of the photo; it won't seem to upload larger.)

Congratulations to me! Today is my 3 year anniversary of moving to Nunavut. This time 3 years ago, I was probably sitting in the apartment in Rankin Inlet, staring out the window in shock.

I don't know if I ever wrote about this, but for probably the first 2 or 3 hours after landing in Rankin Inlet for the first time, I felt nothing but panic and dread. As much preparation as you do, as many pictures as you see, nothing really compares to the moment you look out your new apartment at a completely strange and different world. I felt like I had just landed on the moon. I'd never been so far away from my family and friends, and knowing it would be months before I'd see them again shook me to the core. I was, as you might say, freaked out. It was August 1st and I'd just come from a 45C humidex in London. It was 4C in Rankin Inlet that evening. I put on a toque and we went out for a walk. I stared at Hudson Bay in fascination. I breathed in the fresh air, looked around, and officially decided I liked the place. From then on, I've loved Nunavut and have never looked back.

This place has been good to me. I consider myself to be a very lucky person in that I have everything I want and more. I have Nunavut to thank for that. It's difficult to imagine what my life would have been like had I never moved north. I'm not sure I could even fathom a guess at what I'd be doing right now in Ontario if I never left. I've changed so much from the days of riding the Cherryhill bus in London everyday; from the days of freaking out about spending $90 at the grocery store; from weaving through crowds at Masonville mall.

Anyway. Thanks for 3 great years Nunavut, and I'm sure there will be at least 3 more great ones ahead.

Oh! And to everybody who mocked me when I said I was moving north, especially to the person who told me I'd never last and all the people who said I'd hate it: You were dead wrong, losers.

Northern Speakeasies AKA North Mart

One of my favourite parts about vacation preparations is buying tiny, trial/travel-sized products. Unfortunately, our North Mart has an embarrassing selection of trial-sized products. I believe right now they are offering one brand of shampoo, no conditioner, trial-sized Lady Speed Stick, a small bag of cotton balls, and super cheap Gillette Sensor razors- not a trial-sized product by any means. I had a Gillette Sensor as a young teenager, it was the first razor I owned. I'm not sure how that classifies it as a trial-sized product, but okay, North Mart, go for it.

In light of dental work I've had lately (the first in many years- oops) I wanted to bring mouthwash on holidays. If you've ever shopped in a Nunavut grocery store, you know that such a product is locked behind a cabinet. Any products here that contain alcohol are locked up. This includes mouthwash, hairspray, rubbing alcohol, nail polish remover, Purell, and vanilla. Although I am a mentally sane person in most ways, I always find asking to get into the cabinet uncomfortable. I'm clearly not a user of inedible alcohol products, but I always know that for one split second the employee is asking themselves, "Okay, is this girl just going to drink this hairspray later or should I let her take one?"

This evening I asked a North Mart employee, "Can I get in there?" referring to the locked cabinet, and I immediately thought, "Oh great, Jaime. That doesn't sound desperate!" It's funny: even though I intend to use the products legitimately, I always tell myself I have to seem convincing of it. Mouthwash was all I went to North Mart for but I told myself, "You can't check out with just mouthwash, you'll look insane!" Yes, I really do have these thought processes.

Maybe I analyze things too much, or maybe I'm just delirious since I'll be in Ontario 48 hours from now. Nobody needs to relax right now more than I do and I'm so thankful I can do starting around tomorrow at 4:30pm.

I believe I already said this but...so long suckers!

Extra extra, read all about it...
I forgot to include some photos!


Oh, is it really 11:30pm? Hmm, I don't feel sleepy.


2:30am. Nope, not falling asleep anytime soon.


3am and the sun is up. Oh goody.


My okpik collection. I love these things. I'm not really into Inuit art, save for okpiks and Kenojuak Ashevak prints (if I could afford one). So while my carving collection remains at a measly 2, my okpik collection continues to grow.

Vacation Pretend Scrapbook

Well, it's one week until I leave on holidays for a few weeks. What does this mean? It means I'm literally unable to form a thought that doesn't revolve around vacation. I feel myself becoming more useless in social situations. The only thing circulating through my head is, "Arby's, McDonalds, Wendy's, Starbucks, Timbits, malls, pavement, trees, American Eagle in person!, flights, layovers, family, home-cooked meals by Mom, beaches, cake, Sunripe, Lake Huron, Canatara Park..." and really, I could go on for a long time.

