The Problem of Stuff

Well, tomorrow is the big day.

I've come to the conclusion that I'm insane because I paid to fly 4 overweight Rubbermaid totes from Ontario to Rankin Inlet, and I'm going to pay for them to make it to Iqaluit tomorrow with me.

The 37 hours it took to go from Sarnia to Rankin Inlet were quite stressful. I made it to the Sarnia airport an hour before my flight, but apparently the Air Canada employee wasn't in yet. That airport doesn't have an x-ray machine for baggage, so they have to open up all of your items and dig through them. Because I had so much stuff, a long line formed and everybody was staring at my open Rubbermaid totes. Apparently packing popcorn is funny. I heard more than a couple laughs about all the popcorn packages interspersed in my totes that day.

In Winnipeg I was all prepared to haul off my 5 pieces of luggage...but only 4 showed up. And a bottle of hair styler sprayed inside the only tote that had electronics in it. The baggage counter people told me to keep coming back to see if my lost tote arrived on a later Toronto flight and thankfully it did arrive later in the afternoon.

The next day, the Calm Air people kindly informed me that any item over 50lbs cannot be guaranteed to be loaded on the plane. I knew I was allowed one priority piece, but it turned out my suitcase couldn't be made priority since it too was over 50lbs. I looked down at my clothes in dread that I might end up wearing the same get-up for the next while. The Calm Air employee also told me the flight was full and she insinuated that there was no chance in hell I'd be seeing my stuff for awhile.

By some stroke of luck in my favour, all of my things made it to Rankin. I didn't even mind hauling my totes out to my friend's truck; I was just so happy to see them.

On the Move: March 31

For most, moving from one northern community to another isn't nearly as difficult as moving from the south to the north. However, it is not the case for me. I will be moving on my own and as I have never lived on my own before, I have the added task of buying myself everything a person needs to live on their own.

Almost of all my things are on their way (or have arrived) at my new home, but most of my things are extraneous items. On this vacation I have had to buy myself all sorts of things like dishes, cutlery, towels, pillows and anything else I think of while browsing Wal-Mart's aisles for the millionth time.

Don't get me wrong, this task has its own way of being exciting, but I feel it's a never-ending mind game. When will I ever have enough? Do I really need all those tealights? What items should I splurge on?

So, back to the big picture. I am moving across Hudson Bay and right into our quaint capital, Iqaluit. Doors of opportunity opened for me that I couldn't possibly refuse. As I said, I will be going alone and staying alone. I will not answer any questions about that; you can come up with your own conclusion. I do not need apologies or anything of the like.

This is going to be a big year for me and I plan to write all about it.

(posted by Jaime in Ontario)

Nunavut FAQs

If you have any questions that you would like to see answered, please leave a comment or email the address on our sidebar (at the bottom). I have tried to make these as objective as possible. Remember, I have only lived in Rankin (which is the second largest community in Nunavut), so I can only really vouch for here.

Q: What is the average temperature in the summer/winter/fall/spring?

A: Check out Weather Underground, which has records of just about everything to do with weather. The link will lead to the Rankin Inlet page, but you can just enter the community you are interested in.


Q: Is it really dark/light all the time in the winter/summer?

A: Yes, depending on how far north you live. Again, check out Weather Underground.


Q: What kind of stores are in Nunavut? Are there really no malls?

A: Yes, there are really no malls. Most communities will have a Co-op and Northern store. Both are more than just a grocery store with inventory as varied as bananas, bed sheets, and ATVs. I can't vouch for communities smaller than Rankin, but in Rankin we have a few gift stores, an art gallery, two convenience stores (one with a hardware store inside), and probably a few more businesses I'm not aware of. Iqaluit, being the capital has more "southern" style stores.


Q: If I don't want to cook, what are my options?

A: The larger communities have a KFC/Pizza Hut Express (collectively called the Quickstop) inside the Northern. Rankin Inlet has a few restaurants, and Iqaluit of course has more. There are no Tim Hortons, McDonalds, Wendy's, Taco Bells, Harvey's, etc.

If you live in a smaller community with no restaurants, it would be advisable to make friends with someone who is willing to cook for you, whether for free or for money.


Q: How long does it take to drive to Nunavut from Toronto? (based on popular Google hits)

A: You cannot drive to Nunavut as there are no roads into any or between any of the communities. A road from Rankin Inlet to Churchill is planned but it could be years before it is built.


Q: How long does it take to fly to Nunavut from Toronto (based on popular Google hits)

A: It can be done in a day most (if not all) days of the week. Getting into a smaller community can take a few more.


Q: Do people from the south bring their pets north?

A: You can absolutely bring your pet and I would definitely recommend it, provided your animal is still young and reasonably healthy. The travelling and/or change can be too hard for older or sicker animals. Veterinarians visit communities once or twice a year, but it is possible to fly your pet by itself to the south for vet care, however it is costly, especially if your pet requires frequent vet care.

That said, bringing your pet will help to make you feel more at home and break up some of the boredom that can set in during the winter, but make sure to ask yourself if you think your pet can handle being without immediate vet care.

If you would like to know about my own experience with bringing out cat, you can either read through earlier entries or ask me in an email or comment and I will gladly give you more details.


Q: What kind of winter clothing do you need to wear just to check your mail in the winter?

A: For myself, the post office is only across the street so I would typically put on my parka, my boots, and a toque. For a longer walk (e.g. 5 minutes or more), I would also wear wind pants and mittens.


Q: Which parka is the best?

A: Canada Goose are a favourite for a few reasons: they are downfilled, long, have fitted cuffs, deep hoods, many pockets, and last a number of years. Anything similar to that should work out fine. Do not sacrifice function for fashion.


Q: Where can I buy Inuit made anything (carvings, wall hangings, jewelry, mittens, parkas, kamiks, etc)

A: I don't know. It's really the sort of thing that you either need to come to a community and find out (i.e. who makes what), or have a contact in Nunavut to buy something for you to ship back.


Q: What is there do? Aren't you bored?

