Slower Than Before

Three weeks after the deadly fire that leveled an entire residential apartment block, the bodies of two missing people were finally recovered from the frozen wreckage. With the help of DNA testing and dental records, the bodies were identified as Andrew Papatsie, 27, and Connie Papatsie, 25. They were the adult children of Sarah Papatsie, a medical interpreter who was attending Arctic College to upgrade her training. A bilingual funeral service for the two victims was held on March 18 at Iqaluit's Cadet Hall. From the local media, three hundred people attended the service.

I haven't heard much about the survivors lately, but I can only assume that they are living well and recovering. I don't think anymore donations are being accepted because the last time I asked, I was told that there was an overflow. The cause of the fire is still under investigation but the authorities are worried that a new deadly trend is sweeping Iqaluit: adult fire-starters. In the past, fires were mostly the result of children playing with matches. Some of the contributing factors to adult fire-starters are: carelessness, alcohol, and aging infrastructure.

I felt that this past week moved at a slower pace because it was a full week of school . . . almost. If you recall from my previous post, the week of the 12-16th was really short because of the three-day in service at the beginning. Midterms were on the minds of every student because they were just two weeks away. For some, they had to write their midterms this week because they were participating in next week's school trip to Australia & New Zealand.

The next assignment for my Grade 9 guitar classes is to perform a short duet piece with a partner. I'm aiming for them to be ready on the first week of April. For Grade 11 English, we continued reading Of Mice & Men, understanding the plot and analyzing the characters. As an added bonus, we looked at writing resumes & cover letters. I did this because there was an upcoming Career Fair on Friday. Near the end of one English class, the upcoming Australia/New Zealand trip was brought up. Since I had been to both countries in the past, I explained what life was like, and how it felt to skydive twice in New Zealand. Since I had my laptop with me, I showed the students photos of my first jump. For junior & senior music, the week mainly consisted of practicing new & old pieces and giving them time to prepare for their midterms.

I took my first sick day on Tuesday because I had a headache and was feeling disoriented. After notifying the principal, I still had to make my way to the school to write teaching notes for the supply teachers. While I was writing my notes, the fire alarm sounded. Nobody had told me that the fire department was testing the alarm. The loud ringing only made my headache worse. Thankfully, I managed to finish writing the notes and make it back to my apartment where I slept until the late afternoon. I felt much better on Wednesday.

For Friday's Career Fair, several prospective employers (First Air, Services Canada, Armed Forces, etc) came to Inuksuk, handing out flyers, job applications, and spoke about what kind of workers they were looking for. From my observations, the table that was looking for summer camp counselors got the most attention from students. For lunch, the students in the home cooking course made delicious chili and salad for everyone.

Until Friday afternoon, everyone thought that there would be a full week of school. While I was organizing my office, an announcement came over the PA, stating that afternoon school would be cancelled because the city was halting the busses due to strong winds. Looks like everyone got a two & a half day weekend.

On the air cadet front, the drum line currently stands at four members. So far, they have been learning basic drum rudiments & rhythms. Next Saturday, I'll be teaching them drum maintenance. The cadets appear to be having a fun time learning marching percussion.

The weather in Iqaluit has been surprisingly chilly for the last several days, mostly due to strong winds blowing from the bay. More than once I had to walk around town wearing a face mask and ski goggles to protect my face and eyes. I felt like an astronaut wearing a spacesuit. Since I live in the town centre, there's no need for me to take a cab or buy a car. Everything is within walking distance. And walking is my exercise. On a school day, I wake up at 6am and leave after 7am. Rather than take the main road that circles around the plateau where the school is situated, I walk up a snow covered hill with my knapsack and laptop case. When I reach the top, I catch my breath and turn around. Gazing at the town below reminds me where I am. From there, I proceed to my classroom and set up for the day.

