Living in Cape Dorset

Gone gone gone

2010-10-26T07:10:00.003-04:00

Hi Everyone

For those of you who keep looking here for updates.... I am no longer "Living in Cape Dorset" . For family reasons I am now " Living in Miramichi" and I doubt very much I will have a lot of time to to start a new blog.
It was a wonderful experience living in the north, and I will not say I would never return but at this juncture it looks like I will be here in New Brunswick for a while.

1st Snow Day of the Year

2009-10-28T15:29:00.005-04:00

Hi Everyone

I know sometimes people get pretty uptight about teachers. As a matter of fact most people don't hate teachers, they despise them. Long holidays at Christmas, extended vacation at Easter, sessional days, 2 months holidays in the summer, the general public has no appreciation of what they do regardless of whether they are in the north or down south.
When it comes to snow days, it makes the general public's blood boil. People don't take into account that half of the school age children take the bus and the other half walk. The children that take the bus are the elementary students. When the bus is canceled because of road conditions they are given a day off. With the roads in such poor condition, how can we expect the older students to walk to school. One slip and they could be under the wheel of a plow, or dump truck, or another vehicle. The other question is when elementary students can't go to school, who is going to look after them while Mom or Dad is at work? In a lot of cases older brothers and sisters who are in the high school do a fair bit of child care with for their parents when it comes to younger siblings.
Beside that we get way fewer snow days than they do in the south. Last year in NB they had somewhere around 10 or 12. Last year in Cape Dorset we had, zero, nada, zilch, nothing. So what if we get a scattered snow day now and then. At the end of the day it is all for the safety and protection of our students. And as teachers and administrators that should be our #1 priority.

Cheers

Blake

So Much to Say

2009-10-24T10:36:00.003-04:00

Has it ever been a long time since I blogged. I think the last entry was sometime in May. So much has happened since then.
The best thing by far is how far along they have got on the construction. For those of you not aware of this, the Department of Education is in the process of expanding and renovating our school. The project will probably come in at around $20 million dollars by the time it is turned over to us. There has been a few hiccups so far such as late boats, over zealous replacement job supervisors, and plumbing trouble but all in all everything has gone quite well. Kudlik, the general contractor, is doing a fine job and once I got put in my place regarding who I take construction concerns too, things have moved along quite swimmingly.
The project itself was going to be done in 2 major phases. The first was to be the extension which is comprised mostly of a gymnasium and a few classrooms around it. This was to be completed by the end of November and then the construction crew would come back in February and start renovating the existing structure. This was well understood by all involved in June when we were starting our summer break. When I returned in mid-August half the school was torn apart because an over-zealous replacement supervisor came in and started to panic. When all was said and done I now have 5 classrooms with temporary lighting and no flooring because the product has yet to arrive on the sealift. This should begin to be rectified by next week as our last boat is on its way to Cape Dorset. These delays are in no way the fault of the contractor but none the less, Louis, the main job supervisor feels extremely bad about it. He is a very hard working man and does his job quite well. He makes promises based on what other people, like shipping companies, promise him. Because of the late boat there is a possibility that the plumbers will be delayed getting heat to the new part. If this is the case we probably won't get the piece turned over to us until next fall as the plumbing company doesn't want to assume liability if something happens and there is a major freeze up.
All in all though a very fine job and it will look fabulous when it is completed.

The other big news here is water news. The Hamlet has at its disposal normally three water trucks, but early September or late August one burned which left them down to two. This stressed out the delivery system some what but once they got on a schedule everything seemed to be working out fine. Then another water truck broke down and they are now unable to repair it. My sympathies go out to the drivers because they are now working night and day not to catch up but just to keep from falling so far behind. Some people have been without water for days. Eventually they get some. I can't say the same for us here at the school. I could pick up the phone this morning and have 4000 litres delivered in at the most a half an hour. They are extremely good in that regard. This is my fourth year in Cape Dorset and always the big questions everyday were, Did the planes come in? I wonder if so and so got in? Now all these questions have been replaced by, Do you have any water? It really makes me start to think how some of these people in third world countries live. I, personally, have been very lucky as our unit has only run out of water once and only for a half hour or so.
Earlier this week I arrived at school facing the circumstance of not having any water. Because I am the first to arrive I usually put the coffee and tea on. When the staff found out there was no water they wondered how coffee and tea was made, I told them I just went out side and got some snow and melted it. They were none too impressed. These water woes will continue for another week until a new water truck arrives on the sealift.
I will try and put up some pictures of the construction if I get the chance.

Cheers

Grad Fund raiser

2009-05-08T11:17:00.005-04:00

Hey Everyone

As promised in my last post, I said I would try to be a more frequent blogger.Last week we had a really successful fund raiser for the graduating class. I the north there is not mucu money set aside by the local DEA's for these events so the responsibility falls onto the shoulders of the staff and grads to raise money for decorations, meals, and other grad stuff. Monetarily the graduation should be fine now. We are just not so sure about the rest of us.

One thing about any local gathering involving staff and the community is there always are lots of laughs and good natured ribbing.

This item provided lots.

Is it a char net or seal net?

Bad Blogger !!!!!

2009-04-27T07:26:00.000-04:00

Hey Everyone

This is the longest time I have ever gone between posts. The biggest reason is that I moved into my own place and didn’t bother with internet access,. It really isn’t that inconvenient because I am able to use it whenever I need to at school and not having it at home gives me more time to read. I also don’t find the time as long after Christmas because the days are longer with more beautiful sunshine. I may think differently next year during the long cold days of fall and winter that come upon us prior to Christmas. Two months from today I will be barbequing on my deck back in New Brunswick. I almost have my third year completed in the North and I find the time has really flew.
It will really be nice to get back home to my kids and wife. Speaking of my wife I just got off the phone with her. A little over a year ago she started to run. Working her way up from 1 km to 5 km to 10km. Gradually she has built up her stamina and running longer and longer distances in shorter and shorter periods of time. Today she ran in a 15km race in Grande Digue New Brunswick in a around 1 hour 27 mins. That is pretty phenomenal considering when I watched her run a 5 km last summer she said she was never running any longer distance than that. She truly committed herself to it and the only thing that will bump the running will be her family. In order to come and visit me this past fall she passed up an opportunity to run a race that she had been training many months for. I guess she loves me.
I am also watching with interest the Swine Flu epidemic that has hit the U.S., Canada, and especially Mexico. Because my wife is an Infection Control Nurse this will really take away from her running. I even noticed our fearless Health Minister, who happens to be the MP for Nunavut, on the news tonite telling us not to worry. My wife feels it is something we should all be wary off. Remember to wash your hands everyone.
Our school is also involved with a YMCA student exchange involving students here and students from Toronto. They leave this week and the group from TO arrive the week after. It should be really exciting. There is other big news happening here in Cape Dorset. The next time I blog I should be able to tell you about it.

Cheers

Blake

Belated Happy New Year

2009-01-15T19:03:00.002-05:00

Hey Everyone

It sure has been a long time since I posted anything. But I guess the fact that I was down south for three of those weeks is probably some excuse. When we got back to Cape Dorset we found out that the school froze up. The student washrooms were all seized up so we were late getting them in. The first day for them was Monday so we spent a couple of really long days Thursday and Friday. School seems to fly by and be a lot more fun when you have students present.
The weekend was really quiet here as I was busy unpacking my bags, which thanks to Air Canada, arrived late Friday and I was here since Wednesday. They sure piss me off as they never take responsibility for any of their screw ups. I am in the midst of a pissing contest with them over canceling a flight unilaterally and causing me to spend a night in Ottawa which I never counted on.On the other hand First Air has been ever so helpful and I have a feeling that if Air Canada doesn't cough up, they will. I will keep you posted.
Christmas as all you southern expatriates know is a very busy time when you go back home. It was even more so for me as my mother in law was very ill and her eventual passing on January 1st made it a Not So Happy New Year. I did get to see a ton of people but a funeral home isn't the nicest place in the world. Thanks to all who have expressed their condolences and to all those who are keeping my wife and family in their thoughts.
This event made it harder than ever to return to Cape Dorset on time, but Merita said she would be fine. She will certainly keep herself busy with work and chauffeuring Emily around to her places of work. I hope she doesn't find the time too long and all her many friends keep her busy. I just finished purchasing my ticket to go home for Easter Break and 10 weeks from tonight I will be getting ready to land in Fredericton (weather permitting).
On the lighter side, on the weekend I got into a wrestling match with the toilet and the sewer truck. They beat me miserably. Thankfully it has all been cleaned up and no one is the worse for wear. A very good chuckle after the fact indeed.
Well exams are next week. I better go do some prep for that.

Till later

Blake

Does Anybody Care????

2008-11-19T21:30:00.003-05:00

Hey Everyone

I am not going to be real specific because I might get in trouble but there are few things that really piss me off in the north. I know I have ranted in the past about airlines, the post office, prices at the stores, and other little things that after a few weeks I seem to get over them. This last event may take more than a couple of weeks. The most precious resource we have here in the North, as far as I am concerned, is our youth, and when the powers that be decide that they do not care enough, by their absolute inaction and fail to make decisions based on the best interest of the children, it certainly shows me that they do not care. I am more convinced than ever that the North is not the place for me and I must move to an area where the "care and safety" of children is tantamount.
I will leave it at that.

On another note, while my wife was visiting last week I learned what an etching was. I thought they were a drawing on paper, but the artist actually smooths out the soapstone and draws on it. My wife was extremely taken with the beauty and simplicity of them and has ordered me to gather up a bunch of them to take them home as Christmas gifts.

Speaking of Christmas, 4 weeks from tonite we will be in Iqaluit wending our way home for the holidays.

Cheers for now

Blake

My 1st Visitor

2008-11-10T12:55:00.003-05:00

Hey Everyone

I just got out of a staff meeting and decided that I should make a little post about a momentous event that just passed. As I mentioned a few weeks ago, my wife has come up for a visit and sadly for me has now returned to New Brunswick. I was so glad she visited though as she could see first hand why I enjoy my time up here in the north. The first reason is the people I work with. She truly enjoyed meeting all the staff. She can totally understand why I enjoy my work up here so much. The other thing I think she really liked was the fact that it is such a relaxed lifestyle. The phone hardly ever rings, at least what she is use to. There was no responsibility of running the roads picking up kids, driving them to jobs, or taking them to speacial events. Not to say she doesn't enjoy doing those things, it is just that it is nice to have a break from it once in a while. Some of the things she didn't enjoy was the cold temperatures and the wind. She was also shocked by the prices of food in the grocery stores and was so very stressed about having to spend a night , or two or three, all alone in Iqaluit. She also was very lucky to have been able to get through both ways without any delay at all. She also brought with her a couple of little friends that we ahd to take pictures of. I am sure you have all heard of the traveling gnome. Well she brought with her some traveling pigs. These pigs were taken hostage last winter during a Christmas party (but not by my wife). They have since toured Australia, Lebanon, Syria, and now Nunavut. The owners, Moses and Elaine, are going to be elated to get them back sometime in the next few weeks along with pictures of all the places the piggies have travelled to. This is probably one of the few vehicles in Cape Dorset with a valid registration.