A: There is tons to do, you just have to look for it. It's really no different than any other small town in that respect. Those who look for things find them. In Rankin there is baseball (in the summer), volleyball, curling (sometimes), hockey, swimming (in the summer), a few different fitness groups, instructional classes. But enjoying the land and the people is by far the most fun.


Q: What kind of vehicles do people drive there? Are there roads?

A: There are roads within town obviously. In Rankin, many people drive trucks, SUVs, and vans. Cars are less common. Many people also own ATVs for the summer, and some own snowmobiles for the winter. The percentages of who owns what would likely depend on the size of the community, the length of winter, and the cost of flying any type of vehicle into town.


Q: Does wildlife ever wander into the community?

A: Again, I can't vouch for other communities, but in Rankin, caribou do not wander into town and polar bears that get even within 20 kilometres to town are shot. Siksiks (ground squirrels) do live within communities and sometimes hares can be spotted.


Q: So Government of Nunavut employees get subsidized housing whereas federal government employees in Nunavut get staff housing. Do I have that right?

Are there any other differences between the perks in the two levels of government there?

A: No, we both get subsidized housing. True, I did live in a staff house for awhile, but that's a long story and not the norm. Indeterminate federal government employees receive subsidized housing in which rent comes off their paycheque. It works the same for the Government of Nunavut. As for other perks, I believe federal government employees receive more cash benefits on our paycheques. We receive 3 or 4 cash benefits, I think. An environment allowance, a living cost differential, fuel & utilities, and possibly another one I can't remember (but I think I covered them all). The Government of Nunavut just gives one northern allowance, an amount similar to our environment allowance. The amount of our allowances, like the territorial government's, are also based on which community you live in. We in Iqaluit receive the smallest amount, whereas an employee in Grise Fiord would receive more. I'm not 100% sure if every federal department has it, but the agency I work for gives twice-yearly cheques that pay for your flight to the nearest large city (Ottawa for Iqaluit, Winnipeg for Rankin, not sure of the others). Your spouse and dependants also receive this money. We also receive quite a bit of vacation time, but I honestly don't know too much about how it works because it's different for the different groups of employees who work for my federal agency.


Do you find the long dark days depress you? If so, how do you combat the depression?

A: The abnormal levels of sunlight have never consciously bothered me, but I do find I'm much sleepier in the winter. This year I've been taking vitamin D. I noticed a big difference in my moods after being on it for only a day. I didn't realize how much the lack of sunlight affected me, but as soon as I started taking it, I became much less irritable and I didn't feel as tired all the time. When external factors like sunlight affect you, it's easy to dismiss them because you don't realize it's happening, it's not a conscious thing.

To combat the winter blahs, I make sure I get plenty of sleep (read: I give in to the fatigue), I take vitamin D as I mentioned, and I make sure I get out of the house once or twice a week to socialize. Having a social life makes a big difference!


Q: Was it really hard to leave behind your family and friends in London? How often do you get to go back to visit?

A: My friends and family don't live in London, I'm from Sarnia. I only lived in London for a year before I moved to Rankin Inlet. I don't ever go back to London because I truly hated it there, but I go back to Sarnia everytime I'm down south (approximately every 8 months). Very few of my friends still live in Sarnia, and I'm not very close with my family, so leaving them wasn't difficult for me. In fact, I prefer to live far away because it allows me to have my freedom and to stay away from family drama. Not everybody up here is like me, though. I've known people who were incredibly homesick, and it seems they don't last very long here and if they do, they hate it anyway. For me, southwestern Ontario doesn't feel like my home anymore and I would never move back there so I do not get homesick. However, sometimes I miss my favourite parts of growing up there: the big park near my old house, summer bike rides, swimming in Lake Huron, and going on drives to Bright's Grove. I make sure I do these things when I'm in Sarnia, so I only start to miss them when it's time to go on vacation again.


Q: Do you have any idea how many applications on average the government receives per job posting?

A: I have no idea. It would depend on the job, I suppose. Jobs not requiring education or experience would get more applicants, whereas specialized industries would probably have less competition. That's true of anywhere, though.


Q: Is is possible to live close enough to work in Iqaluit that one can get by on foot alone?

A: Yes, of course. The only place you wouldn't want to walk from would be Apex (which is a subdivision good kilometre of out town), or the furthest reaches of Lego Land (getting near Apex). And you probably wouldn't want to walk to the opposite end of Iqaluit (where there are several businesses). All the new houses and apartment buildings are being built are a bit further from things, but you could still walk to work from them. Where I live now is about a 15-20 minute walk downhill to my office, and about 30 minutes back up hill. I didn't own a car until this year, so I'm probably more open to longer walks than people who have never walked anywhere in their lives.


Q: For someone who dislikes Ontario winters like myself, is it ridiculous to think I could have a fun adventure in Iqaluit for a year? Is not being a winter person pretty much a deal breaker for having a good year or two there?

A: In all honesty, I hated winters in Ontario. Hated! But here, I don't mind it so much. I dress better for it, and the cold here is dry, so it doesn't suck the warmth from your bones the way Ontario cold does. Also, because it lasts for about 8 months, you just get used to it. And when the temperature warms up to even something like -10, it feels so warm to you that you feel like dancing in the streets in shorts and a t-shirt. I've done a 180 about weather; I won't go back to Ontario between June and August anymore, because I've found I just can't handle the heat and humidity. I'm grouchy and dizzy and I never stop sweating. I was miserable even in September last year in Ontario. It was just so humid that I didn't want to go outside. As far as adventure goes, it's impossible to not have an adventure here. You get to experience things you never thought you would, and you can partake in cultural activities that will enrich your soul. I sound like a tourism pamphlet, but it's true. The only stipulation for having a good time here is that you honestly have to try. You can't move here, never go outside, never participate in anything, never make friends, and expect to love it here. A good time won't land on your doorstep.


Do you find it's rather easy to save up money there? Because I am thinking I would be able to since they pay for your move, you get subsidized housing, and there are no malls there so I probably wouldn't do much shopping...