Sunday (today) was my second time playing organ for the local Anglican church. I practiced as much as I could and gave the congregation my best performance. It was good, they said, but recommended that I hold down the keys a millisecond longer because it sounds like I'm playing a harpsichord.

And finally, the north has been awash with news that the Cultural Property Export Review Board has directed the Border Services Agency to issue an export permit to a Norwegian group that wants to raise the Maud, a sunken ship, and tow it back to Norway. The Maud, named after Queen Maud of Norway, was built in 1916, and was sailed through Canada's Northwest Passage by famed Norwegian explorer, Roald Amundsen, between 1918 & 1924. The ship was sold by Amundsen creditors in August 1925 to pay off the large debts he accumulated from his expeditions in the North and South poles. The ship was purchased by the Hudson's Bay Company which renamed her Baymaud. She was to be used as a supply vessel but was frozen in ice at Cambridge Bay in 1926. There, she sank in 1930.

The project calls for the wreck to be raised, placed onto a barge, and then towed to Norway, 7,000 kilometres away. There, she will be put on display in a new museum in Asker, a suburb of the city of Oslo. The Norwegians are looking to begin the project in the summer of 2013 and is expected to be completed sometime in 2015. Good luck!

Two Weeks In One

For the first full week of March, I had to slightly tweak my lesson plans because several of my students were away at the Arctic Winter Games (AWG) in Whitehorse, Yukon. From the news that was trickling out of Whitehorse, Team Nunavut was doing its best and had managed to win many medals. Overall, Nunavut came 7th out of 9 with a total of 50 medals: 5 gold, 16 silver, and 29 bronze. Team Alaska came 1st, raking in a whopping 190 medals: 61 gold, 67 silver, and 62 bronze. I think it's because they have the money to provide the best training facilities and best athletic instructors.

For Grade 9 guitar, it was more testing and looking at notes on the third string. For Grade 11 English, we looked at grammar and sentence writing, specifically on how to avoid run on, empty, and padded sentences. These kinds of sentences were present in the students' short stories, so it was a good idea to address them. In senior music, we continued to practice the three Irish tunes I chose for the upcoming recess concert on March 16th, and as an added bonus, The Pink Panther Theme. Because of the AWG, my Grade 10 music class was rather small so most of the lessons were one-on-one, looking at playing techniques and what was going to be on the midterm exam.

In the middle of the week, I was contacted by Rus, an English minister of the local Anglican Church. He was looking for a keyboardist/organist to play for Sunday morning mass. The non-Inuit & Inuit congregations were using a parish hall to hold their masses until the opening of the new church in June. Even though I didn't have experience playing an organ, I decided to give it a try. Rus showed me the electric organ, with all its dials & pedals and we chose what hymns I would play. He said not to stress out and that if I were to play just simple chords, I would be fine. Nevertheless, I spent quite a lot of time practicing and reviewing on Saturday night. For my first performance, I restricted myself to playing on the lower keyboard and not using any of the pedals. The morning mass went well despite my mistakes and I was glad the congregation was forgiving. It only gets better from here, I reminded myself. It was decided that I would play every second Sunday.

After mass, I was invited to morning brunch at the Hotel Arctic where I ordered eggs Benedict with char. I spoke with several ladies who also came along, listening to their stories about living & working in Nunavut. All of them wished me the best with my temporary teaching position and urged me to stay in the north because there's always well paying opportunities. I took their advice under consideration.

The second week of March began with a three-day in service for teachers, meaning students had no school from Monday to Wednesday. The focus of the in service was to introduce teachers to a new curriculum titled 'Multiple Options' (MOs), where students would be given many more choices on courses and a better chance to graduate. But this would also increase the number of credits required to graduate. At the moment, a student needs 100 credits. With the new curriculum, a student will need 110 credits. The Department of Education was planning on rolling out the new curriculum in 2013, after many years of study and research. The first two days comprised of presentations, workshops, and Q&A sessions, lead by two people from the department. The third day was left to us to discuss & plan. We also used the third day to hold a staff meeting.