Cheers

Blake

Tomorrows Almost Here

2008-10-27T21:40:00.003-04:00

Hey Everyone

I just finished checking the weather for tomorrow and normally the only reason I check it is to see what ill winds blow for Cape Dorset that might possibly bring us a snow day this time of year. Because Canadian North is bringing my wonderful wife in tomorrow, I wanted to see what kind of traveling weather she would have as she wends her way from Moncton to Cape Dorset by way of Ottawa and Iqaluit. What do I see but a weather warning in effect for the Ottawa, eastern Ontario region. They describe it as such, " a humdinger". I hope she gets through before the full force of the storm hits. She is only visiting for a week and losing even one day would be terrible. I would certainly have to adjust the sight seeing schedule as I wouldn't want her to miss anything up here.

Here is hoping she has a safe and uneventful trip.

Blake

9 more weeks till Christmas Break

2008-10-19T14:49:00.003-04:00

Hey Everyone

The last time I posted the only sure thing about me staying up here is that I wasn't going to go home before my sealift arrived. That was true until this weekend and I decided that I will be finishing out the year. I was also pretty sure up to last week that this was going to be my last year in Cape Dorset. After this weekend I am only about 66% sure. I guess the telling date will be around the end of April when we have to notify QSO if we are resigning. Since the snow arrived on Friday evening it is so much more bright, crisp, clear, and clean. I think it is probably time to dig out the Uber-parka for the season. The only bad part about this time of year is that the walking is so treacherous and slippery. A good pair of ice grippers solves that but I have yet to find the "perfect" pair. In order to stay on your boots they seem to have to be so tight and then they squeeze your foot inside an otherwise perfectly form fitting pair of hikers. If they don't squeeze the crap out of your feet they always seem to fall off. Then there is the other factor that they never seem to hold up. A strap breaks or some of the studs fall out in which case you feel like you are walking on a curling slider.
This is also the week the sealift arrives. The cupboards are pretty bare so I can't wait to get them restocked. I had a great chuckle yesterday after checking out the transactions on my credit card. I noticed Marche, the sealift supplier, had given me a credit of $17 or so. The funny thing about this is that one of the staff had an extra charge on theirs for around $100. I have no idea how they would come up with the number. They charged us all for the initial order back in July and the only unknown in the shipping equation would be the price of fuel and we all know where that sits from earlier in the summer. My sealift order generally lasts me a couple of years so this will definitely be my last one regardless of whether I am coming back or not.
The other big thing going on is the ALCS. I certainly hope the Red Sux (no thats not a typo) meet their ultimate demise this evening. I use to be a big Red Sox fan but after the way they treated Bill Buckner for his blunder in the 1986 World Series, and their ability to blame him for their loss in the Series, I grew to greatly dislike them. Major League baseball seems to bend over backwards for the Beantowners whenever possible. The team as a whole is really just a bunch of whiners. Go Rays.

Here are some random pictures taken of the community since the snowfall Friday night.

October Blog

2008-10-07T21:38:00.004-04:00

Hey Everyone

There is a certain crispness in the air and snow can't be too far around the corner. Things are going quite well at the school. One of our teachers organized a massively successful Terry Fox Walk this year. In the past it was just an event to raise awareness of cancer research and the perseverance and fortitude that Terry Fox put forward before he succumbed to the dreaded disease at such a young age. This year a focus was put on fund raising and boy did the schools ever come through. Between the 2 schools over $700 is going to the Canadian Cancer Society. Around $500 of this amount was raised in the elementary and over $100 was raised by the tykes in kindergarten. Way to go Sam Pudlat School. Afterwards hotdogs and drinks were enjoyed by all at the community hall. That is some of the exciting stuff going on in Cape Dorset.
As for me this is my 3rd tear up here and so far it has been the hardest. I thought after year one, being away from friends and family for extended periods of time would only get easier. It certainly is not the school, students, or work in general. That is all going well. I bought my Christmas ticket around a month ago but it wouldn't take a whole lot to get me to make use of it early. I seem to be in a real funk. We are just getting close to the middle of October and all I can really seem to think about is going home. This is definitely my last year of teaching in the north. It will be a miracle if I make it to Christmas.
Sorry for being so gloomy

Have a great week everyone

Blake

1st post of 2008-09

2008-09-01T21:59:00.002-04:00

Hey All

With apologies to the Green Bay Packers I have been back up in the "Frozen Tundra" for 2 weeks now and I thought I would make a short post to let everyone know that I have made it back to Cape Dorset for another school year. It should be another great year at PPS as we have very few changes staff wise. I had an awesome summer back in the Miramichi. So many things went on and I don't think I missed one. First of all I made it home in time to see my son graduate from high school. It seems like yesterday when he came into our world. I hope he makes out all right at Memorial University. I am sure he will. He did very well in High School ( finished second in a grad class of 180) and he seems much more focused than I ever was at 17. We had a trip to PEI, and many parties and boat trips. It was quite possibly the best summer ever as Merita had most of the little piddly house jobs like painting and carpentry jobs completed for graduation. I just sat back and enjoyed it. The biggest job I did was put up the Christmas lights before I left.
I always get a little nervous when I first start a new school year but you get over it in a little less than 3 seconds.The school looks really sharp with the new exterior paint job. I hope it lasts.
Well thats it for now. I just wanted everyone to know I am back and didn't drop off the face of the earth.

Cheers

Blake

Attention Dog Lovers

2008-05-31T15:35:00.005-04:00

Hey Everyone,

As I was walking out to the park today and I snapped a picture of something that caught my eye on the long weekend when we ventured out for a boil up. No one was
really sure what the skin was from. Some people thought it was a bear, others thought it was a wolf, but to me the colour wasn't right for either of these. Therefore I took it upon myself to see just what it was. Apparently it was the hide of a big beautiful Newfoundland dog that got stricken with distemper. I guess there is a use for everything.

While we are on the subject of dogs, I guess the circle of life goes on and on here in the north. Take a gander at these beautiful pups.

Aren't they beautiful, and thats coming from a person who certainly isn't a dog fancier.

13 more sleeps and I will be on my way home.

Cheers for now

Blake

2 More Weeks of Classes

2008-05-22T17:58:00.002-04:00

Wow

Has the the year ever flown by. I can't believe how long ago my last post was. With only 2 more weeks of classes and a week of exams added onto a couple of sessional days at the end of the year, the school year is rapidly coming to an end. The weather has seemed to really turn around and the flights in an out of Cape Dorset are becoming more frequent and regular. We are hosting our second elder night of the year. We are going to have to make a conscious effort to have them more often next year. They seem to really enjoy them. The other news is that I moved to another part of the town. It is way more convenient because of the proximity to most of my colleagues and also the fact that it is like having my own place and only paying half the rent. I moved on the 28th or 29th of April, I am not sure which, but the guy I share the place with has been over in Hall Beach since then. I talked to him the other night and he said he should be back by the 27th of May. The place is much brighter than my last place, seems bigger, but on the other hand I pay less rent so it must be a little smaller square footage wise.
I will try to post some pics later.

Cheers

Blake

New Beginning

2008-04-02T20:10:00.005-04:00

Hey Everyone

This is going to be a fairly short musing this evening as I ponder the pros and cons of the arrival of Canadian North into Cape Dorset and the sad departure of Kenn Borek. Though it certainly will be nice to have another option as far as departing and returning to Cape Dorset with the regular two large suitcases that I usually carry, we are now devoid of any service on the weekend. As everyone knows, one of the common fabrics that ties a lot of my blogs together is the unreliability of getting anything in or out of Cape Dorset on First Air. With the arrival of a competing airline, they may ramp up there service and lose their given name in Cape Dorset. They are commonly called "Last Air" up here as their service to Cape Dorset resides somewhere in the Bizarro world. Kenn Borek had a regular Sunday flight but now such a thing is but a memory. If there was a real family emergency you could at least get out to Iqaluit. Speaking of flying, Wil and myself will be taking the Cape Dorset bantams out to the Toonik Time hockey tournament in Iqaluit. I know the boys and girls on the team will do really well as they have practiced exceptionally hard this winter in anticipation of the big event. Regardless of whether we win or lose, I hope everyone has fun, no one gets hurt, and we play as a team. I certainly hope they all have a good time at Toonik Time.

Cheers for now

Blake

What Kind of Airline Are They????

2008-03-07T22:03:00.004-05:00

Hey Everyone

Normally my posts are pretty positive, light-hearted and just generally kind of bland but today our great "Airline of the North" has just gone a little too far. Maybe I am being overly critical.Maybe I miss my wife and children back in New Brunswick. Maybe I am just being plain selfish, but why on God's Green Earth do all us people that live in the North and pay these extravagant fares, have to put up with the kind of sub-standard service that good old First Air provides? Do they really care? When I first read about the lawsuit that Canadian North was pursuing, regarding the tendering of the Canada Post mail delivery, my reaction was, "Why does Canadian North want to even bother?" Now I realize that is where First Air's bread and butter is and the traveling public is just the gravy to go on top of the meat. Yes, I know we have unpredictable weather. I also know that operating a business in the North is more expensive, so why do they cancel planes time after time using the excuse of mechanical problems? With the cost of a ticket they should be more than able to service their fleet of planes adequately. People up here should be in an uproar. There should be rioting in the streets. Normal human beings should not have to put up with it. First Air, I ask you, "Are we not worthy of being treated fairly?". The province of Newfoundland and Labrador is getting ready to enact a "Traveler's Bill of Rights" Law. Too bad the Government of Nunavut would not follow their lead. The plans are in place now to have Canadian North to provide 5 day a week service to Cape Dorset. All I can say to First Air, "Watch Your Back". Someone is creeping up on you and if your service does not improve you will definitely lose some of your valued customers.

Blizzard!!!!!

2008-03-03T21:43:00.006-05:00

Hey Everyone

Last evening a storm was brewing outside, but early this a.m. we dawdled off to work and it actually didn't seem too bad but as time went by it seemed to get progressively worse. School was finally canceled for the day at 10:20 a.m. An unexpected holiday is always nice. It was blowing real hard when I left the school around 1:00 pm or so. If any of you recall an earlier post I made of "How Cold Is It?" I should have titled this one, "How Much Snow Can Fall In Your Bedroom?". The picture should be self-explanatory.