It's also the only time I allow myself to get frustrated and annoyed with the north. Right now I've nearly reached the end of my rope when it comes to potholes and slow drivers.

In general, I love the north and I'm glad it's different from the south. But right now, what I wouldn't give to go to McDonalds at 1am and then take a stroll through a 24-hour Shopper's Drug Mart. I'm not like this any other time except for when I know it's coming very soon. And really, isn't that the best way to be? I rarely think about the south between holidays, it's only the week before that I become antsy to leave.

I'm surprisingly less stressed out this time around. Last August as I was preparing to leave, it felt like there was so much to do. Now I think I'll be able to get away with some light cleaning and packing my clothes.

And because I'm literally unable to think of anything except vacation, here is a pretend scrapbook of photos I may possibly take during the next few weeks:


But of course. First meal for sure.


My journey then brings me to Edmonton.


And the famous mall.


Oh yes, god love the mall.


Mom and Dad, I'm totally kidding. (Only I'm not, but I hope they believe in reverse psychology.)


Canoeing in this park anyone?


Then two weeks of beautiful Lake Huron.


And many a peaceful drive.

I likely won't be updating until I get back, so the fake pictures will have to do for now. See ya, suckers!

Labels and Coincidences

1. I added a list of all my entry labels on the sidebar. Now if you're here looking for information, this will make the search through entries easier.

2. I am going through all my entries without tags and adding tags. It struck me just how many names of commentors are names I recognize now from work, town, friends, etc. It's such a small world here, but it's great knowing people are walking around here and my blog helped them or inspired them or whatever it does.

3. It was a whopping 7 Celsius today. Outside, I thought, "I never thought 7C could feel like summer but here we are." I wish I had an explanation for why it feels so much warmer than it actually is. I don't know why a sunny 7C is t-shirt weather here and warm jacket weather in Ontario. It's more than a state of mind.

4. If you live in Iqaluit and you're one of those people who drives 20-30km the whole way down Niaqunngusiaq Road, just know that I'm out there and I'm getting very annoyed.

Wanted: My Twin

So it seems I have a twin in this town. Finally. In London, people were always asking me if I was related to so-and-so, because I looked just like them. Then in Rankin, the same thing happened. "Are you sure you didn't live here like, ten years ago? I could have sworn you did."

It was a relief to move here when apparently I was the first person to look like me. But then on Thursday at North Mart, someone confused me for someone else. I found it funny, until yesterday when I was mistaken for "Molly." This was funny for another reason: I was hauling a large a box of liquor to my car. Molly must be throwing a party soon, too, or she's about thisclose to joining a 12-step program.

In reality, I'm not at all surprised when people confuse me. I am pretty generic looking. Aside from my tattoo and death-defying clumsiness, not much tells me apart from other 20-something girls. But I want to meet this Molly and see if she really does look like me.

In other news, we had a blizzard yesterday. While this is my third "spring" in Nunavut, it still took me a bit by surprise. I think this is the latest I've ever experienced a blizzard. I know there was one in May or June in Rankin in 2007, but I was on holidays and missed it (I got a sunburn that day, actually). Despite my shaking apartment, rattling windows, vibrating tinfoil (on the window above my bed), and a verifiable draft coming from the window, I still managed to fall asleep around 7pm last night. I awoke at 9am, feeling refreshed and ready to commence Saturday cleaning. And people wonder why I don't want kids! I'll take 14 hours of undisturbed sleep over changing diapers any day.

Anyway, it's that time of year again. The time when the grocery stores run out of kitty litter and cat food. I have about 4 days left of food and am kind of nervous about it. I had to make a food order last year from Marche Central just for some litter. Looks like I'll be making one again on Monday. I've been putting off making a sealift order for cat food and litter, but I guess I should.

Well, I hope all the southerners reading this are enjoying their warm long weekend. I'll be in my house with the heat turned up, hoping the snow melts any day now.

A Rant

Of all the things people here find reasons to complain about, I have only one real pet peeve about the north: complainers.

I grew up in a city of 70 000 people in Ontario. Many Sarnians (at least from my generation), believe this to be so small and redneck and that there's nothing to do. I always thought Sarnia was a great size. Not too big, not too small. But no matter where you go, people find reasons to complain. I'm still not sure what Sarnia was missing. The CN tower? A giant stadium? Wonderland?