The handouts explained that the MOs were divided into six sections that students could pursue. They also explained that more trade skill courses such as welding and mechanics would be introduced and expanded. But the most striking fact for me was that French was slowly being pushed from being a compulsory course to an elective. The new curriculum was promoting bilingualism as English - Inuktitut.

Overall, the in service received mixed reviews from the teaching faculty, because many of our questions were left unanswered. This was because the curriculum documents still hadn't been finalized. As well, several teachers questioned whether MOs were really necessary and whether all the strands could be offered in the more remote communities. It was suggested that the government look into setting up distance learning courses over the Internet.

Thursday felt like Monday because I hadn't seen my students for five days. Thursday was also the principals birthday so to celebrate, free ice cream was given to students in the cafeteria during morning recess. For Grade 11 English, I handed back the students their poetry writing assignments. Several of them were so good that I posted them on the pegboard in the hallway. With the poetry unit behind us, we began the novel unit, looking at the classic Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck. I hadn't read the book when I was in high school but I had heard much about it. It's still one of the most challenged books in school due to its use of profanity.

For senior music, we played through the three Irish I had chosen for Friday's morning recess concert. I was glad that we did because right before the lunch bell, Terry, the principal, came on the PA and announced that afternoon school was cancelled due to the arrival of a blizzard. I was surprised because the weather was calm in the morning. Since there are very few windows in the school, one can easily lose track of time and have no idea what the weather is like outside.

The weather had cleared up by Friday, which was a good sign because I really wanted to showcase the musical talents of my senior students. I was glad to see several of my students wearing green. Many of them were nervous and jittery because they had never performed a morning recess concert. They also added that nobody would be listening and they would be made fun of. I reassured them that there would be students and teachers listening and we would be applauded rather than booed. And, to make sure that they wouldn't back out at the last minute, I mentioned that their participation would count towards their overall performance mark.

Just as a I thought, a crowd had assembled in the main foyer, all wondering why there were chairs, stands, and a drum set on the small stage. We all took our places and took a deep breath. I played drums for the first and third pieces: March of the Irish Guard and The Irish Washerwoman. I only conducted the second piece, Irish Tune from County Derry. Our performance was well received by everyone, through applause & cheers, and I personally congratulated my seniors for a job well done. As we moved back up to the music room, several teachers came up to me and said that the music sounded great. It definitely was a nice way to celebrate St. Patrick's Day.

On Saturday, the 17th (the actual St. Patrick's Day), I received five care packages from my parents down south. The boxes contained clothing, food, cutlery, and other kitchenware items. Receiving these needed items saved me money & time. Thanks Mom & Dad! Even though one gets paid very well here in the north, it's always a good idea to have items shipped up from the south because it's cheaper and there're more selections. There are many airlines that offer cargo services but the best choice at the moment is First Air. Nunavut Eastern Arctic Shipping Inc.handles all cargo transport by boat.

Feeding The Dogs

On the morning of March 1st, Pascale & I headed to the high school for a professional development day for teachers. The school board had bought a new software program for tracking student attendance and was planning on having it up and running in September. Until then, the teachers needed to be trained on how to use the program. We realized that we were early when we noticed no vehicles in the school's parking lot. Rather than waste the free time, Pascale decided to feed the dogs, referring to the dog team she & her husband owned. I happily agreed, wanting to snap several more photos of the event. I had previously accompanied Pascale several days before, taking a few pictures in the evening.

Even though snowmobiles (aka Skidoos, qamutaujaq) have become the norm for Inuit hunters, dog teams (qimussit) are still in use to this day, mostly for tourists and research expeditions. In fact, several of Pascale's dogs have taken part in expeditions to the North Pole. Those trips happen in the spring and total costs can surpass $30,000.