A: Oh, Anonymous. I laughed, but only because you sound like me before I moved north. Even though they pay for your move, you still end up spending money on buying new things you'll want to bring with you. Subsidized housing still isn't cheap, and online shopping is so much more addictive than shopping in a mall. Oh, and don't forget that everything you can buy here is way more expensive. For me, an admitted recovering shopaholic, I've saved nothing. I spent all my savings on a vehicle, housewares before I moved here, and an expensive vacation. But that's just me. Some people leave with a lot of money in the bank. I'd like to be one of them, but saving doesn't come naturally to me. The big money-drainer here is vacation and food, so just watch those two areas and you should be okay.


Q: "Do you have a picture of the palteua subdivision that I heard so much about in Iqaluit."

A: I assume you mean the plateau subdivision? No, I don't. I have photos I took looking at town from the plateau, but not photographs of the houses there. They're just new, nice looking houses.


Q: I am originally from Ontario as well and am interested in moving to Iqualuit to be a research analyst (if they will hire me). What is it like being an outsider there?

A: It's about the same as being an outsider anywhere else. Iqaluit isn't very traditional, chances are you will only feel the stress of moving to a new town and figuring things out. English is spoken everywhere and the percentage on non-inuit here is about 40%. So you won't really be an outsider, you'll just be another person living and working here.


Q: If you could sum it up in one sentence or so, what is it that makes you love the north so?

A: One sentence! That's difficult, you know. But okay, you got it. What makes me love the north is that I can go outside and hear absolutely nothing, just complete silence. I love quietness. I'm aware there are many quiet places in Canada, but I wound up here and that's what I choose to love about it.


Q: What is your job?

A: Sorry, but I do not share that information publicly. I work for the federal government, that's all you need to know.


Q: Is there stuff to do for children? activities?

A: In Iqaluit, yes. There are sports teams and if your kids are young enough, there are daytime playgroups. In Rankin Inlet there were some sports teams and gymnastics. There is also Sparks/Brownies/Guides/Rangers/etc in some communities, it would just depend. I don't know about smaller communities.


Q: Can someone eMail/post a typical grocery list cost? Milk, bread, bananas?

A: I had plans to do this before I moved out of my old house. I can't remember if I kept all the receipts. If not, you can still expect a post like this from me in the next 3-5 months or so.


Q: What kind of internet connection is obtainable in Nunavut?

A: Qiniq is available in all communities. Check the site for packages. Northwest Hell Tel also provides Internet in some communities.

Q: Also, I know there are no roads, but is there a chance any ATV trails or the such exist that could get you into the area?

A: Possibly, but I have no idea. You'd have to ask somebody in Thompson or Churchill.

(posted by Jaime)

Stuff Arrival Day 2

Well we made a lot of progress yesterday. Almost everything is out of the boxes. The only box that has not been opened is the one with the bikes in it, and hopefully all of our fabric softener. We bought 2 very large things of fabric softener in Ontario. The two of them together would be worth $110-$120 here and we have not found them yet. I don't want to be paranoid, but if they're not in the bike box then they were probably stolen. One was put into a garbage bin in London but the garbage bin arrived empty.

My back is quite sore today. I used to have a back of steel but it's been giving me grief whenever I try to lift anything more than 10lbs or if I'm standing for awhile. It's kind of weird, I must have developed this problem from my previous job (I was always sitting).

The two channels we get via antenna are CBC and APTN (Aboriginal People's Televsion Network). We watched APTN all the time in London so it's nice to have it again. We're probably the only two non-aboriginal people in Canada who like APTN, haha.

Anyway, here are some photos of Day 2!


What you see when you come out of the bedroom.


The bedroom which is looking pretty messy right now.


Just SOME of the cardboard boxes left over. That crate thing is our unopened TV.


This was an extremely large box that M&T put our chair and a table in. I used it as a garbage box all day but it's too big for the "dumpsters" outside so everything in it needs to be put into garbage bags. This is what's left of what Jeff calls "the devil box." See those Surge glasses? I got them at Winners for $9.99 and they're amazing!


Even more cardboard boxes. The electric system doesn't like that extension cord wheel. :(


There's some nice GN furniture right there. Check out the stuffed animal tower, heh. It's a turtle (can't see) on a tiger on a skunk on a pig.


Leah in the storage room / office. I don't think I'll be able to use the computer in there without feeling like Milton from "Office Space":

(This photo took me like 15 minutes to find, so be amused!!)


The whole kit and caboodle.

(posted by Jaime)

Arrival of Stuff

Wow, unpacking is almost as difficult as packing!

This morning as I lied in bed with my earplugs in, I wondered if Jeff would call me if the movers called him or if he would wait until later. I fell asleep after that and woke up to Jeff entering the apartment, at 10:10am. I asked him what he was doing home and he said the movers are coming!! I must have ESPN or something, heh. I threw on some clothes and we cleaned up a bit and they showed up around 10:40am.

Nothing came broken which is great however not everything stayed intact...
I was putting all of bowls and dishes in a lower cabinet on a shelf. I remarked to Jeff that it feels like we have a lot of dishes after living for a month on TWO plastic lunch plates and 3 plastic, unsturdy bowls. Once I finished I of course went on to other things. About 20 minutes later, the shelf came crashing down and with it the bowls and plates onto the floor. Several broke, probably 6 or 7 or maybe more, it was hard to tell. I stood there stunned for probably a minute before I started picking up the shards.

Anyhow, here are some photos of the move-in madness!


Ahhhhhh....look what crawled into our box in Ontario! Just kidding, I'm just a huge dork!


Jeff finding a place for the bowls, some of which would break later.


Don't just do something, stand there!


The very first thing that was unpacked. Photo coasters (with no photos yet).


What I'm staring at from the couch.


Leah trying to get our attention away from the boxes by giving us a death-defying show of walking on a door.


For my next act, I will attempt to walk across this extremely narrow door frame!


Who cares about that other crap, our featherbed is here!!!


Ahh, the boxes are invading the storage room!


Jeff fighting the boxes for world domination.