Cheers
Blake

Unexpected Holiday

2008-02-21T18:25:00.003-05:00

Hey Everyone

One of the inherent downsides of the teaching profession, and I know there are lots of cynics out there, is the fact that we are really tied to the opening and closing dates of school. If ever you are sick, have to go out on civic leave, or take a sport team away, there is a ton of preparation work to be done because you all know that the wheels of the education system keeps rolling along. You have to have adequate work ready for a supply teacher if you need one. When it comes to holidays, there is no other profession that has their days off dictated to them. Oh yes, I know we get 8 weeks in the summer, 2 weeks at Christmas, and a week somewhere in either March or April but heaven forbid if we want to take our family to Florida for 2 weeks in February even if we give our employer 2 years notice. I would be very surprised if anyone went into the teaching occupation thinking anything otherwise.
So when the principal comes into the staff room and says, "at 2:30 the DEA is closing the school because of a flu epidemic and it won't reopen until Monday", you are kind of left in a daze. Is the principal just pulling our leg? Are they really closing the high school, They must have meant the elementary school.
Anyway the short of it is , yes we are closed, but I will be working. You have no idea how long a 4 day weekend is especially when you are not expecting it.
I was out last night and took some pictures of the lunar eclipse. I haven't been taking as many pictures lately but this was one event I wanted to snap and I don't think they turned out too bad. Let me know what you think.

Blake

How Cold Was It?

2008-02-18T06:41:00.002-05:00

Hey Everyone

I was out for a walk yesterday and I managed to take this picture of a frozen chimney? How cold does it have to be before this happens and can it be any good for the people that use the building? Does it mean everything is frozen up inside too?

Beautiful Day

2008-02-14T20:13:00.002-05:00

Hey Everyone

Unlike the weather down home in Miramichi N.B., the day was beautiful up here today. Happy Valetine's Day greetings go out to my wife and children at home and all my family spread out across this great country. My father, who lives in Edmonton to be close to my sister, is 80 years young today. He is still in pretty good health and hopefully will have many more birthdays in front of him. The legacy of the "new kitchen stove" still continues as the replacement one my wife got emits smoke and a burning smell when you turn it on. She talked to the appliance store that supplied it and an appliance repairman today. It has been revealed that the problem could be deeper than anyone originally anticipated. Other news up here in Cape Dorset is that the Arena is now open and operational. Over the last number of months the Zamboni room, (which houses an Olympia) underwent major renovations. They also installed new professional style boards in the rink. It is really nice. The ice is incredibly fast, unlike myself, and the new boards add lots of zing to the pucks flying off. Wil and I are coaching the local Bantam team and I am really looking forward to the season. We have another practice tomorrow and hopefully more of the kids will have their gear and be able to participate. I think we will have a very decent team this year and we should be very competitive come Toonik Time.
Because this week was Teacher Appreciation Week, Ed, our principal, and his wonderful group of voluteers, Jean and Leona,(I don't know where we would be without the spouses of some of the staff) coordinated a wonderful Teacher Appreciation Lunch today consisting of roast beef and all the trimmings. Ed also passed out a little box of chocolates to everyone in order to show his appreciation for all our hard work. I myself received a nice little Valentine's day package from my wife. I can't wait till March 7th when I head out again to see her and the kids.
Well folks that seems to be it for now. I will try to get some photos up of the "new" arena.

Everyone have a great weekend

Blake

Won't Be Long Now

2008-02-11T19:45:00.000-05:00

Hey Everyone

Not a lot new here in Cape Dorset. I guess the biggest news is that after undergoing major renovations and repairs along with some scattered delays in receiving water, the Arena here in Cape Dorset has finally opened. The kids that play hockey seemed to be really excited over the fact that they would soon be hitting the ice. I am looking forward to it also. I really enjoy coaching and officiating the sport of hockey and it will certainly make the winter go that much faster. On the topic of winter, I couldn't believe how cold it was last week. It was by far the coldest temperature I have ever experienced in my brief (so far) stay in Cape Dorset.The weather seems to be warning up which bodes well for receiving a scattered snow day or two before we start our PI week. We haven't lost a lot of time because of weather but down home on the Miramichi, my kids have had 9 snow days so far this 2007-2008 school year. My wife says there is no place to put the snow especially now that we have an 8 foot fence between us and the neighbors. The one thing I don't mind about being up here is that snow just piles up and there is very little or no shoveling.
The other big news taking place in my hometown is the work of an incompetent pathologist.The Miramichi Regional Health Authority is auditing about 15,000 tests such as cancer biopsies analyzed by a former pathologist, work that is now under police investigation. Read now about the story here. Scary stuff indeed. I wonder how many people have actually been affected in an adverse way.
Well folks not much new here. I will try to get some pictures up of the newly renovated rink shortly.
Have a great week everyone.
Blake

More Unique Northern Experiences

2008-01-25T19:35:00.000-05:00

Hey Everyone

It has certainly been a long time since I posted anything. It's good to be back in Cape Dorset. It will only be six more weeks now and I will be on my way home again. I was late getting back after Christmas because I acquired a nasty inner ear infection. This infection also precipitated me to cancel my flight back into Cape Dorset twice before eventually getting here on Saturday the 12th. Many thanks to Noah and Brian for putting me up for the night on the 11th in Iqaluit. Flying in the north is truly an experience. After being in town for a couple of days I decided I would make arrangements for my PI/Easter trip home for the 10th to 23rd of March. All the proper arrangements were made. I would be leaving Cape Dorset on Friday evening the 7th on First Air. From there I would be taking a Canadian North flight from Iqaluit to Ottawa. After spending the night in Canada's capita I would then catch an early morning flight from Ottawa to Moncton and be home on the Miramichi in time for supper on the 8th of March. This is where it really gets interesting. I get an e-mail early this week advising me that Canadian North has changed its schedule. They now fly earlier on Friday starting the 18th of February and a First Air flight out on Monday, Wednesday or Friday gets you into Iqaluit too late to get to Ottawa. What a pain. After speaking to Canadian North, they have made arrangements to put me up at the Frob on Friday evening and send me out on Saturday evening aboard First Air. I will have to spend Saturday evening in Ottawa and now will get home on Sunday instead of Saturday. I guess it could be worse. Or could it?
Last evening our water pump started making the tell tale sound of not much water in the water tank. I wanted to call someone about it last night. I thought it was kind of strange. We have only run out of water once and that was early in the fall of 2006. It has never happened again. The water truck always seems to be on the go and I think we are scheduled for delivery at least 3 times a week although they seem to come more often than that.I got up early this a.m. in the hopes that they may have delivered in the night but alas they did not. I squeezed enough water out to have a quick shower and brush the chicklets. There was no way in the world I was ready for what was to come next as I arrived home this evening. The water delivery boys told my roomate that they thought the water overflow pipe was plugged and there might be a little bit of water on the crawl space floor. I didn't put much pass to it. I figured the small puddle would dry up. My roomate arrived home to find that they had pumped 3000 liters of water onto the crawl space floor. The fill pipe that is connected to the tank had become dislodged sometime over the last couple of days and the water deliveries were not even making it into the tank. They were just going into the crawl space and pouring out the floor drain. The funny thing about this, and I am not placing blame on anyone, was that the water tank only holds 2000 liters. But again, how were the guys delivering supposed to know as the cause of the accident was inside the crawl space. They couldn't see that the pipe was not connected. Actually it is quite funny. The only thing of any value down there was some toilet paper,(we all know how valuable that is in the north), a suitcase that Air Canada/First Air/Canadian North has destroyed in my travels up here, and a few books. There was some hockey gear of mine down there but it isn't exactly Hockey Hall of Fame stuff even though it is quite antiquated. Two good things about all this is:
1) It will all dry out eventually
and most importantly
2) At least it wasn't sewage

Like I said my friends, things can get very interesting up here in the north.

On a closing note, I want to congratulate Jen and all the other Nunie Nominees. Good luck in your quest. I hope the writers strike isn't affecting you all too much

Cheers

Blake

Cruel Joke?

2007-12-20T07:25:00.000-05:00

Hey Everyone

As I mentioned in an earlier post,two other teachers here at the school and their spouses plus myself purchased a ticket for Kenn Borek in order to leave earlier and also to guarantee that we would be able to begin our trek east for Christmas. I also mentioned the rationale behind it was the fact the First Air is not very reliable and Kenn Borek is very reliable. The only downside flying with Kenn Borek is the very minimal baggage they allow you to fly with. First Air cancels or delays flights it seems on their whim. The only way Kenn Borek does not get in is if there is a blizzard. Well everyone I just checked the Environment Canada's weather and they are now calling for a blizzard today and into the night. I hope it is either a cruel joke on the part of one of their meteorologists part or someone hacked into the website and defaced it with a "Blizzard Warning", when it fact it is going to be sunny cold and clear.

Stay tuned

Blake

The Countdown is On

2007-12-14T10:46:00.000-05:00

Hi Everyone

The countdown is now on. In 170 hrs or so (give or take a few minutes) we should be winging our way south from Iqaluit to Ottawa. Five of us are so determined that we have got 2 tickets to get out of Cape Dorset, one on Kenn Borek for Thursday night and one for First Air Friday morning. I bought my First Air ticket way back in early September with the NTA contract number and since we are teaching until Thursday afternoon it was not leaving us much wiggle room as far as connections go. I had been thinking about the scenario for a few weeks as to what would happen if First Air cancelled coming into Cape Dorset because of weather. Would we get out in time to catch a connection to Ottawa? Would the flights be all full going to Moncton from Ottawa? Since that time other things have popped up. Would First Air have mechanical problems? Would they have pilots for the planes? Would the weather be too nice to fly? I think you get the picture. They seem to arbitrarily cancel flights whenever they feel like it. The flight due in last Friday a.m. did not get in till sometime around 5:00 pm Monday and then the straw that broke the camels back was the plane that was supposed to leave yesterday morning at 10:30 or so did not finally leave until 4:00 p.m. The situation for one of the staffs wives is that instead of getting into Newfoundland sometime today, she is not going to arrive until sometime early Tuesday morning. That, my friends, is one honkin pile of Christmas vacation used up sitting in airports and motels. That is the biggest inconvenience. Paying an extra $285 for a plane ticket and a motel room for the night in Iqaluit is a small price in order to get home on at the time planned. Besides, since I booked with the contract number they give us a refund if we cancel at least 2 hours before the flight. The first thing I will do when I get in to Iqaluit on Thurday night is go to the First Air desk and cancel the Cape Dorset to Iqaluit portion for Friday a.m.I am not going to get home any earlier but unless there is some huge weather related delay (which I certainly understand can happen)I will be getting home before Christmas. If you look on the Air Canada website and check flights you will see that from December 22nd to December 25th is sold out going to Newfoundland. The earliest you would get home is Boxing Day.

Have a great holiday everyone.