All dog teams reside on an open area just to the south of the Iqaluit airport, near the town's fuel storage tanks. The main road to get there also takes you to the town's landfill. People are allowed to look through the landfill and take whatever they can use. Unfortunately, there is no recycling in Iqaluit. The town has tried recycling in the past but the cost of shipping it south to be processed proved to be too expensive.

One qimussit comprises of 10-12 dogs, the amount required to pull a packed sled (qamutiik). 'The dogs have a hierarchy,' explained Pascale. 'Of course, the lead dog [isuraqtujuq] is the one at the top and the one who sets the rules. And no one holds onto dogs who bite.'

'Not even if they can protect you from dangerous animals?' I asked.

'Dogs who bite, bite anyone. If the other dogs see that the human master tolerates biting, then they will do the same. Then that person will have a very tough time maintaining order.'

'What happens if a dog starts biting?'

'Either sold or euthanized. People up here don't understand why people down south keep animals that bite. They are putting themselves and their family at risk. With little children, it's even more dangerous. If you're thinking of getting a dog, never get one that bites.' Her advice reminded me of all the pit bull attack stories I read about in the media.

Upon our arrival at the open kennel, Pascale's dogs began barking excitedly. They knew what was coming. With every jump, the long chains they were attached to clanged in the morning cold. The dogs from the other six teams looked on in jealous silence, probably wondering when they would get their meal. The dogs are attached to safety chains so that they don't run off or in the worst case, attack the other dog teams. Each dog has a small wooden box they can crawl into should the cold become too much. Most of the time, it's just the ground that becomes too cold for their paws. When it comes to sleep, the dogs can either sleep outside, inside their box, on top of their box. The image of them sleeping on their boxes reminded me of Snoopy, the cartoon dog from the comic strip Peanuts by Charles Schultz.

'The dogs don't mind sleeping outside?' I asked.

'They're used to it. Since they've spent so much time outside, their bodies have developed very thick coats to keep them warm.'

The dogs' morning breakfast consisted of large clumps of seal meat. The meat came packaged in a large cube and Pascale had to use a large hook to rip smaller pieces off. With every piece she placed in front of a dog, their sounds got quieter and quieter. In a matter of minutes, the dogs were not barking at all, just eating in silence. There was one female dog who ate her piece behind a large safety cage. She was put in there because she was in heat and Pascale did not want to have any newborn pups. As they ate in silence, I walked around and quickly snapped several photos of the dogs and the surrounding area. It was a bright but overcast morning.

As we headed back to the high school, I thought about partaking in an expedition to the North Pole and/or another part of the north. I'm still young so I have plenty of time to explore the world. One place I really want to visit is Canadian Forces Station Alert, Canada's most northern outpost & supposed residence of Santa Claus. These thoughts also got me thinking about doing an expedition to the South Pole. One step at a time, I reminded myself.

Fire & Ice

The last week of February started with some very grave news. A fire broke out in a row of residential houses on the night of the 26th, forcing dozens of people to flee with just the clothes on their backs. The weather made the situation even more difficult, with temperatures plunging to -50 degrees with wind chill. Firefighters did their best to combat the blaze but the severe cold prevented them from saving the entire block. Water sprayed from the hoses froze before it could subdue the villainous flames and two firefighters had to be treated for frostbite. By morning, the small but long residential block that once sat prominently next to The Brown (nickname given to the only multi-story building in Iqaluit) was reduced to a smoking heap of frozen rubble. This recent fire would also bring back the painful memory of last year's fire that burned down a residential block on top of the plateau.

I wouldn't know of the fire until Monday morning. It started with a call from Terry, the principal. He was calling to inform Pascale and I that school was cancelled for the morning due to the extreme cold. Seeing that I had the morning to spare, I called the Nunavut Housing Corporation (NHC) and asked if I could see the apartment right away. The gentleman to whom I spoke to agreed but postponed it to the late morning, mentioning that most of the main roads in Iqaluit were shut down due to the fire. On the way to the apartment, I could see white smoke steadily rising from the remains of the housing block. It appeared that the fire department had the situation under control and were just dousing the wreckage to make sure that every trace of the fire was extinguished.