Likewise, I'm not sure what some people expect when they move here. Wonderland? Malls? Twenty-four hour coffee shops? What can you possibly want? In my opinion, the only legitimate complaint here is that we are all far from family. Everything else can be overcome if you want to overcome it.

I think everybody I've met in the north can be categorized into 3 categories:
1. The people who go out, have friends, and enjoy living here.
2. The people who don't go out, don't have friends, and hate it here.
3. The people in between who are just biding their time, waiting for the next phase in their life.

I strive to fit into the first category and I believe I do. My pet peeve is the people in the second category. They're the people who, when I told them I was moving to Nunavut, made a face at me and scoffed, "WHY? Why would you want to move there?!" It's tragic that these people are actually let into Nunavut borders because they're like parasites, feeding off any whine and complaint they can muster up to bother people with.

There is only one rule you must abide by when you move here and want to like it: you must try. If you don't try, you will never like it here. You must attempt to make friends, you must attempt to leave the confines of your home and workplace, you must attempt to engage in cultural activities. If you don't, what's the point of even coming here?

To anyone who hates it here...we won't miss you. Don't let the tundra hit 'ya where the good lord split 'ya. Go home, back to where things make sense to you, and stop bugging everyone who likes it here.

And quite honestly, this post was inspired by people I know. I don't know if they're reading this, but I hope they are.

Thus ends the only angry rant you will ever read on this blog. Phew!

PS: I'm not implying that the north is perfect or that there are no problems here. We know that there are. My issue is with the people who can't see past their own whiny, high-maintenance personalities to find something to smile about here.

Dear Qiniq,

I apologize for all the lousy things I've called your company recently (never to your face, though, I'm not one of those people). You see, your modem had annoyingly been resetting itself over and over again, approximately once every 15 seconds. The internet was barely useable and was extremely slow when I was able to get sites to load (without photos of course). I blamed your company and chalked it up to the usual slow-downs we experience sometimes as your customers. I understand you are way over-subscribed and cannot help it. When this problem went on for two or three weeks, I still blamed your company and hoped it would get better. I even thought of blaming my wireless router, thinking maybe its signal was getting in the way of yours. Your modem didn't seem to think so, though. It just kept on blinking.

Luckily (and I'll explain that later), when I came home from work today, my modem was being okay but pages were not loading. I unplugged your modem and let it set for about 5 minutes. When I came back and plugged it in, I realized your modem had slipped away permanently to Modem Heaven and would no longer be able to connect me to Facebook. Within 5 minutes of this, I was in your office with my modem, and you agreed it was broken. You gave me a new modem and now I can finally use the Internet in a somewhat-normal way. I'm now SLIGHTLY getting my $120/month's worth, as opposed to NOT AT ALL when it wasn't working. I say I'm lucky the modem died because I probably would have continued blaming your company for several more weeks until I realized something was actually wrong.

RIP Old Modem, you lived a hard life.

Regards,

One of your surplus customers


Sometimes, I really can't believe I pay $120/month for the Internet, and not even a fast connection at that. The thing is, I've used the lower tier of Qiniq ($60/month) and it was so bad I couldn't handle it. I'm an Internet junkie, I use my own connection probably 4-6 hours a night and if my Internet is slow, I'm gonna be grouchy.

Anyway. I've been keeping up with my resolutions so far. I've been going to bed early, taking my vitamin pills, and today I brought some treats to work (at 8am, not 8:30am). I haven't rejoined Atii Fitness Centre yet, I'm not sure if I will this month. I'm trying to eat healthier and I worked out today. So all that's left are the long-term plans.

Oh, and I am working on a BIG grocery prices post for the past several months. I've been collecting all my receipts and plan to scan them and write a post. Sadly, Iqaluit's prices are no match to Rankin Inlet's inflation, but I hope it'll still amuse some.

Christmas in the North

Here I am again, spending yet another bitterly cold winter in one of the coldest places on the planet.

On December 1st, 2006, I was walking home from school for lunch and all of a sudden I thought to myself, "What the hell kind of crazy am I? It's December 1st, unofficially winter, and I live in the f&%@ing ARCTIC." Of course, as we all come to know, it's nowhere as bad as the hype.