Blake

A Whirlwind Couple of Weeks

2007-12-08T23:37:00.000-05:00

Wow Everyone

Where has the time gone? Has it ever been a busy bunch of weeks. So much has gone on and I have been to Iqaluit so often that the staff is starting to call me a hobby teacher. On the 23rd and 24th of November I attended a Hockey Canada coaching clinic in Iqaluit.It was very enjoyable and I learned a great deal. It has been a long time since I attended one of these and the gentleman, Rug Pritchard, that out it on really knew his stuff. The ODHA is very lucky to have someone like him. Because of the flight schedule here in Cape Dorset, it was necessary take 2 days off from school (Friday and Monday). The other big news from that weekend was one of our students won his division in Territorial table tennis and is now going to attend the Arctic Winter Games in Yellowknife in March. Because the coaching clinic wasn't beginning until around 5:00 pm we roamed around Iqaluit and I had an opportunity to visit the Legislature where we all received some beautiful caps from our MLA's executive assistant Theresa Hughes. She was very accommodating and allowed us to take the nickel tour of the legislature even though it was in the process of getting ready for a some kind of inquiry and it were janitors busy cleaning it. If you are ever in Iqaluit this is a must see place as the artisan work is something to behold.
No sooner had I returned to work on Tuesday the 27th than I was informed the hamlet wanted me to return to Iqaluit for a Hockey Canada officials clinic. This took place on December 1st but again because of flight schedules I had to take Friday the 30th and December 3rd off. The course allowed me to retain my level 1 Hockey officials certification. When I returned to Cape Dorset on Monday evening there was rumour of a storm brewing and we might be in for some sort of school cancellation Tuesday. The prognosticators were not wrong and even there was school in the afternoon we had early dismissal because of a staff meeting so I didn't even get to do my regular Tuesday duty. It was a real bonus because I have never had school ever canceled on a day I had supervision duty. To sum it up, a four day work week, then a three day work week, and then a three and a half day work week. I have no idea how I am going to get this week in having to work 5 days. But I am a big boy and will suck it up. We served the students breakfast this past Friday morning. Thanks to the ladies for doing the cooking and making everything perfect. On Friday evening we showed a movie at the school for our students. We had between 30 and 40 there. It was a big screen experience as we set the VCR up to run through the projector. Chris and Clyde did an awesome job on this. When you came into the school the smell of popcorn was floating in the air. We also had drinks, rice crispie squares. and cake. Thanks also to Ed, Cecil, Jean, Leona, Betty, and Donna. When we get back after Christmas we are going to try and do something like this every couple of weeks. We even had kids from the elementary school beating on the doors to get in but because it was a strictly Peter Pitseolak School event we didn't let them in. Maybe the staff at Sam Pudlat School will follow our lead and do something like this for their students. We had kids there that I knew would be there but there were a lot of kids at it that I never expected would show up. It was really nice to see because there is just not a lot of things for them to do especially now when it is so cold and dark for so many hours of the day. This Friday we have our Student Christmas Dinner, which is always a hit, and on Monday the 17th we have the Santa Claus parade and at 7:00 pm the annual Christmas concert. Clyde and I out our classes together and we are having a hard time coming up with a couple of songs but I am sure it will all come together.
Anyway folks thats all for now.
Along with this post are some pictures I took over the weekend.
In case I don't get a chance to post anything before I go home for the holiday, I want to wish everyone a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS AND ALL THE BEST FOR A JOYOUS AND PROSPEROUS NEW YEAR.

Cheers

Blake

Another Week Gone By

2007-11-16T19:26:00.000-05:00

Hey Everyone

Another week has gone by and we are just a little over a month away from going home for Christmas. It was a fairly busy week in Cape Dorset. With the holiday Monday it was a short week and with a staff meeting yesterday and house sports today the week really flew by. We are now bracing for a blizzard tomorrow and Sunday. I hope it is a slow moving disturbance and works its way into Monday. There is nothing like a weekend blizzard to bring about the waste of a good snowstorm. The school is organizing a Penny Sale for Friday November 30th. We hope to see lots of people there. The big prize is two return tickets to Iqaluit compliments of First Air. That is certainly worth taking a chance on. We also used the the staff meeting to set some important dates. On December 14th we will be having our annual Christmas Dinner for the students. I presume we will be serving it at lunch and rolling into house sports shortly after. On December 17th we will be having the community Santa Claus Parade and our Christmas Concert. Stay tuned for more specific times. I am off to Iqaluit next weekend for a hockey coaches clinic. It should be fun. I am looking forward to getting out to the big city for a couple of days. While I am there I will also cheer on our schools Table tennis team as they are there competing in the regionals. Have these guys ever improved, but then again they seem to play every free minute they have at school.

Hope everyone doesn't get snowed in but if you do, stay warm.

I almost forgot, Jean, Ed's wife arrived on Wednesday so Ed should be in an even better mood than he normally is.( If that is at all possible)

Have a great week everyone

Blake

Was It Really a Long Weekend?

2007-11-11T21:27:00.000-05:00

Hey Everyone

It's Sunday night and the long weekend is almost over, and boy did it ever fly by fast. It was a very busy week here in Cape Dorset as we had to get ready for a couple of big functions. The school was scheduled to host a Remembrance Day ceremony at the school on Friday afternoon and the School Cultural Committee organized an evening for the elders of Cape Dorset. Despite the fact that it snowed quite hard on Thursday and the Elders night had to be postponed until Friday night, we had an excellent turn out and everyone seemed to have a good time. The elders ate, sang, played games, and received prizes. They all really seemed to enjoy themselves. Much thanks to Chris and Leona, Cecil and Betty, Clyde and Donna, Muckshowya, Silaqqi, Ed, the local RCMP members and their relatives,and of course the girls from my Aulla class. Without all these people we would not have been able to pull off such an event. The Remembrance Day assembly that was held on Friday afternoon also seemed to go off without a hitch. As I said before this all took place on Friday.
On Saturday a little party was held for one of the elementary school staff that got married Thanksgiving weekend in Ottawa. It is the first time I have ever attended anything like this where one of the wedding participants was absent. These events make the time go much faster. All the best to Allison and Norm.
This morning I attended the Remembrance Day Service down in front of the Hamlet office. I thought there was a very good crowd despite the fact that they had been calling for a blizzard, which by the way, has never materialized yet. Maybe it will hold off till Tuesday in which case we could get an extra long weekend. But then again, that is my day for duty, and if school is canceled I may have to relinquish the extra pay I get for doing my duty day.(lol guilt is an awful thing) I am going to attach some pictures taken at the various events that took place this week and also some snaps I took on the way home today.
Speaking of pictures I should also thank Jen of Jen of Nunavut for taking pictures this weekend. If you get a chance, check out her blog. Her pictures are amazing.

Into November

2007-11-04T20:46:00.000-05:00

Hey Everyone

We are well into November, tomorrow is the 5th, and it feels so nice to be able to say "I am going home next month". The weather today was absolutely gorgeous. The sun was shining all day and it was bright, crisp, cool, and clear. I bummed another fantastic meal today compliments of Leona, Chris, and Ed although I am not sure how much of a part of the preparation Ed was responsible for. As I said before, the weather has really turned. The snowmobiles are out and the treacherous ice build up has been covered (thank god) over by the snow that seems to be falling little by little every night. We have a fairly busy week coming up with the Remembrance Day ceremony and an evening for the elders being planned at the school. For any local readers of my blog, we will be starting our Remembrance Day service on Friday November 9th at 1:00pm. Hope to see you all there. We also have scheduled an Elders Evening for Thursday to show our appreciation for all the elders in the Hamlet of Cape Dorset. By the sounds of it, we have got a really good response from the invitations and I hope we don't get struck by a blizzard or some out of the ordinary event to keep it from going off as planned. On my way home from school the other day there was still enough light and with the white clean snow providing a great background I managed to snap a picture of a beautiful husky just sitting right up and posing. Is there anything more northern? In an earlier blog I mentioned that the sealift had arrived and the hamlet took ownership of some beautiful new trucks for the water and sewage department. I managed to take a picture of one of the trucks out delivering a load of water. These trucks must be the envy of the other communities. I also took a picture of the town from atop the hill.

Have a great week everyone

Blake

Two Months Before Boxing Day

2007-10-26T19:43:00.000-04:00

Hey Everyone

I hope all of you had a great week. We had an awesome week up here in Cape Dorset. Report cards went out and we had Wednesday to meet with parents. I met with 12 sets of parents/guardians so it really wasn't that stressful and I had a chance to get some more planning done for the second part of the first semester. We had a great feed of duck the other night compliment of Leona, Chris , and Ed. They had quite a selection of food. Turkey, duck, salt beef, potatoes, carrots, dressing, cabbage, parsnips, peas pudding, and turnip ( I don't think I forgot anything). It was all followed up by a phenomenal chocolate cake, tea and coffee. I was literally stuffed like the duck. We are now on the downside towards Christmas and everyone seems to be in super duper cheer. It could be that or the fact that everyone has now got their sealifts delivered and put away ( Although if Marche keeps dinging everyones credit card for added charges that will take the shine off the grub). A couple of the staff got hit for an extra $300 or so as added expenses. What a way to do business. Imagine doing a job and realizing that it is more difficult than you thought it was and telling your employer you want more money. The employer would laugh in your face. I can't believe how slippery it is out. I blew a creeper coming home from supper the other night. I hit a patch of ice and as I was sliding I hit a rock and ripped it right off my foot.They didn't have much gripping ability anyway. Thank God my room mate had a spare and more heavier duty set. He has also received his new laptop and a sparkling new Belkin wireless router so now we both can work on our computers and not bother the other by seeing if they are using the internet. I brought up a hard wired router last year but it never worked right from day 1. Hopefully this will work better. Hope everyone had a great week and here's to a fantastic weekend.

Cheers
Blake

Sunsets and Carvings

2007-10-19T21:40:00.000-04:00

Hey Everyone

As you can tell by the picture, the sun has set on another workweek in Cape Dorset Nunavut. Except for a nasty ice build up on the roads which cancelled school for half a day this week, everything went along quite well. These unexpected school closures throw a real monkey wrench into the learning process but I guess if you are a teacher anywhere you just have to suck it up. That screeching noise your heard on Tuesday morning wasn't a car or truck sliding off the road, it was the education system coming to a grinding halt.(At least for a half day). We seem to have a dusting of snow every night so it makes all that ice just a little more tricky to negotiate on the way to work in the a.m. The smiles are even bigger this week around the school as our personal and school sealifts have arrived. By now everyone has theirs put away in storage for what looks to be a cold and snow filled winter.
The picture I took of the sunset didn't turn out all that great but we do not get a lot of them first of all because of the cloud cover and second of all for a couple of months the sun will barely get above the top of the mountains.
I also am quite proud of my latest carving purchase. I have been looking for one like this since last year and I have finally put my hands on one. I hope I can get it home to the Miramichi without breaking it all up.

I hope everyone had a great week and all the best for the weekend

Blake

Mid October already? Are you sure?

2007-10-13T12:29:00.000-04:00

Hey Everyone

I can't believe it is almost the middle of October and first reports will be going out soon. The year has gone great so far. The classes are bigger but I am use to the kids and especially their names and who is who. One of the unique things about the north when you first get up here, is the different names. Once you get a handle on the names and in my case, pronouncing them semi correctly, I think it gets a whole lot easier. The big thing I am doing today is cook supper for everyone at the school who has ever provided me a meal up here. There help and advise has been invaluable and without them I probably would not have lasted one month, let alone one year. Speaking of the last year, I think we have had more nicer days ( in number) this fall so far than we had all last year up until Christmas and it seems to be a whole lot colder too. The year certainly is flying by. In only 10 weeks we will be home for Christmas, weather permitting. I had a little break last week as I went out to Iqaluit for a teachers workshop. It was very interesting because this time it was a real teacher putting it on and he could really tell us how to apply the strategies. Too many times I have attended workshops like these where they have career academics (no disrespect to those who are university professors) who have no idea what life is like inside a classroom. I was also supposed to attend the Hockey Nunavut AGM but due to the weather I was unable to get out.
Well I gotta pop out to the kitchen and finish getting ready for supper.