The housing block was home to students attending Arctic College. Most of the students had brought their families with them from other Nunavut communities, meaning many of the now homeless, were young children. Sadly, two adult children perished in the blaze. The cause of the fire is still under investigation. Local and out-of-town donations in the form of clothing, blankets, and money came flooding in. First Air waivered all shipping costs and put those goods on priority shipping. Inuksuk High School's student council went around collecting money and even held a fundraising BBQ for the victims on Tuesday. Up here, everyone looks after everyone.

As I mentioned before, Iqaluit has become a boom-town and the municipality can't keep up with the housing demand. It's difficult & costly to ship building materials by sea & air, and most infrastructure projects happen during the brief summer months. So when something like this happens, it is a big deal. There are a few unoccupied buildings around town but they're boarded up and not heated. Some are even slated to be demolished because they're old and too costly to fix. I'm not sure if that's the case with the old high school dormitory. The vacant building used to house many Inuit students who came from smaller communities that couldn't afford a school of their own.

The NHC was renovating a one-bedroom apartment near the town's post office, putting in new flooring, and repainting the walls white. The apartment contained a bathroom, bedroom, kitchen, living room, and a storage room. If I chose to accept, the apartment would be ready by the end of the week, and I would also receive several pieces of furniture. Seeing that everything in town (school, restaurants, stores, banks, etc) would be in close proximity to the apartment, I accepted the offer. If I hadn't, the search would have continued.

By lunchtime, the temperature had risen to a modest -30 meaning there would be afternoon classes. The loss of Monday morning meant I couldn't begin testing my first two Grade 9 guitar classes until Tuesday. I finally got to see & teach my second group of Grade 9 guitar classes on Wednesday & Friday. The last time I taught them was three weeks prior.

For senior English, my students and I continued studying poetic forms and reading several well known poems, such as, The Cremation of Sam McGee by Robert W. Service, and The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe. Since high school students like to rebel, I included two poems by 20th century American poet E.E. Cummings. He was famous for writing many poems that broke all the poetry writing rules. The two I chose were Buffalo Bill's and r-p-o-p-h-e-s-s-a-g-r. We also looked at a burlesque poem I found on the Internet called Soldier, Rest! by Robert J. Burdette. A burlesque poem treats a serious subject as humour and in this case, the poem was making fun of war and long Russian & Turk names.

My senior musicians were assigned three new Irish tunes: The Irish Washerwoman, March of the Irish Guard, and Irish Tune From County Derry. The reason for this was because St. Patrick's Day was coming up and I thought it would nice for the students to perform in front of their friends and teachers. Even though March 17th was on a Saturday, I planned to have the performance on the 16th during the 15 minute recess.

There was no school for students on Thursday because the school board was holding a training day for teachers. A new electronic attendance system was being introduced and the plan was to have it up and running in September. The system we currently use is FileMakerPro and it feels dated. Lunchtime consisted of a potluck buffet containing many different meats and salads. Whereas the morning training classes were loud, everyone ate their food in near silence, most likely because it was so delicious.

The apartment was clean and ready to be occupied on Friday. In the early evening, I packed up all my belongings and was driven to my new home by Pascale's husband. I thanked them for letting me stay at their place for the past month and wished them all the best. I quickly unpacked my suitcases and headed to the nearby NorthMart to buy the bare necessities, such as bedding, toilet paper, shower curtain, and coat hangers. It felt nice to finally have a place to myself.

The big news at the end of the week was the departure of 40 students, travelling to Whitehorse, Yukon, to partake in the Arctic Winter Games (March 4-10). Before the students left to catch their flight, the entire school wished them well and hoped they would bring back several medals.