Two winters later and I've become blase about it. I think I'm starting to understand the kids I see out in the dead of winter with a thin coat and no toque. I've come to the point now where fashion feels more important, but it could just be this whole big city thing (haha). People in Iqaluit definitely dress up more than Rankin Inlet in the regard that fashion and style seem more important to people here. Janice and I went out to dinner the other night and she said she noticed that she was the only person she saw properly dressed for the cold.

This year I have a vehicle so if I'm just driving somewhere quickly, it's a pain to haul on the giant parka. I'd sooner wear a lighter coat and risk freezing for 10 seconds.

So along with this being my third winter, it's also my third Christmas spent in Nunavut. I'm not a big fan of Christmas so I've never gone back to Ontario for it. I like that it's a quiet ordeal here and I don't have to worry about finding myself in a crowded mall. I also like that so many people leave for Christmas so it's even quieter.

I'm expecting this Christmas to be a good one. I'm not a fan of talking about my personal life here, but I will admit that I have a boyfriend and he's coming to Iqaluit (from Cape Dorset) to spend it with me. He was going to be the first person to ever come to Iqaluit strictly for the purpose of visiting me, but in an act of total awesomeness, my best friend from Ontario decided to visit this month, too. She'll be here next week and I'm thrilled. I'm so excited to show someone how I live my life here.

Anyone who lives here knows it can be hard to convince southern loved ones to come visit. It's very expensive and -30C doesn't sound too appealing to southerners. I know people whose relatives come visit every few months and I hope they don't take it for granted. It took over 2 years for someone to come see me so it's a big deal to me!

Anyway, while Tori is here, we are going to go dogsledding. This is also on the agenda:
-A trip to North Mart. I can't wait to see her reaction to prices. I wish someone could have seen them in Rankin since it's so much cheaper here!
-Hike around Apex, weather permitting.
-Drinking in a bar, Nunavut style (The Storehouse)
-Walk down The Road to Nowhere, of course. Can't come to Iqaluit and not go Nowhere!
-Visit the museum and visitors centre

And whatever else I think of.

Anyway, I'll leave you with some photos of the recent huge craft sale and the purchases I made there.


The line up just to get in! I went early and was at the front of the line, so I was able to wait in the vestibule (of the Arctic Winter Games arena). There are lots of people you can't even see in this picture, like how many other people were in the vestibule. We were packed in like sardines. The people I was with brought a thermos of hot chocolate, mugs, and cake. Geniuses indeed!


This was about 20 minutes after it started and there was still a line outside!


Okpik and plaster Alaskan family. I couldn't resist; I've never seen anything like them before (the dolls).


Oh the things they can do with bone!


Vintage Cape Dorset calendars.

Okay, the other things I bought are Christmas presents so I'm not posting photos of them!

I didn't buy this at the craft sale:

The first and only carving I've ever bought and I'm quite fond of it.

Where Do You Live?

There comes a time in the lives of every Yukoner, NWT'er, and Nunavummiut when it is required that we tell someone from the south where we live. This usually happens when purchasing something on the phone, booking travel, or when travelling down south. If you're lucky, the person asking you the question knows where you're talking about. What happens when you're not so lucky is a whole other story.

I have been asked by a person in Vancouver if Baffin Island is "the campground near here." I've had my Nunavut driver's license mistaken for a Yukon license even after being closely studied by an LCBO employee.

Another common occurrence is receiving mail with the most botched up spellings of Iqaluit, Nunavut, and my postal code (X0A 0H0). When spelling my address several times, it's pretty much a guarantee that the parcel that comes will have mistakes in it. The address that Urban Outfitters has on file for me is so wrong but somehow the packages always make it.

Another popular one is when ordering something down south, the staff rep asks for a "physical address." Many of us don't have mail service to our house, we only have P.O. Boxes. It's this way in all of Nunavut and I'm guessing most of NWT and possibly Yukon. The northerner will say either, "I don't have one," or "I have one but it's no use to you. Your package is going to the post office anyway, my friend." The rep will then try to argue this. "You HAVE to have a physical address! How does [UPS, pizza, etc] get to your door?" or "No, it's not going to the post office. It comes directly to your house." Oh I beg to differ!

So on that note, I beg of you, fellow northerners, what are some stupid questions or responses you've gotten related to where you live?

There is a discussion about this right now on Kara's blog but feel free to share your answers here!