Cheers for now

Blake

Airline and Housing Thoughts

2007-09-17T20:43:00.000-04:00

Hey Everyone

I am not going to be very long this evening. I just want to mention a few things to all the people thinking about coming up here to live. The price of plane tickets is getting outrageous. I know everyone says we get a northern allowance to cover that but, does it really? I know in my case I take 3 trips home a year, one at Christmas, one at Easter, and the big one in the summer. In my case my 3 trips times $2600 will cost around $7800. Then factor in the $7200 I pay for rent (I know I am getting off cheap but I live with another teacher), the $2400 I pay for utilities ( my share of the hydro, phone, cable, internet) and the extra cost I pay for a little sealift and it is easy to see we are not making the buckets of money that everyone thinks. If you have a spouse or partner with you your costs pretty much double. It is costing some people in the vicinity of $3000 per person to get home for Christmas. Rent just keeps rising along with the cost for travel. I really enjoy my school ,staff, and job but the added cost really has to make you think. I am pretty positive most of the time but these are 2 things that really tick me off. Does anyone else have any thoughts on the State of Housing and Airlines?
Don't forget to purchase your Christmas plane tickets as the price seems to be rising almost daily.

Cheers for now

Blake

A Day at the Beach

2007-09-15T21:42:00.000-04:00

Hi Everyone

Just making a quick post on the happenings here in Cape Dorset this week. It is a fairly dreary Saturday but yesterday was a great day as we held a cultural for our students out at the park. As you can tell by the pictures everyone had a great time. We played games, had elders come to tell stories, and fed everyone over a campfire. The other treat was the fact that our school rented a vehicle so we could usher around the elders and get our gear out to and back from the park. The one down side of the day was our principal, Ed, was not present as he was attending meetings in Iqaluit and Cambridge Bay. It was the first time I had ever been involved with something like this so I thought things went really well. It couldn't have been pulled off without the assistance of the Cultural Day Committee and the whole school staff. They did a bang up job. There were a few hitches in it but when we do our next one we know what we have to do to improve it. I hope everyone finds the picture entertaining. I am also going to try and add the Carving video. I hope it works.

Cheers for now

Blake

Tuesday September 11th 2007

2007-09-11T21:27:00.000-04:00

Hey Everyone

Just trying to make a post before we get too far into the week. I tried to make one last week but I tried to upload some video I did of some Cape Dorset carvers but the connection here is so slow that it would have taken 3 days to get it transferred. On the positive side, I got my phone line fixed. Joey and his helper were here last night around 9:00 pm to put a new outside drop in. On the long weekend we went on a brutally long but beautiful hike around Dorset Island. We seen some truly amazing sights of which I will post some pictures of. Thanks to Cal of the Coffee Shop, and his family for being our guides. It took us around 7 hours of steady walking and if anyone is familiar with the terrain it wasn't what you would call a walk in the park.
Attached are some pictures of the group and some gorgeous scenery. I certainly won't be making this trek again anytime soon.

Cheers for now
Blake

Phone Troubles and Beach Pictures

2007-08-30T21:42:00.000-04:00

Hey Everyone
Is anyone in the north reading this having any problem with their telephone. Our line has benn really staticy(?? is that a word) and then sometime in the night goes dead. If there was any emergency I would have a real tough time receiving a call or placing one. The local phone repairman was in the other day and said to try another phone of which I did but it hasn't seemed to make a difference. If anyone has or is having such problems please post. It is a quiet night here in Cape Dorset. The first full week of school has almost come to an end and things have gone very well. Classes seem to be excellent but I do know it is early. They will certainly try to test this sophomore before the year is out. As promised in an earlier post, I am going to upload a few pictures taken last weekend out at the beach.Note the neat rock formation. Just a little more information on my telephone problem. I was just called my wife and between loads and loads of static she said she had called me 3 times this evening. She said the phone rang and rang but no one answered and I was home all evening. I guess maybe the problems worse than expected.

Cheers for now
Blake

Back for Another Year

2007-08-25T21:29:00.000-04:00

Hey Everyone

I arrived back in Cape Dorset for another school year on the 20th of August. Summer is so short and by the feel of the weather today it is even shorter here. At Peter Pitseolak School all the staff from last year is back except we have a new principal but Ed was here the past 2 years as a grade 11 teacher so I am sure he knows what to expect. Some of last years staff shuffled around to new teaching assignments and we have new grade 8 teacher, Cecil, but he was here last year teaching at Sam Pudlat School. I think we are going to have an awesome year just with the fact that I am more knowledgeable about what to expect. We had our first regular day of classes on Friday and everything went peachy.
I had an excellent supper of char last evening compliments of Ed, Chris, and Leona. Very tasty indeed. It almost feels like I never left the Miramichi.
Some of us went out for a "boil-up" this afternoon which was excellent. How could a menu of teabuns, lassie toast and bread, teabuns, balogna, beans, and tea get any better. We walked out towards a sandy beach where the waves were breaking on the rocks just like I have seen in pictures of Peggy's Cove. It was all really nice getting back in the groove of doing some walking. Over the last year there are not a lot of places I haven't discovered in Cape Dorset but this was one of them. I will post some pictures later.
Well I must get back to the tube as I am watching the NASCAR race from Bristol .

Till Later

Blake

A Little Over 4 Weeks Left

2007-05-23T19:45:00.000-04:00

Hello Again Everyone

It has been a month since I last blogged and as I sat down at the computer this evening to download some music on my mp3 player I thought it would be time to make a small addition. I can't believe the school year is almost done. I also can't believe that May is only 31 days long. It seems like we are on day 76 in May. The kids are so restless and do not seem to want to do anything this time of year. I really can't blame them. For the first time up in the north I can honestly say I am really exhausted. I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that when I got up for a drink of water this morning at 2:00 am I could not believe how bright it was and it seemed to take me forever to get back to sleep. Staying up late watching NBA and NHL playoffs doesn't help either. Thank god that tonight is totally devoid of any major sporting event, except if you are a BlueJay fan, so it is going to be an early night for me. This past holiday Monday I had a great hike up to the falls with the crew where we fried up baloney and beans on a fire and had tea and treats. It was so mild.
Well the weeks almost done and it is just about time for me to hit the hay.

Till later

Blake

2007-04-26T17:16:00.000-04:00

o
Hey Everyone
Hope everyone had a great Easter. It seems like that holiday was ages ago. Not a lot has happened here in Cape Dorset since I got back. A lot of the same old stuff actually. One thing did happen over the holiday that I hope to be able to share with you all. I purchased a new 12x optical zoom digital camera so I hope to display some of my pictures here.
The first picture you see is one I took of our lovable dog Benji. I rescued him from the SPCA in Bathurst around 5 years ago and he is probably one of the best pets we ever had.
Isn't he cute??

The next photo is a picture I took of a huge (2 feet x 2 feet) carving of a bear. The carver who produced this has a pretty unique style that I have not seen anywhere in the north up to now. My roomate purchased it for a little over $400. I think that was a steal.

This next photo was taken out at the park last Friday night. I initially thought it was an iceberg but after looking at it more closely I realize it probably is not

This next photo is a picture I took of the Territorial Minister of Housing ( on the left) and the Premier of Nunavut on the right. They were in Cape Dorset yesterday for the official opening of the new outdoor rink that the local RCMP constructed in memory of a fallen member. The 2 gentlemen were very obliging and seemed very nice. If anyone knows their names let me know. I think this is one that should be in the paper.

This last picture is one taken during a the official opening. The RCMP always look really impressive when they are dressed in their red serge. Don't you agree.

Well that pretty much brings you up to date on the happenings here. Oh yes I almost forgot We had a very successful penny sale in support of our 2007 Graduation Class. We raised a little over $2000. The big prize or I should say prizes were the 2 qamotiks. The same person one both of them. What a coincidence.

Till later
Blake

My New Toy

2007-04-25T22:14:00.001-04:00

Well Everyone

I received a new toy when I was home at Easter, a new 12x digital camera. It's a real beauty. Just kind of getting the hang of it.

The first picture you see is the first picture I took with the new camera. His name is Benji and he is 4 or 5 years old, I am not quite sure. I picked him up from the animal shelter in Bathurst N.B. He is a great pet but thankfully I had to leave him at home with everyone else. ( I am not that attached to animals)

This picture is one that was taken at our penny sale in support of our graduation. We raised over $2000 to go towards the festivities that will take place around June 15th 2007

This picture is a fine example of Inuit art that gets bought and sold up here in Cape Dorset. It was one of the biggest pieces I have seen that someone could actually buy for less than a weeks salary. It must weigh at least 40 lbs and stands 2 feet X 2 feet

This one was taken today at the official opening of the beautiful outdoor rink that the local RCMP built in memory of a fallen member. Don't they look awesome in the Red serge? Truly Canadian eh?

Wow!!! A Month has Flown By

2007-03-16T20:52:00.000-04:00

Hey Everyone
I can't believe it has been a month since I last posted anything. I guess thats the result of being fairly busy with hockey and the days have generally been getting longer so we are doing a bit more outside stuff on the weekends. In a little over 2 weeks from now I will be home celebrating Easter with my wife and children. It just seems we got over Christmas and St Patty comes tomorrow. To all those of Irish heritage and all those others who wish they were, "Happy St. Patrick's Day" tomorrow.
There is one thing about Cape Dorset that you can't beat is the weather. We have had some really gorgeous days in the last month. More nice days than all the fall for sure. I can't believe how clean and white the snow is and how the sun seems to really take hold through the day.
Another big thing that is happening soon is I am co - coaching the Baffin Junior C Hockey team in Rankin Inlet next weekend. That requires I take 3 and a half days off school starting Thursday and returning to Cape Dorset on Tuesday morning with overnight stops in Iqaluit on Thursday night and Monday night. I am really looking forward to seeing another part of the north. The 2 other teams are from Cambridge Bay and Rankin. They have played together most of the season while these will be our first games of the season. Regardless of whether we win or lose I take comfort in the fact that we will be a truly regional team while the others have a chance to play together all season because most of their players are from one area,ie Cambridge and Rankin. The winner of the tourney gets to represent Iqaluit in New Brunswick the next week for the Eastern Canadian Championship. Hey, with a hot goaltender you never know how far you can go. Thats the fun and excitement of living in the North.
Well folks, thats all for now. If you are in Rankin next weekend come on out and cheer us on.