The AWG is an international biennial sporting event, celebrating athletics, social exchange, and northern cultures. Events include: One-foot, Two-foot, and Alaskan High Kick; Kneel Jump; One Hand Reach; Kneel Jump; Head Pull; and Sledge & Triple Jump. The first AWG was held in Yellowknife in 1970. There are nine contingents that participate: Alaska (USA), Greenland, Northern Alberta (Canada), Northwest Territories (Canada), Nunavik (Quebec, Canada), Nunavut (Canada), Sami People, Yamalo-Nenets (Russia), and Yukon (Canada).

The Week That Was

The week after the teachers conference (Feb 20-24) began like any other. Teachers & students trudged up the snow covered roads to the high school, but this time, everyone was a little reluctant to get back into the routine of teaching and learning. I felt the same way because I had a lot of fun at the conference and enjoyed the extended time away from students. But it can't always be that way.

For my first two guitar classes, I assigned them their first performance test, by having them learn and perform a chosen piece for me. It was still too early to ask them to perform in front of the class. The three pieces they could choose from were: World Beat, Ode to Joy, and Blues. They had the rest of the week to practice.

For Grade 11 English, we started the poetry unit, looking at different genres and forms. Unfortunately, there wouldn't be enough time to learn all the forms but they would learn the most popular, such as: haiku, cinquain, tanka, sonnet, free verse, concrete, and acrostic. Later on, my students would be tasked with analyzing several well known poems.

I assigned a new musical piece to my senior students, called 'Into The Storm'. The piece was written by Robert W. Smith in 1994. I had previous experience with this piece through my years in cadets. To me, Into the Storm is structured like a hurricane. The first part is fast, rhythmic, and intense. The second part is softer and slower, like the eye of the hurricane. And the third part is much like the first.

As for my junior musicians, I assigned them a classic rock song that reflected their struggles of learning a musical instrument as a beginner. That song turned out to be 'Eye of the Tiger' by the 1980s rock band Survivor.

For most of the teaching faculty, Monday was the hardest day, most likely because it was first day back. My hardest day turned out to be Wednesday because my Grade 10s were acting up. I persevered but at the end of the day, I was not in a good mood.

For the second half of the week, the students had a mini-conference of their own in the library. A psychologist/brain scientist was visiting Iqaluit for the purpose of talking to students about alcohol/substance abuse, sexual relationships, and how to be a good student. Because of his presence, I couldn't teach my second two guitar classes nor my senior music. His personality was . . . interesting and a little peculiar, but he did get his points across. As for how many students took his suggestions onboard, I do not know, but I hope it was the majority. Unfortunately, alcohol and substance abuse are a problem up here in the north. I'd have to put the blame on the remoteness and isolation of the communities.

On a more positive note, I received an email from the Nunavut Housing Corporation, stating that a bachelor pad had been found for me. Following the email's instructions, I called them back to set up an appointment to view the place and then decide whether to accept or decline.

This was also the week where I learned the existence of a shawarma outlet, not far from the airport. For those of you who don't know, a shawarma is a mix between Subway & The Pita Pit, and placed in a Lebanese setting. An old high school friend got me hooked on shawarmas many years ago and I haven't looked back. The prices are slightly more expensive up here but definitely worth it. I ended up visiting the place three times that week.

Last, but not least, I finally had the time to visit the local 795 air cadet squadron and speak with the commanding officer (CO). I had been involved in the Canadian cadet program since 1999, as an army cadet and then as a civilian instructor, so it only seemed natural to volunteer. Several of my music students are involved with the squadron.

The corps is located next to the Legion Hall and is very well equipped. The Cadet Hall contains classrooms, offices, a drill hall, cadet lounge, canteen, equipment space, and even an indoor shooting range. The CO was very welcoming and said that the squadron was looking to start a band of some kind. The cadets parade on Tuesday nights but have extra training days during the week for biathlon, fencing, sports, and music. For the moment, I would be teaching music on Saturday afternoons. And, at the request of the CO & Supply Officer, I needed to research and submit an order for a new set of marching drums.