BINGO

It's BINGO night in Rankin Inlet. Hah, we're about to take part in our first BINGO "party," which sounds really, really unusual, as neither of us have grey hair or false teeth. We're going to our neighbours' (down the hall) to play BINGO in a collective manner with a group of people. The radio station calls out the numbers, and if you have BINGO, you call in. I'm a little confused, but we've been promised that there will be people at the BINGO party to explain it to us. I have this strange sense that I'm going to be tonight's $20,000 jackpot winner.

Well, Jeff's out of ideas for writing so Jaime's taking over.

Anyway, Christmas was nice and quiet here. We ended up having two turkey dinners and were stuffed by the end of the night.

Santa was good to both of us. Santa got Jeff "Law & Order" season 1, a Tragically Hip CD, and the DVD of "The Constant Gardener." Santa got me some arctic-centric documentaries and a nice backpack from MEC. I was in dire need of a backpack as I was lugging around thick binders and other materials half-way across town twice a week (for Brownies and Guides). I'm excited to try it out...no more backaches and various awkward totes falling off my shoulders.

Tomorrow night we're attending another party which should be fun. Last New Year's Eve, if you had told us we'd be spending the next December 31st at a house party in Nunavut, we would have laughed ourselves silly at such an unlikely prediction. But here we are and it's strangely amusing.

(posted by Jeff and Jaime collectively)

Alone in Nunavut

Well it looks like Clare and us newbies are the only ones left in Nunavut this holiday (oops, forgot Northern Sights are still in Nunavik). Actually, I should correct myself. I just noticed a new blog, M&M Cape Dorset Newbies who just arrived here, so I don't think they are flying back after 8 or 9 days in the north.

We are in the midst of blizzard #2 right now. Good thing we didn't want to fly home because we wouldn't have been able to in this weather.

Jeff and I took a walk in the blizzard last night. We jumped in a snowbank and fought the wind and it was pretty fun. Everything was snow-encrusted by the time we came back. My new aviator hat does not work very well which is too bad.

Today's big plans are to go to Ivalu gift store. Jeff's never been to it because it's only open from 10-5 M-F but it's open today for the Christmas rush. We'll also hopefully be having some people over later.

On Christmas, we are going to a friend of mine's for lunch, and a co-worker of Jeff's for dinner. It's going to be nice to just let people feed us all day. I am looking forward to it.

Well, we probably won't have anything to say for the next little bit, so happy holidays everyone!

(posted by Jaime)

Whale Cove

I made my first trip to Whale Cove on Tuesday. Despite my return flight being held back a day by poor weather*, it was a tremendously pleasant town to visit.

It's intimidating travelling into a community for the first time... numerous bad thoughts flip through your head like walking 20km from the airport to your hotel if your ride doesn't show (almost happened to me in Coral Harbour due to miscommunication), but Whale Cove was very friendly. Having only 300 people in town, everyone knows everyone else, and goes out of their way to welcome strangers.

Chatting with an old friend tonight on the 'net made me realize how difficult it is to describe living here in Nunavut. Where do you start when someone asks, "so tell me, what is it like there?" It's not like living on Mars, but it isn't quite Southwestern Ontario, either. There is so many similarities and so many differences. I was totally stumped, and still, after some thought, cannot explain how it feels to live here day-to-day. To summarize

Things I like:

No traffic, minimal driving.
No shopping, few stores.
We're five minutes from nowhere.
I get to travel around and see neat places at work.
Our apartment is quiet.
The people: much friendlier than in Ontario.
The cat seems to like it here. I swear she just smiled.
Minus 50 is nifty.

Things I don't like so much:

The cable goes out occasionally, but we're too cheap to get satellite.
I (we) spend too much time playing on the computer and watching TV.
There aren't (as m)any good restaurants to eat at. No jalapeno soup or jambalaya - anywhere!!!
I don't feel as productive at work as I did working in 'the South.'
I don't get to see my family.

Things I'd really like right now, but can't have:

A 26 oz. medium-rare striploin steak from The Keg, complete with garlic mashed potatoes and three pounds of butter.
A spicy chicken sandwich from Wendy's.
A pint of Kilkenny's. Or 30.
A visit with my family.
A top-speed run in my old Toyota Camry.

*I say 'by poor weather,' but I have a suspicion that it was due to the fact that I was the only person leaving town that day: the weather the day of my departure was substantially worse.