Cheers for now
Blake

The End of Another Week

2007-02-16T20:10:00.000-05:00

Hey Everyone

We just finished up another great week of school in Cape Dorset. In a little over 6 weeks it will be Easter and time for another visit to see my family back in New Brunswick. Not a whole lot has been happening here. They had some major destruction up at the elementary school a couple of weeks ago where a couple of young adults basically trashed the school. What a mess. I also managed to get a picture of the top jaw of a polar that one of the wildlife officer brought to the school. Note the major set of teeth!!The weather has been so so here. No big storms but just blowy and cold enough to keep you from getting outside consistently. Speaking of outdoors, what a difference in the daylight. It just seems like yesterday that we were bathed in darkness between 3:00 pm and 10:00 am the next day. Now I am walking to school in the daylight and coming home in the daylight. It's really nice. Next week should be a pretty decent week again as we have an AIDS/HIV Fair at the school on Tuesday afternoon and then a sessional day on Friday. With no sunshine today the community looked really barren with a light snow falling and something like ice fog floating on the tops of the mountains.
Well folks thats about it for now.
Cheers till later
Blake

January 30th

2007-01-30T20:31:00.000-05:00

Hey Everyone

Well we are basically wrapping up another week. With the Baffin Chamber of Commerce and Skills Canada taking over our school Thursday and Friday we are going to have a short instructional week. Not a whole lot has happened to me this week. The biggest thing was trying to get back in the groove of teaching regular classes. After getting back after Christmas we just seemed to be in exam mode and we spent a fair bit of time reviewing. Now it is back to the regular routine and it is really nice. The big news in the community this past week was a local 12 year old bagging his first polar bear. In closing I will include some photos and let the pictures speak for themselves. All I am going to say is that he was a pretty big bear ( 12 feet from nose to tail). I wouldn't want to meet up with it

Till Later
Blake

Another Exciting Northern Experience

2007-01-23T16:53:00.000-05:00

Hey Everyone

First of all an apology goes out to the loyal readers here. I will try to make more frequent and interesting posts but work at school has kept me extremely busy ( we are in the midst of exams and closing out one semester and beginning another) and also there did not seem to be a whole lot blogworthy to write about. As the evening started out last night you could have called me Johnny Blackcloud. I received my first officiating assignment at the local arena and being about -40 with the wind chill and the rink being a fair distance away I decided I would call the local cab. But alas to no avail, they didn't seem to be answering the phone. So I hauled on my togs and wended my way up towards the rink. Actually if you dress properly the cold is not that bad. It does not seem near as cold as -40 would down in the Maritimes because the cold it so dry up here. After getting to the rink, digging through and finding an XXL sized referee top I was ready to go. Because it was so cold I left my snow pants on. As I went out on the ice I realized I should leave my keys in the officials room. As I dug in my pockets I realized I had lost my keys somewhere between leaving home and going out on the ice. I searched everywhere. Maybe I put them in my coat. They were not anywhere to be found. This is a disaster as the keys to the school, my house, cabinets in my classroom, and even keys to my classroom were all gone. All I could think of is how much it would cost to change all those locks and give staff new keys. I was almost sick. I had no time to dwell on this as there was a game to be officiated. Thank God Mike ( he works at the GN) arrived to help. He is a level 4 official and I am a mere rookie. I hope I don't have to do a game by myself in a while. Well it is about 4 minutes into the game and play goes into the corner. I get tangled up with the puck and the next thing I know is the plastic that holds the blade to the boot on my skate snaps. I am like a cow on ice. It was almost surreal. I have never had anything like this happen before. Off I go to the dressing room as and Will fetches me another skate. The problem is they are a Bauer Supreme and they are much narrower than my CCM Tacks which happen to be heat molded to my foot. Also as with any bad luck there also seems to follow shortly after some good luck. When I went down with the blown skate my keys must have fell down between the ski pants and my jeans. I was on cloud nine. I managed to get through the game ( with much thanks to Mike) with only a few blisters because of the odd skate. I think we get paid $15 per game. I don't know if there is a harder way to earn $15 and I really don't want to find out. As I sit here and blog about last night, some questions and observations come to mind.

1) At first I did not understand why no one was playing with a half visor like I do. I realize now that not only do they fog up, they frost up. Near the end of the game I had to flip my visor up so I could see. There must have been a half inch of ice on the inside. Visors are definitely not suitable for play in the North that is unless there is some way to prevent this "freezing up"

2) My skates were not use to being out in such cold weather and thus cracked. They are a SL-2500 blade so I do not know if that makes a difference. By the way does anyone that reads this know of anyplace in Iqaluit that might be able to replace my blades? I know I can get it done down south but someplace a little closer with a shorter turn around time would be best.

3) Make sure of your keys. ( self explanatory)

Till later

Blake

I'm Back

2007-01-15T17:44:00.000-05:00

Hey Everyone

After a nearly month long hiatus from blogging I am back now to eventually fill you in on all the interesting stuff that has taken place over the last month, the best part of which was re-connecting with my wonderful and truly understanding family. I thought I might get a chance to create some notable postings but I was kept so busy doing family stuff ( and thoroughly enjoying it I might add) that I didn't give blogging a second thought. I am off now to watch the second part of 24 and I will tell you more about my holidays later.

Till after
Blake

Almost There

2006-12-19T14:38:00.000-05:00

Hey Everyone

We are down to our last 24 hours before leaving for Christmas. We had a massively successful Chritmas Dinner for the students at Peter Pitseolak School at lunch today. We served them a beautiful roast beef dinner with potatoes, peas, turnips, carrots, gravy and a drink. For dessert they had fruit cocktail. They really enjoyed it and there is enough meat left over that we will serve them roast beef sandwiches tomorrow for lunch and then send them home at 1:00 pm. In the morning we will play some Students vs Teachers games and then they will have their House Sports.
Speaking of flying out, I know people from the south that read these blogs who wonder at times what the heck we are raving about when we talk about "The Plane". Since I am like a 5 year old at Christmas and finding it hard to fall asleep, I noticed I heard a plane land or take off late Sunday night or early Monday morning. I am not sure what time it was but once you live in the North even for a short while you realize that is not a normal time for a plane to land or take off from Cape Dorset. To give you the Coles Notes on the plane, I guess it was a Medi-Vac and a man had to be flown out because he had been " chewed out" by a woman. If you see any of the staff from Peter Pitseolak School while in your travels, you can ask them for more details, if you dare.
Well I am off to do a little more packing and if I get a chance I may post some more thoughts later tonite.

Ciao for now
Blake

Counting Down the Days

2006-12-18T13:37:00.000-05:00

Hello again Everyone

We we are now down to the last 48 hours or so until we leave Cape Dorset for Christmas. The weather is not looking really promising for Wednesday but I have to think positive. Besides, it is in my nature not to let little obstacles such as the weather get you down. As Ed has said repeatedly to me, " Don't even think about not getting out on Wednesday". So this is the last time I am going to think about it. Tuesday we are cooking a monstrous Christmas dinner for the students. Peter seems to have everything under control. I have to cook up around 10 pounds of roast beef for it. I will leave school at 4:00 pm and toss them in the oven. They should be done by 7:00 pm or so. The dinner is going to be served at around 11:00 am and then we have organized a Santa Claus Parade to begin after dinner. Guess who is going to play Santa Claus. I don't know if that is because of size or lack of seniority, but hey, I will take one for the team. How could you have a Santa Claus Parade without Santa Claus. I just hope the costume is insulated as it is -30 with the windchill. I also made arrangements for my overnite in Iqaluit. I am gonna stay with my sister in laws cousin, who is stationed with the RCMP there. I might even get out and do some Christmas shopping while I am there. I fly out of Iqaluit Thursday after lunch and finally get into Moncton at around 11:00pm that evening.
Thats all for now but if I get a chance I may post something before I leave.

Cheers for now
Blake

Almost Time to Go

2006-12-16T22:00:00.000-05:00

Hey Everyone

Wow, as I look back I realize it has been almost 2 weeks since I posted anything. That is the longest stretch of non-composition that I have had since I started this blog. Quite a bit has happened since my last post the 3rd of December. We have had a staff party, Christmas concert, craft sales, and various other events that make life in the North unique and interesting. Another teacher at the school, Ed, and myself have even managed to even do some team teaching, which I know they will appreciate in QSO. We have had to deal with non- snowstorms which seemed to result in non-planes bringing in non-mail. It must be a real pain when you stay up here for Christmas and rely on the planes to bring goods in. You might not have anything to go under your tree (if you have one) for Christmas. At our staff party on Friday evening we managed to create a little powerpoint presentation in honour of one of our retiring staff. I have only known Peter Maher for the better part of four months but like everyone at Peter Pitseolak School, I will miss his laughter, conversation, and culinary skills.

On behalf of all my loyal readers, All the best to you Peter may your retirement bring you much health and happiness. I am attaching a picture of Peter to this blog, so if any one sees him in their travels please wish him well.

Till later

Blake

A Little Over 2 Weeks Left

2006-12-03T22:09:00.000-05:00

Hey Everyone

It's not long now before we head out for Christmas. Stephen really got in the spirit this weekend, stringing lights and putting up a tree. It does not look too bad either. I find it tough to get in the mood when all my family is 2000 kms away. If I was staying for Christmas like my roomate maybe it would be different. Winter is really howling out there tonite. The windchill is around
-36 celsius. I went to the school earlier today to do some work but I couldn't get in. ( Is that a sign that I can go home early for Christmas). It seems the lock is frozen so I called Ed to see if he was going down and whether he could get in. He had a key for another door so I got in and got my week planned.
I went up to the local outdoor rink Saturday a.m. for a little skate and an opportunity to shoot a puck around. It was really cold to start out but I soon warmed up. Clyde S invited me in to his place for a cup of tea around 9:30 so I changed my footwear (I had skates on) and went on over. While I was inside, someone relieved me of Stephen's snowmobile goggles. That was kind of a bummer. I should not have left my stuff outside in his doorway. They left my skates, stick, and hockey gloves but took the goggles. You can not leave anything unattended for a minute in this community unless you either want it stolen or destroyed. $60 later ( to replace the goggles) I have learned another valuable lesson in the North. Then last night someone took the snowmobile. They jimmied the ignition and destroyed the kill switch. To tell you the truth I can't believe it was returned in as good a condition as it was. Thank goodness for a good samaritan discovering it and bringing it back. One thing about living in a small town is you know who owns what and this samaritan knew these people were driving a snowmobile that wasn't theirs. Despite what I said earlier, there are some good people in this town. Thank goodness for the honest people.
Till Later
Blake

Another Week Almost Done

2006-11-30T22:24:00.000-05:00

Hey Everyone

I know, I know, the posts are a little slow but being a very busy high school teacher I find it very hard sometimes to sit down at the computer and compose anything that might be in the least comprehendable but tonight here I am. It has been a very eventful week here in Cape Dorset. I was actually going to post something last night but I noticed that the blogger site was going to be down and I didn't want to take the chance that it might go down in the middle of a post. It happened to me once before and the language wasn't pretty. Besides some fantastic classroom instruction and world changing lesson plans, the week was also filled with a couple of fantastic meals compliments of Donna, Leona, and Jean. They are all fantastic ladies and Clyde, Chris and Ed are truly lucky. Great meals, great company, and all around great people. "How could it get any better than this" I just wish I had my wife up here with me. I think she would really enjoy it up here and the time certainly would fly by for me even more than it already has. As I write this post I realize 3 weeks from tonite we will all have landed or be getting ready to land in our respective destinations. I hope the little more than 2 weeks we have at Christmas will go a little more slower.
Well I am off to crash for the night. Hopefully I will get a chance to post some more on the weekend.
Till Later
Blake