The poor movers had to work in this bad weather. But on the bright side, look how freakin' close the college is!


This is after an hour's worth of work. The going is tough.

I've opened many more boxes since Jeff has gone back to work but I took a break to write this entry.

Well, it looks like we're going to have an apartment sale or put up a sale sign on bulletins around town. We have way too much stuff, this place is going to be a lot different once everything is unpacked and we're both not looking forward to it.

Oh yeah, our TV antenna arrived...I've never been so happy to see "Road to Avonlea" before!

(posted by Jaime)

Bye, Baygulls!

The baygulls are flying south!
I just heard about 5 minutes' worth of squawking over the apartment. It comes and goes but it definitely sounds like they're all leaving.

I don't blame them, it is getting seriously cold here. It's been averaging about 6-7C during the day AND night. Putting on the toque and winter jacket to go fetch the mail felt weird but it doesn't usually occur to me all that often anymore how warm it is in Ontario right now. At some point it's probably not healthy to keep comparing here to Ontario and I'm glad to say I don't think about Ontario that much these days.

It also actually occurred to me just now that Jeff and I will soon be wearing down-filled parkas. Why are we using bird feathers if most birds fly south for winter?! Doesn't that mean their feathers aren't warm enough for winter? Heh..figure that one out!

So Jeff went to Chesterfield Inlet yesterday. Due to the fact he was only there for 3 hours, he did not get any photos or any stories of what it's like there.

Jeff's flight tomorrow for Coral Harbour has been cancelled as well which is probably better for him anyway since he has a cold.

Oh yes, the dreaded television situation. One of Jeff's coworkers let us borrow one of his TVs while he took his vacation. We were excited, thinking we'd at least get CBC but alas, nothing comes in. Our antenna is with the rest of our stuff in Mystery Land right now so no TV for us. I looked into the satellite attached to our building but it's going to take a long time to ever get connected to it. We have to have our own receiver shipped up (there's $100-$200). Once it arrives, we pay some guy another $200 to probably plug the thing into the wall (it looks like our apartment is already satellite-ready), and then fork over another $136 for annual "maintenance." After that $436+ (at the cheapest), we have to give Bell even MORE money on a monthly basis for the channel package we want. Needless to say, I'm disappointed. I've never had satellite TV before so I didn't realize the dish can bring in multiple TV packages. I just assumed a package was assigned to the dish and the guy would have some spare receivers lying around. He'd hook 'er up and we'd be set.

One more week until school, yay!

(posted by Jaime)

Midnight Post

This is my list of things that I am looking forward to that I have not seen since London:

1. TV.
2. VCR and DVD player and our movies.
3. The brand new toaster.
4. The brand new slow cooker.
5. The brand new microwave.
6. The brand new deep-dryer.
7. The brand new food processor.
8. The brand new pans.
9. The brand new drinking glasses.
10. The brand new electric blanket.
11. The brand new vacuum.
12. The brand new grill (George Foreman style)
13. The brand new down-filled featherbed (mattress cover).
14. Dishes.
15. Cutlery.
16. The rest of our pillows.
17. The stereo.
18. The other computer.
19. The bread-maker.

Look at all that brand new stuff!! It's going to a mini Christmas the day it arrives. No, scratch that. A giant, awesome Christmas! I've never gotten so much stuff for Christmas in my life. This will be the Christmas of Christmases (of non-Christmases). Thank you to anyone and everyone who bought any of those items for us, we've had to wait a long time to open our own wedding gifts.

Jeff and I have plans to write a humourous entry this week based on something we saw while taking a walk today. We discovered another nice area to walk around. We've always taken lots of walks together so to live somewhere that is pretty much 100% great walking area is very nice. We already have a "happy place" and it's a small beach right near our building.

Jeff is off to Chesterfield Inlet tomorrow (technically today). He returns around 5 or 6 which is good because he'll be off to Coral Harbour again on Wednesday/Thursday.

Our cat Leah seems to be doing very well. She's currently using a grocery bag that somehow made it to the living room carpet as a pillow. Earlier this week she discovered a surprising love for used dryer sheets. She's eaten probably 6 or 7 black flies since August 1st. She is very good at catching flies and the flies up here aren't very smart. These two factors combined mean that when flies get in the house, they're in Leah's stomach within 5 minutes. The first time she ever got a black fly in her mouth up here, a loud BZZZ! noise was heard from Leah's mouth. It was amusing.

Jeff is hopefully going to order us our Canada Goose parkas tomorrow from Weaver & Devore to be picked up the next time he flies out to Yellowknife which is apparently soon.
I am going for the Mystique and Jeff is going for the Heli-Arctic. Pictures of both:

Left: The Mystique. Right: The Heli-Arctic.

(posted by Jaime)

Arrival

We're here! It's time for the rest of the story. Sorry it's long!

Monday night: We ended up selling our 4 patio chairs, 4 dining room chairs, a couch, a loveseat, and a bookshelf all for $50 plus free assisted-delivery to the neighbours across the street in a desperate attempt to get rid of said furniture.

Once we finished hauling the stuff over, we went and met Jeff's parents at their motel. We had our last ever meal in Ontario: McDonalds. It was amazing. We barely slept on the two very flat pillows we left for ourselves. I used pants to prop my head up.

Tuesday morning @ 5am: We got up, packed the rest, took a deep breath and left for the airport. We met Jeff's parents at the airport. We checked all of our baggage. We had nine things (10 including Leah): 4 giant plastic containers, 4 suitcases, and 1 small plastic container. The Air Canada personnel that dealt with us was very nice and she made me feel a lot less stressed out. She put a "Priority" tag on Leah's carrier and took her away. Also, ALL but one of our plastic containers and one suitcase went above Air Canada's maximum weight of 70lbs. Everything fell between 71-76lbs but the woman wrote "70lbs" on all of them. We were very lucky that they all the weight they were, otherwise we would have had to throw things out.