(posted by Jeff)

It's A Small World After All

When living in Nunavut, sometimes it feels like you're living on a totally different planet than everyone else. It's nice when life reminds you the world is pretty small.

I started a new class today: HR Management. I had been told that the instructor used to teach in London (Ontario) but I forgot about it until I was walking out the door wearing a Fanshawe College t-shirt (Fanshawe being a college in London). When I walked into class, I was immediately greeted with, "Fanshawe!" from my instructor.

As it turns out, he used to live two blocks away from Jeff and me in London. Not only that, but he worked at Fanshawe, which was literally across the street from where I worked. We probably walked past him in mall and the grocery store...but we had to move 2300 kilometres away to actually meet someone who in essence, was a neighbour in London. He now lives on the floor below us. For someone who loves coincidences, this blows my mind.

However, we weren't neighbours for long as he moved to Cape Dorset to work for the same GN department Jeff works for.

In other news, it has gotten pretty cold around here lately. Weirdly enough, as soon as November started, the temperature dropped 15 degrees. Today the high was around -19C. Coming from the extreme south of Canada, today topped one of the coldest days of my life. I told a few people this today and they stared at me for a second before breaking out into laughter.

I guess I'll hop on the bandwagon and report on Halloween in Rankin. Since it was pretty warm (-5C? I can't remember), we didn't get as many kids as I expected. Apparently when it's colder our building will get more kids because it's warm in here. I made the front entrance of our apartment (mine and Jeff's, that is) look like a pathetic haunted house. Xeroxed drawings of jack-o-lanterns and cut up garbage bag was the best I could do in the 20 minutes I had between getting home and the start of the kids. I don't know what it's like in other communities, but there was a specific time for trick-or-treating here. It was from 6-8 and the kids were good about staying within that time frame.

Also, the contest I won ($500 to spend on half.com) is turning into a big pain in the butt. To be able to order anything off half.com, we need an American credit card number to authorize it and an American address to ship it to. So the whole point of the contest getting us free stuff has been lost because we have to find and pay someone to let use their credit card number and ship the stuff up to us. Sigh...there goes the fun.

All in all, things are going great. We're still enjoying every second of it up here. Our plan right now is that in May I'll be out of school and we'll take a vacation to Ontario and hopefully somewhere a little more exciting than home for a bit (no offence family!). Jeff thinks I'm insane for this, but I really want to stay up here for a few years before ever vacationing south again. I want the full weirded-out effect when we go on vacation. I have dreams all the time where we go back to Ontario and the tall buildings scare me, haha. I think it'd be a neat thing to say that going "back home" gives you culture shock.

Oh yeah, the sunset at 4pm thing. Apparently the sun sets sooner than that, but that's around the time it starts getting dark quickly. It's a bit weird but I like it, and I think Jeff likes it too. In London, we would look at the clock and say, "Oh darn, it's 11pm already. How did that happen?" but here, we look at the clock and say, "Holy crap, it's only 7pm! I thought it was 10!" I feel like we have a lot of free time here which is complete reversal of London. I like it!

(posted by Jaime)

Dishes

Well, it's official. We're not the only Rankin bloggers anymore!

Check out Rankin Adventures, another lovely perspective on Rankin.

In other news, this weekend has gone by fast. I spent most of yesterday either at, or preparing for the flea market. The college's student council had a table and we sold quite a bit of stuff. I was surprised at how busy it got right after the flea market opened. There was a giant hoard of people all rushing around, trying to find good deals. It made me realize how many people there are here whom I've never seen before.

Hmm, well...not much else is new with us. We just came back from going out for lunch. I've noticed that I've become much less picky about food. Especially food that we didn't have to prepare, heh. Anything that uses dishes that I don't have to clean is yummy by me!

Jeff and I have decided that we don't like this dishes business. We made a deal that we would alternate who washes dishes but the deal isn't good for me since I'm much lazier than Jeff. Instead of doing dishes everyday like we agreed, we end up doing them once or twice a week because I leave them and they end up piling up. Right now I have almost our entire collection of plates, bowls, cups, and pots to clean (I did all of our cutlery last night before giving up). Jeff likes to prove to me that he's the smarter of us because he never lets the dishes pile up. That's okay, though. Because next time we're in the south, I'm buying a counter-top dishwasher...on his credit card. ;)

(posted by Jaime)