Successful Penny Sale

2006-11-25T23:17:00.000-05:00

Hey Everyone

Just got back from picking up my newly sharpened skates from Andre's place. I went over there on the snowmobile my roomate has. It works pretty well. I am anxious for a little more snow in order to take it out for a really good run. My trip to Andre's took a little longer than expected because I was invited in for a spell. Andre wasn't home but Cal, Pete, Lloyd, Allison and Diane were very hospitable. Thanks very much for helping me get through another long Northern evening. Now on to the Penny sale. I think everything went very well. When all is said and done we should raise in the vicinity of $3000 to go towards a Christmas dinner for students and various graduation expenses. I am attaching some pictures taken at the sale, compliments of Ed and Chris. I was going to go visit them this evening also but it was late when I left Cal and Andre's. I may go over tomorrow evening though if I get some school work done. Everyone take notice of the beautiful quilt Jean and Leona made for the sale. It was another item that garnered a lot of interest. I was busy doing some other stuff as we wrapped up the sale. The people that won the computer seemed very pleased with their prize. I hope others were just as happy. Doris won one of the plane tickets so that will come in handy. The cake walks all went over very well too. Many thanks to the talented cooks who donated their wares. I also noticed that Clyde R and Chris are great packers. They might even get a little part time work during the festive season when they are home on "The Rock". Wal-Mart, Sobeys, Dominion, you better watch out.

Anyway folks, that is all for now. Enjoy the pictures.

Till later

Blake

Happy Friday

2006-11-24T23:17:00.000-05:00

Hey Everyone

Another week has flown by. Before you know it we will be home for Christmas. Finally got the Penny sale computer up and running. I even found a set of speakers for it so I will hook my MP3 player up to it tomorrow and play some tunes. It should be a real hit. We seem to have lots of stuff for the sale. Items such as , First Air and Kenn Borek tickets, snowmobile helmets, food, beverages. I think we have it most everything. On another more Northerly subject, winter has really hit with a vengeance in the last 2 weeks. As I reflect back, we didn't seem to have a heck of a lot of snow before the Remembrance Day weekend but now we seem to get a little bit everyday and it is starting to pile up and brrrr, is it ever starting to cool down. The windchill today was -20 in Cape Dorset but I see the weather is still pretty balmy back home in Miramichi.

Enjoy the pictures compliments of Ed and Chris. Thanks boys.

Till Later

Blake

Just a Quick Post Before the Weekend

2006-11-23T22:24:00.000-05:00

Hey Everyone

Just gonna make a quick post here to let everyone know I did not pack it in. After being a fairly regular blogger every 2 to 3 days I realize I haven't posted anything of note since the 17th. That is almost a week. I have 2 reasons which I think are fairly good. The first one is I have been working on a website for the school I work at, Peter Pitseolak School,(more on that at a later date when I have some substance to it) , the second reason is our school is having a penny sale on the weekend and I told them I would get a computer ready for them to raffle off. Well it has turned into one big headache as the motherboard was fried and I had to patch it up and now the hard drive is cooked and I can't do anything with it. Hopefully I can find a spare at the school tomorrow and replace it after Christmas when I bring more stuff back from my tickle trunk, install an operating system and have it ready to go by Saturday at lunch time. Parts are certainly at a premium as you just can't drive to Staples or WalMart and get replacement parts. I brought lots of stuff with me from the Miramichi but I neglected to bring a spare hard drive.
As for the week, everything went peachy. I can't believe how quick the time is flying by. Four weeks from today we will be home or getiing ready to land. I was talking to my wife and kids this evening as I do every night. They are very busy but eagerly awaiting my arrival. Tthe kids had excellent report cards and Luke was in a swim meet today where he swam numerous personal best. It's great that Ed is back. He has such a fantastic outlook on teaching and living in the North. It is almost contagious. Hopefully I can get the computer set up by Friday night at the latest so I am able to take part in a little game of shinny on the outdoor rink Saturday a.m. It is a great time to play because most of the competition ( teenagers) sleep till noon and Clyde and I will have the rink mostly to ourselves.
Anyway thats all for now. I will try to post later on the weekend and let everyone know how our penny sale went. If anyone is wondering, all proceeds to towards a Christmas dinner we put on for the students.

Till Later
Blake

Friday November 17th

2006-11-17T20:07:00.000-05:00

Hey Everyone

Another fun and exciting week of education in the North has come and gone and we are getting closer and closer to the big day. To sum up the week, there was a trip to Iqaluit highlighted by the "you don't know if you are flying until the plane actually takes off syndrome", staff meeting, drug and alcohol counsellor meeting, Championship and of course "The Teaching Moment". For a short little week there certainly seemed to be a lot that happened. Ed did a great job of refereeing. He should have been on the officials course with me last weekend.
And yes everyone, what would a week in Cape Dorset be without a few of these things. The first thing is snow. Lots and lots of snow has fallen. I have never seen so many snowmobiles in such a small area. This weekend I am going to try and get my roommates going as I believe it is part of the rental agreement. I also had my "Teaching Moment" this week where a student, who has done very little since the start of the school year, completed a worksheet for me that can stand as a model for all others who come after it. We shall call it " The Answer Key Above all Others". If you know any of the staff, please contact them and they can tell you what I mean. Another highlight of the week was the discovery of some new educational theory right here in Cape Dorset. Since some of the readers here are teachers I am sure they are familiar with the term "streaming". It can be a much hated or adored philosophy depending on where you teach and what type of students you teach. Up here in Cape Dorset we are blessed with the quick wit and sharp mind of one such educator by the name of Lloyd. He has discovered the "trickle" philosophy. They have people employed in provincial and territorial education departments being paid hundreds of thousands of dollars just to come up with buzzwords. I think Lloyd should patent this and take his rewards.
Thats all for now folks. If I get a chance I will post some more later on the weekend. I hope to get my skates sharpened and use the new outdoor rink sometime on the weekend

Till later

Blake

5 more weeks

2006-11-15T21:28:00.000-05:00

Hey Everyone.

I didn't get a chance to post anything yesterday so I thought I would make up for it today. The week is almost done. Only 5 more weeks until I leave Cape Dorset for Christmas. I even did some shopping when I was in Iqaluit this past weekend. Just touristy stuff mostly. Can't tell exactly what I purchased because you never know who is reading this. My wife sounds like she is really busy with work, kids, keeping up the house, meetings, basketball, taxi driver. She reminded me that most everything her and the kids go to every evening will be cancelled when I get home at Christmas. Just my luck.( chuckle chuckle) It should be really relaxing. Also got word that First Air has changed its Friday flight schedule in April and will be leaving in the morning. That could be a real pain for us teachers when June rolls around and the last day of school doesn't finish up till noon. I am pretty confident something will be worked out by then. I am also going to attach a few more pictures Ed took on his walk Monday. There are certainly some interesting ones.

Till later

Blake

Pictures Compliments of Ed

2006-11-13T22:48:00.000-05:00

Hey again

I almost forgot about the great pictures Ed took today out at the park.

Blake

Back in cape Dorset

2006-11-13T22:04:00.000-05:00

Hey Everyone

After a funfilled weekend in Iqaluit I am finally back in Cape Dorset. It is a good thing I arrived back tonite because withthe weather brewing like it is I probably would not have got back here till Wednesday. Actually I drove the people working for First Air nuts as I was only able to get back here because I was on the stand by list. As it was the flight was delayed by around 4 hours. The referree clinic was entertaining and there was a lot of information to be gleaned from such a session. Though I am not entirely in love with the way the obstruction rules in the "New N.H.L." are being interpreted, I knew it would be only a matter of time before the rule interpretations would work its way down to the amateur level. I hope all players, coaches, parents, and administrators understand that these obstruction fouls are going to be called by officials in a fair and consistent way. A hearty congratulations goes out to all participants in this past weekends soccer tournament which took part in Iqaluit and especially all the medal winners from Cape Dorset.

On another local note congratulations go out to Annie Pootoogook on winning the 2006 Sobey's Art Award What a fantastic honour!!! My wife and family also saw a story on her on CBC and this is where you will also find a great photo essay of her work.

It looks like I missed a pretty good weekend in Cape Dorset. I think the guy doing the officials clinic forgot that it was Remembrance Day. It looks like they had a real nice service in front of the Hamlet office. Also kudos go out to Chris and Clyde for organizing a very touching service at the school on Friday. Ed also took some real nice pictures out at the park earlier today. I hope everyone enjoys them.

Till later

Blake

Another Day Done

2006-11-08T18:41:00.000-05:00

Hello Everyone

Well Wednesday has almost come and gone and before you know it another week will be done. I am pretty excited today as I received a call from the Hamlet Recreation Department and they are sending me out to Iqaluit for the weekend to take part in a hockey officiating clinic. It works out perfect as I do not have to get a supply for school because I am flying out on Friday after school, and I am returning either sometime Sunday or Monday. ( which is a holiday). It will be like going to a big city considering I have been in Cape Dorset since August 18th. It will certainly be a nice break but not as nice as the one that will begin 6 weeks from today ( I will be leaving for Christmas)I am also posting pictures Ed took last year about this time to give the Southern Readers a taste of some of the scenery this time of year.

Bye for now

Blake

Congrats to one of Canada's Top 10 Doctors

2006-11-07T16:20:00.000-05:00

Well Everyone
So far most of the writing in my blog has been about the events and challenges I have been a part of up here in Canada's North. Today's blog is being dedicated to a great friend and Miramichier Dr. Rob Boulay, who was recently named one of the Top 10 Doctors in Canada. It is an honour well deserved and Merita and I will certainly have a few celebratory drinks with he and Bernadette ( his wife) when I get home at Christmas. I am attaching a picture of Rob and his wonderful family, and to the Boulays, don't be the least bit embarrassed. Most of all enjoy it. Afterall, fame is fleeting.

Blake

Another Eventful day

2006-11-06T18:05:00.000-05:00

Hey Everyone

It was another fun filled and eventful day in the north. As Ed would say, " How could it get any better than this?" Things cruised along quite nicely with my classes today. The children are such a joy. One of the students even tried to hug Stephen today. I can't understand why he wouldn't accept it. The student was just trying to show his love and understanding towards his Phys-Ed teacher.As I finish up this post I have one eye one the screen and another one out the window. They are calling for some nasty weather in Iqaluit and Clyde River. Might there be any hope for Cape Dorset? The winds are going to be fairly gusty tonite,50km/hr to 70km/hr for tonite and tomorrow morning. All we need are some flakes of snow to go with that. As the boys from "The Rock" say, " Maybe we are in for a PET day". I will sign off for now. Merita, Luke and Emily, I will talk to you later.