8:30am: The plane to Toronto was very tiny (it held 18 passengers) and the flight was very short. In total, there was probably no more than 20 minutes in the air. It turned out to be the estimated 45 minutes with all the taxing around. I was elated to be flying. It was so fun! Jeff was nervous and clammy in the tiny plane but I wish we could have taken that little thing the whole way. It hit me how high we were when I looked down at a golf course and thought it was a mini putt course. I realized my error when I saw a pool and a car.

9:20am: We walked across the new Terminal 1 in Toronto. It was packed and there was hardly anywhere to sit. The plane to Winnipeg was much larger. During the landing, I went pretty much deaf and my ears and jaw were in agony. I remained half-deaf for the whole time in Winnipeg which was annoying. I would have enjoyed myself much more had I been able to hear.

12:20pm: While standing at the baggage claim section in Winnipeg, scared about my newfound deafness and even more scared about Leah, I thought I heard (which you can imagine was hard 1. being at an airport 2. standing at the baggage claim for a busy flight and 3. half-deaf) meowing. I turned around and Leah (in her cage) was just sitting on the floor near a door to go behind the baggage section. I grabbed her and rejoiced that she made it. She wasn't too happy at first but she calmed down.

12:30pm-3pm: We kept Leah with us for almost the whole time. We let her out on her leash which she and surrounding children enjoyed. We checked her in at 3pm and I was so scared I'd never see her again. We stood behind someone with 2 cute dogs.

4:00pm: Waiting for the flight, the lady with the cute dogs came and sat down in our section. We've even seen her walking her dogs around town. We thought it was a weird coincidence. We scoped out the others flying to Rankin Inlet. The flight turned out to be headed to Yellowknife and Edmonton after it landed in Rankin Inlet.

4:40-6:30pm: The flight to Rankin was good. We got a tasty dinner and free newspapers. It was unfortunately cloudy but we did manage to see quite a bit of northern Manitoba. My ears felt great on the flight but went bad again after landing.

6:40pm: We met a coworker of Jeff's at the airport. I eagerly watched the airport personnel unload the plane because I hadn't seen them board Leah. I remembered the Gone North bloggers writing that their dogs had been boarded last and taken off first. Indeed two small cages were taken off the plane however neither were Leah. The worker went back and no more animals were taken off. As you can imagine, I was very scared that she didn't make it. My heart pounded as I watched the workers unload non-animals. Eventually she did make it (at the very end!) and I calmed down but that moment definitely tops one of the scariest moments of my life. I was a bit embarrassed to be so close to tears in the middle of the airport.

Until 8:30pm-ish: Jeff's co-worker had a pickup truck and we were able to get everything on the back and bring it into our apartment. He helped us out which was great. He drove us around the town, pointing out the important parts. Jeff and I sat in his truck, wide-eyed at our new home. My favourite thing here so far (besides the amazing scenery) is Pizza Hut, haha! The busiest place in town (the Northern store) is right across the street. There's a Pizza Hut and a KFC in it! The post office and a bank are also across the street.

The apartment: We live in a 3-storey walk-up style apartment on the third floor. I found out from the girl at the post office that our building is called "the new Ilagiiktut" (eela-gee-tu) or simply, "the new Ila." We live in apartment 816, though there are only 20 apartments. It's furnished of course with mid-90s style furniture and coincidentally, the same cupboards as we had in London. We have lots of room to move around which is great. It's much bigger than what we had in London. If you've been in our old apartment, you'll remember how cramped it was.

We unpacked some things and went out for walk. We had to wear winter jackets and I wore a toque to keep my ears warm. It was very weird wearing a toque on August 1st but pretty amusing at the same time. It's about 17 degrees Celsius today which feels absolutely marvellous after southern Ontario's 35 degree heatwave. I don't miss the heat one bit yet.

An employee of the company that manages this apartment came over today at 1:30 to assess any damages. They are fixing everything that's wrong with it (not much). This place is very clean and in very nice shape. It's a big change from a circa 1920s apartment that we just came from that needed renovation badly. The temperature in here is very comfortable. It was kind of cold when the girl came over and she remarked that it was hot in here. I laughed at the weirdness of that. She gave us a spare key which doesn't actually work.

Anyway, I'll close with our new address and some photos!
[deleted for privacy]

The post office worker said regular lettermail can take 1-2 weeks though it's not always guaranteed and XpressPost is within 7 business days.

Now for some photos!

The view from our living room window. The red building is the Arctic College and/or its residence. There is a giant rock hill too which people are always walking over.


The lobster. Those in the know will laugh.


The kitchen and dining area. Very spacious (at least compared to London).


The living room.


The cat has no idea where she is but she likes it here. She seems happier than she did in London.


The bed. Mmm...sleep.


The bathroom. We have a fan!!! Amazing.


"Feed me, woman!"


Another view of the livingroom / dining area. It's less messy now.


View from the window. That is looking north west, so it's toward the mainland.


I've never seen so many ATVs in my life.

The sun is very bright today as there aren't many clouds. The sun rise/set on the right side of this blog is accurate. It gets dark just after 10.

After lying down for a bit, my ear has unblocked. What a relief.

(posted by Jaime)

Pre-Moving Day

Our apartment is the new Ground Zero, I swear. The movers are coming tomorrow, my last day of work was Tuesday. It is utter bedlam: Stacks, piles, heaps, and mounds of stuff -- everywhere! Fly up piles. Move up piles. Garbage piles. Into storage piles. Numerous give away piles for numerous lucky family members. On top of tomorrow being moving day, it's also garbage day. Us Londoners are subject to a four-bag-per-household limit which may just get violated tomorrow.

On top of all that, I seem to have acquired an on-again-off-again cold which isn't helping my level of sorting performance. I felt pretty good yesterday until last night, but have felt really run-down again today. Not good timing, since there seems to be six hundred new things to do around every corner. Jaime's out doing some laundry right now... She said she was coming back after packing the stuff into the washers, but I haven't seen her yet. I hope she hasn't up and runoft with some laundromat guy just to avoid coming back here.