Bye for now

Blake

Merita Toiling at Home

2006-11-04T11:33:00.000-05:00

Seeing that it is almost 7 weeks till Christmas got me thinking about how much I am going to miss all the hustle and bustle up till the big day. The build up is what makes all the fun but it sure will be nice to have an almost 2 week break after Christmas. Attached is a picture of my wife and I enjoying a glass of wine. Hopefully we will have plenty of times like this when I get home.

Till Later

Blake

Home in less than 7 weeks

2006-11-04T11:15:00.000-05:00

Hey Everyone

I know, I know, it is starting to sound like a countdown, but it is so true. I have been in Cape Dorset a longer time now than it will be before I go home for Christmas. October really flew by with sessional days, Parent teacher interviews, mid term reports, and Thanksgiving making short weeks most every week. We have a full week with the students this week but we also have a Remembrance Day Ceremony at the school so no doubt next weekend, another long weekend, will be on us before you know it. Peter cooked another fantastic meal for the staff yesterday as he made a phenomenal stew. It was delicious. As I mentioned earlier this weekend coming up is Remembrance Day where we give our thanks and pay tribute to Canada's brave troops from all past and present conflicts. It is so important for us to remember.

Wednesday November 1st Going Home next Month

2006-11-01T15:08:00.000-05:00

Hello Everyone

We all made it through Halloween without any ghosts or goblins taking us away or doing any harm. It is now November 1st and I can finally say "I am going home next month". I can hardly wait. I will be brief for now but try to post something a little more substantial later today or this evening.If anyone is interested, here is a link to my hometown, Miramichi.

Till later

Blake

Lloyd's Puppies

2006-10-28T22:05:00.000-04:00

While I am at it Ed took some pictues again of the pups.I really think Lloyd is thinking about getting one so he will have company when he is out in the dooryard. Remember not get too attached to them LLoyd.

A Beautiful Northern Saturday

2006-10-28T21:51:00.000-04:00

Hey Everyone

It was a gorgeous day up here in Cape Dorset today. Probably the nicest saturday yet thus far. The crew went for a walk up to the falls at Q Lake and it was fantastic up there. My niece sent along some goodies from Woodstock NB earlier in the week and we enjoyed the hot chocolate, beef jerky, nachos, and ESPECIALLY the homemade salsa. Thank you very much Ellen, Andrew, Betty and Mike. I am attaching some pictures and I hope everyone enjoys looking at them.

Till later
Blake

Puppy Pictures and Other Things

2006-10-26T20:16:00.000-04:00

Well everyone it is Thursday evening and that sound you hear like a semi tractor trailer slamming on his brakes is actually the wheels of the Cape Dorset Education system coming to a screeching halt. We have a sessional day tomorrow and I do not want to ramble on too long, besides, I have a ball game to go watch. Many thanks to Ed as I am attaching some pictures he took of some extremely cute husky pups and also some other pictures taken in and around the community.Take note of the big sealift boat that most everyones grub, that is, all except Chris's, but thats a whole other story.Hey gang just think 8 weeks from today we will getting ready to land in our home provinces to spend the festive season with our families. I can hardly wait till next Wednesday when I can actually say, " I am going home next month"

Ciao for now

Blake

Wednesday October 25th

2006-10-25T18:46:00.000-04:00

Well it is the midpoint of the week but really we are further along than that. With a staff meeting and house sports tomorrow and a sessional day for Friday the week, as far as valuable instructional time is concerned, is pretty well done. One thing I forgot to mention in my earlier blog was the fantastic breakfast Peter prepared last Friday. Thanks Pete and everyone else who jumped in to give a hand. Peter is done in Cape Dorset in Decemeber and he is going to be sorely missed I am sure.
I also managed to change my ticket to go home for Christmas to the 20th from the 21st. I have to overnight in Iqaluit and I dont get home any earlier but it lessens the chance that the I will be delayed because of the weather.The girl, I think her name was Nancy, was very helpful and she is even refunding some money to me because I had not taken of an earlier discount.Thanks First Air for all your help. I am enjoying my time in Cape Dorset but it certainly would be depressing if I had to spend Christmas away from my friends and family. All the dry goods on the sealift have now been delivered. All that is left to arrive are the frozen goods of which I have ordered a crapload of. Also arriving yesterday was a nice little care package compliments of my sister-in-law Betty O and her daughter and son-in-law. There was all kinds of goodies and I especially enjoyed getting a couple of copies of the local paper. The internet makes it easy to get provincial, national, and international news but it is very tough to get any current news on your local community.Thank you Betty, Mike, Ellen and Andrew.
As I look back on the week it occurs to me that there are many things to be thankful for. Let us all pause and give thanks for the little things because they all add up.

Till later

Blake

Monday October 23rd

2006-10-23T13:38:00.000-04:00

Well another weekend has slipped by. 9 weeks from today is Christmas but what the heck, who is counting. Went out for a walk on Saturday with Cecil, a teacher at the elementary school. We trekked up towards the waterfall. It looks pretty nice with the way the water is beginning to freeze up on it. The weather itself has been not too great. The roads and walkways are all muddy and sloppy so the walking is pretty cruddy. The personal taxi service my wife is operating on the Miramichi has been keeping her really busy. Between that and work she has very little time for herself. I am in the process of changing my plane ticket for Christmas to leave Cape Dorset on the 20th of December instead of the 21st. This solves two problems. It gives me an extra day in case the weather is bad and the plane is delayed and also if I can get to Ottawa on the 20th there is a possibility I can get on an earlier flight on the 21st and be in Moncton early afternoon instead of 11:00 in the evening. I had a couple of great meals on the weekend compliments of Jean and Donna. Thank you everyone for making Cape Dorset feel a little more like home. I truly cherish the friendship and kindness you have all shown. I wish the temperature would fall consistently below zero in order to clean up the mud.
The students have been for the most part pretty good. Marks go out this week and it is a short week with the students( staff meetings Friday). Next week there will be parent-teacher interviews so we will have 1/2 day with no students for sure. Maybe even a full day. I also bought a really nice carving on the weekend of a polar bear. It will make a nice gift for someone.
Thats all for now
Till later
Blake

Picture by Goo

2006-10-17T22:50:00.000-04:00

Here is a photo of the drawing a mentioned in the earlier post.

Very Eventful October 17th

2006-10-17T22:40:00.000-04:00

Well where do I start? First things first, landed at the school this a.m.to see that some of the village ( or is it hamlet) idiots had broken out numerous windows in the school. It must have been a wild night in Cape Dorset last night or the criminals were really bored. This was the most blatant act of destruction I had seen so far.I was displaced from my classroom and had to teach most of the day from the library which was a real inconvenience. On a more positive note my niece and her husband had a beautiful 8 lb 5 oz baby girl. Congratulations Mary-Rita and Dave. I also purchased a print from one of the local artists which really displays a good many characteristics of Cape Dorset. Well I am off to hit the hay.
Till later

Blake

The New Motel

2006-10-15T13:00:00.000-04:00

Pictures of the new motel

October 15th

2006-10-15T12:48:00.000-04:00

As I expected, the last week flew by with Monday being a holiday and all. Rumours were rampant in the community that our sealift was to arrive. The boat is definitely out in the harbour but it is just past noon on Sunday and there seems to be little to no movement. The shelves are getting pretty low on rations. I took the opportunity to go on the hunt yesterday for any signs of our sealift. The only sign of life Saturday was at rhe Northern and Co-op where there were tons of people around and also at the construction sight of the new motel.It is in the shape of an ulu so it is quite unique looking. I am now heading out to the school so hopefully the next time I post, the sealift will have arrived.

Till later
Blake

Locals on the Pond

2006-10-10T22:26:00.000-04:00

Here is a couple of pictures of the locals on the pond

Tuesday After the Long Weekend

2006-10-10T22:05:00.000-04:00

Well I survived my second loooong weekend in Cape Dorset. We are on the downswing now towards Chritmas. I have been up here away from my wife and children for almost two months and have not cracked up yet. It is the first real spell of cold weather and the pond next to my house has frozen over. The kids are now riding thier bicycles on it. It would be great to use to play some shinny on but unfortunately some of the local gillygoos decided they would cover it with rocks. Rocks every where. Unfortunately the ice was too thick and all they did was pepper the top with rocks.As I said earlier I survived the long weekend. I learned my lesson from the previous one and didnt hang around the school too long Friday. This did two things. It allowed me to get home early to watch the ball games and also gave me an excuse to return to the school on Monday in order to plan my week. So far the weather on the weekends have been no raving hell. It seems to blow a gazillion miles and hour on the weekends and it makes it not too appetizing to get out on the land.

Also I must give a kind thanks to all other bloggers for their kind words of support and pearls of wisdom on many such things.
Till later
Blake

Beginning of a new month

2006-10-01T16:02:00.000-04:00

It's the start of October. Before you know it Santa Claus will have come and gone. Had a pretty decent week to finish off September. We had the Terry Fox walk at our school and everything went great. Nobody got ran over by the R.C.M.P. vehicle and the kids cleaned up close to 500 hot dogs.Was invited out to supper( again) and had a big feed of homemade beans and char. Thank you Chris, Leona, Ed, and Jean. You have made the time go by much faster than I would have originally thought it would. I also got a ton of marking and planning done on the weekend so all in all it was pretty prosperous. Well I am gonna head out for a walk and come back and watch the Sunday night football game.
Till Later
Blake

Dreary and overcast Monday

2006-09-25T14:11:00.000-04:00

Hello Everyone
It is a dreary overcast day here in Cape Dorset. I am eagerly anticipating the arrival of a couple of packages from my dear wife. I hope something comes today but it is kind of foggy so maybe the plane will not even come in. On a positive note three months from now the presents will all be unwrapped and I will still have almost 2 weeks of glorious holidays left on the Miramichi.Am I anxious? You bet. This is the last week of September so time is flying by. NHL hockey, Thanksgiving, Remembrance Day, Sessional days. Soon the term will be over. My wife said September would be a long month and she wasn't kidding.If it gets a little colder we will soon have ice in the rink. Then time will really speed by. I have to go now and check ifI have any packages.
Blake

A few more pics

2006-09-24T21:14:00.000-04:00

Thought I would just post a few more pics of the views of here since I have been so slack.

Post # 2

2006-09-24T20:59:00.000-04:00

Well it has been over 3 weeks since I first started this. I thought now since I have received a little more education on Cape Dorset, its people, and especially my digital camera that it is time to start writing some stuff of substance and posting some pictures.
A cruise ship arrived last week and the community held a little reception for them. Below that is a view of the complex we live in.

Getting this started

2006-09-03T17:19:00.000-04:00

Well it's the 3rd of September and I am finally getting settled into life in Cape Dorset Nunavut.This is just the beginning of what I have promised many people down south would be many many posts and pictures of how life is in Cape Dorset.

Till later

Blake