Right now I'm working on books. Pretty hard to decide what to do with our books (three bookcases full). My job is of indeterminant duration, and I'm having a hard time anticipating whether we're really going to like it up there, and stay for a long time, or if we'll be back in a year. I'd hate to have to pay $10,000 to ship all of our stuff back if we take stuff that's "too good." Ahhh, damn, maybe I'm overanalyzing the situation.

Oh well, back to it...

(posted by Jeff)

Post-Nups

Well, our wedding was yesterday. It went very well might I say. It turned out to be a lot less low-key than I expected. Our original plan was have a ceremony at City Hall with just our witnesses as the guests. It turned into a 40-person, backyard wedding. I ended up getting my hair done and we were happily surprised when the next-door neighbours showed up with an organ to play The Wedding March. The neighbours even took our photos in their beautiful yard with their expensive camera.

It turned out to be so much more fun than I expected, too. Definitely one of the best days I've ever had, if not THE best.

Jeff and I have some pretty intense thank-you cards to send out.

On Wednesday the local moving company came to estimate our things. It was a strange experience. The lady got done fairly quickly and I commented that it's kind of sad when all of two people's life's collections can be counted in 15 minutes. I don't really think that as it's quite a step-up from the "olden days" when people were nomads.

As I've mentioned before, our things are being moved this Friday (July 28). It seems so close and also so far away. I can't believe we're moving to Nunavut next week, it's still surreal. It's almost too cool to be true.

I think Jeff and I are pretty much finished buying things to bring up. I don't think it's actually possible to ever be completely finished but what we have will have to do. With everything we've bought/received so far, I'm excited for our shipment to arrive in Nunavut. So many things are brand new, it's going to be like Christmas when it does arrive.

One more thing I wanted to add before I finish this is that if you are not a Blogger member and you comment on our journal, we'd like if you somehow let us know who you are. When you comment, you have to option to select "Other" for identity and then type in your name. You do not need a website for that. It would help us a lot as we've received some advice and we have no idea where it comes from or how to get back to you about it. Thank you!

(posted by Jaime)

Preparation Messes

Here are some photos of SOME of what we've accumulated so far.
I apologize for the bad quality of the photos, I'm tempted not to post them at all but hey, why not! You can deal with blurriness and not enough light, right? Maybe one day I'll learn how to use Jeff's extremely complicated camera.


This is what $300 worth of household goods looks like. We bought multiples of practically everything


The "living" room.


Here we see toilet paper, paper towel, a deep-fryer, a food processor, four boxes of laundry detergent, a microwave, drinking glasses, and a toaster.


This is almoast all cat food. There are some camping chairs and fabric softerner on the side.


Our cat, Leah. You can hardly see her but she's thinking, "Can I open just one of those giant bags of cat food? Pleeeeaaase?"

(posted by Jaime)

Complicated Airline

Good newses.

1. The moving company is coming to do an estimate on Wednesday morning.
2. They are coming to actually move our stuff July 28th. Yay. It's as far away as possible!
3. Leah is all booked and ready to become an aerodynamic, gravity-defying kitty.

I called First Air and Air Canada today to book Leah. Air Canada was blah and First Air was pretty nice. I asked about bringing her in the cabin and this was the conversation:
Me: Are cats allowed in the cabin?
Rep: Yes.
Me: How big can the carrier be?
Rep: It has to be a soft-sided carrier.
Me: But how big can it be?
Rep: Small enough to be included as a carry-on.
Me: What are the measurements of that?
Rep: Small enough to fit under a seat.
Me: *gives up* Okay, gotcha.

I asked if I had to give a definite answer about my plans with that and they said no. They have to call back to confirm and they did about an hour ago. Someone else called and said, "It's okay for your small cat to be in the cabin."
Me: Uhh yeah, about that. I'd have to buy a smaller carrier and I don't think I'm going to do that. I'll just have her in the cargo hold. Can you change the reservation or does it have to sent through again?
Rep: It has to be re-sent in.
Me: I'm sorry for the confusion, I was told I didn't have to give a definite answer right away.
Rep: Ohhhhhhhhkayyyy, someone else will call you to confirm your cat can ride in the CARGO HOLD.
Me: Uh, okay.

I was kind of amused when I called First Air and there was no long-winded voice menu at the beginning. A human being picked up immediately. Remember those days, before voice menus? I wonder if in the future, everybody will have their own voice menu.
Hi, this is Jaime's phone. If you are calling just to chat, press one. If you are calling to arrange a get-together, press two. If you are family and calling to complain about something, please call while our phone is unplugged between the hours of 12am and 9am any day of the week. If you are a telemarketer and wish to sell me something, please press the number that is 10 times 605.32 minus 3 divided by .457 plus 4 564 482 minus 4577712.

(posted by Jaime)

Anticipation

Well, we've got the marriage license and the rings.

Jeff and I had a very profitable weekend in Sarnia.
Not only did we get several lucrative wedding gifts, but we got our upcoming wedding completely sorted out. All that's left is to leave the cooking up to Jeff's mom and everything will be finished.

We got the first rings we looked at today in the mall. They're some "comfort fit" thing but they are true to their name! I am excited for a new piece of jewelry. Jeff and I keep trying on the rings. Unfortunately, they're going have to be resized after the wedding and we won't get them back until July 28th. At least we'll have them for when we leave, that's all that matters! I wish we could just keep them but we have our whole lives to wear them, what's a few more days?

Besides some very generous money (wedding) gifts from three different relatives, Jeff and I have received The Joy of Cooking (ha ha), a deep-fryer (woo hoo), a food processor (woo hoo again), and long-johns. I meant to buy us some long-johns so that gag gift worked out very nicely.

Anyway, this blog isn't a wedding blog, it's a Nunavut blog. Back to business. This weekend we got:
1. A bread maker.
2. A humidifier.
3. Some fancy coasters.
4. A toaster.
5. A microwave.
6. A vacuum cleaner.
7. $131 worth of cat food (60 cans and five extra-large bags of dry food)
8. 4 large boxes of laundry detergent.
9. 3 large bottles of all-purpose cleaner.
10. Other boring stuff I can't remember.
11. Several large (used) suitcases.

We are following advice from the Nunabloggers and the the Gone North bloggers who both gave us some excellent advice. There is pretty much nothing but shopping and sorting until the movers come, which hopefully is later than sooner.

Anyway, we learned this weekend that we have some regular readers. Funny, you'd never know by the amount of comments we get. ;)

Well, I'm not sure how much we'll be posting this week. My cousin is coming to visit me from Barrie this week and then it's our wedding on Friday. Hopefully we still have some energy left by the time this week is over.

(posted by Jaime)

Optimism

Wow, our prayers have been answered.

The relocation officer emailed Jeff with our flight confirmations!!
We leave August 1st (yay). Flight #1 is to Toronto. Flight #2 is to Winnipeg. Then, after a 6 hour layover (ouch), Flight #3 leaves for Rankin Inlet. This is one flight less than I thought we'd take, so I'm pretty happy about that. I'm still very nervous about taking our cat, Leah, but we are going to call Air Canada and First Air to get the information we need so I can stop having a stroke everytime I think about it.

Our apartment/townhouse (don't know yet) will be furnished, too. I am excited about that. New furniture!

Jeff and I have been eating greasy foods for the last week or so because we figure we'll have to start eating healthier once we move up there. I've heard that there are KFC Express things in convenience stores up there and if so that's pretty cool. I'm not a big fan of KFC but it's probably Jeff's favourite place so what are the chances that his favourite fast food restaurant would be in Nunavut?

Okay, so this post was kinda pointless. Jeff says he's going to call Air Canada right now and he may make a post later tonight, so hopefully this isn't all from us.

I just noticed that today is the first day since Sunday when I haven't been bugged by my family with endless phone calls! Yay! It's a good day today.

(posted by Jaime)

Pessimism

Jeff and I have still have not heard back from the HR Deparment regarding Jeff's references. So I can't really comment on anything specifically moving related right now because everything is still up in the air, but I'll just say that it's highly, highly doubtful we'll be moving when originally planned (August 1st).

Anyway, Jeff has still not handed in his notice at work. I don't personally think they're going to take away his offer; they've already given him an official offer and we know that at least one of his references said nice things about him. By the time everything gets sorted out, it's probably going to be October. It's quite irritating that Jeff is always the one to call them, I can't understand why they're not on the ball a little more.

In other news, our wedding has been set for July 21st. Excluding shot gun / Vegas weddings, I think we're breaking a record for fastest planned wedding. My family (well, my mom) specifically doesn't seem to appreciate it, but they're dealing with it. I've been complained to so many times since Sunday (when we set the date), I almost want to tell some of my family, "Okay, we'll push the wedding back to November. But Jeff and I won't be there, so have fun at our wedding."
I personally don't see what the big deal is. I keep telling my family, "Stop thinking of it as a wedding with short notice, it's just a going-away party where two people happen to be getting married."


I guess I'll finish this post letting everyone know I quit my job on Sunday. I didn't say goodbye to anybody and I kind of regret it, but I just couldn't take all the questions about Nunavut climate anymore. If anyone from my work is reading this, please comment and let me know. I sent out a mass email to all my friends at work but only one has bothered to follow up.

Sorry if this entry seems naggy, I'm just getting frustrated with everything, mainly the lack of real planning that we can do as far as moving goes, and the over-planning of our wedding.

(edited at 3:32pm)
I have changed the layout, yay. It took about an hour but it's finally exactly how I want it. Hopefully Jeff likes it too!

Also, Jeff called Nunavut today at lunch and they said everything is fine, so he is handing in his notice today. He no longer will be speaking with the staffing consultant, it's up to the relocation officer now. Yay!

(posted by Jaime)

You Want What Now?

OK... so I was about to hand in my two weeks' notice at work tomorrow when I received an email from the people hiring me. They sent a document requesting my signature so they can check my references. This worried me because suddenly I wondered if their "official" offer had been revoked.

I gave them a call and got no real answer as to whether or not I should be worried. That in itself worried me. They said that they had forgotten to check my references before hiring me which is a little sketchy. I should keep telling myself that maybe they were just so excited to have found someone as intelligent as me that they just offered me the job without thinking about it first, ha ha. I signed the document and gave them a few references to check. Part of me thinks they may not even call them; they just want them on record. I'm really not all that concerned if they do call my references - I have good ones that like me, but this situation is a bit unnerving... I'm about to start a new project at my current work tomorrow morning (going to the first project meeting) and I really shouldn't go if I'm leaving -- I was going to quit beforehand... and I've pretty much decided to quit before I go, I mean, I have a written job offer, which I signed, and returned... can they even back out now if my references say I'm the most horrendous worker they ever met?

I'm not trying to be bitchy towards the HR people -- they've been more then excellent and awesome in every way, and I think part of the reason this step was missed was because I've been pushing them so much to get everything together, almost to the point that I feel guilty when I call there. I can't help it though, I've never been so excited about a job before... it seems like so much more than just a "job." I'd say this is the first time I've been offered a job where I can say that this is 100% the direction I want to be going in, career-wise. Above and beyond that, it offers a cultural experience far beyond what anything in Ontario could ever offer.

(posted by Jeff with contributions by Jaime)

26 Days Until Nunavut

Hey, Jaime here. I figured I'd just elaborate a little bit on Jeff's post.

The people hiring Jeff say we'll be flying up August 1st. I am actually surprised at how soon it is. I figured it'd be no earlier than September. It's a happy surprise though, I wouldn't want it any sooner and it's not so far into the future that it'll drive me batty with excitement before ever getting there.

Jeff and I returned to Sarnia this past weekend to celebrate Canada Day and to break the news to our parents. As soon as we got to Jeff's parents' place, his mom knew something was up. She kept asking what was going on until I made Jeff tell her. She was surpsied, but happy. Jeff's dad seemed pretty happy too. He's like my dad; he's happy as long as we're happy. The rest of our parents had similar reactions. Everyone except my mom, who got ticked off and went straight to bed after I told her. I think she's warming up to the idea, though.

In better news, I handed in my notice today at work. I am going to be finishing next Friday (July 14). It was a great moment, I've been waiting 11 months to hand it in. I didn't know what to write so I made up some BS about enjoying my tenure there (11 months). Jeff is handing in his notice on Friday (for his last day to be July 21st). I'm afraid Jeff isn't giving himself enough time and there's too much for one person to handle. The to-do list keeps growing as the time gets shorter. I am feeling quite a bit of pressure to get it all finished. Jeff and I are NOT to-do list people so having these goals and knowing they absolutely need to be completed is pretty daunting.

Anyway, the real reason behind this post is because I wanted to make a top 5 list of what I'm looking forward to about moving to Nunavut:
(in no specific order)

1. Clean(er) air.
2. The Northern Lights.
3. No chain stores (besides the Northern store).
4. Leaving being all the wannabe Hollywood movie stars.
5. Getting better acquainted with this beautiful country.

(posted by Jaime)

It's Official!

Well, it's official, or at least it should be. I've always been suspect of job offers, thinking they'll fall through between the time when I hand in my notice at my old job, and start at the new one. Today, I sent back my signed job offer, thereby accepting the position in Rankin Inlet.

We are so excited about this. I recognize that it is a huge change, but we think it's going to be great. Seeing people's reaction to the news that we're going way way up north is interesting. It seems to be a 50/50 split between those who think we're utterly insane and those who think it is an excellent idea. What are we going to miss out on by not being in Southwestern Ontario for 75 of our 75 years? I sort of envision staying here being somewhat like the following: buy a house, pop out some kids, retire, and die - not necessarily in that order. I think we can put all these exciting things off for a few years.

The three things I am most looking forward to, related specifically to the move:
1. Exposure to the culture/language of the Inuit.
2. The stars/northern lights at night. When there is 'night.'
3. The fresh air.

(posted by Jeff)

Blog Crazy

Good news! Jeff discovered a list of bloggers in Nunavut. I guess the Internet has more to offer for us than we thought. Jeff found this list which we are going to try to be listed on once we have more entries.

We've been spending so much time reading these blogs and I'm feeling even more excited about moving up there. It's going to be a weird adjustment but I think we're ready to take on a new way of life!

I think all of the blogs we've read have been written by teachers working up there. I wish I had some kind of game plan as far as working goes but unfortunately I haven't been to college yet. I think I'm interested in teaching up there so I wonder what I would have to do to become a teacher without going to school in another province.

I guess I'm hoping to work in a co-op store or a restaurant/hotel but I'll have to see. I do know I am very interested in going to Arctic College in Rankin Inlet so at least I have something to look forward to in my free time.

Jeff called Nunavut this morning to find out if his offer is official yet and they said they'd let us know on Tuesday. It's going to be one long weekend, that's for sure. We're letting our parents know this weekend that we're almost definitely moving there. I can't remember if I mentioned this before, but we're getting married right before we go. At least our parents will be happy about that!

Anyway, I should get some sleep. It's almost 3am but I just can't stop reading Nunavut blogs!

(posted by Jaime)

To-Do List

This is our to-do list as of June 27.
*last update: September 27*
I took out all the strikes so you can actually read it, and added some useful points.

1. Get Leah (our cat) spayed and declawed.
2. Transfer car ownership to Jeff's parents. (Ownership stayed with Jeff, his parents took his car.)
3. Buy (nicotine) patches to quit smoking. (Jeff)
4. Move. ("Duh" --Jaime) (Movers came July 28.)
5. Get married.
6. Get printer ink cartridges refilled. (If you own a printer, you may want to bite the bullet and stock up on these!)
7. Move furniture to Sarnia (Sold most of it, threw other stuff out, kept some at Jeff's parents'.)
8. Cancel rent.
9. Cancel car insurance.
10. Cancel hydro.
11. Cancel cable.
12. a) Cancel DSL
12. b) Cancel phone line.
13. Obtain Government of Nunavut health cards and other necessary documents. (Didn't worry about it until we got here.)
14. Get G License. (Jaime)
15. Find birth certificate. (Jeff)
16. Buy new wardrobe. (Jeff)
17. Look into winter gear.
18. Confirm government job perks.
19. Buy pet carrier for Leah. (Thanks Matt and Allie!)
20. Look into northern camping gear.
21. Throw out unwanted clothes, etc.
22. Pick out favourite books, store the rest (at Jeff's parents').
23. Pack shortwave radio.
24. Throw out all food.
25. Get rid of goldfish and tank.
26. Buy new litterbox for Leah.
27. Allot time for errands in Sarnia.
28. Buy a better digital camera (a very good investment so far).
29. Take back empty beer bottles.
30. Buy a wilderness survival book. (Didn't do this, we'll just read stuff on the 'net.)
31. Bring all coins to Coinstar machine in grocery store.
32. Stock up on cat food and cat litter. (Also a very good investment.)
33. Order more contact lenses.
34. Sell couch/loveseat and table/chairs.
35. Buy more food.
36. Obtain enough suitcases and Rubbermaid containers for the flight. (Buy the biggest ones you can find and fill them as tightly as possible...you won't regret it, I promise....as long as you don't go over any airline and/or GN limits, heh.)
37. Book Leah into flights.
38. Clean the apartment.
39. Say goodbye to everybody.
40. Open a joint bank account. (Don't do this unless you know what bank you'll be dealing with.)

What We Regreted Not Doing/Bringing:
-More food
-More food
-More food
-(get the idea?)
-More cat litter and food (the selection of pet things here, especially for cats, is bad)

If you're moving up here, my advice to you is to buy anything you think you will need/want at some point in the future. Get carried away. If the GN is shipping your stuff up, go nuts. It is very difficult to even get near their shipping limit (6000lbs for two people). For example, if you think you need a new TV, buy it and let it get shipped. The only real problem with buying everything in sight is when you and your things finally arrive, you likely won't have room. But that sting pales in comparison to #1 the prices of things here and #2 the lack of selection for things here.

(posted and updated by Jaime)